The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1914-08-13
OUR TABLE LANDS

A. C. Moffet. Cashier Of the First
National Bank Of Waverly. ILL.,. writes
II had expected to nnd ON the uplands
only . few sod shanties and ranch
houses" but in place OF this he saw
improvements which equal many seen
In Illinois and other middle west states
also he saw fields Of corn equal we
believe to many Of the fields Of corn
to be found in Illinois, and other corn
states. Colorado does not make . pre-
tention Of being corn state but Sedg-
wick County or portions Of II at least
happens to be most f0orably situated
being practically the same altitude
as Western Nebraska and Kansas 1t
is not subject to the late frosts in
Spring and the early frosts in the fall
as other parts Of Colorado. and In ad-
diti0n It seems that q part Of our soil
on the Table Land is especially adap-
ted to this crop and produces from
25 to so bushels per acre and our
readers or those of them who do not
know must remember that this land
is priced from virgin soil at $50 to SIS
per acre to improved farms from $40
to SIS per acre.
But corn is not the only crop. 1t IL
one among many. One table l4na fag.
mer who was visited by our Illinois
friends raised oats that averaged s5
bushels per acre. in 1912 and this year
one field has Just threshed out SO bu-
shells Of oats per acre while we might
cite other instances of yields all the
way from IS to so bushels per acre.
Fall wheat, another Of the success
full crops raised on the table land and
one which was much admired by our
visitors is now being threshed and is
averaging from IS to 40 bu. per acre.
I shall give a few figures that have
at hand; one mans crop averaged
3711 bu. to the acre, another 36 bu. an
other "a bu. per acre and the lowest
test on these was II and the highest
73 lbs. to the bu. machine measure.
We might go on with innumeral like
examples not only in oats and wheat
but rye. barley. spelts. milo maize.
kaffir corn. cane and like grain and
forage crops.
But the farmer going on to semi
arid land either here or elsewhere
should not depend on or expect year
after year Of such crops unless they
do something to keep the land in the
proper condition to yield. In other
! words while our soil has shown much
fertility more we believe than many
other soils on account of its depth,
there being from two to four feet Of a
rich sandy loan underlaid by a rich
clay subsoil over practically all of
our table lands still It will wear out.
There will come years probably in the
future as there has in the past when
because of lack Of moisture at the
right time crops partially or entire
ly fail and our farmers that are here
have learned and those who are COM
ing should know that on every farm
no matter how large or how small
a certain amount of either beef cat
tie or dairy cattle should be kept
By doing this one fills two-fold pur-
pose: first he is providing fertilizer
for his land and second he is provid-
ing for himself sure income regard
less of any crop conditions. There is
a dearth of milk, cream and butter
production in Colorado Our cities and
our mining industries use annually
many times what is produced of these
commodities in Colorado and at least
until We furnish all we need for home
consumption there is going to be q
high price for these products. Another
item all should bear in mind is tina;
for the economical feeding and caring
for our rough feed every farm should
be equipped with silo. It makes ne
difference what kind. but some kinG
so that there shall he Just as little
waste as possible of the crops grown
What we have said of the cattle car
| he seid Of the hogs and poultry AMI