The Elbert County tribune., 1906-07-19
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
of Wizard Burbank.

Tract-Emulates the Achievements
of Wizard Burbank.
II one wishes to see practical ex-
hibition of the Campbell system Of dry
farming and the prettiest and neatest
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 E. 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-
mated as A. B. c, d, etc, all recorded
| iii plat book with their respective
crops and in which he also keeps tau
on the rainfall. days of sunshine and
extreme weather.
One-half acre of the House farm ia
devoted to the raising of COW peas, an
excellent fattening food for cattle and
sheep, used extensively for that pur1
pose in the San Luis valley. The pea
seed planted by Mr. House was first
subjected to a 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 enriching the soil far
lin excess of barnyard fertilizers. Dif-
| ferent 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
| cinity 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
| q good harvest and be saved all the ex
| pense of hiring "spud rustlers" and the
| inconvenience of rushing in his CROP
before freezing weather. The idea is
not original with Mr.. House. however
Up in Montana lives a man by the
name of w. ID. Darst, who discovered
"potatine," a composition of chemicals
required by the growing potato, foI
making everything about it but the
tops, which are unnecessary and moi
desirable anyway. The potatine is dis
solved in water, in about the proper
tion of one pound to 100 gallons oi
water, and after securing a wagonload
of sawdust one is ready to begin plant
ing. A wooden bin is constructed o
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 ant
as long as one wishes. That ON the
House farm is six feet high and five
feet long by as many wide. First {
layer of excelsior is put on the bottom
of the bin. then a layer of sawdus
dampened with the potatine. int
which is placed the potatoes about two
feet apart. They are covered witt
about twelve inches of the potatin'
ljdampened sawdust, and another laye
lplanted, and so on until the bin Il
filled. Mr.. House planted his potatoes
lon May 14th and now has quite fin'
crop of new potatoes, as large as hicli
ory nuts, on the innumerabie roots ant
routlets which the topless potatoe
have made. Now and then the grove
sprinkles the sawdust with the pota
tine, but the rains are usually SUN
cient to keep the sawdust damp afte
the first use of the wonderful fluid.
|. Mr.. House believes that in time th'
new process is bound to take prece
dence over the old way of back-break
ing work now employed in raising pc
tatoes.
Half a hundred varieties of whea
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 stant
of sixty-day oats promises a bumbe
crop, as does the barley now ready TO
the harvest. One of the finest stands
of grain is that made by the Egyptian
wheat This wheat is made up o
three distinct heads, whose unitet
breadth is about the combined widtl
of ones first three fingers. The Dur
ham and the Odessa wheat arr
also making splendid growth. 4
queer but thrifty specimen of grain Il
the beardless barley. A patch of ry'
stands fifty-four inches tall and aver
ages heads five and one-half inches il
length.
There is an almost endless variet!
of corn, from the Cuzco corn from
Peru and that with ears almost var,
long when fullest developed, to thu
primitive product with each kerne
wrapped in little husk and the whole
enveloped in one.
Mr.. House is particularly proud o
his beet patch. containing eight varie
ties of sugar beets, of the German ant
Danish kind. His system of cultur,
of the sugar beet is az least novel ant
good results are expected from it. i
| is this: The residue from sugar max