, 1889-07-04
SLIGHTLY BATTERED.
BUT STILL IL THE FIELD AND
NOT DISCOURAGED.
10th Sides OF the Crop lrosp.,t I'm ,be
hig Bsud Iutsiiigenuy
Discussesi

| WATERvILLB, w. T., June 26 Cor.
respontence. - What helpless and de.
pendent beings We are; and occasionally
we are brought to really the fact. Only
u rev weeks ago the people Of ths Big
Bend felt very confident OF an unusually
large crop OF grains, hay and vegetables
th,' year. Indeed up to the lst Of June
the appearances seemed to justify the con.
clusiOn that good crop was almost as.
sured. But we did net get the expected
June raiu ana instead some very warm
| weather and AN unusual amount of west
anu northwest winds, drying out the
moisture from the surface OF the ground
The natural result from such weather 10 a
very short crop OF cereals, such as wheat,
oats AMI barley. In many places rain
would no the grain no good; some is
already cut tor hay and much more ought
to be. There will be but small percent
age cut for grain.
And to add to our troubles the small
prairie squirrels have swept hundreds of
acres OF grain 80 clean that there is not
even any hay lett where they harvested it.
l assure you they make clean work when
not interrupted. When they came in such
hordes the farmers resolved to poison
them; but there was but little stryctnine
| TO Oe had, and before it could pe procured
they had got their work in 80 thoroughly
that It vas too late for many farmers. To
save their gardens, potatoes and vegeta.
| bles raid was made on them, Killing
thousands, and many cats died from eat
ing the dead squirrels. Taking every.
thing into consideration, the outlook for
this season Is not very bright.
A good rain within u week or two would
be of great benefit to the potato crop, AS
| alan all ypuptahIpa ram dnaa ~ ,o,,a
the potato crop must be lighter than usual.
Corn Ia doing fairly we'll. Melons, cab
bage, tomatoes, beans, etc, tnat escaped
the cut worms aud moles still promise q
| tar crop. There seems to be no other
successful treatment for the squirrel pest
but systematic poisoning
The pioneers and those who have lived
here long enough to like the country are
not discouraged, but viii stick to 1t and
turn everything they can to live upon and
furnish something for those VINO have
been unfortunate, Some who came this
season are discouraged; a portion OF them
will sell their claims and 10 else " here. A
few claims have already been sold an
more are offered.
Now, have given the dark side of the
picture. Ii we should get rain soon the
crops may prove to be much better than
people here now generally expect | am
well satis fled that the crop will turn out
better than most people now think ii can
The harvest will tell the story. There are
some good fields of grain on fallow land
aud wnere corn and potatoes were grown
last year. When systematic farming
comes into practice results will be differ
ent. believe corn can be made profit
able crop here. The ground should be
well prepared, marked out, planted and
cultivated, not sown broadcast, narrowed
in on fresh broken sod, then turned out to
do the best 1t can, but sown in this way it
succeeds quite well. | hope to give q
brighter report in mT next.
L. S.--Since writing the fore going there
is quite u change in the weather, There
are now at 2 L, M. strong indications of
rain. Should u good rain come now it
will put new life in much Of the crop, as
also In farmers. | believe q good rain
would start up the grain from the roots
which are generally green, where the
squirrels have cut 1t off, and it might
make moderate crop OF hay or grain vet
Some immigrants who came here from
California and other places recently, after
staying u day or two, left the country, ap.
parcntly disgusted with the prospect In
the territory. Some Of them may live
long enough to regret their haste. One
reason the crops were injured was because
of being in sod land and some of it put in
late. One.third of the crop is on such
land.
have faith in the success of farmers in
this portion OF the Big Bend.
X. CURBALEY.