The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1903-11-23
Winter lrrioation VS.. Insects.

plenty of time on my hands at the
time for reflection, and as
always have a great deal of sym
Dathy for the tiller of the soil. espe-
eially in an irrigated country, the
pretension of this short article is to
give a little of my experience picked
from 25 years in an irrigated n
% in a rainy country, by way of ad-
vice to the agriculturist in the Pecos
Valley. 1t will perhaps assist him
to better his condition.
l understand the insects have been
giving considerable trouble. What
are you doing to hold in check and
destroy them? l am informed there
is little or no irrigation done. This
your fields and orchards dry through
the winter you are making the con-
ditions possible for all the insect
tribe to raise large families for your
amusement mex season.
Now what should be done is to ir-
rigate your fields, and especially
your orchards with all the cold water
the soil will absorb in the winter,
the colder the better. In a climate
like this where the water runs near
ly all winter you can follow natures
ways. Take the rainy states as an
illustration. AS a general thing eth
er rain of lots of snow falls
through the winter-the more the
better. 1t stores the water where
| you need it next season. Give the
as possible. They are liable to take
a bad cold and die before spring.
All land to be cultivated mex sea-
son should be ploWed in the fall. as
the benefits derived are many. 1t is
a destroyer Of prospective insect life,
disintegrates the soil and puts it in
a condition to absorb lots or nitro
gen during the winter which is es-
sential to the growth of all vegeta-
ton. A. smooth and hard surface will
not inhale much of it. 1t kills a great
deal of weed seeds and increases the
production from one-fourth to one
third, and of a better quality. Say we
take a period of Is years. You can
crop 40 acres by spring blowing al
of it each year for that space of
tirnn tV email Oroin or anU ou1tiUota(
crop, and l will also take 40 acres
and summer fallow and crop 20 acre!
every alternate year., and at the emf
of the Is years without either of us
using any fertilizer l will guarante,
to have produced as much from thi
20 acres as you will from the 40
and l will have retained the f~ertilit,
of the soil, whereas our 40 will bt
nearly exhausted. This is the oil
; English method. and the soil is a
| good today as it was 200 years ago
, A clause is inserted in leases to thi
day binding the renter to summe
fallow so many acres each year.
Irrigate your orchards now, an
again about the beginning of Febrl
airy. About fifteen years ago I kneN
e a man in Larimer county, Colorado
that had an orchard under his ditto
that he would flood with water abou
the last day it would run befor
freezing up for the winter. Some c
l the ice would be under the trees uI
l til spring. The result was he had
: crop every year, SO that he woul
, have apples when his Deighbors ha
none. A wet soil is much colder tina
a dry one. Retard the growth of you
trees all you can. A few days ma,
mean a great many dollars to yol
if the fruit buds can be checked S
they escap the slight late frost
we sometimes get in the spring
Y means a good crop to you.
Successful farming by irrigation
: a science and takes years to lear
many of the details connected wit
| it, but it is the grandest occupatio
} under the sun, especially if ever.
: thing works smooth.
9 r. C. NISBET.