The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1916-07-14

sidered everything in the edition was
true, but there was not enough dis
%couraging features in it to have it
sound perfectly reasonable and natu-
raj. The spirit of optimism prevailed
even in the dis%couraging things that
were mentioned, so that 1t made one
feel like Idaho must be all right.
She has some other friends in Okla
homa that she will show the paper
to If they come out here, but she will
not send it to them.
H. P. Peterson, of Groveland,
raises several varieties of strawber-
ries, and is harvesting a good crop.
The frost did not damage them much,
but the scarcity of fruit has made the
robins concentrate their energies on
the strawberries, and many are dam
aged by them. The birds are not at
all thoughtful about their work, but
go along sampling the different ber-
ries, leaving many of them with holes
in. when one berry would probably
be sufficient if it were all eaten.
Mr.. Peterson and his family get
ouite a substantial income from the
berries while they last, and have
some of the ever-bearing variety that
WELD for many weeks. They also
have the straw-raspberry that Will
Weld some this year. They obtained
it from R. W. Kroskrey, who states
that they have a very superior flavor.
They have some of the Victoria black
English currants, a variety tnat grow
very large and are much sought TOT
making jelly and jam. ,
Mrs. Peterson has won W % or the
Idaho Republican prizes for writing
on better farm methods, n IN
speaking of the strawberry crop be-
ing successful at their place notWlth-
standing the hard frosts, she SAID
it is a decided advantage to nave
heavy foliage on the strawberries as
it protects against frost.
eugene Hale, of Groveland, has
strawberries this year and they are
thickest where the foliage is great
est, He did not have time to remove
the grass and weeds, and the trost
left them the most berries where the
foliage is greatest. Mr.. Hale's farm
is as neat as the p%roverbal pin ex-
cepting in the berry patch and ne IS
m0ralizing on the advantages Oh pc
ing too busy to clean out his straw
berry patch and thereby lose the
crop. ;.
Mr.. Hale has 20 acres of land IN
Groveland raises sugar beets mainly.
He has been studying for years to
get the methods that will leave MIN
the greatest margin of profit on them
and by taking time to go over his
place together and drawing him u
as to details of the work we u
what we regard as very valuable in
formation. 1t might not appear so
valuable but he has the proof OF the
method in the crop showing.
Mr. Hale came here from Gentle
valley in 1905 and bought land on
the installment plan, and the land
or most of it had to be graded. He
has cut down and filled in to varia-
lions of two or three feet. The man
who declines to grade his ground on
the theory that he can't raise much
on it after stripping off the surface
ought to visit Mr.. Hale's farm and
guess again, or better still, take our
word for what he has accomplished
and get busy grading and doing many
other things on Mr.. Hale's plan. He
does a good many things that may
look like a granny idea, but so long
as it is a short cut to good results,
so much the more credit to granny.
Mr.. Hale began raising sugar beets
in rows 20 inches apart and thinned
to eight or ten inches apart in the
rows. He doesn't do that any more.
He has gotten the rows &c inches
apart and prefers them even wider,
but it makes confusion adjusting the
drills with the neighbors, so they
on 26 inches. He finds
that beets need considerable room
for sun and roots, and when one has
room to make a deep furrow for the
water. he can irrigate to better adj
vantage than where the furrow is
and it backs up in places,
flooding the tops Of the plants. The
higher the plants stand above the
water line, the better the beets at
harvest time. Mr.. Hale thins his
beets to 18 to "a inches apart in the
rows, for beets that have room
enough, grow to the weight Of ten
TO IA pounds. 1t takes about the
amount of time to pull and top
)ne big beet as a small one, and
t takes much less seed, less thinning
and hoeing to raise them two feet
apart than one foot. Mr.. Hale be-
ieves in deep blowing and subsoiling.
Beets two feet long have more ton
than beets a foot long, and it
axes only the same amount of over
head work to care for them. He
Flows his ground with a two-way
blow and has the subsoiler follow
light after it. He uses three horses
N the plow and three on the sub
'oiler. The middle horse on the sub
'oiler walks in the furrow and one !
IN the plowed ground. 1t tramps
he dirt down but that helps the seed I
)ed he says, and it seems to be true.
He has four horses busy with the {
narrow and it follows the pillow and I
gets the ground all mellow and firm
the hour it is plowed. He
oses very little moisture by evapora-
ion because it is treated promptly
Ind completely. +,
Mr.. Hale has tried raising two
of beets with one blowing of
he ground and thinks it will be sue
Last spring, he did his plow-