West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1909-09-09

proGt which are marketed the soonest.
A. the most rapid as well as the cheap
est gain In weight Is made during the
FIRST three or four months.
In the recent land drawing which
took place at Spokane there were more
than 5000 applications for every piece
Of land to be disposed of. IL one OF the
lucky ones. IL is still n gamble wheth-
er n fellows number Is low enough to
give him the choice OF a piece OF land
which is worth proving up on.
Butter makers OF an inquiring turn
OF mind have found through careful
tests TINT tho water content OF dozen
tubs Of butter taken from the same
churning may vary from one-half TO /
per cent. This would seem to suggest
that the fellow who makes a practice
or working up close to the 16 per cent
limit should see 10 II 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 tho
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 S3.o5
per barrel and the price received S9.7o,
leaving the grower In the neighbor-
hood OF $2.25 per bushei net. This
instance can DO taken rs still further
proof that American fruit growers
don't propose to lie stu and lose mon
ey when foreign markets are more
than glad to get their fine fruit.
Some. investigations which the Iowa
experiment station has made into a
fungous disease of millet which has
appeared at several places in the state
this year indicate that the disease IS
millet smut, which Is quito 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
which Affects oats, and It can be pre-
vented by soaking the seed for two
hours In a-solution OF one pound Of
formalin to forty-fiye gallons OF water.
~ ~
The owner'of a garden tact of three
er four acres nearso maha has laid tile
through the frhct and Il. sibirrigating
1t. In this case there Is simply a re.
versaI ofathe 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
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 a very definite
and practical value.
James ]. Hill, president Of the
Great Northern. is long headed
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 I'D
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 q partition of oil aR-
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 ike areas In the irrigation dis
tricts Of the western states 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 by 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. 50, recently issued from
the bureau Of entomology OF the de-
partment Of agriculture, contains the
results OF series OF experiments
which have recently been. conducted
with view to finding effective meth.
DDS Of fighting the Colorado potato
beetle The inflammation r,roanr,iod O.