Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1910-07-09

the Black Hills as THE riches
hundred miles square on the face @
the EARTH" it was understood he ha
in mind the mineral wealth only O
this unique and wonderful region
/ shall take pleasure in proving t
you today, if this is not already you
conviction, that even granting tha
Mr.. Hughitt was not too sanguin
as to the mineral resources of tn
Black Hills, the horticultural pos
sibilities of the same region are 81
great as to merit at least equal in
terest and attention on the part o
the general public.
/ shall endeavor to treat my sub
ject very concretely, presenting ;
few only of the many significant anC
incontrovertible facts in my posses
sion indicating that millions of dol
lars worth of fruit of high qualit!
will ultimately be annually grown il
the Black Hills.
Two widely diverse methods o.
culture are used, the dry farming
method and the irrigation method
Both are widely successful, but the
former must be the main depend
ence, because water for irrigation il
available in much less than half OF
the region. The most intelligent
growers with water at their com.
mand combine the two methods.
l shall aim to avoid exaggeration
and the presentation of any theories
or predictions optimistic beyond
what an extremely conservative inter
probation of the facts warrants. !
desire to deal very directly and sim
ply with the whole subject, and /
must deal briefly with it, for I am
limited to twenty-five minutes. /
shall therefore adopt the plan of
giving the actual experience of some
person, whom l shall in each case
name, and Of one person, only, to IL
lustrate each phase of my subject.
This will have the advantage Of en-
abling interested parties to verify
my alleged facts, and will tend to
render the treatment of the subject
thoroly practical.
To illustrate the possibilities of
fruit growing by dry farming meth
DDS, l have decided to narrate the
experience of Mr.. John Robertson Of
Hot Springs.
About eight or ten years ago Mr..
Robertson located on a quarter Sec
tion of land in the dry Southern
Hills eight miles northwest of Hot
Springs. There was no stream of wa
ter, nor even spring anywhere near
his place. He has since got a spring
by tunnelling into the rocks near his
house. Choosing a north slope as
the site for his orchard and other
fruit he broke up about thirty acres,
some of it quite rocky, but the most
OF it deep soil free from stone. This
he has by degrees put out to apples,
plums, pear. cherries, grapes, cur
rants, raspberries, and blackberries.
Apples occupy more of the space
than all the other fruits combined.
Mr.. Robertson pulverizes the soil
thoroly to depth of twelve or more
inches, and keeps fine dust mulch
on the surface continually. After
every rain he harrows, to keep a
crust from forming and to conserve
the moisture. Not a weed is allow
ed to grow. On a recent visit to his
fruit farm l found abundance of
moisture three inches below the sur
face of the ground, tho there had
been no rain for weeks, and the
crops on other dry farms were burn
ed up. Nothing on Mr.. Robertson's
place was suffering from drouth,
and there was clearly no danger of
yegetation's drying up. With the
exception Of few apple trees on
the lowest ground where the fruit
had been destroyed by the late
spring freezes, every tree and bush
was loaded with fruit of apparently
fine quality. Nearly every tree and
plant on the premises was handsome
vigorous and healthy.
The Wealthy is Mr.. Robertson's
favorite apple, the Cheney his best
plum, the Franco-German his most
valued currant, and the Downing
and Chatauqua his leading goose
berries. He has several varieties of
plums originated at the State Col
lege by Prof. N. E. Hansen that
promise to surpass everything else
in their line. Prof. Hansen's Sun
beam Raspberry is also a success
here. 1t requires no winter protec-
tion and yields heavily.
Owing to the fact that Mr.. Rob
ertson's fruit farm is several hun
dred feet higher than the general
altitude Of the foot hills of that re-
gion, his apples are late in ripening
and his Wealthy apples are thereby
transformed from mid-winter to late
winter apples. They readily keep till
June. He has a cement cellar that
enables him to keep his apples in
fine condition for market at any
time. His apples are as perfect and
beautiful as those that come to us
from the Pacific coast, and in quail
ty they are much superior to the ID
ah0 and Wocbin oto, fr,,st T., e.o.