Rocky Ford enterprise., 1894-04-05
The OterO HOrticulturists Have q
Ch0wder Program.

The OterO HOrticulturists Have
Chowder Program.
The special meeting OF the Otero Coun-
ty horticultural society last Saturday was
not we'll attended owing to the fact that
a number of the most active members
were attending an important meeting of
the High Line Canal Go. In the absence
OF the president, R. o. McClain, J. @.
Kahn took the chair.
The committe on program had asked
D. w. Barkley to tell all he knew Of hor-
ticuIture in five minutes, and the follow
ing was the response:
FIVE MINUTES ENOUGH.
"Bill Nye has written history Of the
United States In announcing the pub
lication of this book he says: 'If any
facts have crept into this history they
have done 80 without my knowledge or
consent" Patterning after the popular
humorist I will say that il any valuable
horticultural information is discovered
at the close of the meeting and refund
the gate money.
My first studies in horticulture began
in the year 1850, when at the tender age
of eight years. A favorite play ground
was an old orchard. Long suckers were
abundant around the base OF many trees.
1t was one Of my youthful recreations to
cut off these suckers with a Barlow knife
and sharpen the small end SO that it
would readily penetrate an apple. With
an apple sprout six feet long, flexible and
elastic, you have sling which
has throwing capacity equal to that
with which the Jewish shepherd boy kill
ed the Phillistine. Such a weapon has q
force and range which must be tried to
be believed. Adjacent to the orchard
was an old horse mill, largely given up
to the chickens as roosting place. About
sundown few large apples bounced on
the roof of the mill shed would bring the
chickens ont in plain view where they
were good targets for my horticultural mis-
siles. The only moral of this story is
that orchardists who allow suckers six
feet long to grow on their apple trees will
raise only such apples as are fit for boy
to throw at chickens.
I once spent the night in an obscure
country district in the east. Each of the
three corners of the room contained o
bed, and each bed was the ostensible
resting place Of two people, a total of six,
| to say nothing of the unnumbered multi
tude who held homestead rights on the
territory we temporarily occupied. The
fourth corner Of the room was devoted to
a lounge, on which slept the boy Of the
household, and under the lounge slept
the big yellow dog, and under the dog
was the family stock of dried apples.
The horticultural suggestion in this in
cident is: sell your apples without dry
ing them, but il they must be evaporated
don't dump them on the floor with that
carelessness that the old-time country
| Il Ach oil kr
it that the watch dog has his station out
side the house where he can be OF some
service in police duty.
| have never eaten fruit from culti-
yated mulberry tree, but have pleasant
memories of the wild varieties. The fruit
of the mulberry which grows among the
walnut, oak and hickory trees of the
Mississippi valley is neither large nor has
it specially fine flavor. Besides, the
berries are difficult to obtain in quantities
sufficient to satisfy the appetite of half
grown boy. But the mulberry has two
other uses which are paramount to its
value as a fruit-bearing tree. The null
berry leaves, when assimulated by the
digestive apparatus of the silk-worm, be-
come the raw material for the elegant
dresses which so delight the feminine
heart, and without which the world
would be dreary waste to fashionable
society. The other use of the mulberry
tree is not so important commercially,
but has glamor and attractiveness in
the eyes Of a sportsman which eclipses
the lustre Of the finest silk ever made up
by Worth for millionaire's daughter.
That mission is this: In it's season Of
fruiting it draws into its spreading
branches all the squirrels from wide
scope Of territory, and from thence they
can be picked of by the rife or shot
gun of the jubilant hunter. The man or
boy who has ever found mulberry fair
ly efervescent with grey squirrels will
ever afterward refer to this noble tree in
words of joyful enthusiasm.
To allow insects to increase in your
orchards will be worse than to permit
clusters of suckers to conceal the trunks
of the trees. No man who wilfully har-
bors injurious insects, without using all
available means to destroy them, has any
moral right to have apples to eat. To
decrease the ravsges Of insects You should
encourage the presence of all the birds
you possibly can, use the most approved
insecticides and the very best sprayers
which are obtainable.
Any intelligent man can plant an ORCH
ard, but it takes very faithful man to
bring one to a bearing age. The first
planting Of an orchard is a May-day pic
mic compared to the constant, watchful
long toll and palms. taking nee
essary to bring it to fruitage. The proper
care of an orchard, and combating the
various insect enemies which threaten it,
is like taking family of thirteen chill
dren through the measles, whooping-
cough, scarlet fever, and other Affections
incident to childhood. How to reduce
this worry and labor to a minimum, and
how best to prevent unnecessary expen-
| diture of time and labor by the adoption
| of precautionary measures, is one Of the
most important duties Of. this association.
An extensive traveller once said that if
he was asked to say what single aspect Of
our American economic condition most
strikingly and favorably distinguished
the people Of the northern states from
those of all other countries he had visit
ed, he would point to the fruit trees
which SO generally diversity every farm,
and are 30 generally found around the
modest homes of mechanics and work.
men in every village, and in the suburbs
of every city. This picture of the wide
diffusion Of wholesome and palatable
fruits included only the northern states
Those sections of the q. 8. where irriga-
ton is practiced have capacity for a
bsr,har n,rpIo ~ p,,1%;v,oA;o,, l,1%l,