The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1910-12-24
NEWS NOTES OF
NATIONS CAPITAL
Especial to the Silver State)
Farms in Wisconsin.

sus bureau has issued some very inter.
esting statistics concerning the agri
cultural status of Wisconsin It ap.
pears that while the state contains
over 21,000,000 acres, but little over
half of this, or 11,8S2,000 acres is i'm.
proved. The increase of the number
of farms in the 10 years was 4 per
cent and the increase in the acreage
was 6 per cent. There the now 176,-
546 farmers in the state, and the aver
value of land and buildings is $1,187,-
558, 900, which was an increase for the
ten years of rs per cent. This is due
to the increase in the value of i'm
prove as well as to the increase in
value of the land itself According to
the census bureau, farm land in Wis.
consin is worth at the present time
$43 an acre, this being the average
throughout the state. Perhaps it is
rather significant to learn that the
expenditure for labor in 1910 was $19,-
044 900, an increase over 1900 of so
per cent, while the expenditure for fer
tilizers was $122,000, a decrease of SO
per cent. The value of agricultural
implements and machinery in Wiscon.
sin is $52,783, 900, an increase over
1900 of over 81 per cent During the
10 years there has been a considerable
increase in the number of small farms
under 20 acres, and in the number of
farms ranging in size from IT'S acres
to 400 acres. The latter class numbers
nearly 10000 farms, but the largest
number of holdings is of farms be-
are only 139 farms containing 1000
acres and over. A great majority of
all farmers own their farms, and own
them clear of all encumbrance.
Coal Mining.
The Geological Survey has issued a
bulletin containing information on
coal mining for 1909, which shows
tnat in the state of Montana nearly l
per cent of the original coal supply has
already been mined The original sup
ply is estimated by the survey at
100000, 100000 tons, from which there
have been mined up to the close of
1909 approximately 129,000000 tons.
In New Mexico the people have been
making great inroads in their stores Of
coal, having mined already approximate
ely 2 per cent of their original supply,
which was estimated at 1913, $50, 100000
tons. At this rate New Mexico in time
will be obliged to grow sunflowers for
fuel, or to restore to some other drastic
measure to replace the supply which
nature has given it.
In Utah the supply of coal is also be-
ing drawn upon, and as no coal is now
being deposited so far as is known, the
same is bound to come when Utah
will be without coal, and perhaps will
be working over the abandoned mines
which were wastefully exploited by
previous generations. Utah has coal
areas containin workable beds aggrega-
ting 1880 square miles besides con
siderable areas which have been imper-
fectly explored. AS far as the extent
of these coal areas have been deter
mined, their contents are estimated at
about 196,000,000 short tons. Last
year this amount was decreased by
2,266,SS9 tons.
In view of the manner in which the
coal measures Of the United States are
thus being depleted, it should not
cause any wonder in the minds of the
good people of Alaska that they are
forbidden to dig any of the precious
fuel which lies in many cases at their
very doors, but that they are required
to pay $15 or $40 ton for fuel which
comes from British Columbia, Aus
tralia, Japan, or other countries in
which we have but remote interest,
and which, therefore, may deplete
their coal measures and rob future
generations of what ought to be pre-
served for their benefit. In Alaska, it
may be added, there is enough coal
to run the whole United States for
thousands of years and thus far the
government has succeeded in "con-
serving" every ton of it.
The Benefcent Lemon.
From time immemorial the lemon
has been regarded as one of the most
valuable fruits given to man. Because
of the limited areas where it could be
grown and the difficulty of transport
ing it to places where it was needed
it was also one of the rarest and most
costly. Now we have learned to grow
it from Florida along the southern
tier of states to California, and no one
is so poor that he cannot buy this fruit
which, with its cousin, the lime, has be-
come the traditional remedy which
keeps British sailors well on long voy
ages and which has given to British
ships everywhere the half-jocular des-
ignation of "lime- -juicers.'
An inspired bard has recently sung
in prose in the San Francisco Argonaut
the virtues of the lemon, and his lay
lilts thusly:
"The lemon is the standby of ex-
istence, the basis of the happy home,
the sovereign remedy, the thirst as
suage, the ingredient of thousand
and one delirious connections. Who
says hoc-cupg Who says lemon
squashs Who says gin-slinge Who
says hot toddys Who whispers barley
watera He says lemon also. Bereft
of lemons, what are these valuable and
necessary thingss When it is hot, we
want lemons more. Lemons for in
fluenza, lemons for bilious attacks,
lemons and more lemons, and still more
lemons. Imprudent boys suck them,
grown men make them the founda-
tion of some perfect potable. They will
wipe away stains, and, squirted care
fully into the eyball, they will at once
display the power that resides within