The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1910-03-24
SPUDS.
Hemet, Cal, March II, 1910.
Register Publishing Co.,
BroOkings, South Dakota.

Register Publishing Co,
Brookings, South Dakota.
Gentlemen
Enclosed please find $3.50 to apply
on my subscription account.
| see the farmers around Brookings
are going into the spud raising bust
ness. That is quite an industry here.
as the Hemet spud commands a prem.
ium in the markets, and IL we could
raise spuds here as cheaply as in
Brooking county there would soon be
a drop in the price of spuds, l think,
as we can raise two crops a year
here. 1t may interest some OF your
prospective spud raisers to know how
we do it in California. The first or
spring crop is raised something like
back east only we have to irrigate
more or less according to rainfall.
The C crop is generally planted
during July, at the very hottest and
dryest time OF the year and then It
is when the work comes In. The
hrst thing we do, we furrow out the
land and 1t is then, as a rule, so hard
AH'S w 81 lNlCc, DdCh ana
forth, in order to get the burrows
deep enough to carry the water good
across the field. When the field to
be planted is furrowed out we run
water through the burrows or i~rrigate
as we say here. then a day or two
afterwards We cross drag II. This ia
done to level the burrows again and
hold the moisture. Then we plow
about ten inches deep, drag down
good, furrow out again and irrigate
once more, then cross drag again, then
work it up good and deep with a cul-
%tivator, and drag it down good and
smooth and go owe it with a float
something On the order Of the bottom
out Of a Dakota hay rack. Then We
are ready to plant, providing you have
your seed dipped and cut. All seed
here is dipped in formaldehyde to pre-
vent scab and all planting Is done
with horse planters and rows ?2 to "a
inches apart and c%ultivator run
through right after planting, and after
wards irrigated and cultivated every
two weeks until laid by. Then II
everything has been done right and
the land was good we expect to dig
from so to 100 sacks per acre. The
digging is done by machines which
takes from four to six horses to pull.
Indians are employed to do the pick.
ing. as white people do not like to
do work Of that kind here, too back
breaking. The digging outfits go
around and dig something on the order
Of threshing machines back east. They
charge 1914 cents per sack, about 10
pounds, so the rancher has only to-
haul it into his shed, where they are
sorted into No. 1 and No. 2 and pig
feed. If the ground is good and ir-
rigated right 1t will be mostly No.
Is. The price generally runs from
$1.25 to $1.75 per 100 pounds. It's
now $3.50 +. o. b. at Helmet, so re-
turns are no so bad after all. We
have had n rain to speak OF here
during February and March so far,
and 1t has been quite warm, so every
thing is we'll along. Apricots and
peaches are about the size OF hazel
nuts. The olive crop is all picked
and the orange packing houses are
running full blast. Grain is a foot
high or more. First crop of alfalfa
looks very fine and will be ready to
cut inside of a couple of weeks, such
is California a. this time. March II.
1910. Respectfully,
X. B. Utigard.