Rocky Ford enterprise., 1899-07-13
FARM NOTES,
CFrom Field and Farm.)


Colorado's wool yield this year ag-
gresatcs l0,OOoG00 pounds while that
OF Wyoming Is i2.OOO.OOO selling ut
an average price OF eleven and one
fourth cents.
In an irrigated spot near Denver the
other day some alfalfa seed was sown
which germinaicd and appeared above
the ground within forty-cight hours
This, then, should make II sooner crop.
but. Joking aside. It brings out an
other valuable point In favor OF the
worlds greatest forage plant.
In the opinion OF many Wyoming
sheep men the ovcrstocking OF the
range Ia inevitable and through this
cause heavy losses are sure to come
the first severe winter. This Is the
next backset the sheep industry will
experience. TO say nothing OF the dan
gers which lurk In n short grass season
like the present.
The dry season may not prove so dis
nstrous ms has generally been suppos-
ed. At Longmont. Boulder county. the
packing factory Is now canning n very
line qunliy OF peas. Notwithstanding
dry weather. Tie packers are working
on peas that have been raised above
the ditch and consequently had no ir-
rirntion. They are planning to plant
eighty acres more In hopes that the late
rains will help TO mature the crop.
These late raiH are predicted by cr-
crSbody except the Denver weather
clerk and this fact alone almost guar
aniecs all kinds of rain from now on.
Any farmer who has closely obscrv-
cd n wheat field just before ripcning
has noticed that there Is n great diff
far 1, ,I
large and well shaped. while others
nave Just the opposite qualities. The
observing farmer may make those
qualities basis for selection. Every
one should plan to select the choicest
head from his wheat fields for n start
In choice seed wheat. There Is no time
better for this work than the week
prior TO the ripcnng OF the CROP At
this time the farmer should 20 through
the field and mark the plants that seem
fit TO his ideal. When the crop Is har-
vested only the choicest heads from
the marked plants should be saved,
ana only the finest grain sown. II this
process Is kept up for several years
GARNER may originate n new variety.
During the present drouth We have
been particularly careful to observe
the performance OF the native buffalo
that II Is about the best staycr we have
under trying conditions like those of
the present. When not nippcd too
closely, 1t forms n short. compact sod.
the plants usually being only n few
inches nigh. The color is gray green
ne innlc and female flowers occur on
inherent plants. which fact has given
rise 10 the Impression that there are
Two KINDS OF buffalo grass. The male
plant produces flower stalk a few
| inches high. but the flower contains
only pollen. and no seed Is formed.
The female flowers are in little clus-
,ers close among the leaves. and It Is
ncre thnt the seed Is produced. The
SrhsS propagatcs extensively from
creeping stems and also from the seed.
~ Is TOO short to be cut for hay. but
IL inc staple grazing grass of
ne pains for both summer and win
Ter trnma grass Is also very COM
mon on the same range ns the buffalo
grass, and is found mixed with II.
nut Is not so abundant. Like the butIu.
l" IL Is n short grass, not usually grow
ing tnll cnhugh for hay. II can be
easily distinguished by the flower
s'niks which In good seasons arc about
root high. with two-somrtiuos onn
or three little spikes or flowers. These
spikes are about an inch long. ono nt
ne emu ana the other at n short dis
'hnce below. which turn easily with III,
WIND and form miniature weather.
Nhncs. The gramn Is not MS hirh na no.
uhi this year, but with its nriphI,o,
~ furnishing what little rornrr thcre
! IL on the range.