Rocky Ford enterprise., 1916-04-07

If Pueblo sets herself up as great
center of mechanical affairs. then the
inventive genius supposed to be guiding
the motion Of a thousand wheels and
cams and cranks ought to be able to sup
ply certain wants which are keenly felt
on Colorado farms.
A number of comparatively simple
appliances are called for. and we fail to
note that Pueblo makes an attempt to
produce them. outside of one or two good
exceptions-an alfalfa mill factory and
hay press. The farmer has the nancy to
pay for his machinery, and he is ready to
patronize home industry. but does not ge+
the chance to do SO. Few persons have
an idea of the great number of cream
separators sold and used in this region.
One agent Of machine of this kind has
made good living for years, and he
travels in an auto all over the Arkansas
valley. lneubators of a dozen brands
come to this country from as many states.
none being made here. Enormous quaint
tiles of iron are made at Pueblo but no.
a pound Of it goes into plow shares, eulti-
| vators. harvesters, or the hundred other
appliances for which the farmsrs pay out
thousands of dollars and on which they
pay freight expense from the distant east.
1t does look as If there ought to be local
inventive talent which could this year
turn out a practicable bean thresher
Separation Of a dozsn hard dry beans
from their enclosing pod is so simple a
process that it has been for centuries
performed by the Mexioans, who beat
the beans with sticks, breaking and shat
tering the pods, then wait for gale Of
wind to remove the litter from the beans.
A vast quantity Of beans will be grown
in this region during the present season.
| In no previous year has the market Of this
commodity been SO favorable. the demand
SO large. the price SO satisfactory. About
Rocky Ford many acres arenow contract
ed for raising of green string beans. An
entirely different proposition is the grow
ing of dry beans. and these will be pro
duced in many varieties, the old fashioned
speokIed brindle Mexican bean being the
leader. White navy beans will be grown
to some extent. but not in quantity to
make up fraction of the serious defici-
ency in Michigan. While the navy bean
plant is producing dozsn small pods the
M ex.can yields three or four dozen, OF
twice the weight.
Now arises the eed of simple. effic-
lent, inexpensive machine to thresh the
beans. 1t ought to be possible to make
one at price low enough SO that an ordin.
ary farm owner can buy one. just as he
can buy tanning mill for an Indiana
farm.
fNr ~ nd
tries growing out of home agriculture as
a basis could be named in considerable
number. One eof the most profitable would
be the manufacture of linseed oil, the
price of which has SCARED to a dollar
gallon. There is no satisfactory sub
stitute for 1t, and all outdoor painting
will hereafter be very expensive. Flax
seed in unlimited quantity could be grown
here. The plants with their tiny purple
flowers have often been produced in an
experimental way.
Breakfast foods of many varieties come
upon the market and are more or less
popular. some of the best of them being
from California, where 'Carnation' now
succeeds the insipid old "Pettijohn."
Certain persons insist on getting the health
foods manufactured at Battle Creek. Any
OF them could be made right here if we
were smart enough. Little of the pop
corn roasted at the street corner is grown
in this neighbour ood. altho it is surer
crop than the common field corn.
A Hoosier farmer makes many gallons
Of sorghum molasses. even by use of
| simple large iron kettles. Nobody ever