Rocky Ford enterprise., 1897-07-15
WESTERN FARM NOTES.
From Field and Farm,

tFrOm tlelu ana thfiii.b
Fields and fruit farms In the vicinity Of
Denver look thrifty. Sweet corn is brcist
high and tnsseling. Garden crops are well
advanced and the abundance of early r'IiH
has kept vegetation moving. Grasshoppers
not annoying farmers to any serious ex-
tent. und the principal work IL the perpetual
battle with weeds, which seem to thrive
with unusual vigor this year.
A man In Boulder county says alfalfa Is
not no tenacious OF life that 1t cannot be
Killed In summer. He says to rid Held
of alfalfa. piow In midsummer, turning up
the roots to the hot sun. Or II the field can
be irrigated. let the water stand on II two
or three days In midsummer. This will rot
the roots and after the water has been
drained on the field can he plowcd. The
most sure plan no doubt Is to plow 1t under
deeply with plenty of horse power and fall
plowlng Will probably prove more effectunl
than when the work Ia done earlier.
In Rio Arriba county, New Mexico. the
Increase In sheep this year has been over %
per cent. on an average. and In some Few
hocks II has been 10 per cent. Shcnring IN
over. the clip II better than usual, ana
prices for wool are held higher than for
long time past. but no sales have yet been
made. The unusually moist spring put the
ranges In fine condition and the sheep have
done well In every particular and the same
conditions prevail throughout the territory.
Wool Is going out Of Douglas. Wyoming. ut
u great rate this season and Will aggregate
l,5OO,OOO pounds.
One of the almost forgotten DEts OF ngri-
culture In Colorado Is the culture of turnips
for stock feed and table use. Here Us In
the East 1t Is well to follow the old rule OF
sowing the seed on July 18th and the crop
can he grown on land from which some ear
Her crop has been taken on. The cost to
raise nm acre Of turnlps is about 81 They
do equally well on old new ground.
Wood ashes Is recommended to destroy the
leas that may get away with the turnips.
but SCOT from the chimney is also excellent
for this purpose-better than ashes. In fact.
and can be applied In the early morning
when there Is n slight dew on the growth.
Perennial weeds, such ms golden rod iron
weed. and some OF the suniiowcrs. can usu-
nlly he kept In check by moving when In
early bloom. The mower should he run high
so ms to miss much OF the grass ms pos
sIblc. Occasionally 1t Is necessary to grub
out such plants ns the rosln weeds. Annual
weeds, like hrc-wcctl. suniiower and rag
weed. may bc destroyed In the same manner.
The moving should always bc done before
the seeds ripcn. a thorough narrowing In
the spring while the weeds were very young
would have destroyed many OF them. but II
Is now necessary to adopt more stringent
measures. and where the moving machine
can be run II Is probably ms good n method
as any. Otherwise the scythc may have to
be used.
There Is much disappointment In the
nelghborhOod OF Denver regarding the poor
success that has resulted from efforts to
grow some OF the cane fruits. Mistakes ar.
often made In trying TO grow raspbcrries
and blackbcrrics by ncglcctlng the plants
after the first year. and they are failures to
the extent of the neglect given them. This
Is rule that will hold good In almost any
kind of management. The best way to do Is
to keep them clean. keeping them In rows
and giving them good and frequent cuitivn-
tion, with Intelligent irrigation. 1t may be
necessary to stir occasionally with the STIR
ring plOw. The best plan Is to plant the
rows 50 far apart that u disc Will pass be-
tween the rows and the stirring and culti-
| walton may he done with this Implement
But this. alas. Is very seldom done. and we
do not wonder much at the failures some
people make.
1t Is surprising fact that. practically
speaking, without water. without grass or
anything else to keep cattle On. those fcl-
lows down In Arizona are getting rlch In
the cattle Industry. What they feed on is "a
question. Two-thir,ls Of the stock In west
ern Arizona hnd nothing to eat all winter
but mountain scenery, sage brush AMI snow.
yet their owners are obtaining better prices
than i've years ago by 81 to 81 head. Year
ling steers are bringing S12 to S13. two-ycar.
olds SIG and three. .ycar.olds SlD. In the
western counties OF Arlzonn rnin IL almost
unknown. We have known OF cases where
It was necessary to drive cattle twenty-five
miles for water. There Is really no expense
attached TO the business. outside OF the
hire OF men to keep the cattle together In
bunchcs and help can be had for u song.
Cattle breed In that warm climate about
three times Ms fast ns they do here. The
biggest cattle raiser down there, old man
Tom Bacon. shipped into Kansas City last
season 10000 head without asking for u
dollar until the season was over. Bacon
has tract of land 200 miles Wide for his
stock. He does not know himself how
many cattle he has Bacon has nine chill.
dren and Inst Christmas he gave them each
5000 head Of cattle for present.
A question OF the greatest Importance In
regions of deficient rainfall or where irrlgn.
tion IL practIced. Is the storage capacity OF
the soil for water. When the soil IL thor
oughly Iooscned up. the amount of water
which It will hold Is greatly increased. and
the rise OF water to the surface and evap.
Grafton are checked. On this point the Ne.
braska station makes the following suggcs.
tions: Subsoil piowing. although n means
Of conserving moisture. does not produce Il.
and is therefore. not n substitute for irri-
cation where the rainfall Is too small to
produce crops. Where there is II hard, dry
subsoIl. subsoIl pIowing Is to he recommend
cd. Where the subsoIl Is loose. grnvcily. or
sandy. subsoliing In probably unnecessary,
or may even be Injurious. Do not subsoii
when the soil Is very wet. either above or
beneath. us there is great danger OF pud-
ding the soil. thus leaving 1t In worse con-
ditIon than before. This Is one OF the rea-
sons why II is better to subsoil In the fall
than In the spring. ff the ground be sub
soiled In the fall. the winter and spring
rains have ample opportunity to soak In.
that being the season OF greatest rainfall
and least evaporation. Subsoiing In the
spring may be positive dctriment II the
subsoll be extremely dry. as In that case
the rain water Is partially removed from
the young plant by the absorption Of the
bottom soil. II the spring rains were heavy,
this would not be Il disadvantage.
Lightning struck n I,0OO.barrcl oil tank.
two miles north of Olcan. New York. A can
non was procured and shots fired at the sur
rounding tanks to allow the oil to escape