The Democratic advocate., 1909-04-02

a prolific source of rust, which WORKS
a decided injury to the fruit and TO-
liage.
Bessie Bates is one of the promising
cows owned by the Missouri agr1cul-
tural experiment station. During the
year from October, 1907, to October,
1908. she gave 1855 pounds of milk,
testing out $50 pounds of butter fat, or
equivalent to 9O1 pounds Of S5 per
cent butter.
There is hardly any combination OF
outdoor pursuits which is more at
tractive than that to be found in the
keeping of bees, the raising of poultry
and the growing of fruits and vege-
tables The scale upon which the busi-
ness should be conducted will depend
upon circumstances, but followed even
on a modest scale there is good return
for painstaking effort.
The island of Sicily, lately visited by
a disastrous earthquake, is pre-emi-
nently the home Of the lemon, which
reaches it's highest state of perfection
under the genial climatic conditions
which there prevail. The growing of
lemons is the chief commercial inter
est Of the island, and orchards of the
yellow fruit extend in unbroken
stretches for scores of miles.
1t is the right time now to be making
some definite plans for improving the
appearance of the district school
grounds. These should include the
setting out of ornamental trees or
shrubs and the arrangement of flower
beds Working together, directors,
teachers and pupils should be able to
accomplish much toward making the
school grounds an attractive place and
a source of pleasure to all concerned.
Experiments which have been made
in the department Of soils in some OF
the state experiment stations snow
that the manure from single well fed
dairy COW is worth close to $50 annual
ly If utilized at it's full capacity. This
is an asset of the dairy business that
is often overlooked, yet one that
should be given due credit in any fair
reckoning.
During the latter part of February
the city Of Frankfort, KY, was visited
by one Of the worst foods in years,
the entire lower part of the city being
flooded, hundreds of families rendered
homeless and barns and bridges being
swept away. This is an illustration Of
the way in which the sins of one Sec
tion of the country are visited upon
the innocent elsewhere. the sinners in
the present instance being the ruthless
destroyers Of the moisture holding tim
Der lands on the watersheds tributary
to the Kentucky river. A sort Of
poetic justice would hold sway if the
law Of gravity could be suspended for
a season and the flood waters run up
hill and drown out the fellows who are
responsible for most Of this flood trou-
hln
An interesting fact which has come
to light as a result of the investigation
sections in Colorado from arsenica1
poisoning seems to be that the great
est damage has occurred in localities
where the most alkali was present in
the soil, it serving to dissolve the ar
senic compounds and make possible
their absorption by the root systems Of
the trees. A contention of some who
have made but a superficial investiga-
tion is that the largest loss in trees
from this alleged cause is in sections
where no spraying has been at all, the
damage, in their opinion, being the re-
suit of the action of the alkali. In any
event, future investigation and discus
sion will be followed with interest.
The olive crop, one of the chief fea-
lures in the horticultural wealth Of
Italy. comes to maturity in the month
Of November, and the job of harvest
ing, which is usually done by women
and children, is a cold and cheerless
one as well as tedious. as the olives
have to be hand picked one at time.
The olive of commerce is picked before
the fruit is ripe and salted. For the
manufacture of oil the ripe olives are
used, the fruit being ground to pulp,
which falls from the press into shallow
receptacles made of woven hemp. In
these. it is pressed, the oil passing
through and dropping into vats and
then being transferred to large earthen
jars. After standing about week the
best of the oil rises to the surface and
is removed, leaving a poorer quality.
To get all Of the oil the pulp is mixed
with hot water and pressed second
time.
The Oregon Agricultural college re-
Gently sent out demonstration train
over the line of the Southern Pacific
that was not only interesting but high
" instructive to the residents of the
localities where the train stopped. OF
the several special cars one was de-
voted to animal husbandry and allied
interests, with two cows in model
stalls which were mflked by milking
machines at every stop made. An
other car was devoted to agronomy
the subjects illustrated including soils
drainage, irrigation, seed selection and
termination and crop rotations. A
| third car contained all the equipment
and apparatus To be found in a mode
dairy, including boilers, sinks, separa
tors and churns, while a portion OF tne