Rocky Ford enterprise., 1906-02-23
THE FARMERS FORUM.
Doings of Otero County Husbandmen in Their
Annual Farmers Institute Briefly Told.

Sandy ground I. different. Shallow
piowins II best on sandy soil. Float
the land and get II level. Hs had
used nitrate of soda on sandy land.
plowins or the nitrate had produced
the Increased yield that he got. \
beet crop is often seriously hurt In
the thinning. They should b1 thin
ned promptly when they have reached
tho four-i~nf stage. Il doesn't do To
leave them ten days and more after
this When thinn~d isri9uts promptly
and quickly and then piow. PioW clos~
To plants " you piow before tho nbeous
roots are developed. ttke 70 stir
the ground as close and also as deep
aa ! can. when the b~~t leaves begin
form on tho under side they need
water. Geucssaiiy we water To much
We can raise bets on two ~aterinss
course. holds water be(tsr than heavy
soil Never Hood -FOUR bc~ta- Water
th~m quick: that u Doe Of the eaasn.
'iai things. u yoa know your land
use your own Judgment. On my land
by ~nt-rine every other row u vri
s~-ainr the better. Tn. later the
deeper the piowin4 should BE-.
Mr.. kouns asked about distance
between rows. Mr.. Amend said is
inch-A Mr.. Oliver said 20 inch~a. and
ground and Is inches on rolling
Rround-that would water qutck-
A. q. Conner emphasized the i'm.
portnnec of early planting. That gave
the best crop. Il also gave = better
chance .I. for ,rsp'an''nS II the nras
Prof oiin. Of the state Agricultural
College was the next speakeS. and he
| dealt with the pressrvntlon Of soil
fertility. H said he beiisvcd that
the Arkansas valley beet srpwsr had
the hest conditions for bses grswinx
atntcs. But the important fact was
that We could not Ko on taking crops
out of the soil anywhere without
putting something back. Alfalfa was
the keynote Of the Professors talk
for soil nourishmcnt. Nitrogen II the
deficient element In our soil and al
fnlfn II the best t,inx for putting
this into the soil. Bulletin % Of the
Agricultural College is q valuable bull
lctin for farmers on soii nourishm-nt.
First study the s"ii. then the crop best
suited to It. Then study the prrscr.
walton of the fertility In your soil.
The cow pea In almost as valuable
| Rs alfalfa for fcrtilixinx. hut cannot
be grown ns proftabiy as alfalfa here.
p. X. Biinn said II was much easier
" "
took much less water.
Mr.. vandcrbcrg cited the failure Of
nitrate Of soda ms a fertilizer for bects.
The meeting adjourned tiii 7:3o p. m.
.- EVENING SESSION.
The evening session was opened by
Prof. Oiin on the subject of Seed
Selection The thing the professor
sought to emphasize he expressed In
, the opening sentence. In the matter
N ha - ia ha
| chca pest In the dearest. and the dear
| est In the cheapest" We had got
around to some appreciation of the
| eject OF breeding In the case OF cattle.
he said. and after citing some strik-
Ing Instances OF this. went on to say
that all this was doubly true In the
matter Of seed selection. He cited
the results OF the work OF such emf
nent men as vilmorin In the improve
mcnt of .beet seed. and Devrie. the
great plant breeder OF the University
| OF Amsterdam. Also our own Amer
lean Burbank. From wall tablets
containing statistics he made clear
! the respective and wonderful pro-
| ductivity from selected grain seeds.
In Sweden there IL government in
spection OF cereals and only those who
| come up to certain standard can
| be sold for seed. All below this
standard must be sold for consump-
tion. For this reason Sweden has
become recognized as a great center
! for obtaining good seed for cereal
| crops. Prof Olin wants to organize
farm-boys' league OF seed growers,
and wants all boys willing to UNDER
| take seed cultivation to send their
names to him at the College and get
| the rules and conditions OF competi-
tion. Here is n chance for our farm
| boys to win liberal money prize and
n gold medal.
The professor pointed out what could
| be done in the matter OF our local
| crops. particularly our cnntaloupc. by
| careful seed selection. This was very
| important in the matter of sugar beet
seed. The Divide people are making
| n record on potatoes by this same
| process of careful seed selection.
What can be done In one can be done
| in all seeds. We have got to breed
our seeds as we do our cattle.
"Home Life" was the next theme on
| the program and it was treated by
| Miss Theodosia Ammons. teacher of
domestic science In the state Agri-
cultural College. By home life. Miss
| Ammons explained was meant in this
case the study of the domestic econ
omics, the art of selecting and pre-
pairing foods, with view TO promot-
| ing the best~ health. The speaker
made reference to some of the ancient
| knowledge of cookery. Yet. she said.
| there was comparatively little record
| OF the rise OF the domestic sciences.
and it is only within the last fifty
years that any great zeal had been
| given to the study of foods. In the
| little republic of Switzerland. where
probably the greatest attention had
| been paid to the subject of pure foods.
| there were more people now living to
| the age of IS years than formerly lived
| to the age of As. The Importance of
this study of pure food and Its prop
er preparation has only Just begun to
be appreciated in the last decade.
| Only twenty per cent of the women
of this country are relieved from doing
| their own houseworlS. The servant
| girl question Is a difficult one. and is
going to be more difficult and 1t is