Rocky Ford enterprise., 1905-09-15
THE FARM AND RANGE
Dry Culture by Deep Flowing.

+. Il. Parsons Of the Mariposa ranch.
Newiin snlch. near Parker station.
twenty miles south OF Denver. has
been dry farming In Colorado for
nearly twenty years. and is undoubt-
edly the pioneer In this method OF hold.
Ing the moisture In the soil. The Den
yer Chamber OF Commerce. which is
taking most active interest In the
methods adopted to raise crops with
out irrigation. has persuaded Mr.. Par
sons TO tell something of his work.
The objection. which perhaps to
good farmers Is really no objection ut
all. to the Campbell dry farming sys'
ten. that OF extra labor. cannot be ap-
piled to the Parsons system. He
plows deeper and does not have TO
do IL SO often. The principle. how
ever. is tho same. preventing the es'
cape of the moisture natural To the
ground.
u have been farming without irrisa'
tion on the ranch since 1856. twenty
years next August. took up the home
stead and have since added To II by
purchase until have l.i0o acres In
ALL" Mr. Parsons said. Il farmcd IN
South Africa previous to coming To
Colorado, and Il was In that country
that ! learned regarding tho retention
OF the moisture. The rainfall In Natal
IL no, much more than In Colorado.
and In Cnpctown II II less. They grow
fruits In both places.
Il plow my groung extra deep. ten
inches with nm ordinary horse cult
ya,or. and that Is all. sec that tho
ground does not pack. and thn, the sur
face Ii kept puiS-rized or powdcry.
when the piowed ground begins TO
harden. pores are formed and tho moiS-
turc escapes.
Il keep twenty acres In orchard.
forty acres In alfalfa and fifteen acres
in corn and small grain. Last year out
Of twcly. acres OF fruit. ! sold nearly
$1,000 worth. The corn brings thirty
bushels to tho acre. ] have never lost
n tree from drought or had n failure In
crops. and We have had some pretty
dry seasons since I have been out
there.
"Thc deeper you plow. the more
moisture you can save. II you have not
rot the depth Of soil. there u no uho
trying. but as far mn ! have been able
to see. most of the land In the state
has depth enough for dry farming.
Some people nave come to INC and told
mo that they have don" sa have done.
and their crops have bcun failure.
when l asked them what kind OF Roil
they had. they did not know. but n
spade developed that there were only
few inches from tho surface to rock.
There In plenty Of water II you 10
deep enough. The alfalfa on my ranch
keeps going down and down after the
water. In thrc" years. the roots have
gone down ten feet and now there IL
little to do but let Il grow. Last sea
son ! got sixty tons from forty acres.
At firHt 1; IL best TO cut the alfalfa but
once a year. but when the roots have
sunk TO water. one can cut two or three
times n year.
hold that this IL equal to plowlng
six inches three times year.
"Wc can grow almost all Of the
cereals. For the system ! use. winter
wheat Ia tho best. One can get more
out of II. But ! advise tho planting
of trees In Colorado. I sell most Of my
fruit among tho farmers around me.
hut the Denver dealers arc very anS.
ious to get hold Of it,
Mr.. Parsons holds firmly TO the be.
lief tha, in good deep soil In this state.
there is no need for irrigating for ordi.
nary farming purposes. And he points
out that only twenty per cent. Of the
land In Colorado Is susceptible TO irFi'
cation. He has made success Of dry
farming. Several members OF the
chamber of commerce have visited the
place and they declare It to be an Eden
spot. A few Of the ranchmcn have
followed. Mr.. Parsons plan and sue.
cecded: others have held to the old
way and depend upon fortune.