Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1901-01-19

An Investigation recently fnaugu-
rated by the United States Department
of Agriculture promises il successful
to promote the growing of tea. This
is the irrigation of tea at Pinehurst.
the home of DIR. c. q. Shepard, near
SummerviIle, S. c. The labors of this
gentleman have. already produced in
teresting results. He has about fifty
acres planted to tea, which will when
In full bearing produce each year
about 10. 600 pounds. Last year 1t. pro-
duced about one-third of this amount
His Investigations have been coEtin-
ued long enough to make it manifest
that in any part of the South where the
temperature does not usually fan below
25e F., and never falls below zero.
tea can be successfully grown but that
in order to make it a complete success
in an cases irrigation is necessary. The
great obstacle in the way of making
this industry a commercial success is
the cost of production, and the readiest
means of reducing this cost is to in
crease the yield per acre. If more
pounds per acre can De grown, 1T means
less cost per pound for fertilizers and
for cultivation. Picking will also be
made cheaper because less ground will
have to be traversed.
The need of irrigation to stimulate
the growth of foliage is shown by a
comparison of the rainfall at Summer
vile with that of other tea-growing
districts. This is given in DIR. Sbep-
ards report and shows that the precip-
itation during the tea-growing season
at that point is only about one-half to
one-quarter of that of the tea-growing
districts of India and China. Summer
-
ton, S. c. The rainfall at Charleston
from May to September is only BIB
inches, while the rainfall of the tea
growing districts of India and China
for the same period varies from 60 to
Ill inches. Through the cooperation
of DIR. Shepard and Elwood Mead, the
irrigation expert of the Office of Ex-
pertinent Stations, plans have been
made for the construction of storage
reservoir sufficient to hold water
enough for a seasons irrigation of one
of the tea gardens. This reservoir will
be filled from we'll dug to depth of
twenty feet and supplied by the under
flow of a neighboring stream. The
tea garden to be irrigated is planted
in rows five feet apart. These rows
have fall of four inches in one hun
| dred feet, which gives ample fall for
distributing water and for underdrain-
age should this prove necessary. In
order to test the relative merits of
surface and sub-irrigation, about one
half of this plat will be watered by
means of tile placed one foot beneath
| the surface and laid down between the
| rows. The distance between these
| tiles will therefore be five feet, and the
water will have to percolate 1ateral1y
two and one-half feet to moisten the
ground around the plants. Another
portion of the garden will be irrigated
| by surface burrows run on each side
and one foot from the plants. In order
| to test the difference between the
/ growth and productiveness of the ir-
rigated and non-irrigated portions
small part of this garden will be left
| unwatered.
An Interesting feature connected
with this extension of irrigation is the
| fact that part of the farm on which
/ tea is being grown was formerly de-
voted to the production of indigo and
was irrigated The production of this
crop finally became Improbable and
was abandoned, but the remains of the
bitches can yet be seen.
It will probably require several years
| to fully determine the extent to which
i Ills AOTm VI agriculture CAL DE CA-
/ tended in the south. Even without the
/ aid of irrigation tea has been grown
with profit, but if, as is believed, a
material increase can be made in the
| yield through the addition of this
| stimulus, and improvement in the
| quality of the product as well, there is
| little reason to doubt that the time is
| near at hand when this country will
| have made another significant addi-
| ton to its capacity to be entirely self
| sustaining.
Horses I'm the North Central Division.
The census report of domestic ami
| mails, just published, credits Illinois
| with 238,650 horses, of which 233. 807
are animals two years old and over.