The Glenwood post. (Glenwood Springs, Colo.) 1897-current, 1906-07-21
MODEL DRY FARM.
SUCCESSFUL WORK OF MR.. e. p.
HOUSE AT GREELEY.
INTERESTING EXPERIMENTS
More Than Two Hundred Kinds Of
Plants Grown on Dry Seven-Acre
Tract-Emulates the Achievements

Tract-Emulates the Achievements
Of Wizard Burbank.
If one wishes to see a practical ex-
hibition of the Campbell system Of dry
| farming and the prettiest and neatesb
of model farms, says Denver Repub-
lican correspondent, let him walk to
the end of Sixth street and Seven
| teenth avenue. one block south of the
| Gipson school, Greeley, and inspect the
work which L. 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
21S 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 first
laying out his field in sections desiG-
hated as A. b. C, d. etc. all recorded
iii plat book with their respective
crops and in which he also keeps tab
on the rainfall, days of sunshine and
extreme weather.
| One-half acre of the House farm is
| devoted 10 the raising of COW peas, ar
| excellent fattening food for cattle and
sheep, used extensively for that pui1
pos, in the San Luis valley. The pea
| seed planted by Mr.. House was first
subjected to nitro culture bath, by
| which certain bacteria is fastened to
| each seed, which in no way interferes
| with the growth of the seed. The bac,
terra, to sustain itself. draws nitrogen
| from the air and stores it in the
ground thereby onrichins the soil far
lin excess of barnyard fertilizers DIFF,
| feront varieties of the COW pea are
| planted in the one-half acre. with the
! object that the seed now growing
| there may take on more hardy and pro-
| life tendencies as a result of crossing.
| by natures usual methods In the vi.
entity of Evans Mr. House has twenty.
| six acres planted in COW peas, which
are producing abundantly, and whose
| vines will be plowed under this fall to
| enrich the soil
| Who ever heard of raising potatoes
| in sawdust instead of in soil? Well,
| that is what Mr.. House is doing and
| from present indications he will reap
| good harvest and be saved all the eX-
| pense of hiring "spud rustlors" and the
| inconvenience of rushing in his crop
before freezing weather. The idea ia
noJ original with Mr.. House, however.
Up in Montana lives a man by the
name of w. ID. Darst, who discovered
| "potatine,' composition Of chemicals
required by the growing potato, for
| making everything about ii but tho
| tops, which are unnecessary and not
desirable anyway. The potatine is dis.
| in - bf
tion of one pound to 100 gallons OF
water, and after securing a wagonload
| OF sawdust one is ready to begin plant
| ing. A wooden bin is constructed OF
| stats, raised some four inches above
| the ground, to allow the free passage
of air underneath it. The bin, which
resembles a crate. may be as high and
as long as one wishes That on the
House farm is six feet high and five
feet long by as many wide. First a
| LAYER of excelsior is put on the bottom
of the bin, then a layer of sawdust
| dampened with the potatinc. into
which is placed the potatoes about two
| feet apart. They are covered with
| about twelve inches of the potatine
dampened sawdust, and another layor
| planted and so on until the bin IL
| filled. Mr.. House planted his potatoes
| on May 18th and now has quite a fine
| crop of new potatoes, as large as hicl
| DRY nuts, on the innumerabie roots and
rootlets which the topless potatoes
| have made Now and then the grower
sprinkles the sawdust with the pola-
tine, but the rains are usually SUM-
| Client to keep the sawdust damp after
| the first Use of the wonderful fluid.
Mr.. House believes that in time the
new process is bound to lake prece.
| : he, al a hp, b,1r
ing work now employed in raising po
| tatoes.
Half a hundred varieties Of wheat
and as many kinds of oats, different va
| rieties of beets, barley. millet, fax.
| cabbage and tomatoes are also grow
! ing on the model dry farm. The stand
| of sixty-day oats promises a humber
crop, as does the barley now 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. patch of rye
stands fifty-four inches tall and aver
ages heads five and one-half inches in
| length.
There is an almost endless variety
| of corn, from the Cuzco corn from
| Peru and that with ears almost yard
long when fullest developed, to the
primitive product with each kernel
wrapped in a 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 1t. 1t
is this: The residue from sugar max
ing, a thick syrup, is obtained from the
supar facfory and rpiyed with q carto{p