Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-10-15
IRRIGATION pAYs-THE PROOF.

residence, northwest corner OIL EdSt
Belknap and Pecan streets, Fort
Worth The plat Of ground worked
by him is only 12x44 feet in size,
lying east and west. 1t is devoted to vege-
tables, with the exception of a single row
of grapes along one side. The vegetables
are planted in rows lying the long way of
the plat, and irrigated by running water
from 4 common city hydrant through shall
low bitches between the rows. 1t void
not do to call the experiment perfect one
by any means, as not near the stipulated
quantity of water for full irrigation has
been given at any time during the season,
and yet the little plat has supplied more
vegetables all along than Mr.. Mayfeld's
family could use.
Early in the season the plat was planted
10 tomatoes, Irish potatoes, okra, bush
beans, running beans, onions, turnips and
various other vegetables, and from that
time on TO the present different crops have
been made TO LAP upon each other right
along. The running beans planted in
spring are still thrifty and entirely full of
fruit. One row Of Okra was planted. but
)
field found no need of more than a single
hill, so he removed all but one hill, which
is now literally loaded with young and
tender pods From single hill of com
mon spreading okra planted on this plat
MIR. MayGcld gathered 40 pods.
The latess crop was planted on the 10th
of August last, and consisted of bush beans
and turnips. At this writing October y
the beans are carrying fine crop, and the
plants are as full of young beans and bios
SONS as plants could possibly be. The
p!auts are more than knee high, and are
the very perfection OF luxuriance and
thrift. The turnips have large and succu-
lent leaves, and many of them measure
more than two feet across the tops of the
plant.
The grapevine row already referred to is
composed of several varieties, and now in
full aud luxuriant foliage. All fruited well,
and some Of the late varieties in the row
Btill have on Il good crop Of fruit
any persons entertaining doubts rs to the
possibility of making irrigation pay in this
region would certainly have those doubts
promptly removed by calling at the corner
of Bclknap and Pecan and taking view of
what ii is doing in Mr.. AIayteld's little ex-
pertinent there. Half 4 dozen acres now
carrying such a crop as is carried by this
little plat would be quite fortune to its
pIyner ut this season Of the year when we
are shipping all cur snap beans from distant
regions all our Irish potatoes from Utah or
California, and so on to the extent of al
most everything We are using in the truck
l;1ie.
Il is no uncommon thing to hear people
assert that our stiff prairie soils Of Texas
could never bc made to work TO irrigation.
Thc,soil must he au open volcanic soil, they
say, TO let the water through. Mr.. May
feld : experiment has shown tbs 10 he de-
cidedly a mistake, for his operations have
been conducted on the ordinary stiff, waxy
aud Emy highlands Of the grand prairie
formation. Every foot of well-draiIed and
tillablc land Of the grand prairie fegion-the
land. surfacing the great Fort Worth
waco artesan arca-would respond to irri-
cation Us well as would any other land on
the face of the globe.
As shown ny lis last week, 5000 would
defray the expense Of completing an arte-
san well like the natatorium well ut Fort
Worth, anywhere in the neighborhood Of
Fort Worth, aad possibly anywhere in the
Fort Worth-Naco artesian area, extending
from near Red river above us TO Laredo on
the Rio Grande. Each well OF this charac-
ter would irrigate 20l acres of land, and
Keep u luxuriant crop growing upon it
without break from late frost in spring to
early frost in fall, and yet we leave those
lands lying in idleness through fully two
thirds of the cropping season, if wc except
their occupancy by a deep tap-root crop or
two. lndcep, we have but one crop that
runs through the season tcottonl. and that
crop is often more o. less injured by sum-
mer drouthS. AS the result of this we pour
Out of the state, for the actual necessaries
of lie, more money than all the crops we
now grow bring in And these necessaries
OF life might just as well De grown 10 full
supply within our own territory, with an
immense surplus for shipping out to other
less favored regions.
Il don't take long for reasonable man.
even though his reasoning powers may be
CiAA-AS4s WV" Iii " t-iAsAAS '. " SCC tLil VIC
are "wilfully and feionously'' deprivirg
ourselves of most important source of
revenue; but for what are we doing il?
This is question that will call for deep
thinking. Surely it cannot be for the mere
privilege of emptying our lean purses into
the flush Golfers of other regions, no more
favored by nature than is our own! No
wonder there are many among Us con-
stantly complaining of hard times.
But the bugbear of an existing danger of
over-production usually pops up at about
this stage of the argument. Nonsense!
There can be no over-production of pro-
vision products, the kind of products that
are usually raised by irrigation. If we can
not eat or feed all we produce there are
others ready TO pay for it and eat it or feed
It for US. Great plants may stop spinning,
or smelling, or forging, or coming silver,
etc, but our more than 60 600 600 little
plants with dependent millions in other
countries) engaged in working provision
products. must work on necessarily There
can be no suspension in that quarter.
TIE BEST SHEEP FORUS. 8
Mr.. Stephen Powers, a man well known
IN live stock literature, writes to the