Rocky Ford enterprise., 1897-04-08
FARM NOTES.
rrom Field and rarm.)


1t Is n great snap to seek II bonus for u
creamery In town and then put up u plant
worth only hnlf the amount subscribed. Be'
ware OF false capitalization In such enter
prises.
Wool has lately taken a great advance.
stephens Brothers of Pueblo are all over the
Arkansas valley paying ms high as ID cents
pound. Az II looks now II would be good
scheme to hold the wool.
Some OF the progressive people north OF
Granada. Prowcrs county. Will make n trial
trip with melons this year. William Brum.
Held and Fred. Coolidge think they can
come Into the market week ahead of
Rocky Ford. If this In true. It will mean
many good. hard dollars for Granada.
Tests of wheat, oats and barley second
year from alfalfa sod. nS compared with
similar contiguous land that Ind not been
In alfalfa. were made last year by the Col.
orndo station, and In each case the alfalfa
sod produced much the better results. with
wheat ns 100 to 10. oats as 100 to 10 aud
barley ns 100 to IL.
good many Mexican cattle which have
been rushed across the line before the bars
are put up have reached Denver. fully l2,OOo
head coming np during the past two weeks.
These cattle are known ns iogles and are Of
the old long'horn Spanish type without any
pretense io improved breeding. They nrc
mostly bound for the northern grass ranges.
In writiE. on the Interesting subject of
cherries Salt Lake man named II. IL.
Bonecr says: 'For this western country
the Late Duke seems to take the lead In
lntcness and produciivcDcss. Its quality IL
also good. On account Of Its latrncss II
usually commands better price In the mar
Ret than those or the same family which are
earlier"
ta L., III,
crn country on the disk harrow as n substl.
tnic for the plow. There Is no Implement
more useful than the disk harrow. but Its
place Is to cnt up the sod and render the
soil line after the land has been piowcd. hut
farmers frequently use the disk harrow for
preparing stnbblc land for grain. leaving
out piowing altogether. There IL something
more In plowing than simply loosening the
surface for seeds. when land Is plowcd I.
holds more moisture. Hbsorbs warmth rap.
Idly and permits Of greater fce,ling capacity
for plants.
The prospects FOR fruit crop all over
Colorado were never better at this time of
year than now. and great prcpnratio for
big yield are going on everywhere. The
danger OF destructive frosts Is growing less
day by day and April Will soon he gone to
nilny our worst fears. Fruit buds remained
dormant all winter and showed no signs oi
storm had passed. and this was common.
place enough and did no damage. A reader
nt Fruitn. Mesa county. writes: "wc will
have more fruit this year In Grand Valley
than all the previous years put together
And this condition Will apply to every other
section over on the other side. Buds are
now swelling and the sap starting. but the
season seems to be three weeks later than
last spring. which Is an advantage as guar
nntec against Injury by frost,
In computing the cost OF settling out n
tcn-acrc orchard n man In the Pccos valley
Is surely high enough when he gives the
following figures: "Lnnd and water right
nt S3b an acre. SEA: fcncin: with barbcd
wire. $40: pIowinS and narrowing at 81 mn
acre. $50: trees one year old. at 10 cents
each. 100 trees to the acres, 500: carefully
planting the trees nt $40 an acres 500
Total, SGiO. The cost OF water rental 1.
S1.25 an acre a year. The cost Of caring for
and cultivating nn orchard for four years
until the trees come into bearing. depends
Of course on circumstances. II the owner
takes care of the orchard himself the cost
Is of course very little. Strawberries and
small fruits do equally well when planted
with apples. Inst year man had one
third of nn acre planted In Strawberries and
they bore 100 gallons of berries"
A correspondent In Bent county makes
inquiry MS to the best plant for covering n
slopng bank of an irrigation ditch. to keen
1t from washing out. In answer we would
state that one of the nest plants for this
purpose is the Forsyth'a vlrlcissinn. some.
times called the golden bell plant. This plant
hns widely ramlfying roots which send up
shoots or suckers. and rapidly makes II per.
feet thickct with roots spreading in all di.
rections. The plant is very hardy. and is
one Of the earliest and most profuse bloom.
~ Ia ..f I'm nst
effective plants In Strawberries. Masses OF
groups OF these plants when distributed ju.
diclously In parks and ornamental grounds.
Towering they do on the first approach
Of spring weather. form one OF the brightest
ornaments of the vcrnal season. Its com
pact root system would make 1t Invaluable
AS protection to the weak spots along the
banks OF canals.
In Nebraska the improved machinery anl
methods have greatly reduced the cost OF
sugar beets on cars for shipment to the fac.
tory. In 1893. ut Ames. the cost was $500 a
ton. the yield thirteen tons nn acre. In 1Sgi
the cost was S3.So. In 1885 they were fed
to stock and in 1896 the cost delivered on
the cars was S1.5O. the yield being twenty
tons an acre This shows wonderful prog
ress In the matter OF cutting down the OK.
penses of culture and harvesting. Beets
are now dug with pIow which has share
made Of n piece of steel In the shape of the
letter u. something like tree digger. This
plow cuts or the small roots and lifts the
beets so that the pullers raise them without
effort. The toppers follow, cutting on the
tops Just above the crown. The wagon fol-
lows into which the roots are loaded. Con
tracts for the care OF the field have been
made as low as S22.5O an acre. which gives
an average of profit with fifteen tons to the
acre ut 81 II ton. or about SO an acre. of
course every fnrmer has to make his own
experiment at first.