Rocky Ford enterprise., 1899-03-30
OTERO COUNTY
FARMERS INSTITUTE.
Many Valuable Papers Read And Much
Instructive Discussion.

D1OSuCClOlls
come with the added days added knowl.
edge. Help tho girls to find and press
the different shape leavss. Brush the
dust from the covers OF your own school
books and freshen forgotten knowledge,
or gather with them from books for the
first time interesting things to know
One ruflle less on the girls new dress
will furnish You the time and will not de-
fraud her.
Some OF you road nm interesting story
published in Harpers' Magrzine n mum.
ber of years ago called ..Nature's Serial
Story" 10 me it WIS very helpful. 1t
came when 1 was trying to find some.
thing worth while" in the isolation OF
farm life. Thomas Scott says: '.Growth
is the only proof Of life. Dead things
never grow. The years end finds them
we are more solidly rooted in prin ciple:
moro sympathetic with our fellow-men;
more strict with ourselves; more char
table towards others; more ready to ren-
der kindly service." i.
d
Fr1day morning II. II. Griffin, Snpt.
OF the Arkansas valley experiment sta.
tion, read most excellent paper on cir
rigntion aud Conservation OF Moisture
which will be published next week.
Prof. Cooke addressed the institute on
"Dairying." u synopsis OF which can not
be given this week.
Prof. Cooke snid that ut present prices
OF hay It will not pay farmers to build
shelter for alfalfa.
F. NJ. Hnrsin inquired as 10 the value
OF hay made by stacking directly from
the mower. Nj. Cooke SAID that alfalfa
treated thus made brown hay, having u
sort of mould and seemed to be spoiled
but which stock ate Ereedily. Expert
ments showed that 1t t,Dk three pounds
Of brown hay to provide rs much nutri.
ment us two pounds Of the Ordinary
green hay.
Prof. Cooke sad that the extra labor
connected with cutting hny made it more
profitable to feed it long, aud that lin.
seed meal was too expensive for dairy
stock.
Cantalonpe Culture.
was presented in the following excellent
paper by p. X. Blinn:
AS, with every other form OF cultivated
plants, the cantuloupe is fast accumulat.
ing it's long list OF insect enemies, bacte-
rial diseases and adverse conditions
which il left unheeded, will ultimately
eud in failure.
Every season witnesses the greater
need OF a deeper research into the prob.
Ions OF cantuloupe culture. A few years
ago our melon fields were almost ex-
empt from any serious pests, but each
succeeding year the cucumber beetles,
squash bugs aud ground squirrels have
increased apace with our acreage. Some
detestable member Of the louise family
overheard the talk about the far famed
Rocky Ford, and Immediately decided TO
cast his lot on some Of the five and ten
acre tracts. Since that decision some OF
our patches have been literally "lousy".
And last to appear on the list is the
"Cantaloupe Rust or Blight. The sue
cessful solution Of how to deal with all
these trials, will take years OF careful
study and practical scientific experimen.
ting, and then it is doubtful il our
knowledge will be sufficient to cover the
subject.
To npply to our field culture what
Prof. l.. H Bailey gives as the essentials
for growing melons in the green house.
we might say that the requisites for
growing cantaloupes here are. pnre seed,
fertile, sandy soil, warm wenther, suili.
cient moisture, continuous growth,
clean and thorough cultivation. These
requirements seem simple yet some are
hard to attain.
Pure seed is first in importance and a
most vital element to success in the mar
kets. During the past season many
have had this subject brought home
most forcibly when large fields were en-.
tlrely unfit for the market on account OF
size and quality. The cantaloupe is a
plant that depends upon bees and other
insects for tho pollenization OF tine
flowers, and no one can be sure that his
purest cantaloupe seed is not crossed
with banana melon, Hackensack or
snake cucumber, il they are grown in
the same neighborhood. Where 80
much depends on the pure seed, no one
in the cantaloupe district should plant
any melons but pure Melted Gem:
The saving OF ssed from Gull piles Is
vicious practice rs it tends to deteriorate
rather than improve the quality. In
stead of selecting from the first quality
they are taken from the refuse. They
may have been first class but we're over
looked aud got too ripe. Undoubtedly
it is true to some extent, but it leopard.
ICES one OF the most essential qualities OF
our cantnloupes. II an otherwise per.
feet melon chances to be weak in it's long
keeping qualities and becomes too ripe
it is pretty apt to be saved for seed by