T. 4 
MOORE’S BUBAL NEW-YORKER. 
343 
DAIRY NOTES ON COLORADO. 
SECOND ARTICLE, 
BUTTER PRODUCT IN 1870. 
Reference has been made to butter dairy¬ 
ing in Colorado as offering at the present 
tirno a good field for operation. The U. B. 
Census of 1870 gives the butter product of 
Colorado at .'3112,930 pounds, and the cheese 
product at .'id,(12(1 pounds. The production 
both of butter and cheese has doubtless been 
increased considerably during the past three 
years, but a very large supply, especially of 
butter, is demanded from the States, 
BUTTER DAIRIES MOST NEEDED. 
Cheese can, no doubt, be made at a profit 
iu Colorado : but it seemed to us there was a 
more immediate want of butter dairies, while 
the climate, the water and the grasses at the 
base of tile mountains are particularly well 
adapted to this specialty. The grasses are of 
a character to make rich milk, and in a coun¬ 
try like Coloi’ado, whore there is a large 
profit in raising all the calves dropped, the 
skimmed milk can be utilized to advantage 
(or this purpose. Again, the large mining 
population, together ivith that springing up 
in the towns and cities, must cause a steady 
and reliable demand, making a good home 
market for a large production. 
AMERICANS AS BUTTER EATERS. 
There may be difference of opiuion in the 
minds of people in regard to particular kinds 
of food und whether they are essential or 
necessary ; but all are pretty well agreed 
upon the butter question. A table without 
butter, whether at breakfast, dinner or sup¬ 
per, is not considered complete, however well 
supplied with a variety of other fsods, while, 
the absence of cheese at any meal might not 
perhaps, be missed, or at any rate would not 
be recognized so much as a necessity. And 
yet cheese is a more nutritious article of food 
than butter. The latter, however, has re¬ 
markable qualities for rendering other kinds 
of food more palatable. It has come to be— 
so to speak—the “great American relish,” 
which all classes must have in abundance to 
use in various forms in seasoning nearly 
every kind of food. That Americans are 
excessive butter eaters has long been remark¬ 
ed by European travelers, and that the habit 
in the use ol this article is increasing 1 , per 
capita, can be easily proved by referring to 
statistics of population and butter produe 
tion from time to time. Another significant 
tact may bo noted, the growing desire among 
all chesses for an extra flue article and the 
willingness to pay very high prices, compar¬ 
atively, for the best or choicest grades. 
BUTTER CONSUMPTION OF COLORADO. 
Mr. S. <}. Nott, who has been engaged in 
making butter in Colorado since 1808, from a 
dairy of 2.7 to 80 cows, and who has sold his 
product directly to consumers, in quantity 
to siut the wants of each family, makes the 
following affirmation, viz. r—That a family 
of two, three, four or more persons required 
a pound a week for each member of the fam¬ 
ily through the year, and from his experience 
and observation iu this respect, he estimates 
the annual consumption of butter in Colorado 
to be at the rate of 52 pounds per head. The 
population of Colorado is now said to bo over 
100,001) persons, which would make an annual 
consumption of butter for the present time 
over 5,000,000 pounds. This, at 40c. per pound, 
comes to $2,000,000. A large shave of the but¬ 
ter used is imported. So it will be seen with 
a population rapidly increasing, butter mak¬ 
ing offers a fair prospect of remuneration to 
the dairymen. 
THE PEOPLE ANO THEIR TASTES. 
It may occur at first thought, that a new 
country like Colorado would naturally have 
a population with an over-biirthansome ele- , 
meut of rough and non-progressive minds. 
Quite the contrary, it seemed to us, was the i 
rule. Wherever we went law was respected s 
and order prevailed, and if any one going to 
Colorado fancies he is not to come in contact 
with a goodly number of refined and intelli¬ 
gent people, lie will be very favorably disap- . 
pointed. The hotels in the cities and villages ; 
are well managed, and provided with all the 
comforts, not to say elegancies, of the East. ! 
Even in the mining towns like Central, one ! 
could not wish for a more luxurious repast 1 
than that furnished at the commodious, well I 
managed Teller House. , 
At Denver, at Colorado Springs, Mauitou < 
and other places, the hotels are fine and well i 
conducted. Not only the population of the 1 
towns and villages, but the intlux of visitor i 
and touri3ts from all parts of the East com- i 
ing here for pleasure and health, require i 
tiie market to he supplied with dairy pro¬ 
ducts the finest in flavor and best that can be 
produced ; for these grades of goods will be 
properly appreciated and eagerly taken at 
high prices in preference to ordinary grades 
at ordinary rates. 
Labor, too, Is well remunerated. The miner 
gets from .88 to 81 per day, and is disposed to 
have the best kinds of food. And we allude 
to these facts to show that the dairyman who 
has high skill in manufacturing either butter 
or cheese, will find that his goods, if of extra 
quality, are duly appreciated iu the Colorado 
markets, and will command good prices. 
, WINTERING STOCK, IRRIGATION, ETC. 
. Again ; the fact that a comparat ively small 
• amount of fodder is required to he stored for 
wintering stock, gives the dairyman ample 
time and opportunity to devote more atten¬ 
tion to grain raising than at the East. It is 
true, that to raise grain crops in this country 
it is necessary to irrigate ; but tho requisite 
preparat ion for irrigation is neither so diffi¬ 
cult nor expensive as is generally imagined. 
The country along the base of tho mountains 
lies in long, gentle slopes, thus rendering the 
task of turning the streams from their chan¬ 
nels so as to overflow the face of the country 
a comparatively easy one, us the streams 
have a fall varying from 10 to 50 feet to the 
mile. On largo tracts of land the average 
Original cost, it is estimated, is not over one 
dollar per acre, while tho expense of repairs, 
including superintendence, does not exceed 
35 cents {per acre. Tho cost of constructing 
tho main canals is usually borne by a neigh¬ 
borhood of farm era and bears lightly on 
each individual. The cost of constructing 
the lateral ditches on tho premises occupied 
by each farmer is trifling, because they are 
small and easily made. 
YIELD OF CROPS. 
The yield of wheat is often as much as 35 
to 40 bushels to tho acre. From reliable sta¬ 
tistics made up by comparing the total num¬ 
ber of acres m Colorado, cultivated in grain 
crops, with the quantity produced, tile fol¬ 
lowing is given as about the average yield 
through the Territory per acre : -Wheat, 27 
bushels ; oats, 55 ; corn, 30 ; potatoes. 150 to 
200 ; onions, 250 ; beans, 30 and barley 33. 
During all the spring and summer months 
little, or no rain falls, and even at other sea¬ 
sons the earth is seldom moistened with 
showers. The past season, it is sa id, has been 
an exception, showers of short duration hav¬ 
ing been more frequent than for other sea¬ 
sons. 
FARMS VISITED. 
AVe visited some of the farms and took 
statements from a number of farmers, well 
known and reliable men, and it will not be 
out of place, perhaps, to give from our notes 
the following : 
GEO. F. PACKARD'S FARM. 
Mr. Packard is President of the Colorado 
Farmer’s Union, a society designed to bear 
the same relation to the County Agricultural 
Societies and Fanners’ Clubs in the Territory 
ns that held by the State Agricultural Socie¬ 
ties iu tho East. 
Mr. Packard has a fine farm of 120 acres 
with pleasant and commodious buildings 
where he resides on Clear Creek bottom, 
about six miles west of Denver. Thu farm 
is on Clear Creek, and what is called the bot¬ 
tom lands are about 15 miles long by one 
mile wide. Mr. P. pays some attention to 
gardening, and has from 10 to 12 acres in po¬ 
tatoes, corn and vegetables, and these were 
all looking well, lie has 80 acres of wheat 
this year, and about 12 acres opposite his 
residence devoted to pasturage. The grasses 
here are the native grasses, Mesquitor Grcm- 
mu, the Blue Joint, &c., &c. Mr. Packard 
stated that upon this field of 12 acres he pas¬ 
tured six cows and six horses, and that it was 
sufficient for their maintenance during six 
months of the year. AY© went upon the field 
and examined tho sward and the stock. The 
grass was short, and like other pasturage in 
Colorado did not form a solid turf like the 
grass lands of the East. The stock looked 
sleek, thrifty, and in fine condition. The field 
was not irrigated. 
PASTURAGE PER COW. 
Mr. Packard stated from his experience 
and observation he should estimate that an 
acre and one-half of pasturage in Colorado 
would be sufficient to keep a cow in feed for 
six months, and that two acres would vield 
sufficient for her keep during the year. From 
the middle of April to tho middle of Novem¬ 
ber, there are no storms to prevent cattle 
feeding on pasturage. In winter snow storms 
sometimes occur of four and five days’ dura 
lion, which may interrupt the heeding of cat 
tie on pasturage, and then a supply of food 
should be at hand to carry stock over these 
intervals. Clover does well ou this soil, and 
red top remarkably well, yielding enormous 
'- crops, Timothy is also grown successfully, 
£> and can be cultivated ou all wheat lands, 
0 GEO. YULES' FARM. 
Mr. Yule has a farm of 180 acres west of 
9 Denver, and about eight miles from the foot 
of the mountain. The soil here is a sandy 
r loam. Mr. Y. has this year about 80 acres 
' in wheat, 7 acres in oats, 5 acres in corn and 
■ <> acres in red top. A part of his meadow 
> that we passed over was very thick and 
heavy—it had been irrigated. Mr. Yule takes 
1 his water from a company’s main canal 
> which brings tho water from Clear Creek— 
paying for the same at the rate of $1.5(1 per 
mile, or at that rate for a stream of water 
I having an inch capacity as it. flows from the 
. gates. He uses 00 inches of water for irrigat- 
, ing 100 acres. He estimates the time spent 
in irrigating to bo no more than 10 days for 
; all his crops during the season. 
MR. EVERETT S PEACE. 
Not far from Mr. Yule’s, Mr. M. N. Ever¬ 
ett lias a fine farm of 160 acres, 100 of which 
is in wheat, and a very nice crop too, It was 
nearly ready for the harvest at the time of 
our visit. The soil hero is a sandy loam, 
Mr. Everett gave testimony similar to that 
of Mr. Packard and others in regard to the. 
nutritive value of tho native grasses for stock 
feeding. Upon this farm we found speci¬ 
mens of Magquit grass on irrigated grounds 
that was of heavy growth, surpass ing any 
we had before seen in vigor and luxuriance. 
Mr. Everett showed us also a field of timo¬ 
thy which had been recently nut, tho crop 
in cocks still remaining on the ground. This 
was only what would be called a medium 
crop in New York, and upon our remarking 
in regal'd to the loose turf and sparaenesB of 
the plants, Mr. E. explained by saying the 
seed had not taken {well, but when properly 
seeded, very heavy crops of this kind of 
grass could bo grown on the land by irrigation. 
MR. RANO'S FARM. 
Mr. AY. A. Rand’s farm islocatod in Jeffer¬ 
son county, seven miles northeast of Golden, 
and about eight miles northwest of Denver. 
'1 ho tract comprises about 1,500 acres, and is 
situated eight miles from the foot-hills. He 
is largely interested iu a main Canal for irri¬ 
gating purposes, which starts at the foot of 
Golden, on Clear Creek. About two miles of 
this ditch was cut in 1859. Iu 18(53 it was ex¬ 
tended time miles to Ralston Creek, and is 
now extended 35 miles. When completed 
the water flowing through it will irrigate 
20,000 acres, and when the reservoirs are 
made, Mr. Rand says no less than 40,000 
acres can be supplied with water for irrigat¬ 
ing purposes. 
A GRAND PROJECT. 
Mr. Rand referred to a movement contem¬ 
plated for using tho waters of the Platte for 
irrigation. Lakes and reservoirs ure to he 
constructed, and by properly locating and 
cutting the main canal, an immense region 
could be irrigated. The cost t >f this improve¬ 
ment, it was estimated, would be $200,000, 
and aid would bo asked from Congress. A 
meeting had been called in September to 
take action in the matter. The canal refer 
red to, in which Mr. Rand is directly inter¬ 
ested, will cost, when complete, about $40,- 
0OO, and the average cost of water for irriga¬ 
tion idong its course, $2 per inch. Of course, 
those near tho head get it at much less cost. 
Mr. Rand says many farmers make an ex¬ 
travagant use of water, if used economi¬ 
cally, 100 inches, ho estimates, is amply suffi¬ 
cient for irrigating 200 acres. It requires 
some experience in building dams to know 
where the water is to be used to the best ad¬ 
vantage. For grain crops the land is irri¬ 
gated in tho months of June and July. 
IRRIGATING GRAIN CROPS. 
If there should he late rains, one irrigation 
in Juiy will suffice. For grain crops the seed 
is usually sown about first of April, and a 
first irrigation is given when the plants are 
stooling. The second irrigation, when the 
grain has headed and is in a milky state. 
The water is run over the ground so as to 
flood the grain and then turned immediately 
off. In preparing the fields the ground is 
laid off in lands say about four rods apart, 
according to circumstances ; but sometimes 
further, and as much as 20 rods apart; but it 
takes longer to wet it. The loss of water 
from soakage and evaporation in the ditch 
Mr. Rand estimates to be about 1-10. 
WHEAT LANDS WITHOUT REST. 
Mr. Rand says he has been raising wheat 
since 1803, irrigating from this ditch, and his 
crop has never, on an average, fallen below 
20 bushels to the acre. His uverage now is 
25 bushels per acre. He has raised eight 
crops of wheat on the sumo soil, and finds no 
apparent loss in its fertility. Every time the 
soil is irrigated he thinks, is equal to a coat 
of manure. 
THE HARVEST OTHER CROPS, 
He usually commences to cut, and harvest 
the wheat crop t he 1st of August. Oats pro¬ 
duce on this land at the rate of 40 bushels per 
acre ; barley at the rate of 20 bushels per 
acre. The average yield of potatoes has been 
100 bushels per acre. The soil is excellent for 
vegetables. His onions not (infrequently 
weigh four pounds each, and heads of cab¬ 
bage have been grown weighing (50 pounds. 
The AYiningstadt variety average about 10 
pounds per head. 
WEEDS. 
AYeeds, he says, are getting somewhat 
troublesome, but by irrigating iu the fall and 
fall plowing, he thinks they can be killed on 
old ground. Wheat sells for 2 H cents per 
pound ; corn, l!Je.; oats, 2o„ and potatoes, 
Hay is worth on an average, in Denver, 
$20 per ton. On the large ranches where it 
is cut, $5 per ton ; but when it is taken to 
the mountains, it commands from $30 to $60 
per ton. 
THE KEEP OF GOWS. 
Mr. Rand says he has kept, on an average, 
as many as 25 cows since 18(53, and sometimes 
Id head. During that tirno he bus not led 
* ,0I) cnI i'u feed iu addition to pasturage. 
His cows run out in winter and food entirely 
upon grass. He believes, however, it would, 
be economy to raise corn fodder and roots 
and feed cows, as occasion requires. His 
cows run on the same range during summer 
and winter. 
TWO ACRES TO THE COW. 
Mr. Rand says two acres of his grass as it 
is now—the natural prairie grass—will afford 
sufficient food for a cow. The natural pas¬ 
tures grow bettor from year to year, as they 
are fed by cattle. 
IRRIGATED PASTURES. 
If the grass lauds were irrigated, one acre 
of natural pasturage, ho says, would keep a 
cow supplied with food for lha year. By 
irrigation, tho Buffalo grass, the Mesquit and 
Blue-Joiht, he says, form a perfect mat, an 
make as good a turf as he ever saw East. 
YIELD OF HAY. 
By irrigating, the native grasses will yield 
on an average, two tons of cured hay per 
ocre. 
WINTERING SHEEP. 
The winters are open, with little or no 
snow, but the ground freezes. Two years 
ago, Mr, Rand said, he wintered 2,000 sheep 
on pasturage and lost but one. The only 
storm of importance that year came on the 
7th of April and lasted 24 hours. He put his 
sheep in the corral and they came through 
as before stated, all right. 
PIG-PEN PAPERS. 
77m Rural and the Swineherd. — AY. B. 
Mri.t.s, Saratoga Springs, writes Sept. 1 : _‘<j 
am once more aide to use my baud to write 
1 have been helpless since March last and 
during the whole time I have had three doc¬ 
tors and the Rural New-Yorker. Doctors 
I had from three to seven times per week and 
I lie Rural, once a week, i am of the opinion 
that the Rural and my good grit is ail that 
saved my life. Every time the good old 
Rural came, I cheered up ; but when the 
old-school doctors came I soon was worse. I 
think now, that as long as I live and the Ru¬ 
ral is living, 1 will lie a subscriber to it. Not¬ 
withstanding all tho troubles, i have made 
sales of Berkshires like the following Five 
to J. Stone & Co., Ban Francisco, Cal., for 
$200 to be Shipped Sept. 15 ; and 25 to other 
parties in this and adjoining States.” 
So«w Dcvourmo Younq .-In the Run At, 
New-Yorker of July 19, 1 x 7 : 1 , page 45, i no¬ 
ticed under tho heading of “To prevent sows 
devouring young,” beginning with fourth 
line— and sometimes they won’t lot down 
their milk. AVhen this state of things is not. 
caused by a diseased state of the uterus &<• ” 
Now can you inform me, through your col¬ 
umns, what remedy to apply when it is 
caused by a diseased state of the uterus '< 
and if any preventive can be applied f—C A 
Newton, Fortune Co., 0. 
We cannot ; perhaps some of our corres¬ 
pondents can. 
Hops Batina Dirt,.—I think if our friend 
Jefferson YV inship of Butler Co Neb 
would keep a supply of salt and wood ashes 
where his hogs can have access to it at all 
times, it would make them do better, besides 
curing them < <f their disposition to “eat. dirt ” 
—P. D. B., Clyde, O. 
Suit and Wood Ashes are necessary (at 
least useful), for growing pigs when on fresh 
green feed. Fresh water should be easy of 
access to them and abundant. If pigs are 
filthy in thei habits, it is usually because tliev 
are educated by their owners 
