La Junta tribune., February 18, 1911, Image 24

About La Junta tribune. (La Junta, Bent County, Colo.) 1881-1939

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Philo K. Blinn Tells How to
Increase Alfalfa Yield
F, as I he t.ld a a;e has It, ”a
I m.tu who muken two spears
1 of ura-s to grow where but
Ill]
w- ■
Ltmcfactor,” wtiui may be aald of ih«*
plan who U t*ngag‘d in making two
t>n* of utf.li.i ktow where but on«*
ton grow b* f' Tt*Philo k. lilinn, al
(.Ufa specialist, ami who b ;»Iko In
charge of the Colorado eipt-rlnn nt.
•tatlon. has been making an exhaus
tive study, aa well tut experiments. of
the diff runt vaili-t is of alfulfu. and
is a r*ault of liu-HB studlis and ex
periment*, he »u>h tha: farm* rs in
half of the p-asliili yield of hay from
their land In utber words. .hr Hllnu
believes and conf.dou ly states that
wh«r> as larmcr* are now » * d
with yields of from three to four tons
p* r air*. they auould b. *«tiing from
•ovcu to * ifiht ons Mr. lillno assigns
two main reasons for this Firs',
most of th*' varieties of uifulfa sown
Ui this secilon «r«* from southern
•tales and countrbs As a natural
consequence a large amount of the
•tan i La killed <1 i ing the winter
Second, farmers art* and have been
«arel«*ss lit Ihe matter of seed s«*|ec
||on.
The Colorado exp* rtinent station
a.is • stabllsb**d In Ih> • It is locat
ed some eight tuibs west of l<a
Junta. Originally the farm comprla
ed 200 acres of land, and experiments
Included almost every kind and vari
ety of crops grown in this section
Hut results were not s.itMactory.uml
•11 but forty am s of the fartu was
•How o.l to revert to the State. With
tills smaller trait of land it became
•ocesnary to confine experiment* to
•lie or two of the many varieties of
crops common to Otero county And
with this specialization much Letter
results were obtained
For the past eight y.ars I’hilo K
lilinn, a graduate of the Colorado Ag
rii ulturul t oil' *,(•. has been In charge .
•f the farm For some years fol- .
lowing his taking charge he devoted
bis efforts toward producing a rust*
Insisting cantaloupe, and was quite
au< * »-*»tul. Th* n h«* Is .an an ex
haustive study of alfslfa with the
view of lum-asl -g both the yield
•f hav and ed List fall l.c made
4 trip to Minnesota and tie liukotos.
Uie gnat alfalfa-growing states of
•In* northwest, and spent sometime
with experts in those states as well
%s studying the bent var|et|e* of al
falfa grown there This trip, how
si *r. was men ly supplemental to the
*lr ul) thorough experiments made
by Mr lilinn. He believed that he
was on the right track in his exper
Uncut* and made the trip In order
U ) justify ami confirm that belief A
variety if alfalfa which will with
stand the rigors of a Minnesota or
Dakota winter and th* n make an
• huiidani yield the f .Mowing s as m
should thrive a muz I ii„ I y In this sec
tion, where the temperature rarely
(ails t»* liw zero So argued Mr lilinn,
and when he 1* arued that the gr* a*
•«*t producer in those same states was
Uie same variety which yielded the
lest returns In hia tests he knew*
that his theory was right.
I luring the course of his experi
ment*, which have extended over •
p* rlod of six year*. Mr lilinn has
trl<'d out a total of forty eight differ
ent varieties Tlon* were varieties
fr«»m Japan, Spain, Hennatiy. Africa.
Aratda. Mexico. Argentine, K« quador.
as well as Arizona. I tali and the
northern state* Th* se varieties were
•viwn In small plats and their growth
and developinen closely watched.
After sit y*ars of experimentation,
Mr lilinn iimki'S the following obser
vations
“Tne attempt to Improve the hsy
and * • *.I-> leidtng Halts of alfalfa by
systematic seed selecton lias had de
vil lly encouraging r sub's.although
it may yet require several years of
11 observation to fully determine
tie 1 b«~»t type* for hsy ami seed pro
duct lon The conclusions from some
of th oh* rv at lons have been rather
doubtful, and there are r* asons for
dls. outitlng the value of some of th**
contr > »« that have appeared For
liirttanc" the selections for Ideal
leaf an.l h in qualities, made the
first » .»*< »ii. during the seedling
growth of the plants In the nursery,
have situ* proven of little value, as
then was a deckled change In the
type of foliage when the plants took
•n a more rapid and nu<. uletit growth
The same result would follow as the
effect of environment, rather than
heredity, for any trait that might ap
pear. h«’nce the problem Is to select
plants that have an Inherent power
for the production of desirable quail
lias llut, with nearly a hundred
•trains to consider and at least a .
•core of points of variation appear- .
taf In endless combination, this has (
not teen an easy mid -unking.
“Several of the varietu h test-d
show contrasts of decidedly practical
value, such uh hardiness. habits of
stooling, qualities of res Htaucc to
drouth, frost and fungus disease*,
leafy hay qualith-M and prolific seed
yields These valuable traits are not
found in any one variety, and it Is
difficult to say which strains hav**
the points of graatest utility. It
is certainly obvious that mark'd itu
provcuie,,t over most of the ordinary
types of alfalfa Is possible, if only
seed of soiii** of the strains tasted
could Im* procured, which, however,
is difficult, as different lots of seed
supposed to be th* - same often prove
entirely different.
“It is difficult to Judge the merits
of alfalfa growing under different run
dltlous of soil and < ulturul care, but
in a comparative test under uniform
cond.lions Mi contrasts are clearly
shown, alsu, in nearly all varieties,
il is easy to recognize the superior
qualities of some of the Individual
plants, which suggests the single
plant as a unit for seed selection
The results of our nursery work with
individual plant selections have r*--
v«-al**d the fa.ts that In plants show
ing desirable qualities some will re
produce the traits quite uniformly
while others will breed Irregularly
the qualities that were apparently
the same, hence, heredity ill alfalfa
plants cannot Is* determined by a cur
sory view, but more by the compari
sort of their performance re«-ords The
plan Is now to make Individual selec
tion* of seed from the most highly
efficient plants revealing desirable
traits wherever found in any of the
varieties, and then submit them to a
fair comparative test for their repro
ducing tendencies, thus affording an
opportunity to Intelligently select and
Increase seed of aifuifa. with known
uniformity of qualities for testing in
different sections of the state Som**
of th* principle qnallti«*s that have
engaged the attention In this inves
tigation are Hardiness There ur**
f**w fl* Ids of alfalfa that have not
suffered from the lack of this trait,
plant* dying out either from frost,
drouth, soil conditions or plant di
scos- s The supretonty In this re
spect of the Turkestan and more
hardy kinds over the Arabian, or
southern variety. Is very marked In
deed Another contrast was In re
gard to frost r* Distance of the green
growing plauts. On April 26. IVON,
the weather dropped to 22 degrees of
temperature Alfalfa in the nursery
plats, a foot In height, was frozen
stiff, but when the sun thawed them
out sum* plants w* re ezceptlonally
■ —i an s— n ll isiritss mf
AU ALI A 111 U) ON |) A BoLl n I \ \\ IN FAIRMOUNT.
fr**«* from Injury. th«- light colored fol
laz*- seemingly having suffered most
Th** past ■•'Simii the temperature
dropped to U degrees on the last of
April and the alfalfa was attain •••
v*-r< l> froien ha* k and with th*-
same results, a* a contrast In reals
tance, but not uniformly In th** sam*>
plants ns the year before, ns tin
dark green colored plants wer** the
most frost resistant As a variety,
the Turkestan pis’a w*re the least
Injured Several plants showing frost
resistance have produced seed, which,
has be n secured for future testing
for this feature
“One of the most valuable quali
ties In the alfalfa plant Is Its habit
of stoollng and Its power to push
out growth for three to four crops
of hay a year almost Indefinitely. The
nursery plats having been thinned to
Six!) I ur Hund’cd Poun Su.ar Mom One Acre of GroimJ.
slugle plants twenty Indus a. art
each way, gate an ■ Xce|»©at cl *'
to ob* rve ihc siooiLig hub.is oi he
different varje.n - Hera u n aii>
Turk** a. pi..t wer- exc pin* ill)
•
plant* litere is a U-nUt ncy to »ot
down from the <rown blanches, vnlch
would bf a very d*siiaoie trait to .
lhick<*u a poor s and or to ma.' .tin
a stand of uttaiia on poof Soil condi
tions, if it could be bcit«r develop
ed. The teodeucy to start growth
early in the spr.ng is a var.aion
that Is dtara t» ristic of tne Turk- s
tan alfalfa and son.c others As early
os Mar. h 17, in IjON, inese strains
were showing green shoots tbr** to
fit*- Inches huh above the gr -ad,
while under th* same conditions the .
native and some other strains re
mained dormaut full thro? w«-eks
later It has now been observed tat
a corresponding check in the gr-Ath
of these early varl ties takes place
late In the fall, and II Is do>. ful
if this varla’ *»n is of any val.< for
the crops in the spring are so often
set bu< k or cut short by late >, ring
fre**z«-s.
“The contrast * In dis<*a*e-res ant
tendencies in ulf >l.a are some »
very marked, but the plats 'hat
have b»wn most affected by adi »** ,
one s*-aaon have not always b* * t.e
Nitii*' oios the next, so there
to be a little question as to th re
liability of the«e obs* rvatioi t \s <
In th* case of frost reslstaric is
the dark gr«-e:i color'd leav* mat
»'***iii to Im* the least affee ted . mll
d* w or 1* af spot Th*- pr*** nee of
leaf fungus aff«M ts s ri -usl> me I* af
in**ss of hay, and plaum tha' w«-re the
I'-osl affected have L* • trefully
sought In our a> od *• 1*- » The
richest part of alfalfa hay - In the
lea>««* and small stems.it* i. n dense
foliage, giving a high i * nt of
l**Af-to-*tem quality shoi.l 1 t. » domi
nant point In the s'l*'itit<r for hay
type, and selections for this point
have been carefully mad* ihe se
lections for s*-«*d yb Idltig s have
been very positive in Ui«-ir results, i
and the contrast Ui tin- p hj.tion of
s*-**d In the different varieties have
been the most mark* dof d| Most
of th* Turkestan plat pr««l , >d pric
tit ally no seed, whll** «»t h«r»* among
tho sixty-four phi • in th* nursery i
have produced tl»** phenolic rial yield ,
of two and one half {Niunds of
clean seed from a square rod* with 1
less than one hundred plants The 1
varieties that have been th,. heaviest
seod yielding one year have als*»
, been the best the following season, i
Single plants have produced two i
ounces of s* ed. and the pitta sown i
with (he seed of th**s** ■••lections
have In turn been heavy *. ,>d pro
ducers; so that this trait Is to
■om« extent An Inherent quality
While the seed yielding tendency may i
be greatly affected by hereditary I
tm'»s. It is douM 1 -s mor»* generally
l.iflu* if ed by climatic and cultural
romnltions. All the ob-» rvati ms on
this point s «*m to ludU it<* the fact
that outside * f Insect Injuries the
proper supply of moisture is the heav
iest factor In d**t* rmlning the seed
yield of alfalfa The heaviest yield
of mo d is produced when th** plants
make a relatlv* ly slow dwarfed
growth.
“I’nder irrigation the usual system
of flooding supplies too much water,
and alfalfa grows too rank fra se d
yield On the other hand, without
Irrigation, the seed grows too rank
for a s.-ed yield. On the other hand,
without Irrigation, the se d fails s**
of <*n to fill on account of the lack
of water Hut where th** roots can
penetrate to Just the proper condition
of moisture, or when Irrigation is
applied at Just the right time and
amount, the happy medium is reach
ed, and a good yield of seed Is real
ized Th** only practbal method to
regulate moisture, or to control lrri
ga ion for alfalfa s*-*hl culture, is to
sow th** s**ed In rows with space to
permit Int rtlllage to conserve the
mobture from rains or winter Irri
gations, and to «liable th** rows being
lagged out with clean cut furrows in
ab>ut every other row, so that the
light st possible irrigation may be
applied quickly and evenly at the
prop* r time as the needs of th**
crop msy demand A thin stand of
plants on the ground seems also
to-, ssary to produce good r* suits In
s*-* d yield The stems growing more
stocky Mnd the plants standing som*’
little spate apart, the branch's will
entwine each other so as to brace
and prevent lodging from wind or
h**avy storms, whlth is disastrous to
an alfalfa se d crop The smooth fur
rows will also serve to provide good
drainage from excessive rail.a. This
system has been followed 111 the
nurs ry plat work and it has been
successful ttppar* ntly Th*- plan has
been reported a success In other
states, arid It so* ms pradi-al to be
applet on a larger >*<&)•• for grow
lu* mhhl comnuTi-lally "
A H. Evers, of Feirmount,
Mr Beer* liar lin'd In thla eor
lion for Hie inmt •!> y.nre, but lnn<
toll he b>'.«in.' nffucU-d with wander
lux nud »uld lib. pine" He wilt move
to I'enbody. Kan., durlnit tbe comlim
month lie tvcknowleditvi Hint he
made Kood on hie present farm, and
■lmply desired n ehttUno. lie owned
■ f»rtn of forty acre, year hr
ranted UO ttcnw of alfnlfn land, from
whleh he received nbout three ton*
per ncre and forty bushel, of re.vl,
whleh ,e||» It lU per buibel. Mr
E*ere la elno feedln* M>o heed of i
•heep. whleh will *o on the merket i
In n abort tlmo.
How Otero County Won the
Hearst Trophy Cup
N
SB
kiHiwn the t»'«-ro county
• - - •
come well known not alone lu the Ar
kansas Valley, or Colorado, but more
or less gen* rally throughout the
whole t'nited Stat«-M wh*re exhibits
of aiy kind are known. Some In*
f irmatlon on th** hull ing up and
pl.t ing this exhit i . the winner of
half a dozen sweepstakes and of ihe
William itaiidolph llearst silver cup.
might te interesting
In June last year some of the en
thusiasts of th*' county in publicity
matters deiided that on* of th**
grea'est iiMJins op n to Otero county
fur publicity purposes was the * ap*
luring of th* lar.e silver loving cup
off r* d at that Mine by W illiam Ran
dolph Hcurst, of New York, for the
b*-*t county exhibit of agricultural
product* at the Fhzhtc-nth National
Irrigation Congress to be held in l*u
«-blo the following Sept* mber. That
»■' ro •> • >ll i- 1 produc the <Tops
liec**Bßary from whU'h to select an
exhibit mu» f*-lt as assured, and it
lacked only the push and work to
prepare an exhibit that would war
rant tit*- award
The American llaet Sugar Company.
R«m ky F’ord factory officials, were in-
Hearst and Shafrotli Trophy Cups
terested in the preparation of the
'•xhi.lt and l**nt th** aid of their ag
riculturists to gathering the male rial*
for the exhibit. and the unices of
V\ W. Kearney were euliated to take
active charKe of getting material to
getta«*r and preparing It for exhibi
tion purpose*. The large warehouse
used fur storing suuur at the Hoc :ky
Ford *ugui fa* lory wait um d to pre
pare the exhibit in. and during its
preparation hundreds of Interested
farmers visited lie place und aided
Ui many ways the work It became
i thereby an exhibit of everybody, so
general was the interest tasen
When th* exhibit was fina.ly r« aly
for shipment, it wa* decided to place
ll before the judges of the Inter
state hair in Denver and the State
Fair at Pueblo before taking It to
the Irrigation Congress to compete
for the Hearst c up
The efforts of the exhibition com
mittee of th« Otero County Associa
tion yield'd gratifying returns at
noth of the expositions, sweepstakes
being taken at the Interstate in
Denver, tying Weld county for first
awards, being given fir«t \. and tun
big seventy out of seventy two first
awards, and at Pueblo the cleaning
made was general straight through,
nothing on exhibition le mg In th*-
1 same class.
At the Irrigation Congress four
count U-s were making an effort to
laud the cup. aud the awarding of
, ‘he Hearst c up to Otero county wus
done after great dc*libe ration by the
Judges. Fremont, lb m and Prowers
counties, a* well as Pu* bio and hi
Paso counties, all had large* exhib
its there, but after a car ful com
pilation of the* number of differ* ut
products showu, then* seemed no
question that Otero county hud won
easily, and the award was made.
In the exhibition as shown at
Pueblo during the Irrigation Congress
UOj specimens of different crops
| grown in Otero county wor** shown, (
and of these specimen*. 5t»6 were of (
(different varieties, showing the won*
derful collet Hon. embracing practical
ly every product of th* soli raised In !
this latitude Not only were sped*
mens to be had in th*- county of ull
ih-se crops but the specimens were ,
*°°d. of the kind that could easily
compete with the s*-< lions specialix- v
I tig In them.
The Sbafroth cup. offered by Gov* ' |
~rnor •• »' ■»> ft th for the fin- |
est collection of forage crops, was (
also taken at the Irrigation Congress
by the Otero county exhibit, another I
clean win over all other sections. In I
referring to th** worth of this ex
hibit, it should i«* borne in mind that
the exli bit ions of Bent and Prowers
counties wer als> of th* 'kind that
wer*- wiantrs. and these cou/itk-s de
served much praise for the showing*
The fa* t tha: th** Judges considered
long b* fore mak ng the awards tes
tifies to the wor h of all the coun*
y exhibits shown there, and Ot* ro
county *lld uol have a walkaway by
any moans
A {Minion of the county exhibit,ac
companied by th*- now famous Hearst
cup. was sent to Pittsburg in the
name of the Arkansas Valley Com
mercial Assocda’ion to show the east*
£
. • ■ t . .• i
the effect has been f* It in the val
ley In the form of hundreds of in
quiries and many settlers.
Th** Chicago Land Show was the
scene of the next exhibit of the
Otero county exhibit, it being the
nucleus of the Arkansas Vailuy ex
hibit at the large show in th** Windy
City, ami the impression made was
very good, so good in fa< t that this
section is still receiving many
inquiries from Illinois and surround
ing states for further information
about th*- land that yields such a
quantity and quality of products.
The ll**ar*t cup, the largest single
prize tak* n both iu size* and money
value*, la the largest cup of its style
ever made, and cost In the neighbor
hood of fJ.OU" It stands about forty
eight Inches high, holds nlue gallons
in the bowl, and is of solid silver,
being the work of a large* firm of
silversmiths iu San Francisco.
Colorado's Cornucopia for 1910.
Issuing this paper as we do on the
c losing hours of the year we are en
abled iu our painstaking way and by
u most complete system of statistics
to geneia tie Colorado's agricultural
output for 11110 in the usual compre
hensive manner, sa>s I* l* Id und h arm
The figures presented herewith are
about as accurate as can be gleaned
and we ar*- presenting them In the
fullness of our belief that they
are irrcfuia.lt*. Twenty-five years
of *ar* ful attention to the statistical
matters of our slate as they apper
tain to th* agricultural and livestock
*
. . ■
I U> k
' *• finger of pr ph*cy on th** puls*’ of
realization as u«* huve been doing for
a quarter of a century and without
<armg to dwell further upon the
point w** present herewith the re sult
f Colorado's rural operations In dob
1 * » and cents for this gracious year;
vlfalfa, hay aud s«-vd .. ~ $16.000.000
Native hay arid timothy .. 12.U00.U00
Spring and w.ater wheat .. 0,600,000
‘ ••rn, sorghum, kaffir, etc. 6,000,000
l‘ .i ..* puds and sweets 6,400,000
Hat- sold and still on hand 3,700,000
Harley and rye 750,000
Melons and cantaloupes .. 1,600,000
Seed production 1,200.000
Orchard and small frulta .. a.000.u00
• : Inn k. buludlng
greenhouse output .. .. 7,r.00,000
Sugar beets, f.o.b 4,500,000
t attle shipped out 15,000,000
t attle consumed and It*
truss# 6,000,000
Hairy products and Increase 11,000.00
Sleep raised and sold.. .. 2,600,000
Wool output, sold and In
storage 3,640,000
Hides, pelts and furs., .. 1,400.000
Poultry and eggs 6,800,000
Swine, increase and pork
sold 3,600,000
Horses, mules and jacks .. 6,200,000
He*** and honey .. .. 176,000
Cut flowers, bulbs and
plants 1,100.00^
Totsl 6130.626,000