tract the capital necessary to bring the treasure to the surface. It will also attract poor men and adventurers by the thousands, however, and the prospect is that the advance army of goldseekers and workers will reach Colorado before the investors do, in which case there must be great hardships and suffering. It would only be just and humane, especially during the winter, for the State officers of Colorado to issue notices, for circulation throughout the country, describing the real situation and cautioning men who arrive on the grounds penniless of the ordeal that awaits them. Whatever Colorado is, it is no poor man's gold country.

A representative of THE IRRIGATION AGE visited Denver, Colorado Springs, the Cripple Creek region and Leadville soon after the present excitement began, and everywhere found the people holding the greatest faith in the gold production. Speculation was wild. At Colorado Springs three exchanges were crowded with frantic men all day. Sales of Cripple Creek in one week aggregated 11,852,457 shares. Streets were crowded and sidewalks blocked. The exchanges at Victor, Pueblo, and Denver were all making heavy sales.

Interviews with the managers of the various mines brought out the most extravagant statements. According to these gentlemen there was simply no limit to the gold. Ex-Gov. James B. Grant, of the Omaha and Grant Smelter, had just returned from a tour of inspection among the mining camps of the State. By the way, it was this gentleman's report, telegraphed broadcast, that heightened the excitement recently. Among other things he said: "Cripple Creek far surpasses the wildest anticipations of those who had the greatest hopes for the future of Leadville. Cripple Creek will produce more gold in the next twenty years than any camp ever known. Leadville bas produced over $100,000,000 in the last seventeen years. When they have been mining seventeen years at Cripple Creek it is safe to say that the camp will have produced over $500,000,000. I have no hesitation in saying that the mines of Cripple Creek will soon excel the famous mines of South Africa.

The Denver, Salt Lake City and San Francisco newspapers were devoting a

great deal of space to the year's output of gold. They all agree that in another year, with the increase of mining operations, Colorado. Utah and California will yield more gold than all South Africa.

Colorado's gold production for the year 1895 was $17,000,000. The number of men employed in the metalliferous mines of the State in 1893 was 22,876; number at present employed, 26,329. The silver districts show a decided falling off, while the gold districts show a heavy gain. It is claimed that the Cripple Creek, Leadville, Gilpin, Clear Creek and Boulder county districts have just commenced to demonstrate their great richness for the reason that thorough exploitation has not before been practiced except in a few isolated cases and, as a result, thousands of men will ultimately find employment where formerly only a few could be accommodated.

J. J. Crawford, California State Mineralogist, sends THE IRRIGATION AGE the official statement of the State Mining Bureau for last year, which shows that the value of the mineral product, including the metallic and non-metallic, hydrocarbons and gases, and structural materials, was $20,203, 294. Gold leads all the rest, with a total of $13,923,281. Calveras county produced most of the precious metal, with an output of $2,119,365. Petroleum, which is a developing branch, comes second in point of wealth. The State's product of this was valued at $1,064,523. Silver amounted to $207,331 and quicksilver to $934,000.

The governor of Arizona says that Territory produced the past year $10,000,000 in gold, against $4,000,000 in 1894.

Alaska's gold output for 1895 is estimated by G. H. Swinehart, editor of the Alaska Mining Record, of Juneau, to be $3,000,000. Of this amount $800,000 has been obtained from placer mining, chiefly along the Yukon river. Mr. Swinehart says there are fifteen mills, with a total capacity of 500 stamps in operation.

America is holding her own as the leading gold nation. Last year we led South Africa. The latter mined $39,555,836, while the United States mined $39,775,000. For 1896 the prospects are great, and Alaska is beginning to tell.

HOW AND WHEN TO IRRIGATE.

BY F. C. BARKER, NEW MEXICO.

HOW and when to irrigate will depend SO entirely upon soil, climate, weather, crops and many other varying circumstances, that no hard and fast lines can be laid down.

Take for instance the first question of whether we shall irrigate by small furrows, as in California, or on the moat by the flooding system. I maintain that it all depends upon whether the soil is porous and soaks laterally or whether the soil is the reverse, as it is where I live. Furthermore, the furrow system will suit certain crops while it will not do for others. The best system can only be found out by experience in each locality. Then, as regards the frequency with which crops should be irrigated. I venture to say that no one can fix this by any given number of days. Different crops require different treatment, and even the same crop will need more or less water according to the conditions of soil, weather and climate. The only rule one can lay down is that no crop needs water so long as the soil about the small roots nearest the surface is wet enough to roll up into a ball; but the moment any of these small roots are in dry earth the plant or tree is sure to suffer.

Serious harm has been done to many orchards whose owners read in books or papers that in California they did not irrigate during winter, and accordingly applied the rule to land which received little or no rainfall in the winter, quite forgetting that the reason why they do not irrigate during winter in California is that that is their rainy season.

I have sometimes been amused by reading calculations of how many inches of water are needed for irrigation. Some writers have made a regular formula, as though it were an engineering problem, and, having arrived at the exact number of inches required by a crop, deduct the

natural rainfall and think they have the whole question settled. Now, in the first place, the rain may come when it is not needed, and again it often falls in such small quantities at a time that it rapidly evaporates and thus does very little toward assisting irrigation.

No one can farm successfully with irrigation any more than without it who does not understand plant life sufficiently well to know when water is needed by a tree or plant. It requires experience like every other branch of farming. The inexperienced man may make a failure by not giving enough water to keep the roots moist right down to the bottom, or he may, and frequently does fail through giving so much water that the soil becomes waterlogged and deprived of air; but a still more frequent cause of failure is the omission to cultivate the surface of the soil after each irrigation. It is only by actual experience gained in each locality that

the farmer can learn how and when to irrigate.

If barnyard manure is used, it should not be coarse, or it will do more damage than good, in burning the vines. And, again, it must not be hauled out in the spring and only partially plowed under. The manure should be rotted sufficiently to be thoroughly incorporated in the soil, and be hauled out in the winter or early spring and plowed under, deep.

Potash and phosphoric acid are the principal elements of plant growth needed, and in many cases these can be supplied to a better advantage by purchasing and using commercial fertilizers than in any other way; because they contain a good percent of potash. Wood ashes can often

Bone dust is a good fertilizer for this crop, but it is usually not as readily soluble as is what is generally considered a good grade of complete fertilizers, but the bone meal is usually more lasting in its effects.

Let the material used be what it may, it is very essential to have it thoroughly incorporated with the soil, while with care very good results can be obtained by applying in the bill. The best growth and yield can be secured by applying broad

cast.

This, of course, requires a larger quantity, but it is less work to apply, while more benefit can be derived. When animal manure is used, a good plan is to apply after plowing, and the work of properly preparing for the seed will work sufficiently in with the soil, but with ashes or commercial fertilizers, if applied broadcast, a good plan is to partly work the soil into a proper tilth, then scatter the fertilizer broadcast, and one or two good harrowings will work sufficiently into the soil. In neither case should the fertilizer come in direct contact with the seed.

Something for Market.-A farmer, who is always complaining about hard times, poor crops and the poor markets for farm products, went to a neighbor farmer to borrow money with which to pay his taxes.

was

On entering the door he noticed an egg box well rounded up with fresh eggs ready for market. Just inside the pantry door a large pailful of butter prepared for shipment. While talking about the good price being paid for potatoes the money lender remarked that he had several hundred bushels of good potatoes for sale. He also had several tons of hay to dispose of at the good price then being paid. He always kept a small bunch of sheep, and as he did not want to increase his flock the increase of last season must be sold. This numbered forty head, which were fat and ready for the market at the highest price. The others would soon yield a fine clip of wool. The granary contained a great deal more wheat, corn and oats than that necessary for seed, bread and feed for the animals for another, harvest. In an old-fashioned smokehouse was hanging a lot of pork which could not

son, and of course a portion of it was for sale. The moneyless farmer stated his mission, was furnished with the money he desired and at once started for home. He wore a downcast expression, and his gait indicated that he was thinking. What his thoughts were we leave the readers of the AGE to conjecture.

Profits of Gardens. A half-acre fruit and vegetable garden well cared for as a market is worth from $100 to $200 to any intelligent farmer's family in this State, says M. A. Thayer, president of the Wisconsin State Horticultural Society. A good garden, he says, will often banish the doctor from your house and the sheriff from your door. It will make the boys and girls love the farm when everything else fails. Last season he harvested 2,500 bushels of strawberries. The cost for cultivating, picking and marketing was. five cents per quart, and the berries were sold at an average of eight and threefourths cents per quart. The farmers who purchased the berries paid two cents. for raising them, one cent for picking, one cent for crating, one cent for delivering, and the balance amounted to 375 per cent above actual first cost, counting the retail price at ten cents per quart.

Can farmers afford to pay such profits when they can just as well be reaping the harvest themselves? The way to prevent what some farmers may call wholesale robbery is to grow the berries at home. The cost of plants is but small and the work required to put out a half acre of small fruits is but a trifle when the profits are considered. Other small fruits and vegetables are equally as profitable and as much desirable.

Dairymen Must Organize. - In the past, dairy farmers have been the victims of sharks on all sides. They are awakening to the fact, however, that there is a way of protecting themselves and dairy interests generally by organization, and these organizations are being entered into freely. The victory over oleomargarine or hog butter," should be a great encouragement to these farmers to go further and root out the numerous other evils, among them bogus cheese. By crganization, prices can be regulated in a

There was an average of about twentysix cows actually in milk in the dairy during the year. As cows are bought and sold, not the same twenty-six cows were in the herd throughout the year. There are generally, also, three or four dry cows in the herd. From the summary it will be seen that for the number of cows actually in milk 6,175 pounds of milk were given per cow. The cost of food per cow was $37.83, and the cost for labor was $61.36, making the total expense per cow in milk, nearly $100. The labor, however, included a considerable amount of experimental work and also the labor of taking care of dry cows, heifers, calves and bulls. It also includes the cost of retailing the milk. The cost for food only relates to the cows in milk. Assuming 8.6 pounds per gallon of milk, the cost of food per gallon of milk is 5.2 cents, the cost for labor per gallon of milk 8.5 cents, while the average price received for milk on this basis was 20.5 cents. It will be seen that the average cost of a gallon of milk retailed to consumers was 13.7 cents. real cost, however, is somewhat greater than this, because more than 8.6 pounds are required for a gallon of milk when peddled to the consumers. It is worthy of notice that the work was all done by students, for which, it will be seen, they received $1,595.44. The gross income from each cow actually in milk was $147.80, the expense $99.19, leaving a net income per cow of $48.61, or, for a herd of twentysix cows, a net gain of $1,333.55.

The

Cherry Culture.-In planting cherries avoid all conditions that are calculated to force a strong growth of wood and select sites that will tend to retard

development in the early spring. Fruit buds if too far advanced are liable to be killed by the late frosts when the tree itself is quite hard. To prevent the bark bursting, as is frequently the case in the West, the tree should be trained to branch near the ground. The low branches seem to be the better method for growing cherries in all the Western country. In Russia, where the cherry is successfully grown, the bush form has proven the most convenient and best producer. The trees should be planted on rather light, welldrained soil, on a northern slope if possible. Water should be used sparingly and the soil cultivated sufficient to induce a moderate and definite annual growth.

Do Your Hens Lay?-Yes, I feed my forty-five pullets three mornings in the. week, six quarts finely chopped hay, timothy and clover mixed, six quarts boiling water and two quarts each of bran and middlings; two mornings, four quarts of small potatoes and turnips boiled, mashed and mixed with two quarts each of bran and middlings, and two mornings, the same amount of bran and middlings mixed with scalding hot milk. At noon I throw a basketful or two of chaff from the barn floor to them. At night I give three pints of wheat or, when very cold, two quarts of corn heated in the oven. Sometimes I substitute a quart of oil meal for the two quarts of middlings in the morning. In addition the hens have all the bones from our beef and pork, oyster shells and scraps from the lard and tallow. The latter, chopped fine, are fed twice a week, three pints at a time in the morning.

The Irrigation Farmer.-Irrigated farms have a tendency to induce their owners to cultivate crops that will pay the largest profits, and the irrigation farmer is, in a vast majority of cases, a man of high intelligence, who studies to make his land as profitable as possible. He has broken loose from the traditions of his forefathers because he is surrounded by different conditions. He has learned what it means to control the water supply of his land, and he seeks to take advantage of this tremendous lever to cultivate his acres. Farming, with him, is a science, in which he has learned that the conditions which tend toward success are greatly in his favor, if intelligently applied,

and he uses this intelligence to produce the best results. Water is the predominating element in farming in the arid region, and its value will never be less than at present, while its average cost is likely to diminish through the use of improved methods for its conservation and distribution.

The Kansas Corn Crop.-Secretary Coburn of the Kansas Board of Agriculture has just issued his final crop report for the year. The item of foremost interest is the yield of corn. The secretary says: "The yield for this year, with one exception, is greater than in any previous year in the State's history and ranks Kansas one of the four banner corn States

of the world. The total product is 201,457,396 bushels, an average yield on the entire area planted (8,394,871 acres) of twenty-four bushels per acre. The aver

age price of corn for the year is given as 23 cents per bushel and the price at which it is being sold or contracted (delivered) in the principal corn counties ranges from 16 to 21 cents and averages 18 cents. Thirty-three per cent of the crop is reported as likely to be disposed of at the latter average by the close of the year.

The Broom Corn Crop shows a very large increase in acreage over '94 in Kansas, amounting to more than 50 per cent, while in Illinois a small decrease is apparent. The total acreage of the country is estimated at 200,100 acres, or more than double the area cultivated in '89, as returned by the census. This, taken in conjunction with the average yield per acre, as computed by Orange Judd Farmer, points to a '95 crop of 57,000 tons, compared with 19,300 tons in '89.

Low Priced Potatoes. Not in years have potatoes sold as low in Chicago, South Water street merchants complaining of excessive offerings and a difficulty in clearing up accumulations. In Wisconsin large quantities are being stored in pits, subject to frost damage, and Minnesota and the Dakotas are equally loud in their complaints of a lack of market. especially if some distance from railway. Chicago receipts have been as great as 100 cars per day and recently as many as 275 cars, or 130,000 bushels, were on track awaiting

sale, against an average daily consump tion of 30 cars, leaving the surplus for shipment.

That New Insecticide "raupenleim," or German insect lime, is proving wonderfully useful and effective in combating a wide variety of insect pests. The main objection to it is the cost, but this has been met by an American imitation called " dendrolene" that is much cheaper and apparently quite as effective. The New Jersey experiment station deserves the credit of introducing and testing these new compounds.

Cow Peas.-The fertility of a large peach orchard in Georgia is kept up by sowing cow peas between the rows, and letting large numbers of hogs harvest them in November and December. Peas are a much better feed for young hogs than corn. How difficult it is for us to get away from the belief that corn is the only crop we can grow with success and profit for the hogs!

Kaffir Corn.-The farmers of Oklahoma have been experimenting with the new Kaffir corn, and they are now ready to declare that it will bring more money to the farmers of the United States than all of the famous gold mines of the Kaffir country from which it comes. Nebraska, Kansas and other States are also growing

it.

Winter Oats.-Letters from experiment stations throughout the central West show that winter oats have been tried in but a few localities north of the Ohio; that practically no systematic tests have been made of them in all that region, and that they have been most successful in the extreme Southern portions.

Beans not Seeds. The question. was taken all the way up to the United States Supreme Court, and that body bas decided that beans are not seeds but vegetables.

Pumpkins and Turnips, fed with meal, will make a better appetite and guarantee those important streaks of lean and fat which command the best prices.