Rocky Ford enterprise., 1906-07-27
MODEL DRY FARM
SUCCESSFUL WORK OF Mr.. z. P.
HOUSE At GREELEY.
INTERESTING EXPERIMENTS

Traet-Emulatss the Achievements
Of Wizard Burbank.
II ono wishes to SEQ practical ex.
hibition Of the Campbell system Of dry
farming and the prettiest and neatest
Of model farms. says Denver Repub-
iican correspondent. let him walk to
the end Of Sixth street and Seven.
tecnth avenue. one block south OF the
Gipson school. Greeley. and inspect the
work which Z. P. House Is doing on
seven acres to demonstrate what
grains and vegetables and plants are
best adapted and most productive
without irrigation.
On this miniature farm are growing
2lS different kinds OF plants. and their
| owner can call each by name. describe
Its characteristics. tell its average pro-
| ductiveness and estimate the yield it
now promises to make.
Mr.. House began his farming by nrst
laying out his field In sections desir.
In plat book with their respective
crops and In which he also keeps tab
on tho rainfall. days Of sunshine and
extreme weather.
Onc-haif acre OF tho House farm Ia
devoted TO the raising OF COW peas. nm
excellent fatteninH food for cattle and
sheep. used extensively for that pui,
poac In tho San Luis valley. The pea
seed planted by Mr.. House was firss
subjected to a nitro culture bath. by
which certain bacteria II fastened to
cEch seed. which In no way interfcrcs
with tho growth Of tho seed. The bac.
1 -. .l,p
from tho nis and stores II In tho
ground. thereby cnriehIns the soil far
dn excess Of bnrnyard fertilizers. pif.
fcrcnt varieties OF tho COW pea arc
planted In tho oncshaif acre. with tho
| object that the seed now growing
there may take on more hardy and pro
| iiflc tendencies ms result OF crossing
by natures usual methods. In the VI
einiiy of Evans Mr.. House has twenty.
| nix acres planted In COW peas. which
src producing abundnniiy. and whose
vines will be piowcd under this fall TO
enrich the soil.
Who ever heard Of raising potatoes
In kawdusi. instead of In Noiig Well.
that Is what Mr.. House ID doin= nnd
from prcscn, Indications he will reap
n good hnrvcs, and bc saved aii the cx,
pcnsr Of hiring -spud fus,iers" and the
Inconvenience OF rushing in his CROP
before freezing weather. Tn. idea 10
not original with Mr.. House. however.
up In Montana lives man by the
| name OF W. d. Darst. who discovered
'pota;ine.- composition Of chemicals
required by tho growing potato. fot
making everything about II but the
tops. which arc unnecessary and not
desirable anyway. Tho po,a,ins Is dis.
solved In water. In about tho propot'
Y al sa s.attnN. s,f
water. and after securing a wagoaioai
of sasdust ono Is ready to begin plant
ing. A wooden bin IL constructed oi
isiais. raised some four inches above
the ground. to allow the free passage
Of air underneath u. The bin. which
resembles a crate. may be rs hish and
as long as one wishes. That on the
House farm IL six feet hixh and hve
feet long by as many wide. fifs; q
layer Of excelsior IL put on tho bottom
OF tho bin. then layer Of sawdus'
sampcned with tho pota,inc. Into
which IL placed the potatoes about tru
feet apart. They are covered with
about twelve inches Of the pola'iae
dampcngi sa~dust. and another laycf
lplantcd. and so on until the bin is
Jailed. Mr. House planted his potatoes
la May ttth and now has quite Hnc
crop of nrv potatoes. as large az hick
/ 'ory nuts. on the innumcrabie roots ana
, ,Toutiets which the topicss potatoes
have made. Nov and then the grower
sprinkies the sa~dus, with the po,a,
tine. but the rains are usually cusTl'
| ,cicnt TO Keep the savduss damp after
| the first use Of the wonderful auid.
| Mr.. House believes that In time tho
iac~ process is bound TO take prccc'
dcpce over the old way of back.bfeak.
| ing work sow employed In raising 20.
| tatoes.
Half a hundred varieties Of wheat
and as many kinds of oats, different va.
| rieties OF bcets. barley. millet. fax.
| cabbage and tomatoes arc also grow.
| ing on the model dry farm. The stand
| OF sixty.day oats promises humber
crop. as does the barley nov ready for
the harvest. One Of the finest stands
| of grain is that made by the Egyptian
wheat. This wheat is made up OF
three distinct heads, whose united
| breadth is about the combined width
| Of ones FIRST three fingers. The Dur
| ham and the Odessa wheat are
also making splendid growth. A
| queer but thrifty specimen Of grain is
the beardless barley. A patch Of rye
stands nifty. inches tall and aver
ages heads ave and one-half inches In
length.
There IL an almost endless variety
| Of corn, from the Curco corn from
| Peru and that with ears almost yard
| long when fullest developed. 10 the
primitive product with each kernel
wrapped In little husk and the whole
enveloped In one.
Mr.. House Is particularly proud of
| his beet patch. containing eight varie-
ties Of sugar beets. Of the German and
| Danish kind. His system of culture
| Of the sugar beet is at least novel and
| good results are expected from II. II
IL this: The residue from sugar max
ing, thick syrup, is obtained from the
| sugar factory and mixed with a certain
/ quantity Of water and once a week