Rocky Ford enterprise., 1895-01-24
Irrisstio. NeeA

;
leo that the grain has lately advanced
to SIPS per cwt. 1t has been found
that for feeding in connection with al
falfa there is nothing better than
Egyptian corn and 1t is going to be ex.
tensively grown hereafter all over the
West.
A Fremont county farmer wanted q
large and early corn, a variety that
would mature in high altitude. He
planted three rows of an eight-rowed
yellow corn and one row of yellow
dent. When the tassels began to ap-
pear he cut off the tops Of the eight
rowed corn, leaving the dent to pollen
iZe the smaller kind. As result he has
a distinct variety which is both large
and early.
The state board of horticulture esti-
mates that the orchard area in Calf
fornia has been increased the present
season by $4,000 acres planted to var
ious kinds of fruit. From this 1t would
seem that California has reached the
pinnacle of horticultural development
and is not keeping up with Colorado In
the matter of increased acreage. Our
new orchard planting for last year will
aggregate $4,000 acres or thereabouts.
The meeting of the State Dairy As
ISOLATION in Denver this week was but
poorly attended to say the least, says
Field and Farm. The dairymen Of
Colorado are not taking advantage of
every opportunity to improve their con-
dition. They should attend the meet
ings and subscribe for more wide
awake papers. In a word they must
keep up with the progress of the times
by catching onto every means avail
able. They must turn over every stone
found In the great pathway Of life.
If about one out of every three farm
ers In Colorado who are now slashing
around over big areas of land like
bulls in a china shop, getting poorer
every day raising grain and stock, will
just begin to use their brains n little,
il they have any; put half their land
in alfalfa and go to keeping cows for
creamery supply, they will not be so
deep In the hole in three years time,
says Representative Funderburg. The
true salvation of our agricultural in
dustry lies in the dairy COW, whether
we irrigate our lands or not.
With the exception of the farmers
who yet rely entirely upon the rain
fall for the maturity Of their crops Of
grain, there was no serious loss or In
convenience the past year because Of
the drouth. Indeed, 1t Is probable that
the irrigated farms have yielded q larg-
er income in the increase of prices be-
cause Of the scarcity Of hay and grain
on the dry ranches than they would
have in an ordinary year. The drouth
has demonstrated beyond question the
safety Of relying upon the supply Of
water in the irrigation ditch in times
when the natural rainfall Is at the low
est ebb.-Field and Farm.
The surplus water now rushing past
f-o ats r,f or
be the salvation of thousands of acres
If diverted and utilized, says Senator
Warren. A citizen of New England
once made the laudable boast that not
drop of water In his state ran to the
sea without having its usefulness
trebled by being made to turn the
wheels of industry. Might he not have
also said that every drop Of water
flowing from the mountains to the sea,
not utilized for irrigation on its way,
is like gold dropped into the bottom Of
the ocean-irretrievab lost! II spread
upon the soil water enhances the value
of the land and creates national wealth
just as surely as does gold from the
mines of the mountains add to the
volume of our money.
G. w. Steele, in an exhaustive paper
Mt the Horticultural association on
stated that last season Mesa county
alone shipped 1 100000 pounds of fruit,
the larger part peaches. From Glen
wood Springs to Fruita fruit growing
had been found profitable, orchards as
rule growing several kinds of fruit,
the apple, pear, peach, plum, prune.
apricot, cherry and nectarine doing
equally well. Vineyards did well. The
only small fruit found generally profit
able was the strawberry. AS 1t ripens
before the Denver grown berries, q
ready market is found. Untimely frosts
are unknown in the valley, leaving on
ly insect pests to be met. Nine years
experience showed eight crops out Of
nine sure for the half hardy fruits and
Il sure crop always for the more hardy
ones. The uniform success of ORCH
ards, the large crops produced, the
healthy condition of the trees and the
early age at which they come into
bearing prove the superiority of West
ern Colorado as q fruit-growing sec
tion.
On the Colorado divide the past sea-
son by dry farming methods only, the
best results in potato culture were OBJ
tanned from seed planted June 4tll
and 5th, and put in three inches deep
on land plowed eight to ten inches
deep. There are many ways ana metli-
DDS of planting that fair results may
be obtained. Plow the ground at least
six inches deep and 1t would not do
any harm to plow deeper, as the deeper
the loose soil the more moisture 1t will
retain from the short, dashing showers
The use of the subsoil plow will be
found very advantageous. The most
profitable seed to use Is the smallest
marketable size, which should be
planted as soon as possible after cut
ting. The seed should be placed nj
such a distance apart that the roots ol
one hill will not interfere with the
roots of the next. Close growing
varieties, such as Early Ohio, should
be planted closer than those of a more
spreading habit, as the Mammoth Pear
or Rose Seeding.
A ConejOs county representative
named Garcia wants the state Of Colo
RADIO TO pay for an experimental ar
tesian well In the San Luis Valley. The
bill provides for the sinking of a well
near Antonito on state land. There Is
in that section tract of about 9,OO(
acres for which water cannot be pro
cured. If the proposed artesian well
will have as large flow as the Ala
mosa wells there will be sufficient wa
ter to irrigate good sized tract OF