The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1909-09-04

OF working up close to the 16 per cent
limit should see to 1t that his water Is
pretty evenly mixed
A part Of the old Lee estate In vir-
ginia has been set aside As a drug gar
den by the federal department Of agri
culture-that is. it is being used for the
culture Of new and valuable plants
that may have a commercial value.
Where success attends the growing of
any varieties they will be recommend
ed for other sections where soil and
climatic conditions are right.
Last season Canadian orchardists
shipped 5000 barrels Of apples to Cape
Town. South Africa. The cost of
transportation, storage. etc. was $3.O5
per barrel and che price received 1915
leaving the grower in the neighbor-
hood Of 1926 per bushel net. This
instance can be taken as still further
proof that American fruit growers
don't propose to lie still and lose mon-
than glad to get their tine fruit.
Some investigations which the Iowa
experiment station has made into a
fungous disease Of miliet which has
appeared at several places in the state
this year indicate that the disease IL
millet smut. which is quite common
in sections Of Europe and which seems
to have been brought into this country
in seed imported from Germany. The
smut in question is much like that
vented by soaking the seed for two
hours In q solution Of one pound Of
formalin to forty five gallons Of water.
The owner of a garden tract Of three
or four acres near Omaha has laid tile
through the tract and is subirrigating
1t. In this case there is simply a re-
versal Of the use Of the ordinary sys-
tenn of draintiling. the water being
pumped through the main lines into
the laterals and drawn thence to the
surface by capillary attraction as rap
idly as needed. In sections where a
water supply is handy and where Pc
RODS of short rainfall are likely to &C.
cur at critical times such a system
would seem to have q very definite
and practical value.
James ]. Hill, president Of the
Great Northern. is long headed
enough to appreciate the vital rela-
ton between intelligent farming and
big crops and increase in railroad
traffic. In order to encourage a bet
ter type Of farming he has put up
prizes aggregating $4,000. to be award
ed at the time Of the Omaha corn
show in December to exhibitors OF
small grains and grasses living in ter
ritory tributary to the Great North
ern road. A plan Of this kind is not
philanthropy. but just good business
policy. and might well be adopted by
the officials Of other roads.
Could some influence but be brought
to bear to cause a partition of all az.
ricultural land in parcels Of a quarter
section or more into forty or eighty
acre tracts and the working Of these
areas in as intensive way as Is carried
out on like areas in the irrigation dis
tricts Of the western states a transfer
nation would be brought about in crop
yields and financial returns that could
hardly be estimated. 1t goes without
saying that the western irrigated tract
possesses q marvellous and unimpaired
fertility. while in many Instances land
in older sections Of the country has
been run down. but Notwithstanding
this handicap results that might be
secured l,y a careful handling Of this
same old land would. to say the least.
be surprising The material welfare
Of coming generations Is going to de-
pend upon this more than upon any
other single factor.
Bulletin No. 81, recently issued from
the bureau Of entomology OF the de-
partment Of agriculture. contains the
results Of q series Of experiments
which have recently been conducted
with a view to finding effective meth
DDS Of fighting the Colorado potato
beetle. The information presented is
primarily for the truck gardeners liv-
ing in southeastern Virginia en either
side Of Chesapeake bay. who annually
raise about 100000 worth Of early
potatoes. OF late serious loss has re-
suited from the attacks Of the mature
potato beetles aud the grubs o. larvae.