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THE INTERVIEWER. Corn in the Orchard-C. P. Wilcox's Ex periment with Early Minnesota Dent- How to Plant and Cultivate-The Or chard the Gainer-Irrigating—Yield per Acre—Valuable Hints to Owners ot New Orchards. A great many people now arriving in the "arid btlt" hail from the com growing states. Very naturally one of the first. questions arising in their minds is, Can we grow Indian corn here? The universal re sponse i«, Yes, of course. Bat, huve you tried it? U not so often answersd in the af firmative, for the fact is that most ranchers can do so much better with some of the specialties that little dependence is placed upon corn. But the corn and b icon fed man does not take stock always in cripi about which he knows little. He will come to it gradually, but it is best to let him take his time to get acclimated and to ontch the venturesome spirit by actual contact. I thought it would be n good idea to tell these new comers, these; believe) s in the in fallibility of corn as a staple '.'rop, just what can be clone with their favoiite in this land of promise*, and knowing a man ex perienced in growing the crop, have tuken down his testimony for publication. C. P. YVHcoi is the niiin, and the field of Corn operations is on the "Parker bottom" or "upper Sunoyaide," that voted fruit lo cality down the river. You cultivate Indian coin, I have heard, among your prune trees. What has been your experience? Yes; I have been growing it there for three years. What has been your success? The lirst two years I harvested a fair crop, say 50 to 69 bushels per acre. Last year, however, I did a great deal bettor than that. How was that? •Simply because I had planted the right variety of seed, What is the variety? Early Minnesota Dent. I planted it upon the same eight acre orchard ground that the ordinary sort was grown upon the previous year, and gave it precisely the same treat ment throughout, but [ secured from the Held 825 bushels* of ear corn, or nearly double tht> amoiiut. How old is your prune orchard in which this corn was grown? It was set two voars ago this spring. How far apart ore the trees? They are set in triangular form, eighteen feet apart, giving 125 trees to the acre. How many rows of corn were planted be tween the rows of trees? Two row?, three and one-half feet apart; in hills two feet apart, three to four kernels to the hill. How near d >es tint bring your corn to the tree rows? A little less than seven feet. When do you recommend planting in that locality? About the middle of May, depending; a little upon tho reason, of course. THE RANCH. Did you give the corn any special atten tion? No; cultivated in the usual way, and often enough to keep the weeds down and the soil in good condition for both corn and trees. What about tin irrigation? I did not irrigate at all until the corn was bit; enough for the Hist cultivation; then by small ditches in the usual way; after that the water was turned into the ditches ouce in four to six weeks during the grow ing season. When did the crop ripen? We hus'ted the com on or about the mid dle of October. It was 95 per cent sound, merchantable corn. You cousider corn a good crop to grow in a young orchard, do you? Very good, indeed; one of the very beat. Tlie Deeded cultivation to keep the corn growing all right is precisely the thing for the young trees. It pays, too? Yes, the corn will pay all the expenses of both orchard and corn cultivation. Thi3 year I rent the field to a man, giving him the crop of co.n for keeping the orchard in cultivation. Corn is as profitable a crop here as any whet c else. ]f one does not wish to feed it there is always a good market for it at the North YaViira mill or, to owners of stouk for feed; some think, you know, that there is no food like corn to "ripen up" pork, and they are not far out ot the way. Your young p -une orcha v-d is doing well, in the -joru? Admirably; do not see how it could be doing better. BRIEF TURF TALK. Thomas Chappal is a California horseman now stationed with his stock at the state fair grounds at North Yakima. A Hanoi representative visiting tno grounds last week took a hasty glance at Mr Chappel's horses, consisting of two standard bred stallions, a gelding, a brood mare and two fillies. The first stallion shown was Ben Doild, a beautiful bay, loi hands high, clean of limb, active and speedy, though as yet with out record: Hb will bi given a score this season. Ben Dodd is by Garnet VVilkes, by Onward; he by George Wilkes. Ben Dodd'l dam was Lalla Rooke, by Reconstruction; he was bred by C. J. Dodd, Knoxville, lowa. The other stallion is Goodwood, by John Wetberbead'i Wooduut; dam, the Patohen mare Flora; she has a record of 3 minutes as a "2-year-old. Woodnut is by Nutwood, a stallion having more performers iv the "2:30 class than any other living sire. He commands §1,000 for service at Dubuijue, lowa. Goodwood is a bay, H>h hands, of fine form, active, and a strong goer. He will make a record this fall. The gelding is a full brother to(iood\vood, and has record of 3:03 as a '2-year-old. He is 5 years old and a very promising track horse Flora, a 10-year-old Patchen mare, .shows her good brood qualities in the two fine fil lies by htr ride, lespectively 2 and 'A yeais old—a choice trio that any horseman might bfl proud t: ou n. Mr. Chappel is anxiously awaiting the completion of the track at the state fair grounds, for he is desirous of working his own horses and a few others that ho is will ing to care for anil train, ilu was asked for his manner of feeding hid horses, and replied Unit during the winter he had fed alfalfa and wheat hay. When working his horse*, little or no alfalfa is given; it is not good for the purpose, No grain has been given, but now that the stallions we to be fitted for service, an oat ration will be ad ded. For turf horses at work no hay is so good as bright, well-cared timothy. Con stant grooming, pure water, plenty of ex ercise, are the other requirements for fit ting horses for the track itud for keeping them in condition. THE COLONEL IN CALIFORNIA. A Washington man cannot smother his tendeucy to be all the time making com parisons, and looking forward to a like condition of things at borne; and the comparison I made led me to note that the Californiana have a higher regard for their land that! we have; they accom plish more with it and hold it to be worth much more per acre. They know the value of water for irrigation better than we do, too. Across the bay from .San Francisco, the owner of a ranch near San Leandl'O asked me what we paid for water per acre in the state of Washing ton. I told him the highest I had ever known to be paid was $30 for a perma nent water right. lie thought it not very much no pay for so important au element in fanning, and suid he would gladly give five times that .sum for wa ter on his ranch during the months of July and August. And yet it was a tract of orchard and field from which two generations have each made ii fortune. The Btatcmtmt impressed me with the value of water, and I reflected in nay thoughts the abundance of it in Ynldma count)', where it will do every whit ;is much for the farmer as it will in California. The time will come when both land and water will be held at a higher figure here —probably after more of those Cal ifornian initiators have come Into pos session of it. Down there they have more to say about the value of water as a fertilizer, and every little place bis its windiiiill and tank, from which the precious fluid is taken, and as carefully handled as though it were tea or coffee, so far as waste is concerned. —Colonel L. B. Howlett, in Taoonm Ledger. The R&ed oak upon the bteep stands more tinn ami secure if assailed by angry winds; for if the winter barei i(s bead, the more strongly it strikes It* roots intu the ground, acquiriug strength as il loses beauty.—M'Jtustatio. 9