American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1918-04-05
ALONG THE HIGHWAYS
Gleanings by the Pilgrim In His
Wanderings Here and There.

Diversified farming is the rule on
the irrigated 160-acre tract Of Henry
Hege two miles south OF Aberdeen.
Until last year so acres were in al
falfa and three annual crops were
harvested. The alfalfa on this ranch
is each spring cultivated with the disc.
this method effectively killing off the,
June grass and other weeds as well
as stimulating the growth of the for
z plant. Twenty acres of alfalfa
sod have been plowed under and this
acreage will be planted to grain and
potatoes. That the soil on this farm
produces good grain yields was prov
en- by the yield of a field of oats in
1916 which by machine measure gave
an acre average of 20 bushels. An IL
acre field of Bluestem last year gave
an average of "a bushels per acre.
Potatoes as a rule yield in excess of
$50 bushels per acre and a ready mar
ket is found for them. This spring 80
acres will be put in Bluestem wheat,
and some barley and oats will be
seeded. An appreciate acreage of
this farm will be devoted to the rails
ing of sugar beets this year, the plans
calling for the planting of 20 acres.
The beets will be planted under con-
tract with the sugar company calling
for 50 per ton, providing that the com
pany furnish the hand labor in the
fields. Sugar beets are a sure crop
on this irrigated ranch and their cul-
f;vafion Is UafpipO in favor In oom-
pany with nearly every farmer on The
project, Mr.. Hege pays attention to
the dairy feature and considers it a
paying investment if no extra help is
required in conducting it. At present
six cows are being MIXED, but the
herd will be increased. The income
from cream sold last veal to dealers
in Aberdeen amounted to $745. One OF
the steadiest revenue producers on
this farm is the flock of 100 purebred
Plymouth Rock chickens, all of them
young stock. The income from the
flock in 1917 amounted to 1927 besides
supplying the household. The laying
season of 1917 comprised only nine
months, as the flock was ~reorganized
during the year and all the old stock
disposed of and for three months not
al GSk was SdlutItu. OuIlu6 lnS past
winter this flock never suspended its
industry and the records kept by Mrs.
Hege show that in the month of jan
uary $25 was taken in from the sale
of eggs and in February $50 was add
ed to the revenue of the farm. The
record for the month of March is not
at hand, but that it will show up we'll
may be judged from the fact that on
the sixth day of that month "a eggs
were gathered. The flock is provid-
ed with a good shelter n care is
taken to keep it free from parasites
and disease. The raising of hogs for
market shipment has been practically
discontinued by Mr.. Hege. He does
not consider the present prices of
grain an inducement to the raising OF
hogs further than for home consump-
ton. Mr.. Hege came to Idaho from
California and filed on his ranch under
the Carey act in 1906, being one of the
first settlers on the Aberdeen-Spring
field project. When he came here on
~ two houses were in the neighbor-
hood and they were a mile and a hal
distant. The land on the project ther
sold at $3.50 per acre, the twenty-five
dollars being he price of the water
right and the so cents the price OF thu
land. The town of Aberdeen had no
been founded and the occasional trips
10 American Falls were a good lea o
a hardship because no road had beer
constructed. Any person now buyin!
land on the project will pay a goot
deal more per acre than was paid
few years ago. One thing in particu
lar which the ranchers on the proJec
are thankful for is that weeds can no
thrive on the lands where three cut
tings of alfalfa are harvested annual
ly. The growing of sugar beets com
pels frequent cultivation of the Ian
and also aids in keeping down tn
weeds.