The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1922-06-08

Editors Note: Agriculture i'm
proves in this county, as elsewhere,
by what the people learn and are
convinced of-not by what they are
told and do not fully believe. Peo-
pie who are following this series are
getting lot of information that is
not particularly valuable to them,
but by observing it all, one learns
certain vital things about the
changes that are being made. One
thing that impresses the writer Is
that this is getting to be straw
berry country. For years few
people cultivated small plots OF
them and they were frosted more or
less each year and were total fall
ure some years, and the year that
they were a failure they usually did
not get cultivated and the SOD
choked them out and that was the
end of the undertaking. Straw
berries got listed in peoples minds
here as q failure. Then came the
ever-bearing kind and they were
hailed as a treasure, but usually
they played out and. failed. But
there were persistent folks in the
county who kept on trying and had
such marked success that others
took courage and tried again. Now
many farmers are cultivating straw
berries and high percentage OF
them have the ever-bearing.
We have theory as to why so
many people failed with the ever
bearing plants. Strawberries re-
quire frequent watering. The ever
bearing kind simply have to have
water often. If the old kind and the
ever-bearing are grown close to-
gether, they may harm each other
by crossing the breeds and thus spoil
both kinds. Planting Golden Ban
tam sweet corn and any other kind
in the same garden spells both kinds
to a marked extent. Neither kind is
so good as If planted q mile apart.
Crossing of a beef strain and milk
strain of cattle compromises both
breeds and brings a poor combine
ton. Don't condemn some new kind
of product until it has been given a
fair trial and especially where it
can keep itself pure. A botanist
might tell us that the ever-bearing
strawberry cannot be stopped in its
summer yield by being planted near
the old style berry, but we think 1t
more likely that he would advise
keeping them entirely separated.
When we began this work we did
not pay much attention to straw
berries, but as we go on we try to
ask about them at every farm, and
where they have any we mention It..
Where it is not mentioned it is not
certain that they do not have them,
for we often forget to ask. The
point we wish to emphasize is that
many people have them and more
are intending to set them and raise
them for home use. One man told
the writer that he was a strawberry
expert and that it would not be
worth while for anyone to raise
them here for market unless he had
10000 acres of them so he could
ship them right. We don't think he
was a good adviser, for some have
been raising them in small tracts
and enjoying profitable business in
them. Another man said that. the
strawberry business here will soon
be so overdone that q man cannot
market them because everybody is
planting them. We don't believe
that is correct either. The more
people there are cultivating a taste
for strawberries in this county, the
more demand there will be for them.
They will become a common article
of food like potatoes and people will
insist on having them. The same
thing is true Of all the other good
things that people have been doing
without when they might just as
we'll be raising them. OF course, it
cannot always be done on the new
farms, but on the old farms, where
there is water and shelter from
winds, people are waking up to new
opportunities, and it is part of the
work of this series to help in this
awakening.)
Rural Route No. 4 %
There is piece of territory be-
tween Groveland and Moreland that
is called Centerville. A. B. Stinnett
is on the Haines place and Mr..
Haines has moved out to the Waters
place next to the lava beds. 1t has
eleven acres Of potatoes, eight acres
of grain, six acres of hay, and is
renting part of the Brigham Farms
worth place.
Carl Schafer is farming a place
that belongs to Carl Hunzeker. Mr..
Hunzeker built a new house on the
place this spring and is raising six
TEEN acres of potatoes, twenty-five
acres of grain, and some hay. Mr..
Schafer is also farming forty acres
belonging to George F. Gagon.
Robert Hansen has nine acres Of
pocatoes, ten acres of grain and
about ten acres OF nay.
S. G.. Seamons has forty acres in
the north Of Groveland that was
originally the G. M. Bumgarner
homestead. He bought it Of Mr..
Bews at 5000 an acre for the irri-
gated part and SITS for the part
that lies too high to irrigate with