The Washington herald., 1910-09-04
some Big STORIES
ABOUT The WEST
Fabulous Potatoes Grow in
San Luis Valley.
WIN PRIZES AT ExPosITIONS
Farmer SOws Beet Seed and Has to
Hunt for Crop, which Wins n
Mednl-siN Hundred-tOn Sugar Mil
Grows Ont OF Experiment - RIO
GrHnde Canal Waters 100, 900 Acres.

Some OF the men who are doing the
publicity work for the National Irriga-
ton Congress. which will meet in Pueblo,
Colo, this year. have gathered UP some
interesting stories about the fertility and
! agricultural wonders OF the great West.
Like most things coming from that
region these stories sound large. but
they are at the same time interesting
/ reading. and few Of them are give
/ herewith.
The Rio Grande Canal waters nearly
10000 acres. II was built t., 1854. and
the first priority extends back TO 1881.
4 There are thirty-elght miles Of main ca
nal. and thirty-fve miles Of laterals. The
canal is sixty feet wide. and about four
feet deep in its carrying capacity. It was
recently carrying 100 acre-feet an hour.
/ It's dam and headgates, near Del Norte.
are great engineering feats and never
fail to provoke curiosity and interest in
the visitor
They tell famous potato stories over in
the san Luis Valley. but none more
interesting than the wonderful acre
yield on the Rhoderlck Chisholm
place, near Del Norte. The yield
was Si7 acres. $1,000 pounds. or two
carloads. This was in 1891. and Mr..
Chisholm won the prize offered by the
American ,Agriculturist for the largest
yield on a measured acre. Every pre-
caution was taken. United States officers
surveyed the tract. There were official
= oil he
Adams. Of Denver. and John L. Routt
were two OF the judges
John Ewing. Of Del Norte took gold
medals for potatoes and oats at the
Louisiana Purchase Exposition. and Mr..
Chisholm got one for a sheaf of oats.
Chisholm also took four gold medals on
grains and grasses at the Clark and
Lewis Exposition. IN 1865. Both these
prize farmers will exhibit at the Ma
tional Irrigation Exposition. Pueblo. Sep
TENDER 70 TO October /.
II is said in the San Luis Valley. on no
less authority than Eugene II. Grub. OF
potato fame. and Prof Cottreu. late OF
the Colorado State Agricultural College.
that the ideal potato-raising section OF
the country Is near Hooper and Mosca.
in Conejos County. but Of course. other
portions OF the san Luis Valley, 10 say
nothing Of the famous Northern Colo
RADIO district. the Western Slope, and the
Arkansas Valley Of Content. resist this
statement
Rinse Big Beets.
Here's good story When they be-
gan raising experimental beets in the
San Luis Valley, and especially down in
the Mormon settlement Of Manassa and
Sanford. in COnejos County, one farmer
planted the seed sent him from the
state Agricultural College and forgot all
about II. He was latter called upon by
the agricultural college to harvest his
beets and send them in for a test. After
a days hunt, he and his hired man
found them. in an out-of-the-way place
where they had nc care or cultivation.
They harvested them and sent them to
Fort Collins. and they took the first
prize
Monte Vista will shortly bald a 60O-ton
sugar mill following successful expert
ments made all over the San Luis VAL
ley, in respect OF beets for the past
three years. W. D. Hoover and Ward
Darby have been doing this work and de-
serve great credit for their experiments
and their confidence. They now have
500 acres contracted for next year. with
100 experimental pieces growing this year.
so the success of the project appears to
be assured. The mill will be built during
the fall and winter. It will draw heavily
from around Monte Vista, Center, Manas- |
sa, and Sanford
Center is town Of 800, fifteen miles or |
the railroad-thOugh II is now hoping to
get one soon-has two-story REINFORCED |
building. fifty feet front and /
regulation depth, that Is model for any /
large city. Situated in one Of its down. I
stairs rooms Is the First National Bank. 1
a large institution with heavy deposits /
Nathan is the name Of a merchant at |
and ne told a Kansan, who was /
recently in the valley that he was born /
In Unconstitutional I am older than the /
State, which was admitted, You recall. |
In 1861" he said. He thought to catch |
the Kansan. but the latter was too wise;
merely remarking: That's probably true,
Colorado was part OF Kansas Territory
from the famous Kansas-Nebraska days
Of 1854 I'D to 1851" 1t turned out that
Mr.. Nathan was born in Leadville. Just
in the west edge Of Kansas Territory.