Gunnison news-champion., 1915-04-09
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SueuBxiaS W (souussao ~ - - -. .
psunsnsus farmer and sssca Sssdsr a
L4nUDsst. weo vss N sur Gay - sUsi-
ssn. nr JsaP has large fasU sses
I>sasnsnf end be s<s<s soss~ ssxsy &C
s<Ssasy hssser end mus>~. the usual
coapssaent VI chsckens. pigs. etc, ~
buys rseusarly foar or Eve hundred head
If range fssdsss ssd runs them W has
Ioss tall 6nished for market This range
ssuG v fed on alfalfa. beet pulp end
sisae<, but the latter forms tbs esck-
hoae Of hss feeding operations and he Ne
eushussastic over the results of growing
cosp n Colossdo.
a fee years ego. says Mr.. Jade.
ouly hsse and there vas . man whe
trisd - raise corn. 1t wss considered
impssctical On sccouat Of the supposed
hsadicap Of tbs cold niehts. etc. How
ever, we are discovering that Col0rsdo
can raise shout as good corn - any
stste, end with the advent Of the sile
to con this corn. stalks and all We are
raising from five to twenty tons of feed
to the acre and more than doubling the
carrying capacity Of our lsnd in hive
steck. Everybody who pretends to
feeding ia Eastern Colorado is sow in
terested in the problem and literally
hundreds Of silos are being built
What is more, Mr.. Jade reported that
corn is being raised successfully and
silos ere being built to preserve it ~
high ~ eight thousand feet in altitude.
Now, of course, not oil varieties of cora
ere adapted to high attitudes. 1t must
be ninety day" corn, like Iowa Sill
yer Mine. Swadiey, White Australian.
Colorado Yellow Dent, or Parsons High
Altitude Corn. any one Of which can be
secured from the reliable seed houses.
Then it should be particularly m ensil-
age variety if possible. that is running
more to fodder and large stalks than to
ears, since it is very likely that at this
elevation the corn will not ripen. In
deed it is not at all necessary that it
should. end even frosted corn, if packed
in the silo with considerable water,
makes the finest kind of feed.
'1would not recommend silos for the
Gunnison county ranches at the present
time, said Mr.. Jade, but do think,
in view of the remarkable advantage
the silo gives the stock feeder, that =
number of Gunnison ranchmun, who
have bench land on the warmer slopes
where frost is reas0Qably free in the
summer months, should try out for
some years, these different kinds Of en-
silage corn. You caRnst Isse, siace,
even if the corn does not get to the en-
silage stage, yet ii makes good feed md
lots of il to the scre. II, after several
trials Of say n acre or 20, yoa And that
you have N scre Of lsnd that
will raise corn 70 TIE easilage point be-
fore frost, then il will bs . greet thing
for the stock interests. II you caa't
work it out, then the oely thing to %
will be TO let the other fellow have the
advantage end forget it,"
A. corn raisess in Colorado develop
experience they We less end lees wstef.
In dry seasons sDi with ssnAy lend, il
may be necessary to irrigate seed up,
but from then On substitUte c0ltiv atioH
for irrigation. Better not t0uch it with
water again till the rolling of the leaves
in midday and the exceedingly darh
green Of the foliage indicate suffering
for moisture and if the ground 10 plowee
deeply and proper shallow cultivation
given, this will not be until the stalk
are getting pretty large. In the Long
mont district . great deal of corn il
raised by the best farms in large tracti
with only one irrigation and that ii
August.
1t will rarely be safe to plant corn il
Gunnison county before the first o.
June, and as we often have frost al0nl
the 10th of June, it is quite likely tina
from the 5th to the 10th will work ou
- the best planting season.
One thing about corn raising, th'
seed is very inexpensive. Twelve
pounds to the acre is smple and one cal
secure it for four to five cents . pound
Neither is the labor of preparing th'
ground excessive. Deep plowing is th'
main thing. Corn roots will not pene
trate hard ground. but given deep pillow
ing, the roots strike down and SO th'
labor of irrigation is lessened. For en-
silage the corn is usually rowed from
three feet to three feet eight inches
and one or two grains dropped fifteeI
to twenty inches apart in the row
This can be done with hoe. or m mex
pensive hand planter, costing dollar d
81 so.
Other crops are used for silage, sucl
as peas, alfalfa and peas. alfalfa an
barley. corn and peas. etc. but none o
. them return the tonnage that does corn