The Greeley tribune., 1906-03-08

considei ID worth anywhere from
three TOT six tons to the acre. He
would n bw fairly deep, and use no
artidcia4 or commercial fertilizer.
A little 3barnyard fertilizer he be-
lieved q be good, but SO far as he
could di3cover commercial fertilizer
had ne1 pr succeeded in producing
one mod pound of beets.
One ccessful beet grower in the
valley n ID raised beets On the same
piece oil kround for five years In sue
cession, with apparently no differ
ence IND the tonnage from year to
year. lst a little barnyard ferti-
lizer wi } used and the yield was
from 153 o 20 tons per acre each
In cul tivating the small beets Mr..
Ebbert stated that he would keep a
good distance away from the beets
with the so-called bull tongue, not
coming any nearer than about six
inches. Otherwise the roots of the
beets would be disturbed, and often
the whole beet pulled out. Above
all, sosyeg as the beet plant was
doing we'll he would not monkey
with it, believing that the sunshine
and the nourishment of the earth
would do more for its growth than
any artificial help.
Speaking Of the beet blight which
had attacked the crop In the valley
now and then, he stated that the
beet growers association in the val
ley had tried to find a remedy, even
sending to Germany for information
upon the subject, without avail.
1t was found, however, that after
the blight Of 1903, when whole fields
were swept clear of beets, the fol-
lowing year produced the greatest
crop they ever raised there. The
same rule held good where fields
were attacked in spots. This was
nearly always a forerunner Of a
greater crop the next season. and the
best information obtainable upon
this subject was to the effect that
the blight did not recur, except at
intervals Of many years.
| At the afternoon session Prof. W..
Paddock of the Agricultural college
gave little more information upon
this subject, stating that the cause
of the blight was a fungus, that at
tackled the beet and which had also
, done considerable damage to potato
crops in various parts of the state.
Poultry Business.
The rest of the morning session
was devoted to a discussion of the
poultry business by Mrs. Ida L. TIL
son of West Salem, Wis. She stated
that at the Logan, Utah, experiment.
station it had been determined that
II cost 60 and one-fourth cents to
board hen one year. Her own eX-
periments, conducted without know
ledge of the government experiment,
had proven to her that 1t cost GO
cents year for each hen, but the
Utah hens had no range upon which
to feed, but were given green alfalfa
chopped. Her own hens, under up
to date methods OF handling and
housing, would produce u dozen eggs
wear each. This made the cost per
dozen five cents. The cost generally
was about "a cents year for keep
| ing each hen, and the average egg
production eight dozen a year to each
| hen. This means cost Of about
eight cents per dozen. Following
This Mrs. Tilson gave suggestions as
to care of the poultry, the building
of houses and the interior arrange
ment.
Afternoon Session.
The first speaker Of the afternoon
was Prof. w. Paddock Of the Agri-
cultural college. He talked on his
experlments with potatoes at the
college farm and ION some Of the
Weld county farms. 1t was, how
aver, with some regret that he an