Rocky Ford enterprise., 1900-11-30
UNEQUALLED ADVANTAGES OF
THE ROCKY FORD COUNTRY
Heretofore We nave Greatly Ppered with Alfalfa wasn:lss, cala
bupes, Cattle aad Sheep Feeding Fruits Track.
Farming Hogs and nsuey.
The Sugar Factory Agricultural Giving
Ford Region More onet to than any
Other Portion oi he Hr- .
farniss, Hogs and Asusy.

The agricultural development of the
Arkansas valley has been an example oi
highly beneficial evolution. In the ear
lier years OF its settlement nothing wa.
thought OF bu, stock raising. Later few
bitches were bull, and the people began
TO realize something OF the possibilities oI
the soil. That magnificent, forage plant,
alfalfa, was the first profitable Stapi,
grown after irrigation was inaugura;ctl
Three crops are cut each year and the
hay is the basis for the immense and
profitable cattle and sheep feeding enter.
priscs which characterize the valley.
During the summer and fall alfalfa also
furnishes all food needed for growing
hogs-corn being needed only TO finish
them for the slaughter house. The al.
falfa fields when in bloom supply pasture
for bees, enabling our apiarists to ship 10
eastern markets the best honey in the
world in car load lots.
The next product grown extensively
for profit and attaining wide celebrity
was watcrmclons-tlan which none
DtANGI ilG plbhuCGu anywhere.
After the watermelon had been grown
Tor several years II was discovered that
the cultivation OF cantaloupes could be
added 10 the existing crops with great
profit. Rocky Ford cantaloupc, are reg
ularly shipped to all the large cities OF
the cast, even TO the Atlantic coast, and
command the highest prices, the univcrs-
al verdict being that no where else in the
United States can melons of equal uuaii-
uty be grown. A gross product of iioo
per acre is what the best growers conf
IDENTIFY expect eachycar and crops reaching
the hgurcs OF $3.50 per acre are OCCASION
ally noted.
A few years experimenting
proved that the soil and sunshine OF
the valley made it one of the best fruit
regions i'll the state and the number of
acres in orchard is steadily increasing.
Gradually it has been developed that
all varieties OF vegetables thrive remark
ably well, and the many S and 10 acre
garden tracts-truck arming-indicatc
the popularity and prosperity of this
branch OF the valleys varied industries.
canning factory at Rocky Ford
makes n speciality of tomatoes which have
great popularity throughout the west.
Beans and pumpkins are also successfully
canned.
All of the general farm crops of the
western states are readily and profitably
grown. This fact in addition TO the
spccialties above mentioned makes the
Arkansas valley very attractive to farmers.
But III this good year of 1900 another
and entirely new branch of farming has
been commemorative last and best of
all the profitable crops to which the val
ley is specially adapted. We refer to the
culture of sugar beets, which on top of
the previously existing farming prosper
ity, gives the country adjacent to Rocky
Ford more advantages for agriculturists
than any other section of the great west.
The first year Of beet culture has
proved that there is more money in beet
culture in the Arkansas valley than in
any part of the union. The results of
beet culture in general this first season
have been good. The beets arc of good
quality. testing as high as 10 and 81 per
cent. Of sugar, and in many fields where