Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-09-20
j. p. STEELE, EDITOR.
DESTROYS of making up their minds as to

DESTROYS Of making up their minds as to
whether or not irrigation would pay even
in so considered humid region of country.
In our former article we mentioned an ex-
tensive building called by Mir. Hastings his
''cuke house" "Cuke'' means cucumber
il. Florida. In this ''cuke house. Mr. Hast
ings raises cucumbers and other tender
| vegetables throughout the winter, protect
| ing them from freeze by letting in artesian
water when blizzard is upon the region.
The ''cuke house" is simply large green
| house warmed by artesian water instead of
| furnaces. As to the cost of such house as
| his C65 feet long and twenty-five feet
wide, Mr.. Hastings says it is not above
S14O0, all complete, in Florida 1t would
| cost little more in Eastern or Northern
Texas, owing to the higher price of lumber,
| but the difference would not be very great
on account of the fact that in carpenters
work, common labor, sash and glass lies by
far the heaviest cost, and these things rate
as low in Texas as in Florida.
| Mr.. Hastings finds his 'cuke house, a
| paying institution most decidedly. He
raises an English variety of the long green
| cucumber, which grows more than one foot
| in length, and from one and half to two
| and half inches in diameter. II develops
| to perfection in his ''cuke house; through
| out the winter. One cucumber cut up will
serve several persons abundantly at i meal.
| Coming fresh from the vines, as they dc,
| Mr.. Hastings can get almost any price he
| has the conscience to ask for them. So
great was the demand for them last winter
| that he could not fill one-tentE of the orders
sent in from the various Florida hotels.
Early cabbage, cauliflower, tomato plants
| and SO on bring in a fine additional revenue
to the .cuke house
MIR. Hastings does not give the rate of
flow from his artesian well. If we remem-
Der Alright it is five-inch well, and since
the lift is only thirty feet, as Mr.. Hastings
states, its flow cannot be anything so large
as that of our natatorinm well in Fort
Worth, and many other wells in the Fort
Worth Waco artesian area: and yet Mr..
Hastings finds his well afording ample
water for perfectly irrigating from eighty
to one hundred acres of land under truck
farming, besides protecting his "cuke
house, from cold in winter.
On account OF having hosts of new sub
scribers who did not read THE GAZETTE
some months ago, ii might be well for us to
go over how Mr. Hastings protects his
plants by his artesian We'll The "cuke
house is merely large, plain house with
air-tight walls and n sash and glass roof
The plants are set in boxes or bins running
the long way of the house, their bottoms
elevated from six to twelve inches above
the floor, which last is simply the natural
earth ,levcled off and pounded down to
tirmness. The house sits with one end near
the well, and its floor slopes gently to-
wards the other end When the outside
temperature falls below the freezing point
the water of the well is turned into the
''cul:e house, and allowed to flow in thin
sheet all over its ''ffoor'' to the furthest
end, so long as the blizzard lasts The
house is tightly closed, of course, and the
higher temperature of the water keeps the
interior warm enough to protect the plants.
even when the outside temperature is from
fifteen to twenty dogs. or more below freez-
ing.
Aud allow US TO here put in few words
relative to the possibility of such protec-
ton from artesian wells in the Fort Worth
Waco artesian area, say at Fort Worth.
Mr.. Hastings well is only 339 feet deep,
and therefore the temperature of the water
flowing from IL could not be above 80 deg.
F., and vet it protects tender plants from
an outside temperature of II dogs. above
zero as was proved by test last winter
The temperature of our natatorium well is
about so dogs. F. 1t must be plain to all rea-
sonable persons that with such an arrange
ment as Mr.. Hastings has the natatorium
well would protect tender plants 10 perfec-
ton even with an outside temperature fully
down to zero. OF course we never expect
any such outside temperature here, but
there is no harm in showing up our capa-
bilitieS were it necessary: 10 make use of
them.
Mr.. Hastings has in his 'cuke house,
four beds or boxes reaching the long way of
the building-l50 feet each in length. Upon
these he plants his cucumbers two feet
apart one strong plant TO the hill. The
plants are trained on wires to within fifteen |
inches of the glass roof-the cucumbers
hang down from the vines. The yield is |
immense.
In his open-alr culture Mr.. Hastings has |
had fine results from irrigation. His to-
mato crop has been something wonderful TO
look upon this year. He confines his oper- |
atoms mainly to truck-farming, making one |
crop lap onto another the season round, |
though he has this year done considerable |
in upland rice. II takes no more water for |
upland rice than for other crops. and the |
yield is so heavy as TO make the crop en-
tirely profitable. The straw gives him a |
valuable feed for his stock. After cutting |
his main crop, a second growth about two |
and half feet high springs from the stub |
bic, which also makes superior forage |
He buys no hay-the rice gives him every
thing he needs in that line. His present |
fall crop is Irish potatoes and turnips a |
little later and he will be sowing Bermuda |
onions, and starting his celery plants.
SCIENTIFIC FARMING
Even here in progressive Texas you will |