The silver star., 1897-09-23
WESTERN FARM NOTES.
nrrom Field and rarml

Q'rom Field and Farm,)
The two years wool Of j. n. Ortiz Of
Conejos county has been sold and Is
now being shipped out In sixty cars.
The two jags 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 n Boston house Mt ten cents 4
pound.
The range beef in the big mountain
parks of western Colorado is beginning
to hnd Its way out to market, Al
though there is no great rush as yet,
and most of the shipping will be done
from October LIST TO 18th.
The cattlemen OF Socorro 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 mOye-that 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 at the same time SO bar
ren Of stock.
We are still receiving reports from
all over the state telling of large corn
crops everywhere, and from all &C.
counts many people are changing their
ideas about Colorado being no corn
state. They used to say it was no cotin-
try for any farm crop and us for fruit
there was no such word in the book.
Sorghum. too. is a fine yield and kafiir
corn has never looked so well. 1t is
now time to cut ensilage and the men
who are so fortunate as to have slices
are the busy ones this week. The fine
corn crops should now be saved in the
proper way.
| Cattle prices must naturally continue
to go up on 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 heifer for beef as compared with
the steer should be discontinued by the
butchers, as it is unjust. These men
have always contended for the claim
| that there is greater value in n steer
of Il certain weight than in heifer of
the same weight. and the feeder has
had to accept ii for so long a 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 prolong our
/ supply il possibly. Before the ap-
|
wheat straw was hauled and placed
convenient to the patch When 1t be-
came evident that frost was at hand
the vines We're covered with this straw
until thew were fairly hidden. Where
tomatoes have been staked, the stakes
should be removed and the vines al
lowed to lie fiat on the ground. This
straw was put on and removed repeat
edly as the weather changed, and final
ly left on all the time. AS a result Of
this vigilance we had nice sound toma-
toes until Christmas, fully two months
later than our neighbors who allowed
their vines 10 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 be devised for selling their goods
County Fruit Growers Association,
says that at the very lowest estimate
one-fourth of the crop viii be allowed
to hang ON the trees and rot. and 9TH
ers say the waste will be greater than
One-third. All the growers complain
that they are shut out of the markets
east of Chicago by prohibitory freight
raies. and they declare that the rates
To the Missouri river leave margin so
light that some shippers lose money.
Take. for example. the expense OF
marketing carload of peaches in
Cleveland or indianapolis" says Mr..
Matthew's. In order TO get the rate of
Sl.90 per cwt. we must accept as the
minimum carload weight 81 900 pounds
ana pay for that many pounds, al
though we cannot load more than q. =
900 pounds. That makes ihe freight
cost SIG. The icing charge Is $75.
Say we sell the shipment for $500, the
commission charge is ten per cent, or
$50. II costs five per cent. TO handle
the business NJ this end. which is $40
more. The eases for one carload cost
about $40, picking and hauling cost
S60 which foots up S6sl. leaving S110
to cover loss 10y freight spelling, inter.
ferest on our investment and the labor
OF caring for the trees. As n matter of
fact. we usually GET less than $3.50 for
n carload Of peaches marketed In the
East. and we have not shipped car.
load east of Chicago on which we have
not lost money"
selling Out Their Herds