154 



THE IKRIGATION AGE. 



FARMERS SHOW INDEPENDENCE 



Four hundred farmers on the Uncompahgre proj- 

 ect voted recently to plant other crops than beets this 

 spring. The Montrose Enterprise says : 



"It is evident that the farmers are preparing to 

 take the sugar company at its word and raise other 

 crops. The sugar company says the average price 

 paid for 1913 beets was $5.50; that owing to the tariff 

 reduction they can pay only $4.75 for the 1914 crop. 

 As the tariff reduces one-third for 1914, one-third for 



1915 and one-third for 1916, upon the basis of their 

 claim the 1915 beets will be worth $4.00 per ton and 

 the 1916 beets will be worth $3.25 per ton and remain 

 at this price until the tariff is changed." 



Articles of incorporation have been filed by the Mills- 

 Baker Company of Casper, Wyo., with a capital stock of 

 $10,000. The incorporators are Thomas Mills, L. C. Mills 

 and A. C. Baker. The company will conduct a general 

 business of contracting, grading, excavating, building ir- 

 rigation ditches, water conduits, reservoirs, etc. 



MANY FOREST FIRES. 



(Continued from Page 152.) 

 crease in number of fires, the forester 

 finds three main causes: 



First of all, the unprecedented elec- 

 tric storms which swept the whole 

 state of California at the end of a 

 long dry season and set, almost si- 

 multaneously, about 700 fires. The 

 804 fires set by lightning in Califor- 

 nia formed nearly 50 per cent of the 

 1,628 fires on the national forests of 

 the state from all causes, and were 

 more than half of the 1,571 lightning- 

 set fires in all of the twenty-one 

 stater, reporting. 



In the second place, there were 757 

 fires which started outside the for- 

 ests, of which 644 were stopped by 

 the government's fire fighters before 

 they reached the forest boundaries, as 

 against 424 which started on outside 

 areas in 1912. However, the propor- 

 tion of such fires to all those which 

 the service battled with was about 

 the same for 1912 and 1913. 



Incendiary Fires. 



The other increased cause of fires 

 was incendiarism, but this increase 

 was confined to three states Arkan- 

 sas, California and Oregon all others 

 showing a marked decrease. Of the 

 452 incendiary fires, 128 were in Ar- 

 kansas, 133 in California and 142 in 

 Oregon, where two brothers were 

 known to have set seventy-two on 

 one forest alone. These two and 

 other incendiaries were, of course, 

 severely dealt with by the law. On 

 the Arkansas forest, too, it has been 

 assumed that the 351 fires classed 

 under the general heading of "origin 

 unknown" were mainly incendiary. In 

 California the incendiary fires are 

 largely attributable to what is known 

 as the "light-burning theory," which 

 advances the argument that forests 

 should be burned over frequently to 

 prevent the accumulation of debris. 

 The _ forest service considers this a 

 pernicious theory because it scars the 

 standing timber and thus reduces its 

 value; it robs the forest soil of its 

 ability to retain moisture, and effect- 

 ually prevents the reproduction of the 

 forest, since such fires destroy all tree 

 seedlings before they have a chance 

 to get a good start. 



Lightning Caused Most Fires 

 In 1912 lightning caused more fires 

 than any other agency, followed 

 closely by railroads, campers and ins 

 cendiaries, in the order given. In 

 1913, however, the fires caused by 

 lightning outnumbered the next near- 

 est cause by more than three to one. 

 but the order railroads, campers and 

 incendiaries remained the same as in 

 1912. A considerable decrease in the 

 (Continued on page 156) 



T A-S3F Irrigation Sprinkler 



Solves the "Irrigation Problem" and affords rain when you want it, and 

 like you want it. at the minimum cost of installation and operation 

 Sample postpaid $3.00. Money back if you want it. Descriptive literature 

 on request. 



J. P. CAMPBELL. ," 



Plows 15 Inches Deep 



Forms Deep 

 Moisture 

 Reservoirs 



Furnished 

 with 

 S-Horse 

 Evener 



The Good Enough Heavy 

 Deep Furrow Sulky 



is a tremendously strong and powerful plow. It will plow any soil that is capa- 

 ble of being plowed and will turn a furrow from 6 to 15 inches deep. 



The landing lever controls both the front furrow wheel and the hitch. The dial 

 hitch can be adjusted to either side and up or down. The draft is applied directly 

 to the beam through the heavy draft rod. The rear wheel is locked in place, 

 but can be instantly released by means of the foot trip at the ends of the rows. 



Regularly furnished with five-horse evener, rolling coulter and extra shares. 



MOLINE PLOW CO. 



Moline ---.... Illinois 



