7 6 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



As I prepare the land and cultivate it, the cost 



will be about as follows : 



Per Acre. 



Ridging, preparatory to watering $ 75 



Irrigating 20 



Tearing down ridges and leveling, preparatory to planting.. 1 00 



Planting 40 



Seed 40 



Four cultivations 80 



Three waterings 60 



Cutting, topping and threshing 2 50 



Stacking fodder 50 



Cutting, curing and stacking second crop 100 



Total 8 15 



From our experience, under the conditions and 

 with the treatment given, there ought to be a produc- 

 tion of at least 30, possibly 40 bushels per acre, and 

 from the two crops at least four tons of good fodder. 

 Adding to the above the cost of the water rental, 

 $1.25, and for rental value of the land 10 per cent, 

 on $50 an acre, or $5, it makes $14.40; for which, al- 

 lowing the fodder to cost $2 per ton, it would leave 

 30 bushels of grain, or 1,800 pounds, costing about 35 

 cents a hundred, or 25 cents a bushel. 



Certainly no cheaper grain can be raised anywhere, 

 either for the feeding of neat cattle or hogs. And, 

 as I have before stated, I have never used anything 

 so completely satisfactory, and my experience is now 

 for almost a year of continuous feeding to a large 

 number of animals. It is greedily eaten by horses, 

 mules, cattle, sheep and hogs, and as a poultry feed 

 I Tjnow of no equal. 



HOP CULTURE IN COLORADO. 



BY HENRY N. BELLOWS. 



EVERY land owner and cultivator of the soil in 

 Colorado, as well as other portions of the arid 

 land region where the climate and soil are similar, 

 should know that hops flourish remarkably well under 

 irrigation in Colorado and are a very profitable crop. 

 The climate and soil suit the plant. They grow wild 

 in the creek bottoms adjacent to the foot hills, and in 

 many of the mountain valleys, also in New Mexico, 

 and have been successfully cultivated for five to ten 

 years in Colorado in a few yards in Arapahoe, Jeffer- 

 son and Larimer counties. It has been demonstrated 

 that an acre containing 1,000 hills in full bearing will 

 produce upward of 2,000 Ibs., which at 25c. per Ib. 

 an average of value in Colorado in 1891 to 1893 gives 

 a crop worth $500. Two thousand Ibs. to 3,000 Ibs. per 

 acre of 605 hills if 8 x 9 feet apart, to 777 hills if 7x8 

 feet apart is a common crop in Washington. THE 

 IRRIGATION AGE for March cites a crop of 3,000 Ibs. 

 per acre on 205 acres in Yuba county, California. As 

 much as 4,000 Ibs. per acre have been raised on very 

 fertile land in New York, but 2,000 Ibs. was an aver- 

 age crop there when the plant was new to the soil. 

 Now, after forty to sixty years of hop culture, 1,000 



Ibs. an acre is an average yield, and this pays well. 

 Prices in 1893 were in 



Colorado 23 to 25c. 



New York.. 20 to 23c. 



California 18 to 20c. 



Washington 15 to 18c. 



Colorado hops bring the highest price of any grown 

 in the United States. They are rich in flavor and 

 have more lupoline (fermenting quality) than those 

 raised elsewhere. On this account a given quantity 

 will produce more and better beer than a like quan- 

 tity grown anywhere else. The State brewers recog- 

 nize their excellence and try to encourage this indus- 

 try at home by paying prices higher than are current 

 in other States, and readily buy all Colorado produces, 

 which is a very small part of the quantity they con- 

 sume annually. It will, in all probability, be many 

 years before the home production exceeds the home 

 consumption. After that other good and near-by mar- 

 kets including Chicago, St. Louis and Milwaukee, will 

 be open to the hop-grower of the favored climate of 

 Colorado. It is customary to plant hops 8 and 9 feet 

 apart in New York, giving 605 hills per acre. In 

 Washington, 7x8 feet is a common thing, giving 

 777 hills per acre, but in the dry climate and bounti- 

 ful sunshine of Colorado, 6x7 feet, giving 1,037 hills 

 per acre is ample space. It is customary to put two 

 poles to each hill, a foot apart ; when this is done 

 there is an equal distance between the rows of poles. 



Poles 22 feet long and 2% inches in diameter at the 

 butt should be used. Too long or too short poles will 

 lessen the product of the vine; it seems to become 

 discouraged in climbing a pole over 25 feet long, and 

 small and few hops is the result. On the other hand, 

 the vine will bunch on a short pole, and, lacking air 

 and sunshine, immature hops result, and nests for in- 

 sects are made as well. The foot hills and mountains 

 of Colorado abound in small spruce and other trees 

 suitable for hop poles; thus the grower can cut for 

 himself in the fall and winter. Mountaineers will 

 contract for them at $50 to $60 per thousand delivered 

 on cars or near-by points. The roots for the new hop 

 plants, or setts, as they are called, are selected from 

 the best runners that put off from the crown of the 

 old plants, which are pruned early each spring, that 

 the strength of the plant may all go to the vines. 

 Four vines only to the hill two on each pole are 

 allowed to grow. The setts are cut into lengths, 

 four to five inches, showing two or more eyes, and 

 put two in a hill. The cost is $5 to $8 per acre of 1,037 

 hills. Twenty-five cents per pound, when selected 

 and cut in proper lengths, is the common price. 

 Thirty to thirty-five setts will plant an acre. Run- 

 ners as cut from the plants are sold by the bushel 

 (75c. to $1.25) in New York for shipment to the West, 

 packed with damp straw in barrels. 



