El Nuevo mexicano., 1917-06-21
New Mexico Chile
Estate College Press Bulletiu.)

Chile has been. and is at the present
Time. an Important crop in the State, par.
tcularly among our native population, The
demand for this crop is increasing, and at
present many thousands Of pounds are
shipped to eastern and southern states;
most of which, however, Is grown in CALI
fornia. E.EE fl
New Mexico Ought to produce o larger
crop Of chile each year in order to supply
all of the home, and some, at least, or
the market outside Of the state.
There are a number Of ways Of growing
chile. The old. native method Is to make
ridges about 8 or 4 feet apart, and about
8 TO 10 inches high. Turn the water down
these ridges. and in a few days after irri.
eating, plant the seed every two feet on
the side Of the ridge at the edge OF the
water mark. AS soon as the plants are
3 to 4 inches in height they are thinned,
and the trimmings are tr~ansplanted to other
places. As the crop grows the cultivation
consists Of hoeing the weeds from tho fur.
rows and ridges. and loosening the dirt
around the plant; no horse cultivation is
given. The more modern method Is to
grow the plants .like tomato plants in hot
beds or cold-frames, and transplant them
10 the field as soon as the danger Of frost
Is over, either on ridges or in burrows. II
they are t~ransplanted on ridges they are
usually placed on the side or top Of the
ridge. The subsequent irrigation and cul.
~tivation is the same as that for the crop
when started from seed in the field.
The furrow method, which is being used
and developed at the New Mexico agricul.
tural experiment station, consists In first
blowing, narrowing and ~leveling the land
thoroughly; then making small, shallow
burrows from 3 to 3h feet apart. The fur.
rows can be made with a small shovel cul.
~tivator or small pillow, from 3 to 4 inches
in depth. A small stream Of water is al.
lowed to run down the burrows, to wet
them. In two or three days the plants are
Itransplanted slightly to the sides of these
little burrows, at a distance of two feet
apart, and the water is turned down the
burrows as soon as the plants have been
transplanted. In four to eight days they
are irrigated again. BY using this furrow
system a very small quantity Of water can
be used, and the work can be done, on the
whole, more satisfactorily than in any other
way. AS the, plants grow, the dirt is ridged
to them, so that by the time they are laid
by there is a ridge from 8 to 10 inches
high. The plant then is in the middle of
the ridge, with its roots deep in the SOIL.
This method reduces the amount Of hand
work.
In the growing of chile from seed plant
ed in the field the farmers leave too many
plants to the hill. 1t Is no thing
to find from 10 to rs plants growing at
the same place. When there are too many
plants to the hill they do not branch prop.
erly, but grow too tall and ~spindiing, and
produce a small crop, as we'll as small pods.
The best plan is, where the plants are
grown from seed in the field or transplant
ed from the cold-frame, to have from two
to three to the hill. In this way they will
branch considerably and produce a larger
crop and better pods.
The chile plant begins to bloom early.
and keeps blooming and bearing until frost
comes; consequently care must be taken to
see that the plant does not stop growth at
any time during the season. This means
that considerable attention must be given
both to cultivation and irrigation. Frequent
and light irrigations are better than heavy
ones at long intervals. To give an idea
on this point, last years experimental plots
NJ thO OApCi otdtiOu WoIt lITfSdttu
April 10, May IL. May "a, June 5, June
20, July l., July is, August s., August IL.
September IL and october o. In most do
c~alities the last irrigation will probably
be omitted. The crop was cultivated ON
May A., May 16, May 20, June 5 and July
5. After this date the crop was "laid by"
The experiment station has been securing
good yields from the variety known as No.
0, originated at the station. On an acre
OF lane on which SASS hills we're planted,
5,257 produced a crop and 1913 were blight
ed. The first green pods were picked Au-
gust !. Most of the crop, however, was
allowed to ripen on the plants. The ripened
crop was harvested from the 23d to the
28th of October.
The 5,257 sound plants produced 1885
pounds of fresh red chile. This was dried
by spreading it out on the ground. After it
was thoroughly dried and sacked it weighed
only 1875 pounds; In other words, the one
acre produced 2,676 pounds of dried red
pods. This was an excellent yield, and
was attributable largely to the fact that
the land used for this experiment was an
ideal soil, being a rich loan on which al
falfa had been grown for a number of
years. FABIAN GARCIA.
June 7, 1917.