118 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



"While short ditches can be undertaken by private 

 landowners, some method of co-operative effort is 

 needed for the drainage of a larger district, and for 

 this the landowners of the valley find the state law 

 defective. What is wanted is a drainage district law 

 which will enable the people to organize and co-oper- 

 ate in building the drainage canals. Such a law, care- 

 fully prepared and comprehensive in its scope, was 

 presented to the last general assembly, but it received 

 scant consideration and probably never come within the 

 knowledge of the average senator or representative. 



"Such a bill will be presented to the next legis- 

 lature, and it is hoped a better knowledge of the con- 

 ditions in the San Luis and better understanding^ of 

 the very reasonable request of the people of that region 

 will insure its approval. 



"As an example of what may be done in the way of 

 reclaiming land from alkali, a farmer northeast of 

 Monte Vista told me five years ago eighty acres of his 

 land had yielded but 200 bushels of oats because of 

 the alkali in the soil. By careful work he has almost 

 entirelv rid his soil of the substance, so that in 1907 

 eighteen acres yielded close to 500 bushels. 



"While it has been the field pea that has brought 

 the valley to the front during the past few years more 

 than any other one product, it is by no means the most 

 prolific nor the most widely raised crop in the valley. 

 It was grain that first brought the region before the 

 public as an exceptionally fine agricultural section, 

 and grain is still being extensively raised in fact, 

 might still be said to be the staple crop of the valley. 

 In a way the field pea has done much to increase the 

 quality of the grain and in many instances also the 

 quantity. I have before written of the way in which 

 the field pea supplies nitrogen and humus to the soil, 

 elements which grain takes from it. It has been the 

 case in almost every instance that grain planted on land 

 which the year before had been given over to Afield peas 

 has a more prolific yield than grain on virgin soil or 

 on other land. An estimate of the amount of different 

 kinds of grain raised in the San Luis valley during 

 the season of 1907 was made by Hon. R. G. Breckin- 

 ridge, manager of the Monte Vista Mining & Elevator 

 Company, and is as follows: 



Oats 350,000 bushels 



Barley 100,000 bushels 



Wheat 350,000 bushels 



"There are seven large flour mills in the valley 

 which take all the grain raised. The seven mills have 

 a combined capacity of 1,300 barrels a day. Phenom- 

 enal crops of grain have been recorded. Wheat has 

 gone as high as sixty-two bushels to the acre; oats to 

 one hundred and twenty bushels and barley to seventy- 

 five bushels. This last fall I stood for a time watch- 

 ing a threshing outfit on a farm some eight or ten 

 miles south of Monte Vista. The grain seemed to be 

 especially heavy in fact, heavier than I had ever seen 

 and on inquiry later I learned that the forty acres 

 of oats yielded an average of ninety bushels. 



"Of course, these figures are above the valley aver- 

 age. A comparison between the average yield of crops 

 for non-irrigating farming through the United States 

 and the San Luis valley is interesting : 



United States San LuU 



at large. Valley. 



Barley, bushels 20.4 35.3 



Oats, bushels 29.6 36.4 



Wheat, bushels 12.3 32.5 



Potatoes, bushels 80.8 250.00 



Hay, tons native 1.28 2.16 



Alfalfa 4.00 



''Another crop that has brought fame to the val- 

 ley is he potato. It was on the farm of Mr. R. A. 

 Chisholm, not far from Del Norte, that the largest 

 crop of "spuds" on a measured acre of ground was 

 raised. The record, I believe still stands unbeaten. It 

 will be some time before any farmer can again get 50,- 

 852 pounds, or 847% bushels, of tubers from one acre 

 of ground as did Mr. Chisholm. The harvesting was 

 done by disinterested parties, who made affidavit to 

 the truth of figures. The remarkable yield won a prize 

 offered by an agricultural paper. It is not unusual to 

 get potatoes weighing between four and five pounds. 

 During the season of 1907 some 500,000 bushels were 

 raised in the territory contiguous to Monte Vista alone. 

 Two-thirds of this enormous crop were shipped to east- 

 ern and southern markets. No trouble whatever has 

 been experienced in finding a market for San Luis 

 valley "spuds," and in many sections of the east and 

 south they command a premium over the world-re- 

 nowned Greeley potato. Five hundred thousand bush- 

 els is 300,000 hundred weight, and taking eighty cents 

 per hundred weight as an average price, it is readily 

 seen that the crop was worth $240,000. 



"Potatoes must be considered a minor crop in view 

 of the small acreage, as only about 2,000 of the 100,- 

 000 acres of farmable land within twelve miles of Monte 

 Vista were planted in potatoes this year. As to profits 

 realized, it is seen from the above figures that the av- 

 erage gross income from an acre of potatoes is $120. 

 The average expense, assuming that a farmer does not 

 do any of the work himself, but hires it all done, has 

 been calculated to be $37 per acre; thus it is seen that 

 the average profit, clear of all expenses, to the San 

 Luis valley potato raiser for the year of 1907 is $83 

 per acre. The original cost of this land is from $30 

 to $60 per acre. A few representative crops are given 

 below : 



"George Cole had the largest yield per acre re- 

 ported. From four acres he raised 2,296 bushels, or 

 574 bushels per acre, which, when sold, netted him a 

 profit of about $250 per acre. 



"E. C. Wright had in seventy acres, which netted 

 him a profit of $125 an acre, clear of all expenses. And 

 this on land which he paid $50 an acre for about a 

 year ago. 



"Zinser Brothers had in 130 acres, which yielded 

 36,000 bushels, or 280 bushels per acre, which netted 

 them a clear profit of nearly $100 per acre. 



"J. S. Campbell sold $2,465 worth off of an eight- 

 een-acre field. 



"Tom Johnson raised 1,600 bushels on a four- 

 and-a-half-acre patch. These, when sold, brought $716, 

 or $159 per acre gross." 



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