THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



295 



Beans, 260 tons; peas, 447 tons; corn, 272 tons; clover, 

 453 tons; wheat, 359 tons; sunflower, 490 tons; rye, 377 

 tons; oats, 557 tons; barley, 393 tons; buckwheat, 664 

 tons; millet, 416 tons; mustard, 843 tons; potatoes, 423 

 tons; rape, 912 tons. 



An acre inch of water equals 115 tons of water. 



Get ground just as open in the fall as you can, then 

 if you can break ground up and leave it just as rough 

 as possible, any sun or water coming down will get 

 down, and as early in the spring as possible cultivate to 

 stop evaporation, then get in and plant whatever you 

 are going to plant. If your crop is to mature near July 

 when the sun is out the hottest, something is going to 

 burn up, because evaporation goes on too rapidly. The 

 grain will ripen before it is filled. Get grain in early and 

 crop off early. 



THE DANGER OF USING FOREIGN POTATOES 

 FOR SEED.* 



Large quantities of European potatoes are at the 

 present time being received into this country. Their fine 

 appearance and reasonable cost in comparison with the 

 high cost of home-grown seed have led growers to con- 

 sider the advisability of using them for seed in place of 

 home-grown stock. This should under no circumstances 

 be done. 



A wide experience in testing a large number of 

 foreign-grown varieties has demonstrated that, with few 

 exceptions, foreign stock is not adapted to the climate 

 and soil conditions obtaining in this country. The De- 

 partment of Agriculture during the past seven years has 

 tested more than 100 foreign varieties, with the uniform 

 result that the yields during the first year were not equal 

 to the yields of our best American sorts. These results 

 have been repeatedly corroborated by American growers 

 and seedsmen. The few fairly satisfactory varieties of 

 the many tested have required from two to three seasons 

 to become acclimated. 



The varieties of potatoes which are now being im- 

 ported into this country consist of late-maturing sorts and 

 in consequence are not adapted for early crop production. 

 For this reason these potatoes should be avoided by 

 southern planters. 



Experience has also shown that the standard "main- 

 crop" varieties grown in the British Isles, as well as on 

 the Continent, set a large number of tubers, much larger, 

 in fact, than our American varieties. As a result of this 

 tendency these varieties require an unusually fertile soil 

 and especially favorable climatic conditions to develop 

 their tubers to a merchantable size. As a rule our soils 

 are not sufficiently well supplied with organic matter, 

 available plant food, and moisture to produce satisfactory 

 crops with these varieties. There is also great danger 

 of introducing several new diseases of potatoes which occur 

 abroad, but which are as yet unknown here. 



The most dreaded of these is the wart disease, con- 

 cerning which so much has been written in England and 

 in this country. Potato wart, or "black-scab," is a disease 

 of the tubers which forms large, irregular excrescences, 

 at first greenish or white and later black. These begin 

 near the eyes, but in advanced cases involve the whole 

 tuber, which is converted into an unrecognizable and 

 useless mass. There are no conspicuous evidences of this 

 malady in the foliage of affected plants. The more severe 

 cases exhibit the disease at the surface of the ground, 

 where the worst affected tubers protrude above the soil. 

 Other tubers have small warts, but are usable for culinary 

 purposes, and some may be so slightly affected as to pass 

 as healthy. It is a disease difficult to detect by inspection 

 in its early stages, and there is nothing to prevent its 

 distribution in the United States on imported potatoes. 

 This danger is the greater since the badly infected dis- 

 tricts of England lie near Liverpool, from whence many 

 shipments are made. This disease has been more fully 

 described in two publications of the Department of Agri- 

 culture, Circular No. 52 of the Bureau of Plant Industry 

 and Farmers' Bulletin 489. both of which may be had free 

 of charge upon application to the Secretary of Agri- 

 culture or to a Senator, Representative or Delegate in 

 Congress. 



'Abstract of Circular 93, Bureau of Plant Industry, Department 

 of Agriculture. 



Such dangers as the present emphasize the need for a 

 national quarantine law to enable the Secretary of Agri- 

 culture to exclude diseased or insect-infested plant 

 products or imports from localities known to have these 

 pests. Such a bill has been pending before Congress for 

 several years, but as yet no action has been taken. 



The potato wart is not the only disease likely to be 

 imported. There is another tuber trouble, known as 

 Spongospora scab [Sponge/spam subterranea (Wallroth) 

 Johns.], which would be an undesirable addition to our 

 already long list of diseases brought from foreign sources. 

 This scab causes small spots or even tumor-like growths 

 of small size. It does not destroy the potato, as may the 

 wart, but lessens its market value. Spongospora scab 

 is quite prevalent in Ireland. Large quantities of potatoes 

 are now being imported from that island. 



A third trouble which may be introduced on im- 

 ported potatoes is the black-leg, a bacterial disease which 

 can rarely be detected in the tubers, as the infection is 

 always internal. It manifests itself in the field after the 

 potatoes are half grown. The tops yellow and curl up, 

 the stem blackens and decays at the base, and the hill 

 dies. This disease has already been introduced into many 

 of our States, probably from England by way of Canada. 

 The danger is no less in importations from Germany, as the 

 disease exists there as well as in England. 



The wart disease also exists in Germany, but there 

 is less danger of its importation from that country, as 

 it is not yet common in the principal potato-producing 

 sections there. German potatoes may, however, be af- 

 fected by "leaf-curl," a peculiar disease of doubtful nature 

 very widely prevalent in that country. This disease 

 causes a curling of the leaves and, reduces the yield or 

 cuts it off altogether. It is transmitted in the seed tubers, 

 but is not to be detected by any kind of inspection. 



The danger from these diseases is not limited to a 

 single season, as soils once infected remain unfit for 

 potato culture for many years. 



These facts, together with those previously presented 

 concerning European varieties of potatoes, should be- 

 come generally known in time to prevent the planting 

 of such foreign seed. 



Any diseased or doubtful specimens discovered should 

 be sent to the Department of Agriculture for identi- 

 fication. 



OKLAHOMA'S IRRIGATION STATISTICS. 



The total number of farms irrigated in 1909 was 137, 

 against 124 in 1899, an increase of 13, or 10.5 per cent. 

 Within the same period the number of farms in the state 

 increased 75.4 per cent. On many of the farms reported 

 irrigated only small gardens were watered. 



The total acreage irrigated in 1909 was 5,402 acres, 

 against 2,759 acres in 1899, an increase of 2,643 acres, or 

 95.8 per cent. During the same period the improved acre- 

 age on farms increased 104.1 per cent, indicating a very 

 slight decrease in the percentage of improved land irri- 

 gated. The percentage is but 0.03 in either year, showing 

 that irrigation is a very unimportant factor in Oklahoma 

 agriculture. 



The total acreage which all enterprises were capable 

 of irrigating in 1910 was 7,411, an excess of 2,009 acres 

 over the area irrigated in 1909. The area included in 

 projects now completed or under construction is 9,442, 

 an excess of 4,040 acres over the area irrigated in 1909. 



The number of independent enterprises reported in 

 1909 was 114, against 119 in 1899, a decrease of 4.2 per 

 cent. The length of main ditch in 1909 was 54 miles, 

 against 68 in 1899, a decrease of 20.6 per cent. In view 

 of the increase in the area irrigated, it is probable that 

 these decreases are due to differences in enumeration 

 rather than to actual decreases in the number of enter- 

 prises and length of ditches. The number of reservoirs 

 reported is 11, with a combined capacity of 22 acre-feet. 

 The number of wells pumped for irrigation was 65, and 

 the acreage irrigated with pumped water is 119, or slight- 

 ly less than 2 acres per well. 



The total cost of irrigation systems reported for 1910 

 was $45,200, against $19,672, an increase of $25,528, or 129.8 

 per cent. The average cost per acre in 1910 was $6.10, 

 against $7.13 in 1899, a decrease of 14.4 per cent. The 



