Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1886-04-24
FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSE
HOLD.
UTILIZING POOR LAND.

are several acres of land from which
no returns are received. What is
worse, they greatly injure the appear
ance of the farm and diminish its pc
cuniary value if it is offered for sale.
1t may be said that these waste places
cost the owner of the farm nothing, as
he spends neither time nor money in
cultivating them. Such, however. is
not the fact. They are taxed like
other portions of tho farm, and as a
rule they are surrounded by fences.
They call for an annual outlay Of time
and money, and they afford neither
pleasure nor gain. Sometimes these
waste places are high, steep and rocky.
or have had the productive soil re-
moved from them by the continued
washings that follow heavy rains. At
other times they are low and marshy,
and have no natural outlet for the
water that collects in them. In some
cases they cannot be drained without
tUO COlECnt VI lLo OWhCI vi thO w
joining property. Occasionally the
waste land is chiefly occupied by a ra-
vine, that is annually growing wider
and deeper for tho reason that tie
banks and bottoms are not protected
as they might be.
There are a few sorts Of land that
cannot be made productive Of either
pleasurs or profit, and which would
Anot be made to afford both if they were
Fsn countries where land is scarcer and
labor moro plenty. However steep
and rocky land may be it can be made
to produce trees and vines hat are
both useful and ornamental. There
are scarcely any mountains in this
country that are not covered with
trees, shrubs and vines, if they have
been protected from fires. The roots
OF trees and hardy vines find their way
among rocks and obtain all the nutri-
ment they require. All the nut bearing
trees do exceedingly we'll on these
rocky elevations. SO do all varieties
of evergreens. A hill covered with
~nut-bearing trees and evergreens pre-
sents a very beautiful appearance and
ornaments a farm better than expen-
sive buildings do. Many hardy apple
trees and grapevines do we'll on these
rocky elevations. The like is true Of
wild plum and cherry trees. A hill
covered with trees and vines will soon
become n source of delight TO the occu-
pants OF a farm. II they are from 8
place where forests abound it will re-
mind them of their old home. 1t will
DO seen and admired by travellers and
people living several miles from it.
Many pieces Of land that are too
rocky. broken or unproductive to be
plowed can be made to produce certain
crops without much expenditure of
labor or money. Good crops of pump
kins, squashes, melons and cucumbers
can be raised on land of which not
mere than one-tifteenth part is worked
by any implement. Large hills can
be made by the use of the spade,
pick, or mattock, n liberal amount Of
stable manure applied and the best soil
mixed with it. On this the seeds of
the vines a be planted and the young
plants tended in the usual manner AS
tho vines increase in longth they will
extend over the hard earth and do
quite rs well as they would or the
most fertile soil. Pumpkins, squashes,
and melons will ripen finely if they lie
on high and rocky land. These vine
crops are generally neglected by west
ern farmers because they are voted a
"bother'' in corn-fields, and for the adj
ditional reason that farmers do not like
to devote good corr land to their pro-
duction. Tomatoes also do very we'll
if planted in similar situations, and the
fruit ripens much better than in COM
paratively low and moist places.
Rayines can be utilized in various
ways. Some that arc 1Snite wide and
have firm banks can be rooted over
end be made to protect all kinds of
farm stock. The Indians used ravines
for the protection of their ponies long
before this country was discovered and
occupied By the whites. Some ravines
that have hard banks and bottoms can
be used for the storage of water TO use
in time of drought. All that is neces-
sary to convert them into reservoirs is
to build a strong dam Of stone or tim
Der, and to furnish it with a discharge
pipo, and q spout for carrying Oft the
superious water. 1t is easy to prevent
ravines from increasing in size by SOW
ing tho banks with the seeds of grasses
that have long and tenacious roots.
The grass may never be OF any value as
food for animals, but ii will protect the
banks, and will make them beautiful.
Trees will grow in ravines, and many
tender varieties will do bettor IN tfem
than in places where they are exposed
tO tho o,p opt IN hivh winds. Recent