The Ordway new era., 1909-05-07
FARM NOTES

the stragglers nave iouuu tuei' PiaN'
in rank, before counting his losses
officially. So we are waiting until the
injured buds have dropped, the oats
begun to sprout and the alfalfa to raise
its dropping heads, before estimating
accurately our losses from the 'lat'
unpleasantness." But enough l.
known to say that IL the enemy comcs
not again, "like a thief in the night,
we shall ship apples, cherries, prunes
and some late plums from Ordway
yet. Late varieties Of all fruits are
safe yet-we may look for a full crop
OF Winesap, Missouri Pippin, and the
like. Ben Davis is an early blUssomer
and is hit hard, but shall Look for
enough undevelOped buds and the te"
that escaped to make une-fuurth Of
crop. Our best cherry, the Mont
morency. is unharmed So far-tifty per
cent OF Wragg alive. These are uui
two principal commercial cherries.
our money makers. So OF the late
apples.
Reports from our south side neigE.
bors tell a dismal story-everything
wiped out-no smudging, and no fruit
Of any kind alive. Same story from
Olney with these exceptions, Mr.
Crowley saved forty To fifty per cent
of his apples and thirty per cent Of
his cherries by smudging, but all OF
his other trees are fruitleSS; and so Of
his neighbors who did not smudgc
with the exception OF Mr. Conard, who
reports a full crop and no artificial
heat. This was the case the last two
years when all OF Us lost our fruit.
Some peculiar location of his orchard
with reference to the wind or cold
currents is doubtless the cause. This
is not strange-if the Indian knew
where to make his winter camp, We
ought to learn as much in reference
to location of fruit farms. Palisades
is noteworthy example OF this.
Some cliff or valley turns aside the
biting frosts and retains enough Of
earth's heat to save their peaches,
while the neighbOring towns are
frozen.
The difference in blossoming time
between Rocky Ford and other south
side orchards from ours at Ordway Is
so marked that any OF our "Old
timers" can tell you that we are about
two weeks later. For years thought
| had planted later varieties, but not
so. This is a very important item in
the fruit business.
Another item in our favor is that
essential element in soil for the or
chard. My faith in our upland ridges
OF sandy clay for fruit is very great
and has been for years. The fiat adobe
may prove in time as valuable. !
have never had experience nor obser-
walton to Judge. One thing has been
proven to the satisfaction OF every
orchardist, |. e., no fruit tree will live
long or bear freely that has its top
roots IN water. The land must be
drained IL soapy or swampy and the
surface kept moist.
AS for frost danger to blossoms, IL is
risk that you must run, whether
you locate 10 Florida, California, or
Montana. The fruit In Virginia and
Georgia is reported killed from frost
10 March. The same anxiety exists
in every fruit region during the bios
som period. When we have profession
al fruit men locate at Ordway with
their pruning knives and smudge pots,
and experiment with the various
fruits and their varieties, we shall
ship our train loads away as other
fruit regions.
How about young alfalfa? Reports
are various. Some say mot hurt"
others, "all killed." and sandwiched
between these extremes are all the
per cents. Are you sure you know the
young plant? One man brought me
handful Of live weeds to prove his
point. Surely it did it no good, and
1t could never have struck it In more
favorable time for destruction-with
Its two tiny leaves. Wait! Those
who had beets up have plenty of time
to disc up and replant-but don't lose
u year If part are killed-for poor
stand spells loss.
The writer was not little pleased
a few days since In seeing the energy
and thrift shown by Mrs. John Ellis
In producing two or three hotbeds of
lettuce, cabbage and tomatoes. been
using lettuce out Of this bed for
week." Who has anything earlier?
And as for the tomato plants, they
excel by far any have seen. Second,
third, yes, fourth set of leaves out.
four to six inches above ground. These