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VALUE OF DRAINAGE Much Swamoy Land May Be Made Quite Productive. WORK IS ONLY FAIRLY BEGUN Land* Too Wet for Profitable Produc tion of Crops Should Be Drained— Improves Soil by Making It M^re Porous and Friable. (Prepared by the United States Depart ment of Agriculture.) By simple drainage much of the wet swampy farm land which cannot be cultivated in its present condition may be made productive. There Is also many a piece of culti vated land which is not producing what it could be made to do if it were properly drained. Indeed, according to the department's specialists, drain age in the United States is only fairly begun, and its immense possibilities are but little known. Farmers' Bulle tin No. 524 of the United States de partment of agriculture discusses this subject in som« detail. Lands that are too wet for the most profiable production of crops, such as wet level land, it«w spots, and the dry subsoils of flat areas on the summits of knolls, river and creek bottoms, and peat bogs, should be drained. Even uplands may often be drained with profit, especially hillsides subject to erosion or inclined to he "spouty." In deed, drainage if? profitable wherever it is necessary ibe fullest use of the land. It is not uncommon for lands too wet for cultivation to produce, when drained, GO to 70 bushels of corn or oats or from one to one and a half bales of cotton to the acre. On much Of the drained land the increase of yield is from 25 to 100 per cent, and by the increased yield and decreased eost of cultivation the value of the iand is often doubled. Improves the Soil. Drainage improves the physical con dition of the soil by making it more porous and friable. Thus stiff soils are made more easy to work. The roots of plants are given a greater feeding depth by the lowering of tho Water level and hence the ability of crops to utiiize moisture is increased. Well-drained soils absorb more rain fall than undrained soils, thus de creasing erosion and damage by floods. Drainage warms the soil. Heat from the sun acts directly upon the Boil when excessive moisture is re moved by drainage. This is notice able in the North, where the planting season is from one to two weeks earlier on drained land than on sim ilar land when undrained. The dan ger of damage by frost both in the Spring and in the fall is reduced. Warming of the soil also causes the vO $&&& ff Raw* "3* Fifl. 1.—Field Needing Drainage. Seed to germinate more readily, there by giving a better stand of crops and Causing the plants to grow mere promptly. Drained land can be plowed earlier tn the spring than undrained land. Crops can be cultivated sooner after a rain, and if covered tile drains are used instead of open ditches machin ery can be used to better advantage and the cost of cultivation decreased. Health conditions ai'c also improved by the drainage of svramps and stand ing water. The breeding places for mosquitoes are removed, with the con sequent abolishment of malaria in the locality. Practical System. The most practical drainage system is one that is adequate, permanent, uses «the least possible land, and is not a hindrance to cultivation. Tile drains which empty into either open or closed outlets most nearly provide such a system. By the open-ditch sys tem much valuable land is occupied, the drainage is seldom thorough, and the ditches become filled and have to bo cleaned out. Open ditches some times occupy as much as ten per cent and frequently five per cent of the area drained. Thu» it is that tile drains, while more expensive to in stall, are generally the most econom ical in the end. In laying out a drainage system, the outlet is the first consideration. On rolling or hilly lands channels have usually been washed out, al though they may need to be straight ened and cleaned out. On low, level land it is usually necessary to dig open ditches, and they should be straight and deep, since curves check the flow of water, while in a deep ditch water generally flows more rapidly aad less vegetation is likely to be present The outlets should be deep enough to take care of the flow fr«.a branch drains, which may necessarily be placed low to secure sufficient fall. Open ditches work well with a drop of four feet to the mile, although some, of necessity, have no more than one foot drop. In loamy soil3 utuiject to freezing the sides of the ditch should have a slope of f5 i$r£ degrees, in sandy soils a greater slope, while in stiff soils subjected to little freezing a less slope will do. Outlet ditches should usually follow the natural course of the water, al though efficiency and economy may necessitate a diversion from the nafc ural watercourse. Use of Open Ditches. When the ditch runs through a field, the earth should be leveled back from the bank, so that no more ground than is necessary will be lost from cultivation. When the value of the land is high, the open ditch should not be used where it is practic&Ne to use tile. In the middle West tilce as iilissp Fig.'2.—Same Field Afte Being TiU Drained. 'arge as three feet in diarnt isr are fre quently used, and, being covered ovar, they do not occupy tillable land or divide a field. Where properly laid, there is little danger of the tiles fill ing and practically no maintenance cost. Because water runs fastei through tiles they can bo much small er than the open ditch. The latter, however, has an advantage in holding more water after a rain, though, per haps, not carrying moi*e. The farmex is in a position to judge for himsel' when it is profitable to use tile. PROFIT FROM ALFALFA ACRE Greatest, Most Profitable and Produc tive Swine Forage—Test Made at Iowa Station. (By JOHN M. EVVARD, Chief in Swii* Production, Animal Husbandry Section, Iowa Experiment Station.) Recently there was returned a profit of a little over $250 for the operations carried on an acre of alfalfa the corn was charged at 60 cents, and the hogs sold for $7. Now these are the returns for the happy combination of self-fed corn and an acre of self-fed alfalfa, taking young growing fattening pigs to the weight of 250 pounds, no charge being made for the alfalfa. Charge the al falfa at $10 an acre and there remains $240 pork values (assuming no loss of pigs) over and above feed costs. Labor is arbitrarily assumed to be offset by the manurial residues remaining of course a charge of $1 a pig labor could be charged and still leave for the acre's operation a net return of $206. The alfalfa acre carried 44 pigs on the average from weaning to market, these pigs finishing at 250 pounds, fat and high-dressing. No alfalfa, of course, was left on the acre it was all pastured. This is not the best prac tice, but it shows what corn on an al falfa acre will do when the corn as well as the alfalfa is pushed to the limit. These pigs gained 1.46 pound a day during the entire grazing season of 140 days, requiring 387 pounds of corn feed for a hundred pounds gain, this costing $4.14 with 60-cent corn. The charge for alfalfa on the basis of hundred pounds gain amounts to $.12 (12 cents), making a total cost of $4.26. After paying for the alfalfa and crediting all the profits to the com the net return per bushel was, with $7 hogs, almost a dollar, or exactly 98.5 cents. But let us remember that alfalfa in itself will not net $250 on the acre, OT corn alone 98.5 cents to the bushel when fed to $7 hogs. It is the very happy combination of self-fed corn and self-fed alfalfa that does these things. The cost of gains with 60-cent corn, and $10 alfalfa at $4.25 perhaps tells ihe story best—although it is well to bear in mind that after all is said and done in the swine forage srory that corn and alfalfa are pre-eminently the most profitable corn belt doublet cf economic feeds that it is possible t»i grow and fatten swine on. Alfalfa is our greatest, most produc tive, most profitable swine forage and corn is our greatest, most productive, most profitable swine growing feed. Why not plan the swine feeding with alfalfa and corn as the basal feeds? Storage for Cabbages. Where only a few cabbages are tt be stored it is a good plan to wra the heads in newspapers and put their on shelves in a cool cellar. Skim Milk Buttermilk. Skim milk buttermilk is the equa of natural buttermilk in uraticnjH| every important respect. IT APPEARS strange that the greatest of American prehistoric ruins, those now inclosed in the Mesa Verde National park in southwestern Colorado, should have escaped discovery until 1888. Years before, innumerable ancient ruins left in several other states by the ances tors of the Pueblo Indians had been described and pictured. They had been the subjects of popular lectures they had been treated in books of science and booKs of travel they had become a familiar American specta cle Even the ruins in the Mancos canyon in Colorado were explored as early as 1874. W. H. Jackson, who led the government party, found there many small dwellings broken down by the weather. The next year he was followed by Prof. W. H. Holmes, later chief of the bureau of American eth nology, who drew attention to the re markable stone towers so character istic of the region. COOK COUNTY MEWSflEBAU), fiBMP MINN. MES A VERDE NATIONAL. TOURISTS' CAMP But these discoveries attracted little attention because of their inferiority to the better-known ruins of Arizona and New Mexico. Had either of the explorers followed up the side canyon of the Mancos they would have then discovered ruins which are, in the words of Baron Gustav Nordenskiold, the talented Swedish explorer, "so magnificent that they surpass any thing of the kind known in the United States." This explains why delvers in li braries find so little about the Mesa Verde. Most books and magazine articles were written when cliff dwell ings were a novelty. Monument of Bygone Ages. Baron Nordenskiold thus describes in his book, "The Cliff Dwellers of the Mesa Verde," the discovery of the wonderful dwellings in this side can yon of the Mancos: "The honor of the discovery of these remarkable ruins belongs to Richard and Alfred Wetherill of Man cos. The family owns large herds of cattle, which wander about on the Mesa Verde. The care of these herds often calls for long rides on the mesa CurF PALACD and in its labyrinth of canyons. Dur ing these long excursions ruins, the one more magnificent than the other, have been discovered. The two larg est were found by Richard Wetherill and Charley Mason one December day In 1888, as they were riding together through the pinyon wood on the mesa in search of a stray herd. They had penetrated through the dense scrub to the edge of a deep canyon. In the opposite cliff, sheltered by a huge massive vault of rock, there lay before their astonished eyes a whole town, with towers and walls, rising out of a heap of ruins. This grand monument of bygone ages seemed to them well deserving of the name of the Cliff Pal ace. Not far from this place, but in a different canyon, they discovered, on the same day, another very large cliff dwelling. To this they gave the name of Spruce Tree House, from a great spruce that jutted forth from the ruins. "During the course of years Richard and Alfred Wetherill have explored the mesa and its canyons in all di rections. They have thus gained a more thorough knowledge of its ruins than anyone. Together with their brc cners, John, Clayton and Wynn, they have also carried out excavations during which a number of extremely interesting finds have been made." Like Great Apartment House. Spruce Tree house has a distinct, likeness to a gigantic hotel built in a cave with a crescent-shaped roof, the floor of the cave being fifty feet above the bottom of the canyon and the root eighty feet high. Its total length is 216 feet, SLJd its greatest width eighty nine feef In places were rooms original ly three stories in height, the final story at present having no roof ex cept the top of the cave, b«t most of the rooms now to be seen are on the first floor, although in some places a second story is still standing There have been traced 114 separate rooms in this great structure, besides eight sub terranean ceremonial chambers, known as kivas. It has been estimat ed that the building had a population of about 350 natives. Cliff palace, the second of those im portant ruins, is nearly three times the size of Spruce Tree house, and has over 200 rooms. It was repaired in 1900 and now presents a very re spectable appearance to the visitor. Like Spruce Tree house, it is in a cave, the roof of which arches about seventy-five feet above it, and is lo cated in Cliff canyon, the floor of which is several hundred feet above the level of the canyon. It is ap proached by means of steps cut in the rock, and ladders. Deep under the debris which cov ered tho lower entrance of Cliff pal ace the excavators found the ancient entrance to the building, which leads by a gradual slope to the center oi the village. These wonderful archeological ruins present to the visitor unusual opportunities to see the early type of dwellings, and offer to the student op portunity to study early life, construc tion in buildings and religious and secular ceremonies of the anoient cliff dwellers. Castle Is Most Wondenul. Only recently there has been discov ered. across the canyon from Cliff pal ace, the most remarkable of these re markable ruins:—a* cut-and-polished stone citadel, already known as the "castle." The stone edifice is uuilt the shape of an enormous "D." The ver tical line of the "D"* measures 132 feet, while the circular wall measures 245 feet, a mammoth affair covering m. nearly a city block. The architecture is perfect, the stones are polished to marble smoothness and every stone joins its neighbor with exactness. Tho walls are hollow and filled with tiny rooms, from which doors open into the main court. So far no doors have been found through this outer wall, and it is supposed that en trance either was made from the top by way of ladders or through a tunnel down under the walls. Inclosed in the wall3 are circular stone rooms, called kivas, supposed to have been meeting places for the men. Probably twenty such rooms are in cluded in the main court. Pottery of exceptionally beautiful design and workmanship hat. oeen found in the interior of the walls. Excavation has not progressed far enough down to reveal other examples of the craft of the extinct cliff-dwell ing tribes. The finger prints of the women, who evidently laid the stones, are in the clay between the stones. No inscriptions have been found, al though several of the stones bear tri angular designs and other markings. The discovery of tho "castle" opens again the question of whether the toil ing hordes of the "cliff dwellers" we**e a warlike race. No reason can be giv en for the erection of thie pretention work except that it was intended *8 a refuge in time of war. No war1Jke weapons, however, have Veen discov ered in the ruin. Their energies seem to have inclined toward pottery mak ing, basket wwiig, soil tilling and garment making. SUMMARY OF IMPORTANT HAP PENINGS IN FAR OFF NORTHWEST. ITEMS FROM THE OLD HOME Resume of the Most Important Events In Sweden, Norway and Denmark— Of Interest to the Scandinavians In America. SWEDEN. Swedish iron mine owners state that Lhe British submarine blockade will re sult In a complete stoppage of Ger many's large iron ore importation from Sweden. Iron ore is not contraband and could ordinarily be shipped on neutral vessels, but at present all Swedish and other neutral shipping is otherwise engaged, and no vessels are available. Figures at hand show to what extent the. .nutation of iron ore has been coventrated on the Baltic and how shipping was decreased owing to the risk of capture by Brit ish cruisers. In the year 1913 2,180, 000 tons of iron ore were shipped from Narvik and 2,320,000 tons in 1914, and, according to reports of the current year, the total shipping of iron ore will not be over 1,200,000 tons. From Lulea, on the other hand, the amount tf iron ore exported has increased fron 90\),000 tons—last year's figures, to 2,198,000, with one month of the ship ping season still unreported. Other Baltic ports record a like increase. I%e present stoppage of the iron ore trade is a heavy blow to Sweden, nut the Swedish press, realizing Engianu necessity, has indulged in neither bit terness nor complaint. German ships are now playing a difficult game. Nav igating elose to the shore in order to be in neutral waters is not easy dur ing the best season, and with the rough seas of winter it will be par ticularly hazardous. The "Stockholm system," deviseu by Dr. Ivan Bratt, allows every citi zen in good standing to buy one litre (a trifle over an American quart) of spirituous liquor every five days. Books are provided containing cou pons, one of which is torn off with every purchase, the book at the same time being stamped with the date. This method has been rigorously en forced. Notorious drunkards and per sons with police records have not been allowed to buy liquor. The plan has be«-n extended to 31 of the 100 dis tricts in Sweden, and the government lia^ issued an order to apply it to the whole of Sweden beginning January 1, 1916. In Sweden the "Stockholm system" has proved to be a big step forward in the temperance movement. —Leslie's. The Swedish consul in Madrid, Heri* Harald Dahlander, is now on a visit 16 his native land after an absence of thirty years. Even now he is corn billing business with pleasure, officiat ing as guide for a Spanish commission which is visiting Sweden on an im portant errand. Mrs. Dahlander has lived in Spain for fifty-seven years, during which period she has never seen Sweden. The Swedish sugar trust has had a very prosperous year, owing to the high prices received for sugar shipped to Norway and Germany. The earn ings for the last year were about $300,000 in excess of those of the previous year. The net profits were $2,335,SD0. The stockholders received a dividend of five per cent, and $540, 000 waB added to the reserve fund. Prssident Poincare of France re ceived a delegation of prominent Swedes, including Baron A. T. Adels waerd, former minister of finance Baron Palmstierna, deputy from Stock holm several university professors and many officers. They visited muni tions factories and hospitals, after which they spent four days at the front. The annual meeting of the labor unions of Sweden represented 82,902 members. The local unions had en tered into collective contracts to the number of 1,107. During the year 1914 about $160,000 was paid as aid during labor conflicts. The committee on church legisla tion has endorsed the proposition made by the cabinet to permit people to take part in the communion with out haying first attended a communion sermon. Prince Maximilian of Bavaria has been on a visit to Sweden. He was re ceived by King Gustaf and the Ger man ambassador and stayed with the ting while he remained in Stockholm. Baron NordenfalV recently invited King Gustaf to a hunt at the Tama grounds. His majesty killed three moose on this occasion. Up to that time h" had killed an even dozen dur ing the open season. The crown prince and crown prin cess visited the Salvation Army bazaar for the benefit of the deaf and dumb of Stockholm. It was obvious that the royal visitors took great interest in the undertaking, and the? ex pressed their grfttit»^» because the 'w.aar had beep. DILNMARK. It is announced from Copenhagen that an agreement has been concluded between the British foreign office and an association of importers in Den mark regarding imports. So far as Denmark is concerned it is an exten sion of the idea of the Netherlands overseas trust. It is believed to place distinct limitations on Axp«»"Jcaa trade. Mr. Reisenhus, one of the temper ance veterans of Copenhagen, attend ed a festival given in honor of a man who had been a member of the temper ance society for 25 years. When the time came for Mr. Reisenhus to make an address, he spoke with force and enthusiasm, and just as he had said that he was in hopes that he would live until he had a chance to vote for national prohibition, he fell backward and died. Capt. Niels Larsen was drowned last winter in Svendborg harbor. His body was found a long time afterwards and buried in the Rudkjobing churchyard. It was noticed that his dog folio wed the coffin to the graveyard. He stayed there until he got so hungry that he had to leave. But just as soon as he had found something to eat he would return to the graveyard. He stayed there most of the time last summer, and did not change his habits when cold weather set in. Finally the peo ple in the neighborhood took pity on the faithful animal and saved him from further suffering by killing him A seine boat from Nyborg scored a great success at Anholt. One haul of the seine brought so much hep ring that both the seine boat and its auxiliary were filled. The value oi the one catch was $2,700. which almosf paid for the seine boat, which wai new. Many old pastures have been plowed at Helstrup, Grenten and Stevnstruft But the sod is BO tough that it takes four horses and two men to keep thf plow going. The late Mrs. Louise Margrete Still ing, nee Toldorph, at Rudkoping, left legacies aggregating $54,000. Thf largest one, which amounts to aboul $40,000, is to be managed for th« benefit of widows and daughters oq preachers who served charges outsidi of Copenhagen. She was a preach er's daughter herself, and was noted for her generosity during the lattei part of her life. The Danish Milk company has r© solved to give 75 gallon* of milk A day to the eight children's homt*a which are managed by co-operative churches in Copenhagen. This fre« service is worth about $5,000 a year, NORWAY. The state grain commission report ed that the visible supply of grain ia Norway September 1 was 145,000 tons of wheat and rye, 99,000 tons of barley and 20'6,060 tons of oats. In addition to this, contracts had been made foi 133,000 tons of wheat, and rye and 12, 000 tons of barley, making 589,000 tons of grain in all. During the years 1909 '913 the monthly consumption was 64,000 tons. On this basis tha present supply would last about nina months. But the consumption hai been smaller since the beginning oi the war, and it is estimated that tin 589,000 tons contracted for or on hand will last about eleven and a hall months, or to the middle of August next year. Tho water is running low in thg wells on the farms around Bergen, and many of them are dry. Many farmers have to fetch water from the distance. Factories dependent upon water pow er are in a critical condition. Four charitable institutions of Lille hammer recently received donations aggregating over $4,500 from Mr. Ind seth and wife. The same people had given over $5,000 to similar institi* tions in Roros, the birth pi-ace of Mr, Indseth. Timber owners in the district ol Drammen have sold logs for millions ol kroner this season. The price fot logs fit only for pulp has been about $20 per dozen, and about $27 per dozen for saw logK. These are the highest prices ever paid in Norway. Th« Mjondaleu cellulose factory was at the head of the list of buyers, with about 35,000 dozen IM:S. Mortality statistics gathered a fe\i years ago have now been elaborated with great cam. The mortality among children is much smaller than 25 years ago. But the showing for people be tween the ages of twenty and thirty years is the worst in Europe. It is claimed that mortality has never beei so great among people above twentj years old in Norway. After the ag« of thirty there is rapid Improvement, and the record for those who pass thq fiftieth year is said to be the best in the world. Gunhild Marie Nilsdatter Birkenes, widow of Greigatadt, Nedenes amt, was one hundred and one years old No vember 1. She has lived all her lif« in the same neighborhood. Her hus band died 12 years ago. Her men tal condition is still good, and she walks about and does a little work all day. She worries a great deal about the war, and often ask$ for particu lars. The Norwegian steam el ip Kiar hat "been sunk. Its crew o: eigl men was landed