58 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 415. 



meant that such a pipe running a day would answer for one 

 application. As the subject of irrigation has become of un- 

 usual interest, permit me to add some of our experience. We 

 have used water to a considerable extent for two seasons past, 

 and are satisfied that it pays on some crops even when bought 

 by the gallon. The past summer we used not less than 125.000 

 gallons on Potatoes, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Celery, Horse- 

 radish, Sweet Corn and Strawberries. 



The first consideration is not only will it help the crops, but 

 will it justify the expense, and when we pay for water by the 

 gallon the expense rises as rapidly as the water flows from the 

 pipe. Where the water can be pumped or collected by dam- 

 ming a stream, the increased use does not increase the cost, 

 and if the first cost is not too high irrigation would be profita- 

 ble in very many cases. There are few summers without one 

 dry spell at least, and when this is not too long it will pay to 

 irrigate many crops even at the price we a re paying, but in a con- 

 tinuous drought, such as that of the past season, the expense 

 will be too great, except, perhaps, on a few fancy crops, such 

 as Strawberries, Celery and Cauliflower. 



Subirrigation is the best method for field crops, but for mar- 

 ket gardening a full supply of water is needed on most crops. 

 Crops that require only a short season cannot wait long for 

 rain and then reach perfection. 



Marietta, Pa. H. M. EngU. 



Meetings of Societies. 



Nebraska State Horticultural Society. — II. 



HORTICULTURE IN EASl'ERN NEBRASKA. 



A CAREFUL discussion of the comparative advantages of 

 fruit-growing here and in other sections was presented by E. 

 T. Hartley. Mr. Hartley has given special attention to the advan- 

 tages of the Colorado fruit-growing sections during the past 

 season, and has come to the conclusion that the prospects of 

 eastern Nebraska are as good as those of Colorado. There is 

 a great deal of booming in the matter of fruit-growing as well 

 as in other lines. We are inclined to make too much of our 

 successes and too little of our failures, to report the returns 

 from exceptional trees, unusual prices, etc. Reaction is the 

 inevitable result of such a course. He has no desire to ignore 

 the disadvantages of Nebraska, but believes that when both 

 advantages and disadvantages are carefully compared we shall 

 find a balance in our favor. Nebraska has seen forty years of 

 prosperity, and it is unlikely that its whole character will now 

 change. It is only a matter of common observation that other 

 states have seen similar periods of depression from time to 

 time. Moreover, orchardists have suffered less than other 

 classes during this time. While Corn has in countless in- 

 stances failed to produce any crop whatever, orchards which 

 have been well cared for have given fair, and in some cases 

 heavy, returns. It is also a significant fact that while corn is 

 now selling at fifteen or sixteen cents a bushel, apples are 

 bringing from $2.50 to $3.00 per barrel at wholesale. When we 

 consider carefully the cost of drainage, the disadvantage of 

 working among stumps and stones, the cost of irrigation, the 

 backward civilization and other disadvantages which must be 

 encountered in the different sections of the country, we see 

 that our own location is not so unfavorable after all. There 

 are many drawbacks to irrigation — first, the cost of the water- 

 right and fees, then the increased cost of cultivation, together 

 with numerous annoyances that an outsider never dreams of. 

 Mr. Wilcox stated that it requires two men to irrigate and care 

 for ten acres of orchard, while in Mr. Hartley's orchard two 

 men and one team will care for one hundred acres. He can 

 cultivate the whole of his orchard while the men who use irri- 

 gation are plowing out the furrows to apply the water. Then 

 these furrows must be gone over with a hoe to correct irregu- 

 larities, remove clods, etc., and this may take more time than 

 to make the furrows in the first place. The short rows which 

 irrigation demands increase the cost of cultivation materially. 

 Even if a crop can be secured every year by means of irriga- 

 tion, it is not likely to prove as profitable as the same amount 

 of labor applied to more land, but with a crop only every other 

 year. Transportation is just as important as production. In 

 this matter the Colorado growers work under a very serious 

 disadvantage. In fact, Mr. Hartley presented figures, gathered 

 on the ground, which seem to show that after the crop is all 

 grown and ripe upon the tree at Grand Junction it then costs 

 over two dollars a barrel to gather, pack, ship and market it 

 in Denver or Pueblo. Mr. Hartley found that at Grand Junction 

 he must pay twenty cents a dozen for peaches grown there, 

 while in Denver the same peaches were selling at two dozen 

 for fifteen cents. This year has demonstrated the ability to 



produce fruit in eastern Nebraska in spite of drought. More- 

 over, with the small fruits, which yield a large return from a 

 small amount of ground, it is possible to profitably lift water 

 by means of windmills to help out the rainfall. This cannot 

 prove profitable for ordinary farm crops, for there is too little 

 margin in the possible product of an acre. The loss of water 

 by seepage and evaporation is too great also, even if reservoirs 

 are employed, to make the undertaking feasible, except for 

 those crops in which the market value is high. Hard winds, 

 cold waves and frosts have been much more injurious than 

 drought even during these recent dry years. Many orchards 

 have proved an unexpected blessing to their owners during 

 these trying years. 



E. M. Pollard, of Nehawka, gave results of work and statis- 

 tics to show that orcharding in Nebraska had proved a profita- 

 ble venture with them thus far. They make a specialty of 

 apples and cider. The cider is heated to about 150 degrees, 

 Fahrenheit, by steam and run into heated barrels while still 

 hot. By this means the cider is kept sweet, provided only 

 that the package is completely air-tight. They also employ 

 vinegar generators, by which they can secure first-class vin- 

 egar from fermented cider in thirty-six hours. They find it 

 very difficult to compete against the cheaper corn vinegar, 

 which is nearly everywhere sold as cider vinegar. From the 

 best statistics which he could get he finds that the average 

 price to the grower of apples in Nebraska during the last seven 

 years has ranged from $1.50 to $3 00 per barrel. They now set 

 eighty trees to the acre, but with only forty trees to the acre, at 

 an average price of fifty cents per bushel, the returns would 

 be twice as great as can be realized from corn, even if the 

 yield should be but one bushel a tree, while it ought to 

 be five bushels. He deprecates the continued planting of 

 the Ben Davis Apple. In the better family trade, which they 

 aim to supply, he finds it difficult to dispose of this variety, 

 and in their newer plantings it is discarded altogether. Many 

 of the Apples of good quality which succeed in the east fail 

 here, but the Swaar does well. 



ARE THE BIRDS FRIENDS OF THE HORTICULTURIST ? 



This was the question discussed by Professor Bruner, of the 

 State University, and he made a strong plea for these feathered 

 inhabitants of our fields and gardens. Seventy-five per cent, 

 of the food of birds consists of insects. Moreover, when we 

 consider their ability to withstand cold and their powers of 

 endurance, it is apparent that they must require much fuel to 

 maintain the bodily functions, and consequently must be hard 

 eaters. There are fifty more species of birds found in Nebraska 

 than are reported from any other state except Texas. There 

 are undoubtedly more than 75,000,000 birds in Nebraska for 

 half the year. These, upon the most conservative estimate, 

 destroy thousands of bushels of insects. The winter birds 

 subsist largely upon weed seeds, thus causing marked depre- 

 ciation in the spread of these nuisances. Numerous figures 

 were quoted showing the contents found in the stomachs of 

 different birds when examined for that purpose. The quail is 

 one of the best friends of the farmer and horticulturist, for it 

 destroys millions of chinch bugs. The flicker also eats 

 chinch bugs. Professor Bruner believes that the unusual 

 destruction of fruits caused by birds within the past few years 

 has been primarily owing to their lack of water. Upon this 

 point, however, many of the growers did not agree with him. 



The Western New York Horticultural Society. — II. 



THE INVISIBLE FRIENDS AND FOES OF THE FARMER. 



ON this subject Professor Roberts said : 

 The soil teems with in visible plants or low vegetable organ- 

 isms which prepare it for higher growths by making available 

 the combined nitrogen in the soil. These invisible plants need 

 a certain amount of air, moisture and warmth for development 

 and growth. They are ever at work breaking down the crude 

 material and transforming it into plant-food, and the fruit 

 grower, like other cultivators, must learn that, like higher veg- 

 etables, these flourish best when their home is warm, mellow, 

 dark and moist. Since there are from three to six thousand 

 pounds of potential nitrogen in the first foot of an acre of 

 fairly fertile soil the advantage of multiplying these nitrifying 

 organisms is apparent. The cultivation of the soil unlocks 

 this vast storehouse of food and puts it into circulation. 

 Proper cultivation not only promotes the process of nitrifica- 

 tion, but it makes available phosphoric acid and potash, so 

 that these considerations point to a short rotation, frequent 

 plowing, partial soiling and the use of leguminous plants 

 whose roots gather free nitrogen from the air. The objects of 

 cultivation are primarily and chiefly not to make the soil porous 



