Rocky Ford enterprise., 1897-09-16
WESTERN FARM NOTES,
(From Field and Farm.1

he TWO years WOOL OF u. y. OfttI OF
Conejos county has been sold and Ii
now being shipped out in sixty ears.
The two jugs brought $4,000.
The Abbott Live Stock Company OF
Bent county has sold 100000 pounds of
wool, the result Of two annual shear
ings, to Il Boston house ut ten cents u
pound.
The range beef In the big mountain
parks Of western Colorado is beginning
to find Its way out to market, III
though there is no great rush as yet,
and most of the shipping will be done
from October LIST to 18Th.
The cnttlemcn of S0cOrro and Sierra
counties, New Mexico. are anticipating
the prevalence OF black leg among
herds, which they believe Is caused by
the cattle putting on too much fat. To
prevent this the cowboyos have re-
ceived orders from the owners to keep
the animals on the mOvc-thnt is, to
hustle them about from place to place.
In order to reduce flesh. Not for years
have the ranges been In such excellent
condition and ut the same time so bar
rcn of stock.
We are still receiving reports from
all over the state telling of large corn
crops everywhere, and from all ac-
counts many people are changing their
ideas about Colorado being no corn
state. They used TO say it was no coun-
try for any farm crop and rs for fruit
there was no such word In the book.
Sorghum. too. Is n fine yield and Knffir
corn has never looked so well. II Is
now time to cut ensilage and the men
who are so fortunate rs to have slices
are the busy ones this week Tie fine
corn crops should now be saved in the
proper way.
Cattle prices must naturally continue
to go up OH account of The scarcity
which exists all over the West. The
time is coming when everything wear
ing horns and hoOfs will he in demand
and it might be well to add in this con-
nection that the discrimination against
the hcifer for beef rs compared with
the steer should be discontinued by the
butchers. as 1t Is unjust. These men
have always cOntendcd for the claim
that there Is greater value In steer
of n certain weight than In n heifer of
the same weight. and the feeder has
had to accept 1t for so long II time that
he stopped kicking over the discrimi.
nation. But there is no just claim in
this and in the course OF time the
heifer and steer will be admitted to
the markets on equal terms.
A correspondent In Weld county
writes: "Soon Jack Frost will spread
his mantle over our gardens, and un-
less they have some protection our sup
ply of tomatoes will be suddenly cut OF.
Last fall we determined to prolonS our
supply II possibly. Before the ap-
proach OF frost n quantity Of new
wheat straw was hauled and placed
convenient to the patch. When 1t be-
came evident that frost was nt hand
the vines were covered with this straw
until thew were fairly hidden. Where
tomatoes have been stnked, the stakes
should be removed and the vines III
lowed to lie fiat on the ground. This
straw was put on and removed repeat
cdly as the weather changed. and final
ly left OIL all the time. As n result of
this vigilance we had nice sound tomn-
toes until Christmas, fully two months
later than our neishbors who allowed
their vines to perish with first frost"
The fruit growers OF the western
slope are much concerned over their
fruit prospects. especially as regards
transportation. and some other means
must bc devised for selling their goods.
l.. ]. Mathews. manager of the Delta
County Fruit Growers Association.
SAYS that at the very lowest estimate
one-fourth of the crop will be allowed
to hang OH the trees and rot. and 9th
crs say the waste will b. greater than
one-third. All the growers complain
that they are shut out OF the markets
east of Chicago by prohibitory freight
rates. and they declare that the rates
to the Missouri river leave n margin so
light that some shippers lose money.
Take. for example. the expense of
marketing Il carload OF peaches in
Cleveland or Indianapolis says Mr..
Mathews. In order to get the rate of
81. 40 per cwt. we must accept as the
minimum carload weight "a 900 pounds
and nay for that many pounds. al
though we cannot load more than D.
900 pounds. That makes The freight
cost S336. The icing charge is SI5.
Say we sell the shipment for $500. the
commission charge is ten per cent. or
$50. 1t costs five per cent. to handle
the business at this end. which Is $40
more. The cases for one carload cost
about 500. picking and hauling cost
$50, which foois up SGSl. leaving SID
to cover loss by freight spelling. inter-
terest on our investment and the labor
of caring for the trees. As matter OF
fact. we usually get less than $3.50 for
Il carload of peaches marketed in the
East. and we have not shipped car
load east of Chicago Oil which we have
uot lpSf money!