Durango semi-weekly herald., 1901-07-18
INTERVIEW WITH
MIR FRED l., CriAsE,

Hieh'S ioI iHe hiring II humber Ol
~Navajos. went to Rocky Ford. where
the rest OF the time was spent
There two districts were given me,
serving the double purpose of study
and practical work. BY being on the
> ground and serving with the field
superintendents. a working knowledge
of conditions necessary to the sue
cessful cultivation of sugar beets was
obtained. AT the same time I gath
cred much additional information as
to the practical use of the Navajo as
llareSorer' ,uo ,,..,.,. o.. -,
miles from the Kansas line, and Hol-
ly, about Is miles from the border.
are full of surprises to the casual OBJ
server. From the railroad it is i'm
possible to see the beauty of the coun-
try. 1t is only when one gets up on
those mesas that he can realize at all
the resources of that section. Oh.
it's wonderful country-highly culti-
waited and productive The hay
stacks and grain stacks are thick
along those mesas as the haycocks in
a farmers field.
"One reason this part of the is SO
well settled is that many farmers from
the Indian territory and Oklahoma
move westward seeking homes. The
American Irrigation and Canal com
pany, which has land agent offices
from Coolidge, Kansas, to Rocky Ford
watch for these land seekers, as
they call them. 1t is usually no very
difficult matter to induce them to set
tie. While this company is not new
one it is practically a part of the
american Beet Sugar company. This
company is introducing some inno-
vations and pursuing a somewhat diff
ferent policy from that used in the
past
Ce"lnstead of selling the customary
100 or 320 acres. the company re-
fuses to sell more than 40 acres to
one person at one time.
They have even gone so far as to
take away 40acre plot where there
has been failure to make payments
That is. of course, where one man has
bought two 40-acre plots The ad-
vantage of this system is not difficult
to perceive. since more people occupy
the same amount of ground and it ma
turally is under more intense cult
Vatlon. Farmers can then pay more
attention to beet culture, which to be
successful consumes good deal of
time.
Yes certainly. it is on the princi
pie of the European farming. In
deed, the company consists largely of
tee OF many German methods
THE field superintendent are all
of the above nationality. They are
in charge of certain number of
farms. and are constantly on the go
in pursuit of their duty. They have
record of every beet grower. they Wis
it each field every two or three days
and watch the beet crop. If the farm
er neglects his field in any way or is
failing to obtain good results. the su-
perintendent informs him as to the
best course to pursue. From in
the morning until 6 at night the super
intendent is out making his rounds.
There is a reason for the close Sill
pervision exercised. and that is that
the american Beet Sugar company is
continually advancing money to the
beet growers from the time the seed
is sown till the crop is at the fac
tory. rrhe farmers are without
means, tShey are compelled to hire
considerable help, and get no income
= until the crop is harvested.
THE company advances them mon
ey. All machinery is furnished. a
small rental being charged The
farmers, however. seem to take the
company's work as matter of course
They apparently appreciate very little
OF what is being done for them.
This year the acreage will be about
10000 of beets. Contracts were
signed for that amount last fall. 1t
is possible that the total may be lit
tie less than that. Some man may
lose by neglect a part of his acreage
"TlfSlning the beets is the most te-
dious port Of the work. and consumes
great deal of time. This process
will be finished by July 90 The en-
tire valley should have been completed
by July 5. They are two weeks late,
the cause being the scarcity of help.
Fifty Navajos were working there
at the rate of ten hours a day. Work
became so pressing however, that
we told them that if they chose to
work II hours for extra pay they
could do so. Many of them agreed
and are still working at that rate.
Certainly, the Indians have behav-
ed wonderfully well Their work has
proved so satisfactory that the com
pnnlStntends to try for a low rate of
transportation. in order to get them
every year.
at is almost impossible to get white
help, from the fact that they can't
STANG the work on account of the
heat Even the Indians cannot keen
it up regularly. They are obliged to
take day to rest occasionally They
did very well, however. From May
2S till July A, they worked steadily.
with the exception of an occasional
day. They did not go to town during