VOL. XXIII.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, JAN. 28,1888
NO. 4
Written for tbe Indiana Farmer.
Zero Jottlngrs.
MY JOHN B. EVES.
While the mercury is hovering about
i zero the farmers' work usually consists of
tending to the stock and the various other
"chorea" Incident to the season. While
thus engaged, it is not strange if lessons
are learned which shall be of benefit to us
when the season of greater activity comes.
WINTER QUARTERS FOR STOCK.
Among the questions that are likely to
present themselves for our serious consideration is this one: Is the stock provided
with good quarters and plenty of suitable
food? Too many barns are built without
regard to the entire exclusion of the cold
winter wind. The farmer who has a good
hank barn large enough to contain all of
his horses and cattle, and feed-for them,
not only has a convenient and comfortable place in which to do his feeding but
a place where his stock may pass these
frigid days and nights in comparative
comfort—with profit to their owner.
ARBITRATION.
My attention has lately been called to
this subject by a difficulty between landlord and tenant being adjusted by arbitra
tion in this neighborhood. There are but
fewright-mindedindividuals, who would
not rather have a difference settled in their
own, locality, by parties of their own selection, or approval, rather than to place the
cause in court where, in a great measure,
they resign control of it.
In the settlement of a difficulty by arbitration it is common for each party in the
case to select a person to act as arbitrator
and these two individuals may, if desirable, select a third party to act in conjunction with them in the matter. It is optional with the parties to the case whether or
not the arbitrators shall be sworn (or affirmed) to faithfully attend to the matter
entrusted to them. After the arbitrators
have been selected an agreement should
be entered into by the parties submitting
the case to the arbitrators, (naming them
in the document) who, when they have
reached a decision should make a written
statement in detail, which should be ap
pended to the agreement above referred
to. I will not give forms of the agreement
and report, as a slight variation from the
usual form will make but little difference.
Cases thus settled are much more likely
to be satisfactory than if settled in court
and are much cheaper.   In these times of
financial depression farmers have no sur
plus funds for lawyers and officers.
PLOTTING ORCHARDS.
Many farmers do not seem to realize
the importance of keeping a record or plt,t
of their orchards. To many of such I have
sold trees to replace those that had died or
been destroyed. Having no record of what
'hey had planted they were "at sea" as to
what varieties W6re to be replaced. The
best and most simple way I know of for
plotting an orchard is to take a large sheet
°' Plain white paper and rule it in checks
of, say an inch, more or less according to
"'■-e °f paper and number of rows in your
orchard. Mark the sides, north, south etc.
and write the names of varieties on the
'■   crosses representing their location.
J     Mooresville.
!
i
The Question of Interest.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
The account book came in roll and I laid
»t under books to flatten it. To-day I took
t out to see what I thought of it. There
*s one point in which I condemn it.
What business have farmers and other
toilers to do with fostering the idea of interest. There is nothing more profoundly
wise in all the Bible than the Mosaic law
against interest.   We encourage  the idea
»n.„,Dsl*restlsright'and t°-cUythe ton.
era of the world pay the non-tollers inter-
e«on many thousands of millions of dol-
Your account book is compiled on the
idea that the farmers' land must earn
interest.
Suppose the farm is worth ?4,000; at 4
per cent, tl^e interest would be $160;
though tho rate is generally computed at
6 per cent, which would make the interest
account f 240.
Let us further suppose that the sales
amount to $600 during the year and the
expenses to $500; now add the interest to
the expense account and it amounts to
$740, or $140 more than the income. By
your reckoning the farmer is running behind §140 a year. Take a community of
one thousand farmers and they are get
ting poorer at the rate of ?140,000 a year.
According to this idea, it will only be a
question of time when they will lose their
farms. Now the truth of the matter is
that the individual farmer is adding §100
a year to his net income, and the community is adding $100,000 annually to its
income when you strike interest from the
computation. i
The Mohammedans conform more
nearly to the principles of exact justice
between man and man in forbidding interest than Christians do.
I never realized so fully the meaning of
the words of Christ, "By your traditions
ye have made the law of none effect," as
in this departure of the Jews from the
law of Moses against interest.
S. B. H.
Crawfordsville, Jan. 8.
—Leaving a blank space for interest ac
count does not make it obligatory on you
to keep such an account unless you choose
to. We do not care to discuss the question of the right or wrong of taking interest, but taking things as they are it seems
a very proper thing to charge the farm
and stock with interest on the amount of
money they would bring if sold. It is what
is done in all other branches of business.
The merchant and the manufacturer take
into account the interest on the value of
their buildings, fixtures, machinery, etc.
If they are not making a profit in excess
of this they are losing ground, and had
better sell out aud try something else. So,
in the example you give, it would be
called unprofitable farming if the figures
were such as you state. To show this, let
us suppose that your farm is a rented one,
and that you pay a cash rent of say S3 an
acre on 80 acres, and that your sales from
crops am* unt to $600, and your expenses,
exclusive of rent, amount to $500. By this
reckoning you would be running behind
$140 a year, and must quit the business.
Where is the difference, whether you
charge yourself with interest or rent? To
know just how you stand you must do
one or the other.—Eds.
Board of Agriculture, as very few men
yield the offllce voluntarily after they
get there.
There was much talk at the late meeting
of the Delegate Board about how to awake
an interest  in behalf of the  agricultural
institutes.   How would it do to hold an
institute in each district and let each district  elect its  own member  to the State
Board at this institute?   That would give
interest  to the meeting  and  place  the
election where It belongs, In the hands of
the people they represent, instead of the
other districts dictating who shall be their
member.   And it would  prevent all combinations in  the election,  for I have seen
members elected  to the Board over a majority of  delegates from   their  own   districts.   Also let  the law say that no person shall hold   the office   more than four
years out  of six.   I believe It would give
a new impulse to the agricultural interest
of  the State,  and that   tho  State  Board
would lose  none of its efficiency by this
change, and  the people  would feel more
like they were running tbe  groat fair of
the great State of Indiana.        Farmer.
Traders Point.
A Change Demanded.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
I have attended the meetings of the
Delegate State Board of Agriculture for a
number of years and have been a member
of three ot the industrial conventions,
some of them from their organization,
and have attended nearly all the State
fairs that have been held since the organization of the State Board, and have not
or would not say or do anything to lessen
the efficiency of the Board in any way,
but would ever help hold up their hands
if they need any help. But there is a
wide spread feeling through the State that
we have outgrown the law that was enacted' between 30 and 40 years ago for the
organization of the Board. One of the
principles canonized in the hearts of the
American people is for no one man to
hold office too long (look at Gen. Grant),
No man is so good or great but he has his
equal, and would not the State Board
come a little nlgher the people if we put
a little more new blood in it, as Governor
Porter said in his message to the Legislature a few years ago. There seems to be
a charm attached to the office of the State
Written for the Indiana Farmer.
Decomposition of Manure.
BY JOHN Jf. STAHL.
I can remember when the farmer was
given much advice about rotting the
stable manure. Well rotted manure was
highly esteemed." The latest teachings
would show that it has been unduly esteemed. It now appears that it is not
profitable to ripen manure unless the decomposition can be controlled; and usually this includes an expense greater than
the gain. When the decomposition is
rapid, there is_certain to be a loss—a rapid
loss. Ammonia, or even free nitrogen is
formed, and of course lost. On the other
hand, slow decomposition usually forms
nitrates, which are retained in the manure, unless leached out; and as nitrates
are readily available to plants, the slow
decomposition of manure makes it more
immediately available to crops, hence
more valuable In the case of crops required to be pushed as soon as tbe manure
is applied to the land.
Some manures decompose more rapidly
than others. What are termed warm ani
mal manuresdecompose the most rapidly,
and therefore are most liable to waste
when their decomposition is not controlled. In quickness of decomposition, the
manures come in order as follows: horse,
sheep, swine, and cattle. However, this
cannot always be depended on; for the
rapidity with which the manure will decompose depends somewhat on the quality and character of tbe food and the
amount of it fed. Horse and sheep
dung usually decompose more rapidly
than swine and cattlo dung. By mixing
the cold manure of cattle or swine with
the warm manure of horses or sheep, the
decomposition of the latter is retarded.
Generally It Is a good practice to mix together the dung of all the farm animals.
Cattle manure ferments slowly because
it contains considerable water,packs solidly, and Is finely divided; or rather, it
packs solidly because it is finely divided.
Manures deconfpose slowly when kept
moist and solidly packed. Horse manure
loses very rapidly in value when allowed
to remain in loose heaps. On accoutn of
its coarseness and dryness, it is impossible to pack pure horse manure very solid
ly; hence It can be kept well only when
mixed with some finer, moister manure.
All manure heaps should be kept tramped
down solidly. This is most economically
accomplished by feeding the hogs on the
heaps, being careful not to allow the animals to lie there. The animals will fine
and mix the manure as they compact it.
The decomposition of animal manure is
retarded by mixing with them straw,'or
dry earth, or some such absorptive substance. Straw used for bedding animals
not only keeps them clean and warm, but
also absorbs and holds the liquid manure,
and retards the decomposition of the mass.
.Unless straw is unusually high priced, it
is highly economical to use it liberally for
bedding. And by sousing it, and carrying it, with the solid excrement, when it
has become saturated with liquid manure,
to the manure heap, we get It decomposed,
and therefore in a condition making it
of value as manure. Unless the straw is
decomposed first, it will have little val ue
spread on the, land, since nearly all of its
valuable elements will be exhaled into
the air or leached ,out of the soil 'while
there are no plants , to use them, as they
are set free by decomposition; not to
speak of the interference the unrotted
straw would be In cultivation. Straw saturated with urine is strongly inclined to
decompose,slnce the nitrogenous elements
of urine—urea, uric acid and hippuric acid
—are the very ones that decompose most
readily. Hence the liquid manure has a
desirable effect upon the straw, while the
straw has a desirable effect on the liquid
and the solid manures, when they are
brought into close relation.
Once it was thought very wasteful to
spread the manure on the fields in winter,
but we now know that this may be a very
good practice. It is certainly better than
allowing the manure to ferment rapidly,
as it will in loose or dry heaps; or to be
leached by the rains in exposed heaps.
As the manure is taken to the field It
should not be put in small heaps, but be
spread upon the land at once. In the
small heaps it will decompose rapidly
and waste; spread on the land it will decompose slowly, and the waste will be
small, though once it was supposed that
it was very great. As the great majority
of us western farmers treat our manure
heaps, it would be better to have no heaps
at all, spreading the manure on the land
as it is made; unless, indeed, an unusual
amount of coarse, long straw has been
used for bedding.
Quincy, III.
 -.  ♦ .	
Letter from Eastern Nebraska.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Dodge county, Nebraska, lies north of
the Platte river, and is the second county
west from the Missouri river. We have a
rich soil, a good climate and the best of
water in wells and springs. The past season was very dry here, but crops did very
well. Corn yielded from 40 to 75 bushels,
oats from 20 to 40, and spring wheat from
15 to 30 bushels per, acre. Some 15,000 or
20,000 head of cattle are being fed for market in this county; and yet the. elevators
at our nine or ten railroad towns are overcrowded with corn; it being hard to get
cars enough to ship it as fast as received.
We have one of the largest creameries in
the west with cream routes running to all
parts of thecountry. Dairying is practiced
by many farmers. They are now getting
20 cts. for cream. Apples and grapes
made large crops. Potatoes were
damaged by the loDg drouth,but yielded
enough for home use.   Bees did well.
Notwithstanding our many advantages
land is comparatively low. Improved
farms sell at from $25 to $30 per acre.
Owing to our nearness  to  market  and
our grand facilities for all kind of farming, ,
stock growing, orcharding and  dairying,
land is bound to advance rapidly in value.
Well-to do farmers in the east, who have
families growing up, should come to Nebraska and get cheap land for the boys.
Land here at §25 per acre is better than
fre e land on the arid plains of Colorado and
Wyoming. Old Settler.
Glencoe, Dodge county, Nebraska.
 1     s>     .	
Samuel Irkit, 80 years old, was attacked
and killed by hogs on his farm, near
Wellsvllle, Ohio, last week.