Farm And Garden

Professor F. H. King of the Wisconsin experiment station, in his paper on "Irrigation In Hnmid Climates, " published in a farmers' bulletin, lias the following to say on the construction of the reservoirs necessary where pumps are employed, and particularly if windmilis are used: The location of the reservoirs should be such that its level is above that of the land to which it is to supply water. The deeper the reservoir can be made the less will be the loss by evaporation and usually also by leakage, but if the water supplied to it is too cold to use it will warm f aster in a shallow reservoir. Where the soil is of a clayey nature a good reservoir may be made by first plowing and removing the sod to a distance beyond the border of the proposed walls, because if introduced into the wall it will leak. The earth is then plowed and seraped into a broad ridge having the inside slanting in order that the waves shall not erode the embankment. While the earth is being deposited in the wall it should be trampled firm and close. Wheu the proper height and form have been given to the walls of the reservoir, it is necessary to plow and thoroughly pulverize the bottom to a depth of five inches preparatory to puddling it. If the reservoir is circular in outline, the loosened soil shonld be first wet at the center and thoroughly puddled there by trampling with a team. Then by widening the wet area the team may be driven round and round until the sides are reached and the whole thoroughly worked into a mortar. In this condition, if thoroughly puddled, the reservoir is nearly water tight. To prevent washing the inner slope may be covered with a layer of coarse gravel or crushed rock. If a perfectly water tight reservoir is desired, the bottom should be cemented, coated with asphalt and sand, or six or eight inches of brick clay used in the puddling. To remove the water from the reservoir the best plan is to use lap weid steani pipe provided with an elbow and laid with the mouth of the elbow level with the bottom of the reservoir and 1 faoing lip. This is closedwith a plug to : which a long T handle is attached. The cut represents a cross section of reservoir with plug inserted in the discharge pipe. The end of the pipe where the plug is inserted should be thoroughly imbedded in a large mass of cement heavy enough to prevent it froni being shaken when the plug is taken out or inserted. A reservoir with sloping sides should have an outlet at the junction of the sides and bottom, and it will be necessary to buikl a pier out to it in order to reach ' the plug. A reservoir 4 feet deep and 40 feet in ! diameter will hold water enough to irrigate 0.35 acre 4 inches deep autl 0.69 acre 2 inches deep and 100 feet in diameter will irrígate 4.62 and 2. 16 acres 2 and 4 inches deep respectively. Ramie Fiber. The Dundee Courier gives an illustrated account of how the ramie fiber ia ; worked at Wraysbury, on the Thames, ; near London. According to this account, at Wraysbury there is a perfected plant I of ungumming, bleaching, preparing, combing and spinning. In a word, at Wraysbury have been dernonstrated the possibilities of turning out yarn at a price to compete with flax or mohair and at about one-third the price of spun silk. The constitution of ramie is so entirely different from hemp, flax and other textile plants that the fiber must be treated by a wholly different method. It cannot be spun on cotton machinery. On wool, flax and silk waste machiuery it works fairly well. A special plant, however, is necessary to treat the fiber economically and to enable a cheap yarn to be produced that will permit manuf acturers to buy it either for its strength or for its luster. Nbw, if it is provcd that machinery has been successfully introduced for the treatment of ramie sterns freshly cut, there will undoubtedly be a more wide cultivation of the plant. There is practically no limit to the goods that can be manufactured from ramie. lts strength renders it suitable, it is claimed, for ropes, twine, machine bands, belting or sailcloth and fishing Unes and nets and for many of such purposes its diminished bulk and weight render it specially suitable. It can, it is averred, be converted into a cloth similar to cotton and it vies with flax as the basis for damask tablecloths and the like. It will mix with silk, wool and even cotton, adding strength by the alliance. The waste can be utilized for paper making of a high class. lts absorbent and antiseptic qnalitics, it is claimed, render it specially suitable for medical purposes. Tobacco Propagated From Slips. Foreign exchanges give the intelligence of the discovery of a tobáceo export of Hungary which may cause decided changos in the system of culture. Tobacco has been hitherto treated as an annual plant. According to the new system, it can be propagated from slips. It is claimed that the ■ leaves harvested from plants propagated from slips are ! in all respects superior to those of the mother plant. Should these reports prove true the chief labor in tobáceo cultivatiou of growing new plants every year from the seed will be done away with.