COOPER.ATIVB EXTENSION V'O::\K IN AGRICULTURE AND HOME ECONOMICS
State Agricultural College of Colorado and
u. s.
Department of 11p:ricul ttlre and Uontrose County CooperatingANNUAL REPORT INDEX
Agricultural Resources of Montrose County • • • • • • • 1-2 Brief History of County .Ag-ent ~'~"'"ork in Montrose
County and ~esume of work in 1920 • • • •• • • • • Organization • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
3
4-8
Crop Live Improvement 3etter Seed • Potatoes • • Corn • • Wheat • Soil • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Stock Improvement • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Dairy Cattle • • • • • • • • • • • • • •Cooperative Live Stock Shipping Association • Bull Association • • • • ••••••••• Western Slope Purebred Live Stock
"Breeders As soc ia ti on • • • • • • • • • • Miscellaneous • • • • • •• • Marketing Marketing Associations • Wool Pool • • • • • • Car Supply • • • • • Cheese Factory • • • • Miscellaneous • • • • • Pest Control Prairie dogs • • Grasshoppers • • Whorled Ililkweed Alfalfa Weevil • Miscellaneous • • • • • • • • • • Roads •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
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• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 9 9-11 • 11-12 12-13 13-14 • 14-15i6
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16
• •• 16-18
19-21 21 21 22 22 23-2424
25-~~
26-27
2R-29
~airs • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 30-)1 32 -~4Boy's and Girl's Club Work. • • • • • • • • • •
Special Work
3xtension Schools •••••••••••••••
36
Sugar Factory • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
36
.Alfalfa Meal Mill • • • • • • • • • • • • • •37
Tractor Demonstration • • • • • • • • • • • • •37
Ray Growers Association • • • • • • • • • • • • 37
Miscellaneous ••••••••••••••• • ~7- 38
Statistical Report Summary •• • • • • • • •
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39
Plotographs( 1)
(Contrjns 2 ' 2 v ~- s q • n_ i 1 e u 0 l'' l ' ~4 ~. ' _i 0 0 '. c r e s
p riC Lll GUral lr'n s 2 0 , 244 .AcTes
Irri a ted land If
•
Grazinr land . 1 3,8bu If
• • • •
Dr-- fal"mi.1f land ...,. , 0-;~7 TT
-v • • • )
.A Cl"'6L rr e fvrmed L"'.41Ci er VO.l"iOUS Tenures
Cl"68 e farmed ,)y Owners
(87
• • • •9 5,
50 nlT TJ T1 Rentel ... S ()o3 } • •
a-g
TT~'j , ;~) n fT n Ovvner s Renters ( 7 ) ~ • • I 06 IT lT n IT I onestea( ers -(11 ) • • • • • 1 , 1 0 u Total 1Hl1Tl er of :£!'arms • • 1 ,
75
_ ver[' e s j_ z e of Tjl.-rms • • • • 111 . 16Elevatior of ?ar~ Lanus , from 5 , 200 to n , 200 Fe . Popul& ~~ion . Uroc:n 7 ,
50 n
ral7,
50
vilos 1
Troct.ox·s 4 S
Principal crops in order of acreape tre as
bverare :ield per ~ere
• •
.
..
) . 1 'l'o ns .'/hen t •30 .
0 Po t toes ( Yi hit o )..
194·73
rr •31 ·3
Oats TT • • Pa"'ture • • • • • • • • • • • • •)1 . 30
Cor rain) IT "pples • • • • • • • •.4,
Jl . O L s •'leets (sn. '"'T) • • 11 . 2 ~ons 0 OI"'U (ensilacc) • • •
·70
H BaJ.:•le. • • • • • • • • • 25 . 20 u • Onions424.40
II • • Be'"'t 1S • • •32 . 30
ITThere &re in "the C 011nt~- , li vestocl: as ~zo 11 ows :
Horses r-,
23
Shee• • •
'
• • • • • 52 ,57
H les • • • •
77
S\,ri ... J.e • • •.
. b ,5
J.ange catvle
, 277
J?oultr (doz . ) • • • 4 t50
Dair. Cl tule • 2 , _,10 Bees (st~nds) • •3, 6
nd prn·o red anL L ls ... s followo :
s-allions • • 10 3 ars • • 0
.JacKs • • • 2 Sov;s • • • • 60
I.!ares • • • • Ra s • • • 1,_ ./
B lls • • • EYJes
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• 0~T~ Ii:~D. T~I~TO~ T OF 0 our:rr;y AG ~JJT . roRK IN
r=oiF.l'ROS E C OU:iJTY .. ~ND R~S LJT.f-} OF
·op ....
r·-
1920.i -~.C.:.. l~ •
/The
County .fent wo1·k WJB ::'irst &tPrted in r:ontrose Coanty i n_~_-ovember 1917 . One of tl'le first .Pl~ojeets of the Cou_nt;;·· .. _,rent was
to endeavor to orp .. :tnize a. r; 01 nt~~ 1;;1e.rr,1 B11re, u :in tlle conr.t~r . ~ ere
wore fo1 nd to be E. ood. an;r co·nmunit.r c1n"')s B.nd Ol ... ranizP~lij ons ut
t 1e need see :led app8-rent for '.3 count,· w:i de or•anizetion , to help
so1ve the r"L~tTal -)ro ;l:;ms , s r:c, as the _arm '3areRu. offered . Tl'e -olan
wG.s for ec.cl" co"".rlr'lit•7 to r:f'T·e::: co·:nni ttee :'"'or theil" own -prograu·" of
worl·-. C:l1e aarrrinistr8.tion of t1"e 9:ifa1.rB of the connty on1·een was
vested i~1 t·t1e e:recntive cor "!1i ttee corm_ osec1 of tl:>e offtcers and Bix
me,..1 p:c·s Selected. "'r;t t:re i.<'li·cu.l tr.l.I'8..t.. COP~.LCil . r_~he Africnltnra1
Coun-cil was coiroosec1 of one represe~1te-~--.tve fro"a eac11 I'· :1: e , or ::,~Erm
clu) , c<toc!::1anrs , frnit ~ro-~,Jers · nd com~1eTciol associ~tions , an~ one
fr:::> 1 )oarCi of c~ r:.nt:·, co r·1issioners . ':2"' e .1.L ::cic~tltul'al Cou.1cil to
meet set1.i - 2~1nna.ll:, and .ake ·0;ri t uen su.rrocotions to J:xecuti~~e Co .. 1i.~vtee .
~i mem'JeTs".:ip car~oairn YvL ... s C01Hlu.cted and
149
mor:l)el~s seut,l"er1 foJ.."' theFa:r-m nreHn . "J;he ::Yarrn 3nreau was loot:.:ed npon 101~e Ol .. less as a \lfll'
-time e11erce:.1c~- or~·aniza tj_on , and was so sul.))Orte., lo~-al:y . This pn
-triotic ent:us i asm w~s of fYe~t &BSistaace in tho orranization cne eaTl~r fu:..~.ctioning of· the Cot1nt~7 ~~raTr:l 3o.l'ean, but in t.tJ.o l"ee.ction fl"'Orn
WDT tiT:J.e or[anizat;ion cnridencec1 in this present reconsti'llctiun pGI'i~d .· .
t1'"'e er1·oneous idea is ·prevalent ar.1onr. Elan; that the circl.F1Strncos ·
vv:-;j_ch I'O~p-tec -L1o Far11 1.3u .. ean orf:oni2;&tion have :passod an~ i.i1--ere is
no lon~er e need for it . · .. ·
~J•e first -01"0'-rrar-1 of the Far'n BnTea11/co :.:L:;rised o:f , Crop
r ·
prove-L.erlt t·hrn mc.Xi"llrr1 and ··:1ore cffecient !1TOduetion , T i vestoc1;_: ! 1rover:ent
thru mor e and better r{:;e .. in9· and feeding , ~ncoura -·er ent o~: .' ~i r.rlnp: ,
0 ontro1 of crop ana an · !nal Dif:e:~ses , liax·ketinr. <a.nd -,ar-n Bus in ,f"->S . The
reetil ts secured ,¥-Jere extT·emel~~ vvort: ,_.,~1.j_le and p;Tetif:{inf .
li.1he reoTP'<:L1izat~ion of cne -.?arn lnrea u. wor~r for l~l
J- 1919
wasef- .
::cctec1 v.1it1" _:;1act~Lca11y the 8'"' _e orp&nization &nd orop.Ta"n of T!ork.
~'he ne~f)eJ.. .. s-~i 1 w.?t; tn(;l'ea
eo
to lYd • . S'.'he l"eSPJ ts obtained from this"'~TG' ... S 1~'QT1< ii;/8~1-'E.,. nle!O "'~e~--~- (l0( ~To.;_R-1)]17 -l' 10.-.+ O.o _,_, __ tc -,~""''"'tl. l'l. 0 dOf.'
cr.m-•> C~ 1. , . ~ -- . . .• U '-' ~ 1. • r ~ e L• l; > • o/ I, .CI. 1.1 ..l \; l_v };J _t C. • <..J . Ct
J)(- i. n , "J>ier f1·or" a conf:,ervuti -e ef'tir~ate baf,ed on fS1"·1ers fj_1 ures ,
sr1ved j~1~G C0'1l1.L.;;.- j n c:roos , over ?3~ , 000 .
J:" e ;:-ear 1~19 - 1 ~20 is t1'e t" ird , ... ear of Count~' t: Fen<~ work for
Hontrose County . ·t t"""e annu_al :Jar"~ "8ureau r.:wetin.n: at t1:e .,)e i:1ning
of tl"~is ~Ter~r t --e etl--od of orpanizati'Jn wa; c'"'P.nreO. f~o·r.evv a, , to -rnoke
it conf)rrn to tre .... tate st-- 1.1d· rd . T" e ~fric· 1~1,Tal Council ~;as dis -pe·1rec~ witl"'. enD. -~~1 e uxec Jti-:e Co.,...: ttee i."!':P c' oEen •Ni t' re0' :cd -~.io
the tr :fiJvness to lea tt· Cot·nt'Tr 1TOf:Y<'- .:
o:
. ;or~·;: . ·:-;:~Le Co~J.·1t~- ro;'Tanof ~ 0r1r WCiE 2elected 2-f. t,~e fl::l.l11.12.l r:1ee·cil1f c _ ter (;011Ei6.erc tiOil Of the co ·."'1t::1i·t~- )ropr~ _s of ·vor1~· v(·j ch "-cu "1een secux e<'i p:reviousJ- . I
c
wasc.s ::::·ollovJf : Orr .... :l.niz~ _;j_o·.t , Good !.~oads , :aJl' ~x- :L~)itr- , f·est Control ,
=~-a:r·1eting , -;roi~) I_lp:co.,...rer·.e.~ .. t , livestouk ll10rOV6'"1ent ane. 3o;-rs and c~irl ' s
ClnJs . T,1e :resP.lts obt2.i11e<."i 1:..~tV6 demonstl~cted the value o:C the woTk ,
but tho oppo::r.~tLlnj.ties LisLed an"' those co ... lstan-'vl:Y o.rif:li1l£ ake us look
s ne.:otioneu in 1[~. t ; e,_ TS ro __ Jort , it wnf- fo11·1d 1? the
C cr1T1.·--~ J e~-:t on fil·~ t cor:t c··v \ii v tJ>t:: ~ ont1·oso Cor:1t:.,. -•erL
01 1"''38 ' .:, 11..4 t tl-'e
c
01111t~· .... xe ~l~ ti Ye r_;Q,I"i ttee 117C.S Ol12.1r - c tinF~in 2n qclviSOl";r l'.nc: o::=·::icinl srnutio·:inf c .... pG_c.:.it~7• c;· at is ,
tr.e mem1ers Jere ·1o"t et.'c_,~, one < .. <:;fi·1iteJ.;r i11 c ---r,.... or J.es
Cl1-si ·,1e fo:c r. n;" of t1le Tojects Jl1 the Pro.c.J::--- D1 o:e· ·woj~~k . _s
a ca~1S8 tlence the ::.:er.t.l.~.:; ont .... i·led we1·e .:1:·:.:1c i.)a1 ~r 'tJ'e o:~fect
of Jj e pei'SG!1' 1 WOl''l": of 1:r e 'Jo 1i1.t; ,f.ent, ''10
tr
e -.arm ll1rean... -0 '10t PC ieved <:h ~- j_py-r-er nsef:1.lnec·s "i1 ich :mi,'~'1YC ~.rye 1een o l tc :i. ned ~c r u t .1 e e 1 o s e r c o c ) e r c t :i o ·1 o =~ t 1 e ::: e c 11 t i · e C on .1 i t tee •
_ s a1 ... , o l"' e 9 or t e ., 1 '--' s t · e E r 8 E '1'V1e n: of' · .· e -c v 1-~ n i t i e d "'.. s
... ~oss:i )1t ·:·e1. e .-ici te1l ;Jrel.~ious to t1 e &~nu&_ Heetinr- ... nL .. co·
i-.• 1.11ity l' 0 ~ 2~ Of ·,OJ.' Viele <Ai,c,l~_sed n{ c-G ,"..,cc . r_:e ~"'oJ.:.or;
i ~ Jlv J· rns o:~ wo1~~ '.JC:!.:e O' tlineC il.L e· c of the e:.": 1nL it:.1.cr') in
t e co1 L~ty :
01· n ,.-.;;. .11_j_ Z~., t i 0 i"'
_ UT e .~: -r~ "' 8 J 0 d •
Corn ~rio~: :ri ls .
8-f:;-~er oecc o ta ·coc s
1?1 ojeets
r p-a n i ~ ;:l -. i o !1
,L. e f~ t C o 1. ~~ r o 1 •
( · -r.-. ·- - 0 --1. -- " i -, i e
C Y O"P l'~lp:. OY'"" ne.
"letts:!. '&1~- .he t
Jo::.. r: ~rr.---i e.l._;- r:i ""lS
• •
Parae ox .
• • •
Cral-.Js
• •. .l !.:a f 1' ~ Y"l , c ~: i r 1& n
•• Ceo . lo,.?ve11 • • ~· . 1) . Prico • -:-T • : ~a ,.., r ~ '1.7J • • ~J . "1 . .. tT • u • O)_Jers ) ,teve
;, o CJ.:;J. ... i -re )e) 1 to::. .... n( 1rc c ~-oJ: l.T c..niza-t.~-Lo·l . .,. i }_o s
, - f n :~ i ~:r -:-·i n n
r a i:. i-.: .~.: o ~1"' R c"' icE t i o n
.J . e ::1d
T ~~ • II II
2 ll • _._ f :r ,;;_ •
Intr ott,e'tio 1 of -_f: ir~~
·a
nJ_l "5 ii' c 1 e • • Corn -~t:.."'i3t-.,. ' .... 1ri l...; •.
.
l e • '-~ . i c · o =-.:.. o n ( in ;,;-e:.."E;tte 0 i JS ;;0e _., .-i 1e r • _J • .:.~ • ~· ~ c r e n: l
~ .
G. C' --.r ) ::;1~
i • ~~ " C . ~ .... lmtlv,· c ~-r;e)(
Projec-ts
C1 Rnization
Prairie Do He::- r TOYJeT;3
InJcl~ oO. 11C tio ''1 Cor:]
Variet:-Re v~le
• • •
~:·a ~icP tion • • •
( soc· e ti on • • • • ~ris.ls • • • 7airview I?ro jects Or c '~ :;:1 i r~ at i o '1 • • • • TeleJ:) o 1._, I 1~. :i..'ovomont •
l"'1.,;:>rovinc 3c",ool a.1d Grou.nas
Roe d I:!pl"'ovewent
Pest Eradica ·bion •• •
Unco P::·ojects • • • • • • Cr an·zation • Pe~t ErQcication • • • P ojects 0l"f~n1 ,a-:ion •• •
Pest VLedic +ion •
Certi~c·ie ~ .:;ee _ I) ~·tn··oes • IJ)TOVed '• j·1ter r e'""'t •.
• • • • • p1·e • • _aple G'rove C:rt" !":ll.1.ization • • • )
Pest ~raR ic atio1) • •
) Ore r~rd ~.)1)1"8~ ing: • • • 001 ' ty . "';:. i ~)j_ v ,.... t . ...,~iT • _·{oaa I . )r ovenent • Projects 0 !." & .. " i z; ~ t =~-o n • ~oa ~ I ·1 roverw 1t • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • C O'Il"'1i tteernen Tfl .
c.
"80011 iJ • H. 131'8-• G. A • A ~--:e1-s.
'l1 •c .
loon • .c; • L. ~ .. cYee Ji . B • • ]]' . I:) • =~-,
0 bt . ..L •w.
T • B • T.,"&; . :b1crruson .,.erC cml"<1i ~~-:; ec?ne n rthul"' S Cl"7-~e:t· .V • E • 0 an~ _) 1 e ll Committeemen R. J . Deisher [ru . C -..,a ·"l_p i o 11 • Glen Core~
. c.
D. ·oley • De ri 1 .. ya.n t 0 . C • ) ell :_ c k • C . ~"ash • 1£.rk Roe Jes~;e Bell . Gust Sc _..rf • H. JJ .r ..
oeBC ~ (','! • H • 13 r. i 1 e y (F. J . Sq2ir~e11 . Commi t ·ceemenl . H •
( ~: OS (\V. L .. 1J1edle~ Jytle F .L'<::t -:-_::lin.J Pesc er~dic~tioa • Good See~ • • • • • •• C e r ~ i + i e d See
a (
? o t ~tv ..,.;) ) •.
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(I . F . COOt_>er ( ·~7&1 tcr lrady { Tl;.os . I;-tle .. r-1. ltiGT c erc .
J . Cless~he annual Lontrose Count:T Farm .JnrE.-eu 1cetinr: vv .... s
c"llcr for Dece:1.1e1· ~ '
1919 ,
c.t ~?. : 00 P . lie. ::t ·c11c l.l:ontroseC 0'-;.:1t•~ Colrrthouse . In pre ;ar~ tion ::':or this Loe-cinf , 2L~-O
circLl< r letters v:ere ot·t~eil out to I'e}!ref'entative and
)rorreesive f '-rr1eTs c..l _ over th .. cot nt:-- exf:Jl'1j_ni:l v.1hy
the-;· s' O',ld cor:e) Lnc1 to ,11inp- their l1eirhJOl''S • .Jxtensive
-) l)licit:r vv~s ~ 1so .~·iven i ~ t e loc .. 1 ney;r;:,~y·,_ ers . C:he
ette~1dt- "lCe ~;;,z'"'s not 1 ~T,.,.e ( S~ ) }1nt th, ent"'"'11Sif:lcp•t end
interest was ver~ ~i~ . ~~e old Warn Burea, ~rc~niza~ion
Wf::S oose2_:.,. drawn . It E.lso rov:.i dec1 for an At Ticnl-cl re.l
Council coo osed of one renresentetive ~~o _ erch Gran e
or f~rrners' cl1.b , 0118 reuresentQ-tii ve fro 1 e" c' stoc.?.:"'.., .. n~· r
:=-r .,itrroY.18TS or ot er recoanized gn-ricnlt1TTal ~~ SOOiatjon
in t1'e connt,- , o:1e frOYD eac.., comT;ercial 8PS!cd.atio:1 , end
one ::·r o Pl t 1-. o o L r
a
o f ./ o 1n-::; y C o ;. i s... i ) n e r s • r:::: he Jl r" ::r i c ul-tnrRl Co·1.ncil to ,~neet Peni - a:1n 1all;7 sac1 nake written re-commendations to t.1e lxec~tive Co~rnittee . T~e ~doinistr&
ti on o::= iJI--,e sff'"·irs of tre "'~al n ln.x·ean ·w<:s ve~tecl in ere
~:xecn.tive Co :~nj ttee COT'1posed of tt.e officers and six
me-n-11el"S selcctc-: O.f t.hc: <'[riGtll turs.l. Gounci_ . It vvas found
t' at t, e i~-J.ic:.:·ltural Cou..ncil did _ot fe~ ... ction propeTl:V- ,
&nd tba"t T selectil1f. the .. ~xecntive Co 11:-littee in t:tis way
· ~i t:1•)U t re [a rei to ,_.~j_ c ~in.. le[: c1 ers for t
r.e
)T o~ran ofvJor:r cno .... e 1 , t "'e 9cst :results vve::ce not o )te inod .
Instead of trjinr:- to anend and \,;or:r ovel" the old con-stitution ·co suit the p:.:·csent needs , ,-Jr:.ic1 co,Ild .not "·ave
~eer.. fioae le,.... ... ll:~ , ..i:he Old Ol"fA.ilizatiO'J. \J, S C.i~:lSOlVGCt c'rlct
a new one ~. 1t1e6.i tel.,.- for ~ed ,~r-· ic 1 "10 o ted t'S " Co F) Lit tion
nd ~J - J.~~ ws -:;~ ... e pet ·JI(_ic11 is stc.ro . ru a 10110' ot:t:er ·~arm '3Prec.r L '
i 1 t~e . tR te •. "'1"i s did away wi "!11-- tl1e "'Tic 11 tnral C o·,nc il
end provided for t~e ~xecutive 801~ittee to e for~e~ from
t'he officers; "lnd men c~'osen to lea t-·e Cornty l?ro .ran of 1'7 rP: .
Er . R. F . Felts , J~esistcnt CuuDt;y· Jtro.:lt; IJeacleT v;a.s
precen·c o;:td spo.:.e on t11e su )ject of ;~/oat ot!.1er (Br'Il Bnrean rs
in t~ e Pt~t8 ~re doinr and rave several Helpful sur:estions
as ~co .~ow to ort:"anize the ...,arm Burea1..1 for res 11 t )'etti:1r .
~allowing t0is the County Agent spoke in rer~rd.~o the
pro-fTBms of ;:or1t 1::} ich l:ad )een c ·opted in tl1.e vax-ions co ·ar:
un-ities pre ·io~~sl; • j.)rnal1 cJ1 ... rte. settirt.c" forth the nro rams 0 :[ ·.11 0 r 1: S e le c t 8 c1 t :t c V t T i 0 _ S v _ •• rr; UI .d tl ·::; 3 i .... ~ ~ e ... J'
~ro l'lC the vvfllls fol'' i!1sncctj on of the me.1oeTs , and then a dj~cursion called for as to tle ~rojec~s to ~e written i1to
the c.ount~.,. oi·O,...T<~'T. of WOI'k . i1s a su~ ject vvat: ""1en.Jcionc:d t1 e
Co urL-.,.. rent v.1r ote it or:. a 1[1 r "~o ,1lc.c 'r oard . It vJa s tv-en
dis ell e se:; ~L'l · ad opt
eo
o:-.:· re j e cterl. a 2 see ·1 fit . :Bollowinptis t, e revular o:f·cers ~ere elected , &nd t e l:ecttive
to lo8d t~e projects w~ic~ had been ado- ted in ~~e county _.J'Of'~ m of worrl: . vollowin.c· i:re tr1e of:cicers nd execu·~ive
co ·nr'1i tteemen selected :
President • • • •
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R. I.h LoeschVice =-res . • • • • • • • • • J . ;ur . JA:tm
dec
.r
- IJ::l' e as • • • • • • • • • 3 . S •n:
o' in Good -1oRrls •••• · •••• Carl 1feE"'cese11
Fairf.:, f', Jo;TTs & Girlrs cluJs . J . ~T . r:.'o1;in
Pest Cont~ol • • • • • • • • 1 . E. loss J,;Fl r 1:e t i np: • • • • • • • • • • T • W • I one 11
0 r o ~ I n..1 p r c -r..r e r11 e n t . . . ~ • ~ . 'i'r a s i e r
J.~ivestoc1-c Iml?TO ~ernent • • • • . "'"udso 1 ~3olonon
~,·"-ile tl-1e lJlon was fol' t'l->e i'xecr::tive Coomi ttee to ·L eet
YJ10rl1)"l;rr "tO 'f'O OV ,r tt;.G l~.1orl:: c!one and r1s.1~e _)lens for the
f, t :.re in ro. 0-:rd to the c&rryinp- o lt of t1--e prot ra 1 of work ,
it did not: vork 01 t t'1at v .. ·3:r . JJLrrinp tJlG ;-e&r only fotr
2xecutive co-mittee meeti~[S nave Jee~ ~eld . T omen
se:-ected on the ~xecutive eo~Mittce were t~ o u~ht the Jest
obt, in_ blo nd "'Jere .l..; •01 o l:T _ u<:\ lified to
.i
ncl1c t1 eii' sub j cc ts ,11u-t it seemed· that [ftel" -vre ~~irsll t.Jnt :.usieslt was lost i
was imJossible to f et tnem ·ou·c to a co .r:ait-cee n1eetinf . ~-S
a conseQuence a f:T'e~ t c1ec..l of t~_e ~ F&ral su:c ea 1J. \"'Or 1~ h.tis been
cc.::rTiel~ on lJ; t~~te COl1ilt,1- "~i;-:errt v;i t11.0 d; ·c lC ~:;npcr·v:Lsion of tLe
·~xecuti vo (:; o. mi:ttee . It is )t::.l.ieved. th:' t )etter resnl ts
we ~lld 1e o 'te i~1. _, c1 in the lone: nun if tlt e fiT~ t c u~•.li:::'i ca cion
consi ,ered in Elzec;;_l~i-v-n cor:I'.!itt;ce, 16!.1 wel~e T -··at of '-Jilli~-::.;~ncs s
to r·ive tine an( :Jcrvice , rat'1cr than trat o:? Gl;eci.-..1 =?it;ness . 0pecial fi tne5s is vr.:r-:' "T.LlC" to ')8 de.._ ired 1 t is of no ad
-v~nt·~.,.c~ n 1less 11sed . erevex· _ _.ossi, lc corm.l .1i-'sy l'arr.n lureau
n1eetin, .c v·ere :-c, ·:( ef , .. :.1f _;lc.:1s -·-o:rrn1 lPteci v~~·ith t· e lccal le .dere foJ:- the c~rr--in on-~ of -c:rei: .. pi'ojects . Recc:.rtse -of
-c.be l 1ltitnie o:t' t in'"s co11~.tantly c emanclinp· , tten·:ion, not
E·ll of "':·18 C')Y1t ~·lj 1:• .ro,jectG \'ere de:.?in· cel;-7 plcnned ont .._. 7 iT r ) e l o c a 1 1 c & de r s • It is r 8 a 1 i ~~ e d t ha ·LJ per~. 8 ; s m. n~~ ·
s_p1entl.ic1 .1.es l·Ge. were sacrifice(~ -::hrtL the or.1iGSi011 of -c' ... is
det<:: il . ;·· OY.l8"",-er at a11 )OSSi J1e , ..,'t f ·-I' rnee t1i:1_ C-3 0~': c·ll
:lttu.s, lentic·1 y.;r,e 9lwat,·s llf'de o~~ ·c'he )Ossir,ili-cies o::P
C')Y}--rv: ,.'~it~. g(-Yc ncernent --1~rn t ~.e :~,:-"!' ·1 -~ll:.. c ,, OTPnnj_z' ~-:_o ~ . nn
iTv·itation -c.r:c Col1~1t--- \p·e:1t ;:).t)J,~c .e:ox·e +n1ee .occll ·T:D£tes
on +he s2 ject of ~arm Sureau and Gr82fe , e 1dedvori:.1f to
-s1·ovJ -·ow t1--e tv:o sro··ld worl: 'in 1'aT,110l1~/ nne not in anta['onisrn .
ll8l1Y'" OlC fTr111f8 ro.er: )81"'8 , Ret tre .~istp' 811 idea trGt the ~arm
~uresn·wonld •Nerl:en and
c
j_sJ: rpt t~:eir or"""r nization . rye trie ~to clee:r Ep t is fDlse i :'·pression. Ii\.eV.i'se ·,wvi th tr.e 1~u·r:.1er ' s
Coo·pe:ratiYe Fnioa , sorne t} our:rt t-:at tbe "l'arn KUT8r:~U WF.H:1 ~.ryinL"'
to Sl'P. >lant tr is o:r .aizatio:1 Ol' ~c.er""i:le it . ·rot a t all .
It :~as i')een tl o e.11 ~e·lvor fol tl''G 81'' J 3Lu"eau -t;o :pTeEch nd
practice cooper0 tion ~ith all existin0 r1ral service orranizations .
On the. Far BtH' ea. n r,::eL )8T
Sr
ip Ct:ffi1J8 i ~-n c ana t1.C tea t~-is Stlrn-ner , a little te~ 1 ~o1z anG e1fort ~~s evidenced - Cou~itteemen :::_.:1d Jt el"S . ....o re1nesent~ -'.;ivos fC;l"' tl_e 'ilE,r.J Bn.r·ecu otl-~er tht:.1which was called ior the ptrpose of o:~leininp tne necessity
and to ~ive the ooints on whi6h to soli6it an incre. sed
memi)ei"o,ri·p . _.,.o\vever wl-·ten tJ.'"Ie county cam1)fif'l1 W8S 1etunched
several sol; c i tors vveTe found who T'ealized tl e i·,n-)ortanc e
of n lurfe ::.:.1.r"' re )resentative ·r.ael11 ersJ:i:p and were willint'
to i--re sane time to it . T. e lj1crm ~urean preside'"1-'c s·pent
a W,"ole da~- ~;j_th tt-. Count:- ~eat in 11rocurinp- so1ici ~~ors
for districts not coverer, ill t~1e c:e noral or "B.ni zat ion . 'ls
a resnl-c of tl1is ca"lpa i r:n ttJ.e count~- T"lem~)el'Ship wc..s inc=-eased
to 210 .
A referen[ m was teken of the ~arm Baresu nom ers on
tr e ouestion of ~Fl1endin;
t:
e n tj_o~1'""'l co:1:::;-~i t-:. .. tion so as to make the nntional dues ~i~t~ ce1ts u~ r e~~er instead of10'·'; of the enrol1rnent fee . ·This l"eforendum ,Nos ·conc:nc"tL(
~y r~Gl18 Of & C~TCUl Sr letcer tO ~~e ~8~08TS~in, 8~Cl0Sil1P
a form and an unstar.r ed edt rGssed e::v:]lopo . r, e retn:t:1s
when co·!}. lled and forwRrde to t"r, e ;-·eeTetr T. of tre state ...,..< rm Jtu~eau. s ' oweo fift;;--t1 :r·oe for ana_ o~1.e f fEd nst -:":1 e B
"'len"'-raent . It is the inte .. 1tion to cone tlct si·r"ilar referendum on
several other a est ions amonv tne rne'n')ers~->i:p in -c1. o near future .
The sum'"ner C onnty .\fent r s conferenee "'"~elCl. in Denver on ~\.1J.g'l1~3t J.yfh to lrrth \7IJ8S atte:·1cl.e6 . . ... t t} is time c ... lso t}~e open
sessions of The -~merican Farm ""3Ul"eau Federation were at·t 0:1<:ted ,
and ,.1c.n~·· profitable )Ointers ob-Lt.~inea . S..'heoj<-fest benefi·c
w:~s prolJr Jl;r ·LD.e inspiretion cna entl' nsit sm oained froL 1ihee e
le~de:cs of the lJ&tional ;·f:rJ1 "3lU'onu. ;_o\~ement . Ill was &lso
the :ploasul e cnc' to tde . be·1efi t of -tl>e -..~;or~..: , ~·o:t" the Connts·
· , ent to s-:}en"' a da:r ::; nd c alf in con:..ex·enc e vvi ·ch I.~r . W. A.
Llo;ld in c" ~-'·T e o:.= Connt~- :J.0ent wo :!:: in t o i.orthern nnd {estel,.n Stc.- tes, !::co 1 \Jl'o··a :1an;yr be lpfu.l su;;_ cc~·cions anc1 iC eas
vvore obtainec1 .
Ie feel t~ at for t-.,.,e ~re?r ,~i LlSt closed t~o ==ontrose
Con·1t:' .:,.;,arm lnret u. can po:i.nt with pride to r:J.Bn:l de:fjni ~e
ac,"ievemen·:~s w,.ich v;il1 oe enumerated 1.nder t .. 1e project
~->eFClii1~·s v,r' ic1• :.:=ollov; . C:he or .uanization needs strenp:J:-0nir.p.
1·1 m8n~·.,. l)~)intis . There aTe some ;lD.rine· crro}:·s ")Otr of
cor'l-mission '"'nd o _j "sion, ·)1 -c \Je feel th~"'c tl•e re .. .)Pl ts· o ~Jta ined
. he. ··v·e j , s t if i e d t 1e effort , and t ha c 1.'J e ,., r e i. n f:' _p o sit i o n t o
profit 11~r past mistakes and "1al"(e a dectdec ·.dvr ncer:1en.t iH
the :utLl~e . T1:e lt:;c_c of &gfressive cor:.1L11lnit~r 1erdersr ip
i2 rx:o'_.')ted1~- t'he chief li""1i ti lf" factor -to t,...e lc.rf:er Ee
( 9)
CROP llviPROVEMENT
Better Se.ed
The. Q~~tteT. ·seed· wo;rk was conti~U.:ed from m .. las~t y_e~,r
in very much the same manner. . The ·Farm Bureau Fews · and timely articles in the newspapers were used to promote seed selection, cleariing, testing, and treating. Numerous visits were made to farms in an effort to
locate and inSpect good seed, which might~ oifered
for sale, particularly notatoes and corn. ~ an action ·of the executive com,·r.~i ttee, it was decided to attempt ·
to enforce the Colorado Seed Act locally. ~11 th~ dealers, p_andlin~g seed were j_nterviewed and ¥ . :~-
~90l'e~a-"tf-6n so1icited. Thf-JY were furnished with a COl)Y of the
Uororaa:o ..
·see~a Act and were cbecked up at later periods_·to see that the same was being carried out. Yie found
pra-cftica 1-:---a-11 the dealers willing and ready to co-operate :ln~~.nis ID')Ve. ll total of fourteen seed samples
were sent to ·-tne 'Colorado State IJaboratory for anal- sis. Six seed samples were tested for germination alon Js much publicity as possible was given the free ser lee offered by the C·olorado State Laboratory and we found considerable interest evidenced in their reports.
A con-Perenoe was had with I\1iss Full, County
Super-intendent ,of schools and arrangements were made :for conducting seed testing demonstrations in the seventh and eifrhtl' grades in twelve schools in the county. In conducting these .demonstrations, both the blotter
and rag doll methods were used, testing for germination wheat, oats, alfalfa, corn and various garden seeas.
Each of the schools were revis·ted two days after the original demonstrations, for the purpose of checking up on the Tesults and answering any questions which migJJ.t have arisen in t"he meantime. We found a great deal of interest manifested by the p1~~ls in· these demonstrations and we feel certain that the gospe1 of seed testing was carried to several homes.
Potatoes
1he certified seed potatoes project was one of the
main ~rm Bureau activities under crop improvement. ~arly i n the year, circular letters explaining the processes and methods to be followed were gotten out t0 prosuective growers. The Farm 3ureau News, the newspapers, and ·oers anal farm visits were also used to arouse interest. (?pportunity was offered through the assistance of
r.=r.
Earl Reed, of the Agricultural Depart-ment of'" the Burlington Railroad, to secure certifieapotato seed from Minnesota . The orde:r for the same among the cooperators of this district amounted to 100 bushels. Many growers, who were interested in producing c ertified
seed, wished to use their own or other good local
grown seed and an o·p-portunity to do so was allowed,
whenever the seed in question was of a high enough
quality . It was endeavored to. secure certified seed of ·
~eople's Russet, Downing, and Cobbler varieties, however,
the-only one whjch could be obtained was the Cobbler .
The 100 bushels of certified Cobbler seed arrived at
r~ontrose in very poor condition. The men to receive the
same were asked to meet and ssist in unloading the
cBr and resorting. +~fter the sorting :process, -1)400 pounds
was all the good seed obtainable . ~his brought.the
cozt per pound u-p to about eight cents and it was not
entirely satisfactory. Co.rrosi ve sublimate ·was furn~ shed
free by the ~ ... orticul tural _'apartment of the ,: .. gricul t ral
College for the treatment of this seed.
Jt
was likewisefurnished free to the growers, v(ht wished to use their
own seed for certification. The certification of seed potatoe s in this district was carried on through the
cooperation of the Horticultural Tiepart~ent of -the
.llgricul tura1 College · b~;r
r:r.
H. D. Ijockin, Deputy StateForticul turis t. r;he method was briefly 8 s ·follows:
two fjeld ins~ections, one at blooming time and the
ot~er just before digging ti~e.and one jn the ,in. In
the field inspections, att enti on was paid tt, ola.r 1.J'_ich showed off-variety type or disease. All plants sho'vj ng such characteristics, were marked and rogued. All ·
tubers beneath the plantsbeing dug out. 'Fi elds showing
certain · ercentages or over , of off-variety or disease
were dis~ualified; four cooperators were disqualified
or;. t::.e ! · rst inspection and three on the second.
Most of tn.e growers of certified seea wr ~·.1 o: .. .Ly
sufficientfor their own use the coming season, however~
there will be a small amount in the neighborhood ·Of
600 bushels, which will be available for other local
growers. ~~e certification of seed potatoes next year
will be ·carJ.-ied on on a much larger scale. The
certificatinn to growers was carried on free this year
but a slight inspection charge may be necessary next
year . The disease in potatoes is becoming cuite a
-problem in this djstrict and we believe that t:re
certification of seed potatoes is a long·step in the right clirectl.on toward remedying this difficulty. If
no sucl1 steps were taken, it would only be ·a few years
until the disease in this district would be bevond
con-trol. ~
In connection with potato iTprovement, two
demon-st.atidns Jf treating seed potatoes with cor:osive
sub1iillate were given; one in :·ontrose, t:te otr,er nt
r
( 11)
rush of spring work was demanding most of the attention of the farmers, however, the demonstrations were fairly well attended and consid_erable interest was shown. Ivir. TJockin
assisted in these demonstrations and answered many questions which the growers present brought up for discussion.
Several of the potato growers in t is district
exoressed a desire to secure cory-osive subJimate for treatment. Nine pounds were :.:ecnred at Wholesale prices and oistributed at cost among the growers receiving the
same.
Corn
In the matter of corn improvement, we believe there is nothing which does more than an ~nnual corn show held at Olathe. The third annual corn R~ow, which was held December 5 and 6, was an exceptionally goo.d one from the
standpoint of cuality of exhibit. The condition of the roads at that particular time was extremely bad. This, undoubtedly, cut down the nu::.1ber of exhibits as well
as the attendance. There were twenty-one exhibitors with fifty-two entries. The total attendance was some-where in the neighborhooa of 1~0. Mr . .A. B. ~'IcCly-!nonds, Rxtension Agrono~ist, judged the entries to the
satis-faction of all. Friday afternoon, Mr. McClymohds and the Count:? Ag'ent gave short talks to about sixty school
boys, regarCling the coTn raising, testing, storing, etc.
Mention was also made of the corn club work to be ta.lren
up in the spring. Saturda~t afternoon, LTr. UcCl;7monds ·
talked to about seventy inter~sted farmers regarding the placings at the shovv, corn raisi .. ;~~ ~.;~~ .. :jti..:~1.;l ("< eed sele r ti 'D, and storage~ etc. A good. discussion tollowed and ~e believe a great aeal of good resultec therefrom.
The ri~e winning exhibits were brciught back from Olathe
and s · ow··1 at n{ontros e for the benefit of those who
were unable to attend on the accoant of the bad condition
of the roads. We believe that Colorado is demonstrating her right to a position in the c_orn belt and the annual corn show at Olathe· is being looked forward to every-wherewith greater interest. It is by this means that the advancement of corn raising in this district is clearly demonstrated to all. It i~ planned this year to include in the corn show a potato s~ow and the prize winning entries from this district a~e
to
be taken to the state show. One of the main projects of crop improvement is that of corn variety trials. This project has been car::.-ied on for about tro years but we do not feel that it has yet been definitely a~~ided the mo~t advantageous variety to be grown in this district. Cooperating wit~ the ilgricultuTal College, five varieties of corn were obtained and Emall amounts furnished cooperators freeof charge in an endeavor · to dec~e w~ich varieties were best adapted to this locality. ~T~e varities tried out this year were: Minnesota 1~, Golden Glow, Pride of the North, Iowa s·lver Mine, and early selection of ~eidTs Yellow Dent. ~art of this seed was nut out and an
endeavor made to keep it pure by 1__\:eeuing it a sufficient
distance from a ~ other corn to prevent m5xing. In other cases, two or three or· more of t~e varieties were planted side bv side in an endeavor to determine which one ~as
best adapted to that particular soil or localitY. • .} It was nlanned that if certain variety was decided ~ be the best·· one for a certain locality, there would be some
other farm in that same localit;,r vv'e·re pure seed of the
varjety aecided to be best, could be obtained. These '" variet~.r trials ;vere distributed among nineteen ooperators at altitudes varying from
5,
200 to 7.000 feet. io definite conclusions have been drawn ; however, we can safel:v say · t1:at the IEinessota 1') is a sure variety for this locality;for silage corn, the ~ I wa Silver Mine b s proved itself
a very excellent variet~ in the lower altitudes ~he
Rei(]' s Yellow Dent give .L)romisEJ after it has .;en acclirt:ated,
however, we cannot ae ini tely recom.-.nend it at the present
ti~-:1e. Mr. McC1;1-monds visited the county everal tioes in
the interest of se~uring cooperators and visited the same with the county agent after they had been obtained. It is
the plan to continue the corn variety trials next ~ear in an endeavorto secure some more nositive results. In
addition to the seed introduced~for variety trjals, 1000 pounds of -pure ~~~innesota 1 ') seed corn was ·purchased by the Farm Bureau for twelve farmers in different parts of
t~e cotmty. mhis seed all gave a good account of itself. In many cases it was kept pure and furnished good seed for c on tin ue
a
us e in many 1 o co 1 it j_ e s . ~Ve fee 1 the work being done on corn to be very important, not alonefrom the fBct of its value in r ·0t_.:t:b ~ but tl:.ro ugh its place in feeding rations, as both grain and silage.
A ;..., ... v 1~ .. ;.: ... t:i.on of selecting seed corn from the
fieJ ~gsarranged _or ~ however, at the time it wBs
held. the farm work on tte farm8 was so rushing that the attendance was very slim.
"Wheat
In t~e matter of wheat i ~provernent, t1 ere was not
much to be done in the matter of treating, as practically all farmers treat their .rain for smut anyway. r::owever,
8xten~ive publicity was given to t~is matter but it was felt tbat no demonstrations Jere necessary. An attempt was made to interest as many farmers of thi~ district as possible . · n securing somo :~anred seed for experimental purposes. :Ianred is a variety of vvheat which has been developed y the Kansas Experiment Station and has been found superior in many qualities to Turkey Red. Seventeen
(13)
cooperators were obtained, who wished to try out this variety and their orders were pooled for a total of 3545 pounds. This cost the cooperators receiving the same, about seven do:}.lars and seventy-five cents
(7 .?b)
per cwt., Montrose. This wheat has been planted in seven different localities of the county and we believe it will prove to be the best winter wheat v~riety forthis district. Wontrose county, at the present ti~e,
holds the world's championship on the hard winter wheat., We intend to extend this accomplishment to include a
?
Kanred variety. ~
fllhe grain grading de:m.onstra tion was held at
Montrose, July 15, by a federal expert from the Bureau
of ~urkets. Full explanation was given of grain
grad-ing on the terminal markets. Various apparatus, which are used to obtain gr~des, were sho~n and demonstrated.
Ve found a great deal of interest manifested in this rna tter. 1\IJr. IV1cClymonds, .B~xtension Agronomist, assistea
materially in the success of the demonstration, discuss-ing several grain growdiscuss-ing matters &.nd g,lso dealdiscuss-ing with the qualifications of the Kanred variety of wheat, which we hope to try out in this district.
While the matter of soil improvement was not a main project under the Farm Bureau, consider~ble work has been
done on it during the year. Several daye have been spent with individual farmers, who have had soil
problems. In one such case, the difficulty seemed to be an excess of alkali caused from a lack of proper drainage ,
in another the trouble was the result of a continued poor syster.' of farming, shallow plowing, and practically no rotation. Through the assistance of lLr . H. iL Ireland,
Pro,ject Agriculturist. I~r. F. B. Headley, Soil Specia±_ist wa. s o'b'ta.in e..J
from the Department of ~gricuJtura,~several f~rms having an a
a suspicion of nitrate trouble were visited. The report
on s~mples, t~ken by ~r. Heddley, showed that the
toxicity was due to the presence of lurge quantities of sodimn sulphate and not to an excess of nitrate GLS had
been supposed. Sodiurn chloride and calcium sulphate were also found in fairly large quanti ties. Reconunenda-tions as to method of hanul1ng the soils in question were
given to the ovmer. Three samples of soil from this locality of this district were furnished the dt~te
Bacteriologist for the purpose of determining the presence of natural legume inoculators.
0ne hundred pounds of pure sulphur were obtained from the.Agricultural College for the purpose of experi~enting
upon the application of sulphur to alfalfa fields. This sulphur was puL out on five differeLt f~rms, using twenty
I •
pounds per Ecre . The sulpht_r 'as ~.pplied as soon ~s
possible after- the .Lirst cutting had been remov d . ·The
coo~erators found no results apparent this fal 'but the
lots will be ~one over next s~ring n any rcQults noted .
in cooperHtion with the county agent of tho adjoining county of Del t'""' , a n tur ... "'l deposit o-" cr1.1_de SLlpht_r w ... s visited nd a. q ·.L.ntity , t ined , which \?aS g:t'ound u· nd
distributed to cooperators to apply on lfal "a gr)und at
the rate of thil~Y ounds to one- tenth of an ere . If the
pplic tion o sul hur sho :vs a1..y beneficial results , the
n(;Ntura.l "ieposit in the dj ining countJ will be a che and re .. dy source for the loc 1 d lli t riot .
LIVE STOC II\· ROVEL~ET
Dair
There has been no definite ro ject
Jv
regard tod "iry cattle in the FarEl Bureau work . rsevcre~l farmers
have been :rendered assistance in locating goo0 d iry C07S
or in p:l eking o~.-1t the same where nu:uber h<..<Ve been
offered for sale . The colU1tJ agent of the ~·joining
county of Delt. was assisted in ·oic ... i 1~ out some individuals
from herds in this county for fal~mel'S in Del t~ county .
Sever 1 f rmers we~e assisted in sclectin· bull calve~
Tho sale of Registere Holstei Bulls on the farm of Loesch Bros . l.:ontrose ... s ~ .. ttende an a short tall: given oL the
.dvan ages of Pul"e Bred 'Degistered Bulls in grsding- up and
increa2ing p~oduction .
In connection with the improvement of dairy c~ttlc ,
much should be r" ... de o.: the -o:.m ti n of the estern ulc~. c.J
emi- official Testing .ssociation. ssistance in organizing
this ssociati0n vas ren;:;cred b I.lr . D. S . Jordan , of the
St ~to Dairy Co:rrnnission and I~r . L . A . Irelan • Breeders
of
registered dail"Y cattle 'Jere vi it.ed on t~1eir fa:rr:.1s and
interested in procuring official records of the production ol
their COVTS . Th~.:~ 0 SSocintion wc.s fOl":r.led 7Tith a totc..l of
nine menbors , four .in~ ontrose count~· , three in Del t
cou11ty and two in Mesa co1.1nty. By cecuring t1 is ntunber of
members 1.. it ;. s pos ible to _.:cep the tester busy ver
ne rly L-he Hhole 11 onth. ].~o t o t·1e work done Wc..S the
two >:Icy test , however , thel'~e v7S.S elsa enough seven d ... y
test..;;! to fill out the tine of the teste1... By pro ..: ra.ting
~he . e~rense a11ong the 1ine !:.eml)ers , the expense to each
llldlVld 1a1 W<-.. s not e ... ~eessive . This SLmmer three of the
members of the associ~ t ion snffe1·ed Li sfo1"tune such as
bo1tion , rc ctors on tuberculin tests , lac of pro~er
feed , etc ., 8.11 ;ris ed to withd:ro..., fron the o.ssoci -.tion tem ... orarily. ThJ.s t:1reatezl.ed ti1e c:isru-,tion of the
ssociation s ~n atto_ .. ~t ~----s :rrLde y ~.:r: Irela:nC: .. n"' tho
(15)
of those who wished to withdraw. No success was had
in obtaining new me~bers but it is believed that the
association will hold together in spite of the increased
exp~nse to the remaining members, un~il the other
mem-bers cun get back into the testing work. We think that
the formation of this association has done much to advance the interest in better production from the dairy cows of this district. The association was very
fortunate in being ~ble to obtain ~s tester, a man who
was experienced and ~horoughly qualified to conduct the
work and also able to devote part or all of his time to
it, as the occasion dem~nded.
The county has one distinctive Cooperative Live
Stock Shipping Association. The Grange Cooperative ~
Association of Montrose, likewise handles the shipping
of live stock as a part of their business. A Short Course G.b
cooperative live stock shipping was held last winter in Denver. All county agents and members of shipping
·associations were requested to attend. ~ r. Solomon,
m&naqeY of t:te Olathe Shipping Association and the
county agent accompanied a cooperative shipment of three
cars of hogs and cattle to the Denver yards in ti~e to
attend the afore mentioned meeting. The shipment just mentioned was used at the yards to demonstrate the handling of such shipments to the other parties
attending the Short Course. One-half day of the Short
Course was spent in and etround. the yards, becoming
familiar ~d th the manner in w1Jich coopera,ti ve shipments
are handle·d.. Another half duy was spent in conference
going over points in regard to marking individual lots
in a shipment, keeping of (A.Ccounts and other matters
pertG.ining to the business of cooperative shipping. l\i.any things of pro.fi t~ble interest were learned and
incorporated into the local associations.
At various times, assistance has been rendered the managers of the two locc...l C;:J.Ssocia tions in con.pletirlg
shipments. i,ollowing is a report issued Jun'e 30, by the
Olathe Cooperative Live Stock Shipping Association:
Number of cars shipped .
Value live stock shipped ..
Commission paid to manager
Ntunber of members
Loss in transit . . .
Saving to the Farmers • . .
• • . . . . 24 • • • .$45 '323. 69 . $364.95 8'7 . 0 .$3500.00 This association carries its own insurance at the same
rate ~s that o~fered b:y cornmercio.l companies. A sinking
fund ~s estab~~shed ~h1ch is used to pay losses if any
occur. In ti:. ~s way 1 t expects to save $250 to T;·3oo
Bull Association
This association, founded by ~r. Lindgren,
predeces-sor to Mr. Ireland in the office of Project Agriculturist, has been assisted in preforming its function whenever
possible. ~he annual meeting was held December 31, 1919,
in the county agent's office and election of officers and directors for the ensuing year accomplished. The nwnber of dairy cows in the districtserved by this association, has decre~sed to such ~n extent that the
usefulness of the association is not as great ~s when
it was first formed. However, an attempt will be made to enlarge the membership and :n:ake the service of the association a real benefit to this district.
Breede~~ hSSociation
'fhis g,ssociation, founded lc..st. year, has really no definite .achievement to its record : at this tillie. This is not because there is nothing to be done but rather because of the lack of direct leadership from the
officers. The second annual meeting at Grand Junction on November 8, was attended ~nd at this meeting it was
decided that the association would publish a directory of all pure bred live stock breeders on the Western Slope. It was also agreed that the association endorse and support the proposed legislation in regurd to state co opera iion with the government in con t.rol of 'tuber-culosis of cattle. There are many ways in which this association could f ,mction to the bdVbncement of the pure bred live stock industry on the ~estern Slope.
There is a question whether the territory covered by
the ~ssociation is not a little too l~rge for the best
work, however, any assistance which may be given it through the Farn1 Bureau will be rendered us we feel there ~re gre~t possibilities in the associ~tion,
which we cannot a.fford to over-look.
1i sce~l.aneous
Sever~l outbreaks of hog cholera have occurred
in this district. In every instance, as soon as possible, assistance wa.s rendered in methods of con-trol, et.c. In one case, a farm visited upon which an outbreak f choler~ had recen~ly occurred was found to be in ~ a very unsanitary condition and so situated that there was great danger of distribution of the disease through tbe medium of the irrigation system. Clean-up re~ommendations were given and Doctor Lamb,
(1?)
In the ca.se rnen ti oned, the fC:A.rn er was following the system of feeding his large herd of hogs upon garbage and the carc~sses of Qead animals, which were n.erely
thrown upon the g~ound for the hogs to run to. No
. attempt was made to keep the place in a sanitary condition and when cholera broke out, the dead pigs were not properly disposed of. ~ome were thrown out
;mithout any attempt to dispose of them, others were partially cremated b~t the job vas so poorly done that
there was great danger of spreading the disease through
do~s or birds carrying off portions of the dead cholera
pigs. rhe · farmer in question lost from this outbreak nearly one hundred head from a herd of about one hundred
twenty.
Two conferences were ho.d. with the f orestry officials in Delta, one regarding the comtemplated sheep runge pool, the other one regarding local conditions on the range .
'l'he :Forestry officials wished. to get the farmer's viewpoint in regard to the need of the range and this office
wished to secure the policy of the Forestry Service in
~nportioning the range to the ones using it. ~uch good
was had from the mutual understanding thus obtained.
ihenever possible ~ncouragement has been given to the
establishment of permanent pastures. As we believe that with the present value of land, there is nothing that is more valuable for the live stock farmer to have. It does uwa.y with a cer'tain amount of man labor which is a. very important question in this district.
In· connection with the Western Slope Fair breeders of Duree Jersey hogs were visited and interested in making entries for the Duree Jersey Futurity at the fair.
Mr. Ireland, Project Agriculturist, was assited in conducting a feed experiment with one of the farmers of the project on the advantage of semi-solid buttermil~
in the feeding ration. Several weighings of the pigs were ~ade and the results· of the experiment showed that
at the price at which the buttermilk could be obtained. it wus a very valuable adjunct to the ration.
Pave assisted whenever possible in the continued successful operation of the Veterinary Associ~tion in
this district. This ~ssociation is carried on by means
of the cooperative plan and has a bout two hundred members at the pre sen L tir.6.e. It is rendering a
valuable service to tne f~rmers of this community in,
not only the matter of lessenad expense to the members but in the f~ct that the member, ~y . reason of that
lessened expense ~till call the Veterinary at t.he first
sign of trouble and :not wui t until too long a time he:ts elapse.d. to give the animal a decent chance for recovery. We hQve reason to believe that a great. deal of v~luable
The west end of Montrose County is not served by any
veterinarian, so the county agent has res~ nded to a call from that section several different times to assist in the diagnosis or control of disease, principally in hogs. On two different occasions the services of Dr. Stout of the 3ureau of ... 4..nimal Industry were obtained when an epidemic among
swine in the district threatened. On one occasion the requeat for assistance was not received in time for Dr. Lamb to ar-rive on the scene before the deaths c~ased, so no positive diagnosis was possible. On another occasion the Dr. was taken to the affected farm in time to make a post mortem examination
and the trouble was diagnosed as necrotic enteritis and not
cholera as had been supposed. Further herd inspections on this trip also showed some pigs suffering with erythema. Remedial and control measures were discussed and recommended.
Whenever convenient, usu.a.lly on request, the county agent has attended several pure bred stock sales for the purpose of
assisting local farmers in picking out individuals which they
(19)
11ARKETING
Marketing Associations
One of the principal pieces of work done by the ~arm Bureau nnder the project of marketing was tl:e attempt to
organize a cooperative association to handle the farm products of the Montrose and Olathe aistricts . Host val-uable assietaDce was rendered this project bJ the B1Jreau of Markets thru its State representatives Mr . Stuart Sweet
and Mr . W. F. Heppe. In going over the local conditions with Mr . T. W. l~onell in charge of the marketing project for - the farm bureau, and others,it was decidedthe best procedure would be to have a preliminary mass meeting at
Montrose and Olathe and determine the sentiment of the
growers. As a consequence 300 circular letters were gotten out and sent to representative farmers in both the Montrose
and Olathe diFtricts, calling for a general ~eetin~ to dis-cuss the marketing problem and the formation of a marketing associatjon. The meetings were held in the afternoons of June lOth at Olathe and June 11th at Montrose , The at-tend&nce of
7S
and70
respectively at this, the busiest time of year indicated the interest which this subject had for the farmers . At the Olathe meeting two possibilities were brought out, one of enlarging the present OlatheCo-operativ~ Shipping Association so as to handle pote toes,
fr 11. t and other proo.L1cts, the other pos si bili ty being tba t of uniting ~e efforts on the operation of the local ~armer 's Union . branch, f the Delta County ~armers Supply Company. There were 2orne farmers present who objected to tying up the Montrose cou~ty a~sociation as a branch of the Delta AFsoctation. There were also son? ~ho objected to the
S'·Ji:ppjng Association takin~ on t~is ·extra wo1k a.nd thereby
.r. tinning· e. c ,1a nc e of spo :i.l ing its pre sent use:fulnes s. ~4.n ant~orizecl repre. ent'""'tive of tl e Delta Connty ~.srmers ~uppl.r Co .. 1pan;T was _:preFent Pno assurea the -rneetinf: thAt his
As-soci& tion tllru t~~.e Olathe br2 nc}· would be well o naJ.:i fied s nd able to 1:2ndle tne maTketing of the products for tre Olathe di2trict . Re also stated ~~at the Delta Association would line
trp with a certain N'tj anal Aseociation so that tl:ey vJould be tn a posi ti6n to offer t11e nembers the best market- poc·si ble .
After an interesting discus~ion it was dedided thPt t~e best proposition fo~ the Olathe district was to acc~p ·he
services of the Delta County Farmers Supplv Company and
conc c· trate all efforts on getting the ma:ority of the farmers
vu go to market tbru this association. As this
organiz-ation was already perfected and working S£~iofactorily there was not:':2.in.c- further for the ~arm Bureau to do in this partic-ular instance.
At Montros~,after lookinf the gTound over ce.refully it
was tl·ou@·ht that the best nncleus around wllich to form a ~..;o operstive roarketinp associstion was the present Grange Co-operatjve Association. The officers of this aforementioned organization v;ere j :1terviewed first and their ideasobtained ap to the TeOr@cnization of the sssociation so as to meet
with the general approval and present needs of the district. The constitution and by-laws of the Grange Cooperative
As-sociation were gone over with l..IT. Heppe , and they were found
to be very loosely drawn , c ntaining some propositions
such as voting by stock, etc., that were not truly cooperative,
and omitting other princi:pie.s which should have been
incorpor-ated in them. The officers expressed themselves as being
willtng to modify tl·'eir corporation along -the lines
reco'li-mended for such associations by the Bureau of Markets . .At
the f,j_rst general meeting reld in Hontrose , Hessrs . Sweet and
Peppe of the Bureau of Uarket~ were present and explained
t}·•e advantages and ~nndarnental principles whic1-J sho' ld be
f'Jnnd in cooper· ... tive maTketin.g organizations. The County
Apent then led in a discussion as to w~at was needed in the
wa:r of a marketing association for this district. Some
op-rcsition was exp!"ecsed on the part of several local com.i1lission men who troilP'ht thej.r business af·fairs were t"Oinp: to be
inter-fered with. However the sentiment of the meeting was
strong-ly in fa:vor of -oroceeding with the formation of a strong
marketing 6rganization. T~e plen of reor~anizing the Grange
Cooperative Assocjation along the lines reco~sended by the
Bureau of·J~rkets was laid before t~e meeting for their
ap-proval. It YJas the F-'eneral opi'1::i on that it would be better
to 1Ee t~is organjzation which was already functioning more
or less succecsfully t'han to attem1)t tr.e formation of a new
Association.
The following day , . ·June 12th, IJr . Rep:~)e ana the 0 onnty
Afent ~et.with the directors of the Grange Cooperative
As-soci~tion end gave recom~endations as to chan?eS in the
con-sti tuti.on and by-laws tl :/ug~ ~ t necessar;r to make it a trlJ17J
coo erative orgariization, based on sound business princip l~ s.
The services of the National ~furketing agencie~ were also
·explained and advocated . The directors expressed themselves as being favo:nable to the cllanftes recorY.'k.rnended a.nd arrangements were
made for a meeting of the members on July 8th to take action
on the same. The members meeting endorsed the changes
recom-~ended and they were incorporated in the constitution and
by-laws of the Associ&tion. At the second gener al mass meeting on JulylOth 11r . C. A. Calowell, manafer of tl1e :r.ionte ·vista
Cooperativ~ Association wes present on the invitation 'of the
Farm 'Sureau, and explained the opeTations of his marketing
association. Mr . Bannon a representative of the North American
~ruit ~xchange was also present and explained the mar~eting
service of:ferecl such associations by his company. Hr . Heppe
outlined the preli~inary wbrk done, explaining how the present
constitution and by-laws of the Grange Cooperative Association
WRS modeled after tte form recommeftded by the Bureau of Markets .
T;..,e County -1'gent then called for a discussion of the :preliPJ.inary matter which had been submitted. Opposi tioil was again beard
on the part of the local buyers but they were over ruled by
t~e sentiment of the growers present. ~epresentatives of the
Grange Coouerntive Association t~en circulated stock
subscrip-tion blanks, w~· ich , ad been pTeviousl~~- preparec and a
satiR-ft:ctor'r nu"'her ·v·vere sif?neo up. At a Directors meeting ehortlv
foJlowlnr t~ie feneral meeti~g t~e contract of the ro~th Am- ·
ericsn .,..,rnj t ~xc-,anf:'·e was ;:~one over and considered f~·vorp1)ly
(21)
AF'ent took it up person8ll~l with the Marketing -"1~·ency ex-plaining in detajl tte local 8ituation and how the whole deal was hung~
up on the matter of financeP. Tl!e ]rarketing ~ipenc;T pro'i;.jJtly
made a Epecial dispensation in which they agreed to furnish three fourths of the capital necessary for the association to bUT its potatoes with. · This was agre~able to the Directors
and t,_.e ·contract was sit,n~d· up. A campaign to inc::tecse mem-bership in the association was car1ie6 on. The County ~gent visited practically all of the communities tribut:sry to
l:Iontrose in cornpanJr with the representative of the association to explain and recommend the support of the association.
In
this manner the membership in the association was increased about 100~. The.business affairs of the association have
not turned out so far this season as YJell as was e:x.-pectea..
However the condition of the markets have had a great deal to do with this and we feel that· the reorganization of the
Gr2nfe Cooperative Association was a·step in the rir~t dir-ectj on and will ul timatel:y be of great benefit to the farmerE
in this district.
-Wool Pool
With the assistance of Mr. H. A. Ireland local Project Agriculturist plans were formulated for a wool pool at Montrose. c~arly j_·1 April circuler letters rel<::!.tinf to the pro:poser1 -pool were patten out to 200 sheep men calling a meetjn~ to discuss the subject. The meeting was 1•eld and a favorable action taken.
A co~mittee of three was appointed who rented a warehouse, ar-ranged for insurance, etc. ·.vool was first received on Lfay
1st and considerable time was devoted thereafter b; T~.ir . Ireland
and the County !gent to receiving and weighing up the wool as
it we:::: brouvht in. YYarebons:e receipts were issued in duplicate
to ee c}1 mem~;er consiening wool to the :pool. 2arly in JLtly a meeting was beld of t·he consip;nors to the pool and it was
de-cided to consign it to the
c.
J. Mustion Co. at Kansas City.On ~July 16th wool amounting to
16,448
pounds VIas loaded fors~ipment. Lt the present writing the wool etill lies at Kansas Cit~r unsold .end witrout much prospect of being so1d
to advc. ntage an~rwrere in the near future. .Sarly j_n "'~arch there wr:s a 0'Tiall local dem9.nd for \"ilOOl et ·1-~/ to . )¢' per -ponnd. Bnt
t1"e brea.k in ti:e wool mt:Jrket c a~e before wool was received for
the l8ca1 p~ol and Eo nnne of t~e c1nsipnors feel t~ey have lost an~thin~ by poolin~ tbeir clip.
Car Supply
The lJlarm Bureau in c oopera tt on wi tl1 the Chnmber of
Commerce did m2ch in f!Oing s.fter the car lup_pl:v for this
dis-trict in an organized way. ~he local needs were canvassed as
accnrotely as possible and certified reqnisi tioncl made accord -ingly to the railroad officials. The railroad officials wel-comed t~·is sort of cooperation and as a co:nsec,uence the needs
of this district ~eve been fairly well suppli~d this season
conf~idering the general d isadv~ :nt ~ge under which the rai1roads
