The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1913-12-03
SWEET POTATOES sRlNo s+2s An
ACRE. WHILE ONIONS BRING
NEARLY s4oo.
USES RED RIVER UNDERTOOK
Or L. .. Ewing Shows Wonderful
Results Of intensive Farming or
Plat Of Eight Acres in
Jefferson County.

om bis farm and has gown garden /
crops which have netted startling 4
sums. His sweet potatoes brought as
high as s425 an acre. and onions net
ted $3.50 or the same area. Or Ewing. /
though no longer young in years. is /
one Of the most progressive farmers In (
Oklahoma. lie took 70 lrriaating two
years ago after dEouth almost wiped
out his garden crops lie has expert
mented with an kinds of crops and has
generally been successful
Dr. Ewing Installed afteen-horse.
power gasoline engine, He attached
lt to a No. 2 centrifugal pump with a
twoinch intake and threeinch outlet
capable of delivering about $50 gal
Ions a minute Ills engine has ca
pacity OF 30 barrels a minute when
operating a larger pump, The wen is
81 feet deep and there is four-foot
basin Of water. A galvanized iron
casing six feet in iiameter was sunk
into the sandy SOL and the sand and
mud pumped out. There is an almost
llnexhaustihle supply OF water. as the
Red river underflow extends several
miles on each side OF the river bed
though the bed itself may be perfectly
dry in midsummer. There are about
10000 acres in the Red river valley
! III the vicinity OF Terral which could
be irrigated, and several farmers and
truck gardeners are preparing TO fol.
low Dr. Ewing's example and make
use Of the underaow The Lift is from
4 10 to 25 feet and can easily be handled
by tie type Of engine installed By DR..
Ewing.
50 enthusiastic Ii the physician over
I mis- irrigating scheme that he lets his
engine pump day and night without
stopping more than few hours in
which TO clean out the cylinders or to
allow it to cool His engine and pump
cost him about 5000 and he says il was
the best investments he ever made.
Last year when his neighbors had no
crops he was selling tomatoes al the
rate OF 5000 an acre and his sweet po-
tatoes were bringing him from $500 70
$500 an acre. He says the outfit has
long ago paid for itself The engine
consumes about three gallons OF gaso-
line ia a day of ten hours. It is SO
simple TO operate that his twelve-year-
old son is entrusted with its manage
ment.
Thousand Bushels an Acre
On sandy loan land which once had
been the bed OF the river Dr. Ewing
last year raised almost 1000 bushels
of sweet potatoes an acre. These he
sold for from SO cents to $3.50 a
bushel Wanrika, Ryan and Chick
asha. Okla, took part OF the crop, as
uid Ringgold, Texas.
Onions also proved success on the
Ewing farm. He sowed Prizetaker
and Spanish onion seed in rows and
thnned them after the plants ap.
peared. His yield was astonishing,
totaling about S400 an acre on part oi
the field. He sold the crop for an
average Of 81 and $3.50 a bushel in
4 crates to Waurika and Ryan stores,
points a short distance from Terral.
Onetenth Of an acre Of cantaloupes
which DR.. Ewing irrigated brought IL
s65
Summer Wakefield cabbage planted
oy Or. Ewing February 10th yielded
about 10 TO II tons an acre, which sold
got from to Pc cents pound.
Caulilower grew with astonishing
speed and made q crop on a small
scale which was rated at about $500
an acre. Several of the heads weighed
4 three pounds each. Irish potatoes
i also irrigated. yielded 500 bushels an
acre and sold for Si25 70 $3.50 .
bushel to nearby towns.
Land in the vicinity OF Terral Is
worth about $50 an acre and some is
u quoted for less. There are thousands
of fine bottom farms which could east
Is be irrigated with little expense and
q labor Farms that are barely payine
some years could be made TO yield
a handsome incomes with irrigation to
4 aid the crops DR.. Ewing has preached
the doctrine Of watering the fields for
H years and his demonstration has been
i an eye-opener TO many.
Irrigation inexpensive.
& Inc expense OF lfIibdtlAE u tuHi
8 paratively little II the engine is op
Grated ten hours it will consume about
q aee gallons OF gasoline, which costs
Il about 20 cents a gallon. II takes from
* one and a half 70 two days to irrigate
Il an acre on the Ewing farm With the
|s dikes and bitches in use. Much water
IS lost in the sand during transmission
81 Or. Ewing says that he Intends to In
stall another pumping device which
y viii require an engine Of only fou'
] horsepower and which viii bring ths
water from a depth Of thirty feet K
! The surface in buckets. He thinks tel
4 acres can be irrigated every ten ol
twelve days at an expense Of aboul
50 cents a day Tor gasoline. Thi.
would be s. an acre. which is low
ahcn compared with the cost Of irri
e4ti0n in an up-to-aate Irrigation coun
try.