from burning the bowl, and thus prevents making its bore larger or uneven, which would in proportion spoil the draught. The sides of the bowl are thick, to keep in the heat, thus making the burning at the same temperature at the edges of the to

2

3

FIG. 3. CORNCOB PIPE WITH STEM OUT OF CENTER

DRAUGHT.

1, Unevenly burned tobacco; 2, Smoldering: 3, Distilled.

bacco as in the center, and, when the pipe is not puffed, preventing undue cooling. Needless to say, tobacco should be consumed at an even temperature; to vary it from high to low for any cause ruins the flavor of the best kinds of the weed. It is commonly known that a "cake" adds to the good smoking qualities of a pipe. This is due to two causes: the cake, being mineral, stays hot when the pipe is not puffed; and also, being of different material from the bowl, prevents the loss of heat.

By a "cool" pipe, one means a “dry pipe;" and this all depends on the stem, not on the bowl. A "cool" pipe or a "hot" pipe has little to do with the actual heat of the smoke coming from the stem into the mouth, but almost everything to do with the chemical qualities of the smoke. Any tobacco smoked at different temperatures produces different chemical results, and the tastes of these are falsely laid to the material of the pipe instead of to its construction.

A poor pipe-no matter if it cost $50 and was given to you by your best beloved-is shown in Fig. 2. The draught is everywhere uneven; and over half of the pipe, except on the very surface, there is no burning of the tobacco at all. This

is not only waste, but-which is worsespoils all the tobacco in the bowl. Not only is the tobacco burned badly, but a zone along the line of consumption is merely charred and smolders; besides this, the unburned but highly heated tobacco out of the line of draught is more or less distilled, the flavors from which mingle with those from the charred portion and the unevenly burned tobaccothe total mixture being something to weep and cough over. The same thing is noticed in the corncob pipe, Fig. 3, when the reed stem is run into the bowl only to its inner edge. Now push the reed a little farther in, and you have a good pipe, as in Fig. 4. Besides forming the "cake" common to all pipes, the corncob is light in weight, hence is easily held between the teeth; moreover, being of a cellular structure and full of dead air, the corncob retains the heat in the bowl, causing an even burning, whereas many other pipe substances, like clay, iron, or a dense, heavy wood, without the cake, change temperature rapidly up and down the scale, almost with every puff.

All fancy types of pipes are apt to be no good whatever. The plain bowl and stem, as in Fig. 1, are the best. All contrivances to "catch" or to "absorb" the "nicotine" only drive a man to cigars or out of the house. The reason of this is

O the riddle, "Why is the Department of Agriculture?" some scoffers have been wont to reply, "Just 'cause." They used to ridicule the agricultural work of the Government because they said there were no tangible results. But the Department, in its Yearbook for 1905, comes to the front with a "just cause" for its existence. What business man in the United States, whether he fathers a trust or runs a corner drug store, can point to a profit like this: An investment of An investment of $2,000 in 1864, now produces an annual income of $40,000,000? Yet this is one of the records of the much-maligned Agricultural Department. The Department introduced from China and France in 1864, a comparatively small amount of sorghum at a cost of $2,000. Now a considerable part of the molasses consumed

in the United States comes from this original outlay of $2,000, and the annual value of the sorghum crop is at least $40,000,000.

But the astonishing work of the Agricultural Department does not stop with sorghum. The branch of the Department's work which endeavors to find new things for the farmer to grow, and to make the United States independent of foreign countries for all of its cereals, has been most prolific in tangible results; and its success in transplanting alien grains is phenomenal, and is financially a paying proposition.

There is Kafir corn, for instance. This was introduced at a cost of about $5,000, and was found especially suitable to the semi-arid lands of the Southwest. The value of the present crop is over $15,000,000.

From $10,000 original outlay to a crop

of $10,000,000, is the record of Durum or "Macaroni" wheat. This variety, also, is of special value in sections of the country where rainfall is slight; and more than 500,000 acres of land which would be too dry for growing other kinds of wheat, are now under cultivation with Durum.

Increasing the value of land is another of the good effects of this importation policy of the Government. Texas and Louisiana owe much of the phenomenal growth of their rice industries to the Government's importation of Japanese Kiushu rice at a cost of $18,000. In five years after the transplanting of this variety (1899-1904), the output of rice in this country increased from 180 million pounds to 550 million pounds. Even if only one-half of this increase has been due to the importation of Kiushu rice, the average annual value of the experiment is about $3,000,000.

In Wisconsin alone, the annual value. of the crop of "Swedish Select" oats is estimated at a million dollars, whereas the initial cost of introduction was $5,000.

Fultz wheat and the Washington navel orange were also introduced to this coun

try by the Agricultural Department. The value of the California crop alone of the Washington orange for the past year, was $8,000,000.

Instances of this kind could be duplicated without number, nearly every case showing a most remarkable increase in actual commercial value of the product resulting from the importation by the Department. Some $4,500,000 has been spent in this kind of work since it was begun; and the estimated annual value to-day of only a few of the varieties far exceeds the 100-million-dollar mark.

Wherever land has been found unsuited to the everyday crops, it has been the business of the Department to ascertain what will grow there and will at the same time be profitable for the farmer. Moreover, the practical value of the work done is freely put within the reach of every individual farmer in the United States; for he may write to the Agricultural Department at Washington, and will receive suggestions from the trained experts there as to what is the best and most profitable product to raise on his particular piece of land. Here's to the farmer and his friends at Washington!