East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1905-07-25

miles west Of the Kansas line and l77
miles from Denver, says w f. Curtis
in the Denver Post,
The town stands on a divide be-
tween the Arkansas ana Kaw rivers.
and Of itself is of little interest. hut
not far from the railway station is a
model farm of l6O acres owned by
the Union Pacific Railroad company
and operated by j. b. Robertson.
from which 10 successive crops of
wheat, rye, oats, potatoes. vegetables,
berries and fruits have been harvest
ed without water.
There is a lovely little orchard at
the place with apples pears, plums
and cherries. a wind-break of shade
trees, protecting the house. of elm,
ash and horse chestnut trees. all
growing well. There is no water ON
the premises, not a well or cistern.
The supply for domestic use is piped
down from the railway tank.
The railway eating house and Sec
tion foreman's home are both sur
rounded by groups of fine, healthy
trees, and several are growing in the
school house yard without the use OF
water.
Crops Without Irrigation.
This farm is maintained for the
purpose of convincing land buyers
that this is an agricultural country.
and to demonstrate to the farmers in
the neighborhood how they can Sc
cure profitable crops without irriga-
ton. Mr.. Robertson. the farmer,
grows % bushels of wheat to the acre
and 80 bushels of rye, year after
year. without irrigation.
He cultivates it something after the
| Campbell plan. leaving the top soil
loose and pulverized so that the rain
can soak in and do as much good as
| possible Mr.. Robertson has kept a
record for 10 years and says there has
been no increase in the rainfall and
no change in the climate. The mini
mum for 10 years has been 10 in
ches and the maximum 90 inches,
with an average of Is inches. mostly
| between April and October.
In contradiction of the theory that
the rainfall is increased by the plow-
| ing of the ground Mr.. Robertson
says that there was a heavier precipi-
tation during the first two years he
| kept his record than there ever has
| been since.
| Cheyenne Wells is a cattle town. a
| county seat, with a population of
about 400, jail with one prisoner, a
school house and a Methodist church.
| The cattlemen are trying to discour-
age farming. They want the ranges.
! They had free grass here until a short
time ago, and have been put to a
great deal of trouble by the fencing.
| Therefore they run down the model
farm. They say it is freak and that
nobody but Mr.. Robertson could grow
| cabbages or anything else.
There are several similar farms in
the neighborhood. however, suffi-
I cient to prove that crops can be
grown without irrigation provided
! they are cultivated properly and the
| soil is kept loose and mellow, so that
what little moisture there is can get
down to the roots of the plants and
will not run off the surface.
Cattle Barons May Go.
locality is held in large tracts by pri-
vate parties who have purchased it
from the railroad company. w. W.
Gurley. general counsel of the trac-
ton companies in Chicago, with S.
w. Worthy, has a tract of $4,000
acres. A. y. Mitchen of Chicago has
| 10000 acres, and the following are
also large owners:
s. ". wilkins, Creston, Iowa, 49,
! 600 acres; Selover & Bates, st. Paul,
$4,000; Lincoln Land company, st
Paul, $4,000; ]. ]. Carnahan. Bush
! ton. Ill. 10000; c. Gregory, Cotton
wood Falls, Kan. $1,000: a. ]. Nc
Kenzie, Groton. S. D.. $4,000; Texas
| Investment Co. Colorado Springs. 49,
| 900; o. c. Bowers. Cleveland, o., 25,-
900; Hearn & Goodwin, Deepwater,
| Mo, 10000: and there are several
other large owners also.
On every one of the farms where
! the Campbell system has been adopt
ed good crops have been regularly
grown. without more than ordinary
help; but IT requires more than ordi-
nary care and labor. James Nance. an
expert who has recently visited the
Pomeroy farm, near Hill City. reports
that he found 100 acres of wheat, 40
acres of corn, 20 acres of Kaffir corn,
| 20 acres of oats, 10 acres of orchard,
90 acres of garden. berries, flowers
and groves, all handled by the man.
ager and one hired man, with extra
| help at harvest time. But they keep
working all the year around. They
plow up their stubble the day the
wheat is cut. The plow follows Inn
medlately after the binder, cutting a
| furrow seven inches deep, and the
plow is followed by the surface pack
er-an implement similar in shape to
a disk plow, except that 1t has 10
wheels which cut into the soil and
press it together.
How System Is Worked.
The packer follows the plow very
slowly. All ground plowed is packed