The daily sentinel., 1914-04-23

lA4t RlGctAI NtA4E NtlAtAo abhAA AAAt
fruit crop and the weather condi-
tions. AS l stated last week We have
with few exceptions suffered a loss
after the goth of April. and that
date is now numbered in the past.
We have escaped the storm period
which almost invariably occurs about
the goth the past week. and 1t rained
at the critical time and won the
battle with the weather bureau prog
nostieators.
There IS now In full bloom a very
heavy crop OF peaches. cherries and
pears with a few varieties OF apples,
and We shall have with no further
damage a very heavy crop of all
kinds of fruit There is q fine pros
peet OF a fine price for the peaches,
and there are Just few things
which must be borne in mind; one OF
the most important is that unless
there is heavy pruning and heavier
there will be a failure to Sc
cure the profits We should receive
for our fruit crop, and the receipts
Will be swallowed up in handling
large number OF boxes of small and
almost unstable stuff.
James l.. Hamilton come in touch
in his heater business with q large
number OF growers and says that
within the past week he has received
letters from heavy growers of
peaches in Texas and Oklahoma. and
they tell him that the crop Is prac-
tically wiped out in their sections.
With extra fancy peaches we shall
have good market this year. Why
not get all there is in it at the lowest
possible cost OF material and labor by
shipping large and fancy fruits? We
are way down in the list when it.
comes to preparing our splendid
product for the market.
/ had a surprise the past week
when | visited the section OF country
in the vicinity OF Iona. | spent
five days at the Golden Hills ranch,
owned by Werner q. Reed, and man
aged by that veteran In that end of
the valley-David Cool=and his
corps of assistants. 1t was my first
visit to the territory west of Fruita,
and | found 1t veritable kingdom in
itself. Much Of the land is high and
rolling, and largely of the red mesa
soil. The people are largely turning
their attention to alfalfa, grain, cat
tie and hogs, and il Will be in few
years the very most prosperous sec
ton of Mesa county.
IT was in 1907 that Mr. Reed took
1t into his head to improve his i'm
mense holdings in that section. 1t
was after the panic and Mr.. Reed
came to the county and said to David
Cool; II want to help this section;
the people are short of money and /
will loosen up a bit of my own" He
told Mr. Cool he wished to plant 800
acres in apples the next spring, and
took him from the, sugar company.
MIR. Cool went to work and agreed to
plant 100 acres. He bought car
load of mules in Kansas, and later
Mr.. Reed insisted on two and three
hundred acres, and more mules were
bought and the land was leveled and
planted.
A little city of houses was erected;
a water system was installed and a
large sum of money went into circu-
lation. The trees did well at the
start, but one winter the weather was
very cold and many of the trees We're
killed and Others stunted; replanting
has been done for several years, but
1t is very difficult to get replanted
trees to grow, and the orchard is not
in the best of shape. Especially Sc
we're was the loss on Winesap and
Missouri Pippin trees, while the Gano
loss was practically nothing. If the
work had been done a little
more slowly-the land devoted to
crops and alfalfa for few years and
then a moderately sized orchard set
out the result would have been eX-
oellent. but as | harvested repeatedly
there are very few instances where a
large orchard without the personal
care of the owner has been a success.
However there is 4 great future in
store for that section, and MIR. Reed
is paving the way with the help of
Mr.. Cool. who is this year in charge
again, after an absence of three
years looking after his own heavy
interests. There are now about four
hundred acres in hay and grain. and
many more acres will soon be placed
in such condition. Within the past
six months several hundred head of
cattle have been acquired, and from a
few hundred head of brood sows
there are almost one thousand head
of little red pigs from day to sew
eral weeks old. Some of these pigs
are full bloods and there are thirty
four little chaps about two months
old with metal buttons in their
ears all numbered and named and
their names written in the big book
at national quarters for Durocs
Talk about pigs. l have seen pigs
before and hundreds of them. but
never so many little piglets all in
bunch They are allowed full free
dom in alfalfa fields, and thrive
on the feed; carload or
two have been shipped TO market at
and several cars are nearly
ready. while the same progress is be-
ing made in the cattle line. Mr..
Cool signed check last fall for over
50. 900, which secured a large num-
ber of full hlooded Herefords. and
the past week sent large herd to
the summer range recently secured
over in the hills of Utah. The check
went to cattle man near De BeQue.