The Monte Vista journal., 1899-11-18
FARMING MATTERS.
Note. IRON Y,.id and F.rm.

| A heavy stock raiser In Chaves coun-
| ty. New Mexico, tells a local paper that
his company paid a dividend Of 1875
per cent. last year on the full amount
OF the capital stock. That IL as good nn
Investment n any one should want.
And yet, ten or twelve years ago this
| company came very near going to the
wall. and was only saved by the for
tunate purchase Of a large herd OF cat
tie on terms which enabled 1t to put
part Of them on the market at a time
when prices had risen sharply. That
pulled them out Of the ditch and they
have made money ever since.
The State Veterinary Board has Or
dcred that all sheep which are to be
exported must be inspected before
| they leave the state. Heretofore It has
been the custom merely TO have sheep
coming into the state inspected, the
shippers bearing the expense. This ac-
tlon liz to protect other states and was
agreed upon by the State Board be-
Department Of Agriculture at WASH
ington. The Idea ls that sheep going
from this state will hereafter bring bet
ter prices because guaranteed by the
state authorities to be free from dis-
ease.
The sheep now In the state OF Colo
rndO are mostly merinos and their
grades. A large proportion OF the sheep
In southern Colorado trace back to the
Mexican base and, though this strain
OF blood is not esteemed highly by
practical sheep raisers, there is no rea-
son for concealing the merits Of the
Mexican sheep. their adapability to the
| climate. the range and to the pioneer
methods Of conducting the business. II
requires but very little capital to get
start with sheep Of this class and by
using pure bred merinO rams the docks
may soon be grnded up. These sheep
are greatly improved by our present
method Of handling and feeding.
Many growers suppose that pruning
weakens the tree and shOrtens its life.
There IL, however, no reason for this
telief other than the general state
ment that pruning is unnatural. Man
seldom prunes no heavily as nature In
removing xuperfluOus limbs In the
growth Of young saplings In the forest.
Furthermore. nature prunes at all sea-
sons and In the rulest ways. BY this
II should not he understood. however,
that care IL not necessary in the me
chanicnl operation OF pruning. On the
other hand. II is Of the greatest import
ance that large limbs te removed with
care and the wounds painted to pre-
vent decay. In training young trees
all crotcl,es should he avoided. II bad
crotches should be found to exist In
trees ten or more years old they should
be hrnced by means Of an iron bolt.
Much damage may bc avoided II bolts
are used In sensOn.
gOmsA furrncra rsv,,n that tl,nvo la v,<,
money In 2Icent butter fat but that
25-cent beef pays. Let us see: At the
Minnesota experiment station six high
grade ShOrthorn steern were fed and
every pound put on their carcass cost
"a cents. A herd Of grade Holstein and
Jersey COWS produced butter fat at the
same time mt n cost Of 3 cents n pound.
Every pound Of i,eef cost 4 cent more
than pound OF butter faf. saying
nothing OF latOr In either ease. Deal
er~ would have paid last week 81. cents
for prime beef or u prof, Of IL cents
pound. while ~ cents would have
been paid for the butter fat. or a profit
OF ~ cents on feed consumed by the
cows. Possibly we cannot produce
either bscf or butter fnt No chenply 'ns
In this case. II not 10 much the worse
for the beef. since only slight nd-
vance In the cost would wiys. out the
profit. In producing the butter fat We
have much wider margin upon which
TO Operate, and We still have the AMI.
mai. which In time will make nearly NJ
much beef us the steer.
II has iscn shown at mnny expert.
nieni stations that nn orchard which
IL cultivated will grOw more thnn one
that Is not cultivated. The Illinois ex-
And the superiority. II any. Of cultivn.
iion over grass. They found that with
Zen Davis apple trees the diameter Of
the trunks one foot above the surface
of the soil was about twice as great In
the case Of the cultivated plat ns I'm
the case Of that In the grass. At the
California experiment station apricot
trees during one season la the culil-
waited Held showed n twig growth Of
over three feet. while those In the mn.
cultivated field made growth ,r no,
three Inches. We believe that with nj.
falfa the debIlitating effect on growin.
trees is even more apparent. and la
this conclusion every old-iime orchard
grower Ia Colorado who Inns studied
the subject Will concur. Still there ARE
few men In this country who have
decided opinions OF their own, aud
they continue 10 grow alfalfa smouv
their trees.
For three yearH alfalfa growers Of
western Kansas have lss.n making n
thorough study Of the native grass
hopper In the alfalfa fields. The hon.
Icrs lay their eggs In the alfalfa feltis
late Ia the fall. These are Matched the
following spring. nhd the young In.
sts'ts dcvour the sprOuting alfalfa. II
II recommended that the alfalfa lnnd
In ,iirked In III" early spring ms soon
~ III" frost hns left the ground In or
uer =" expose the eggs 10 destruction
by birds and climatic Influences. This
year over M ncrs.~ were trs.atesl n,
THIS manner. II resulted nOt only In III.
destruction OF the grnsai,Oppers and
the removal Of the native xrnasrs
which frequently spring up among the
nifnlfn nnd threaten to rx.clnim the
lnhd. but also brought niout 4 very
material ihcr~an~ In the yield Of al.
fnifn. In ZONE places the yield was
nearly double thnt On land not ,iIsksyi,
The ground that was disked last ycur
was not diskcd this year. and II il o(
Interest Ia note that the beneficial ef.
fcc's of disklng last senson were con.
titiu'sl through 10th crOps this year.
The alfalfa seems to grow more rnpIsi.
~ nnd 10 mature earlier nfter having
been diskcti.
Now is the time To tcgin thinking
about lighting next seasons crOp Of
thripn or lcnf.hOujarr which affect
grhls. vines ~ bndly Ia this country.
nnd which In many instances have
cutisct1 Vrufh. Rruwinx n, lnss,,o.. .o