Rocky Ford enterprise., 1894-08-16
POINTS FOR FARMERS.
"Fieid and Farm" Gives Some Usefu
HInts About Crops.

"Field and Farm" Gives some Usefui
Hints About Crops.
Another innovation in hay making
is the barrel ventilator used in stack
; ing. A common barrel is set on the
ground when the stack begins. When
| the hay comes to the top of 1t the
| barrel is raised two-thirds Its length,
E; and the stacking goes on in this way
| clear to the top, when the barrel Is no
longer needed, as the stack is proviu-
, ed with funnel in its center that Will
carry Off gases and Rceyent oyerheat-
ing.
John Cleghorn of South Fork, Rio
| Grande county, not far from the Min
eral county line, has come to the con-
clusion that he is at too high m alti-
tude. at S.4OO feet, to successfully grow
K, alfalfa, and potatoes have had hard
| struggle from frost. Timothy, OF
| course, does all right. but alfalfa Will
not do at all. p. Kohlander. one of the
, farmers in his county, says: 1.-The po
! tatoes 1 planted in April stood the
frost well and are doing well. Those
| l planted from May 18th to 10Th, the
! time usually considered best, are very
! much damaged. Those l planted July
| 1st are up and doing nicely, and
, think will make u good crop. From
| these experiments l argue that it is
safest to divide your planting and
/ plant part very early and the balance
! very late, say from June 25th to Both.
! / find my seed is much improved by
! the earliest planting, and l take my
| seed potatoes from the early planting
| always"
1t may surprise some Western farm.
| ers to learn that the United States
| does not produce potatoes enough to
supply the home demand, and that
| during the past season the immense
amount of nearly 100000 sacks of 16S
pounds weight each We're imported
| from Europe. This is the equivalent
| of 117,6OOOOO pounds. The average
selling price is not less than l cent
| pound, so that American potato eaters
| sent to European farmers the trihing
amount of S1,176,0OO, which by right
| ought to have been kept at home and
| paid to our own potato growers. Ger
| tainly it ought to be possible to raise
| In this country every potato that Is
| eaten here. Tie land required to pro-
duce this immense amount of tubers
would make n considerable reduction
! in the wheat area-the crop from
| which it is SO frequently complained
| does not pay expenses. 1t would nat
| urnlly devolve upon Colorado farmers
| to plant less wheat and grow spuds,
and the amount that is annually
brought over from Europe might just
| as easily be produced in this state.
The government experts have always
led the people to think that nut trees
| We're not amenable to such operations
| as transplanting in the nursery, and
have said the nuts must be planted
| where the trees are to grow. This is
\ fallacy that ought to have been long
| ago exploded; in fact, was exploded in
| the days of the ancient Romans, who
| transplanted nut trees as freely as
they did their apples and pears. And
this opinion is one of the principal rea
sons why nut culture has not pro-
| crossed, and why people have planted
worthless trees along the roadsides, be-
cause they suppose that nut trees could
not be transplanted with any certain.
| ty OF their living. 1t is just as easy
to grow nut-bearing trees as to pro-
duce cottonwoods, and it often seems
strange to us that the irrigntins
bitches and the lake sides of Colorado
are not lined with nut trees of Ameri-
can and European nativity While
some nut trees are rated as slow grow
ers, they would come OH fast enough il
constantly supplied with moisture and
cool earth at their roots, when planted
along the canals, and If placed on one
side of ditch only they would not be
In the way at cleaning time and would
prove of great profit and comfort in
future years.