The Holly chieftain., 1898-11-18

years ago.
Today part Of the home Of the range
cattle has been converted into besutifnl
homes. made so by irrigation. which !
consider ss the only satisfactory mode
Of farming. I claim, land can clearly
demonstrate to an( reasonable man.
that home can beEse1a profitable
comfortable and beautifhl l ,er under
irrigation than by the natural process
which will bring up later on. The
first great stumbling block to the new
oomer is the purchase Of water or means
Of transporting 1t; second. that God, in
his all wise creation of things never in
tended fDr man to farm BY artificial
means; third. that the great dry deserta
are only the home Of cattle and the Red
man. We VIII now take up clause l,
water tax. or transportation Of water
and will ask this new conner how much
he pAys every year for fertiliser, layina
ont Of use of his land for from three to
five years while in cloyer. to improve
the number Of acres lying idle in tim
ber and rock piles. on an average every
three years one crop intirely lost by
drouth and the other two materially in.
jured by too much rain. Make of our
account, Mr.. New Conner. Of your natural
expenditures, and will make of my
account Of artificial expenditures,
will stop-thers is no room for argu-
ment. Does irrigated land impoverish7
1t does not, am at this moment sit
ing on the bank Of a lateral. irrigating a
piece of land now in wheat, that has
been in wheat. oats, barley and corn
fourteen years, from the natural sod.
Last year / harvested thirty Ave bush
els of wheat per acre and have never
taken less than twenty five bushels per
acre, save two years, when ] was
stricken by the same calamity that all
creation is heir to-hailstorm. So you
have caught me? We have calamities
herep Yes, we have them. Make off
your account of calamities in fourteen
wears and let us see how they will bal
ance' claim that every years cost of
water, poured out on our soil, pays for
itself in fertilizing our soil. and be-
lieve as firmly as that am now irrigat-
ing field Of fourteen years continuous
crops. that this same piece of land
would continue, for all time to come, to
give ae satisfactory returns as It has in
the past. Our soil Is naturally alkali,
which 10 one Of the principal ingre-
dients in making all grains and vege-
tables, and then our SHOWS in the noun
tains seeping through decsyed timber.
leaves. Limestone rock, and making its
way into the river. then into our canals
and onto our farms, fades Peruvian
Guano ors sAY osher sstiflcial fsstillssr
snt6 insiRnf6cance IN compafison
Then take alfalfa, SOW the seed. and
stand is insured. Mr.. New Conner, how
many times have you sown clover seed
and never seen sprig? Drouth or
freeze out the cause. Thr only losses
eyer saw here from "freeze OUT war
from western game BY that name.
Our soil is free from that terror. among
eastern farmers Of growing crops, freez-
ing ont. That ia something unknown
here. 40 well - hugs and flies, which
have seen sweep entire localities on
eastern farms There are few "gold
bugs" in this valley but they are harm
less to US farmers. said SOW alfalfa
and stand was insured. and in . few
wears its roots are from six TO fifteen
feet down in the bowels of the earth.
bringing up and pouring out ingredients
that far excels anything known TO the
farmers. stable manure not excepted,
as fertilizer for all farm cropa The
extent Of its life is not known. IL
know fields Of alfalfa fourteen wears old
that are producing Eve tons Of hay. per
acre, annually, and has as determined
look upon It as it did the second year
of its life. Mr.. N. c. what becomes of
your'kine clover? In four years 1t van
isbes, my dear fried, and must be sown
again. Break up our alfalfa fields and
SOW to grain and you get from fifty to
sixty bushels Of wheat per acre. eighty |
bushels Of oats, and everything else in
proportion. that our soil IL heir to. and
that 10 everything. save the tropical
crops. know one field of alfalfa brok-
en- up four yeau ago. sown to wheat
aud has never yielded less than fifty
bushels per acre. To the average far
mer, take five tons Of crop annually and
1t stands 70 reason that it must impover-
ish, and TO convince man that IT does
not seems impossible, but "the proof OF
of the pudding u chewing the bag"
Now Mr.. N. @. We have baadlsd the
matter Of fertilisins BY irrisstion As
against gusnos, clovers, plssters and
OF the east. Do mot UNDER
stand me - being opposed to spread
Ing stable nanurss ON our irrigated
lands. Instead, am strong advocate
Of It. 1t not only pays for one ysa,,
but for years to come, both here and
everywhere. / am ready to discuss
With any one that thsre u no improvsr
of fertilizer that has ever been dis
covered shat will equsi slfalfa and the
water ws use for irrigation. 1 shall
speak farther ON OF sl{alfa's other
valuAn. - heinv Nha rnnat vain nhis.