198 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



There were 70,000 acres of land withdrawn 

 under a blanket order, which, eliminating the pat- 

 ented land under the description totals over 50,000 

 acres of fine agricultural lands, the order specifying 

 that "the lands are withdrawn from any form of 

 disposition whatever under the Public Land laws 

 until further ordered by the Department for the 

 benefit of Los Angeles, California," in connection 

 with its Owens River project. (See Mr. Finkle's 

 article for further light on this scandalous trans- 

 action.) 



The trend of these orders would indicate a 

 direct effort on the part of Government officials to 

 favor Los Angeles, or, to speak more to the point, 

 the money interests who loaded a $23,000,000 bond 

 issue on the shoulders of property owners of that 

 city to further their plan for gain. This subject . 

 will receive further attention in the columns of 

 IRRIGATION AGE as additional facts are brought to 

 light and the names of all those engaged in this 

 nefarious scheme will be given to the public. 



The business farmer of today tests 

 Remove his seed grain. In farming, as in 



the every other business, elements of 



Elements chance are being removed as fully 



of Chance as possible. 



After a farmer has selected his 

 seed grain by the use of the fanning mill, he should 

 make tests for purity and germination. If he is not 

 prepared to do this, he should communicate with 

 his state agricultural college or experimental farm. 

 The only safe thing is to remove elements of 

 chance by selecting good seed, and by testing for 

 purity and germinating power. 



The heavy production and the low 

 Potatoes price of potatoes has directed atten- 



Valueless? tion to their value for stock feed. 

 Feed Them Hitherto this subject has not re- 

 to Stock ceived much attention in this coun- 



try because under ordinary condi- 

 tions other feeds are undoubtedly much cheaper 

 and better. Some estimate that even at 15 cents a 

 bushel it is more expensive to feed potatoes to 

 stock than it is to feed silage, while on the other 

 hand it is scarcely probable that the farmer can 

 raise potatoes for much less than 30 cents a bushel. 

 Their actual value for feed depends upon many 

 factors, but it is better to make some use of the 

 potatoes on hand rather than let them rot. 



In Germany, where the potato crop is propor- 

 tionately far greater than in this country, the ques- 

 tion has been more thoroughly studied. The 

 tubers may be used for feeding cows, horses, sheep 



and pigs, but they are best adapted for pigs. To 

 secure the best results with swine the potatoes 

 should first be cooked and then made into a thick 

 mush mixed with the corn meal or other grain. If 

 skim milk is added, the value of the feed is much 

 increased. 



In feeding potatoes to dairy cows from one-half 

 peck to one peck should be fed to start with. They 

 should be given raw and should be run through a 

 root cutter, to prevent choking the cows. An 

 excessive feed of potatoes to a dairy cow is liable 

 to cause scours, but as much as one-half bushel per 

 cow per day has been fed without bad results. In 

 addition to the nutrients contained, potatoes give 

 succulence to a ration, a factor of importance in 

 feeding dairy cows. 



Farm values have increased 20 per 

 Increase in cent during the past year, taking 

 Farm Values; the United States as a whole, ac- 

 What it cording to a recent statement. The 



Means European war is credited with caus- 



ing much of this increase. 



Perhaps the estimate is not far from true. We 

 know farm lands have increased in price in many 

 localities. 



That is the way much, if not most of the money 

 has been made in America during the past two 

 centuries by the increase in values. Dollar and a 

 half acres have become hundred dollar acres. Ten 

 dollar city lots have become ten thousand dollar 

 lots. Million dollar railroads have become billion 

 dollar roads and the owners have prospered just 

 by the prosperity of the community. 



The man who owns farm lands, however, ob- 

 tains less benefit from this "unearned increment" 

 than the owner of city property or corporate in- 

 dustries. The farmer cannot make his income keep 

 up with the increase in values. When 160 acres 

 of land gets to be worth $150 an acre there's 

 $24,000. But does it earn 6, or 7, or 8, or even 10 

 per cent a year, as a flat building in Chicago would 

 earn without any effort on the part of the owner? 



Not in most cases. 



The farmer pays the highest rates of interest 

 when he borrows money, and gets the lowest rate 

 on his investment when he tries to live on his cap- 

 ital. But things are looking better for the farmer. 

 The farmer is making his land work harder and is 

 taking better care of it. Federal and state govern- 

 ments are also beginning to take more interest in 

 making financial conditions easier for the farmer. 



Another side of the increase in values is the 

 very serious situation of the tenant farmer, who 

 wants to buy land of his own, and of the young 

 man who is just starting in life. Every increase in 



