VOL. XIX.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, SEPT. 6,18^.
NO. 36.
OGLISH WHEAT SUPPLY.
ladis to be Our Competitor in  the
1 English Markets.
rirUnd SolTlng the Question by Building Railroads.
•fte. rapid increase of wheat production
,j exportation from India has for a year
it'
.jud considerable comment in this
, try. while there appears to be a
^ .„ competition for us in the English
'•rkets it will probably be some time be-
l\ sufficient facilities are afforded for
Lap and rapid transportation to make
!v, competition seriously felt. This is to
T .eeoinplished by thousands of miles of
lilvvay construction, which the English
,vernment and private capital have en-
l„A upon- *n BivinB an intelligent view
( the present status of this project, per-
v,„s we can't do better than to quote from
RrjJstreet a review of the whole work
Jius- far:
The report of the English Select Committee on Indian railways has been issued
„, the publio this week, and it is likely to
i,ve an important bearing upon the development of wheat production in India.
Tie committee state that they have dented their attention mainly to the al-
^e,l necessity for more rapid extension
tl railway communication in India and
jje means by which this object may be
'^accomplished. In the first instance
iev refer to the chief recommendations of
is committee which in 1878 and 1879 inured into the expediency of constructing
•oblic works for the prevention of famine
udthe development of the resources of
is country. That committee advised that
ie outlay should be limited to £2,500,000
vr annum, and their recommendation
ie been acted upon, the government of
India having since annually applied about
i!,WO,000 to railways and £700,000 to irri-
nSon. The policy has been to leave to
fnvate enterprise those lines which are
■Mimercially most attractive, and to con-
curt, either directly by the state or
irongh the agency of companies (under a
n«rantce), such lines as have been re-
tsrded as indispensable for protection
minst famine or for other urgent pur-
?«s, though not promising to be remu-
Miative for the time being. As to future
^rations, a plan has been drawn up by
^government of India showing what
iJways they think should sooner or later
»made. These are divided into two
A and B. Schedule B contains
-:rty-tour lines, with a total length of
iffitf miles, of which the estimated cost
»Ci,2&s,000; and as these are expected to
'(remunerative  they are  left to private
-terprise,  without any  government aid
*yond a free grant of the land required
'< them. Schedule A contains thirty
"<Wta, many of which are in progress,
';'3,S96 miles remain to be made at a
cost OP £28,262,450,
,!a* it ia proposed to spend within about
"years.   Part of the necessary funds to
ie amount of  £200,000  per annum the
f Teniment of  India proposes to take out
^famine grant;  but the Select Com-
~"m condemns that proposal.
Previewing the evidence  brought be
fore them—the most important items of
which have been stated in these columns
—the committee dwell especially upon the
statements made by witness in relation to
WHEAT PRODUCTION.
They point out the remarkable development of the Indian export trade in wheat.
The quantity of wheat exported from India
in the five years from 1876-77 to 1880-81
was only, on an average, 4,244,000 cwt.,
valued at £1,951,000; whereas In 1881-82 it
was 19,901,000 cwt, valued at £8,870,000; in
1882-83 it was 14,144,000 cwt., valued at
£6,069,000, and in 1883-84 it was 20,961,000
cwt., valued at £8,880,000. It is remarked
that the cultivators have been induced not
only to substitute wheat for less remunerative crops, but also to extend the area of
cultivation and to improve their farming;
also, that, as railways tap fresh districts,
more sources of supply are found. In certain districts, too, new railways will open
up valuable coal fields and possibly iron
mines in a few cases. After noticing the
information given by several witnesses as
to the improvement of the condition of the
people through the development of the
railway.system, the committee state that
they consider the evidences in favor of a
more rapid extension of railway communication to beconclusive,andthey go on to
say that they are of opinion that the
amount proposed to be spent on railways
by the government of India during the
next six years is moderate and likely to
have very beneficial effects. If the necessary loan can be really raised In India they
consider it advantageous so to obtain it;
but they appear to doubt the possibility.
In conclusion,while expressing an opinion
to the effect that the present limit of borrowing £2,500,000mightsafelybe enlarged,
they think the full responsibility of deciding upon the amount to be borrowed from
year to year should rest with the Secretary
of State in Council.
EABLYr&HD-lATE-SEEDnrG.
The following is Bulletin No. 5 from
Prof. Wm. R. Lazenby, director of the
Ohio. Experiment Station. The facts presented are of great value to wheat growers,
and the article should be carefully read:
The Station repeated the test of "early
and late seeding" the past season, and presents the following results of the experiment:
*? be -.0   •
o        a op.3
•sPi        Ofc •?
°        2° 2-9i
1 Aug. 25. 35.8
2 Sept.   1. 51.8
3 Sept. 3. 55.6
4 Sept. 15. 57.2
5 gept. 22. 52.3
6 Sept. 29. 54.6
7 Oct.    6. 5S.9
8 Oct.  13. 44.4
9 Oct.  20. 43.6
10   Oct. 27. 35.6
322
><£a
4,713
5,745
5,637
6,010
4,977
5,171
4,565
4,169
3,936
3,448
V*     '
63
o a>.E w>
-Z ar Q ■% —
f,3 3 ° a
~    ~ Sa
Q"
July 1
63.5 June 3C
64.5 July I
£4.5 July 1
64 July  1
64 July  2
63.5 July  2
62.5 July  2
62.5 July  3
63.5 July 2
The ground selected for this test appeared to present little variation as regards
its character. The soil is a clayey loam,
underlaid by a gravelly subsoil.
The preparatory tillage of each plot was
dono the same date as the seeding. The
ground was plowed, then rolled and har-
rowed,then rolled again. Theseeding was
done with a Buckeye grain drill, and ap
plied at the rate of five pecks per acre for
each plot. No fertilizers were used. The
plots contained exactly one-sixteenth of an
acre each.   The variety of wheat sown was
velvet chaff, care being taken to use the
same samples on all the plots. The wheat
was harvested, threshed and weighed in
the same manner described in the bulletin on "test of varieties."
Owing to the lack of moisture,plot No. 1
germinated very unevenly, as did plot
No. 2. September 10, a little more than
two months after the date of the first sowing, only a few scattering plants were to
be seen. From August 22 until September
18, there were but throe showers, and the
total rainfall for this period was less than
VA inches. After September 18, showers
were frequent, and there were several
rainfalls during the latter part of October.
It will be seen from the table that plot
No. 1, sown August 25, yielded much less
than those sown later, excepting plot 10,
which was sown October 27, and which
yielded about the samo. Plots 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
and 7, sown September 1st, 8th, 15th, 22d,
29th and October 0th, respectively, show
but a slight variation in yield. The plots
sown after October 6th show a marked decrease. The wheat in plot 10, sown October 27th, had scarcely germinated when
cold weather set In and checked the
growth. In early spring it was marked 95
per cent missing, and no one who saw the
plot thought it would return more than
the seed sown. It was a good Illustration
of the wonderful vitality and recuperative
power of the wheat plant.
The plot sown October 20th looked nearly as bad In spring and was marked 10 per
cent of a perfect stand. It yielded 43.6
bnshels. Plot No. 8, so.wn October 13th,
appeared very much better in spring. It
was marked 20 per cent of a good stand.
It did not yield one bushel moro than plot
9. Compared with the wide range of time
in sowing, the variation in the time of ripening wasslight. The difference appeared
to be due to the number or thickness of
the plants on the ground, rather than to
any difference in time of sowing. The
weight of measured bushel of grain shows
some variation, but is not marked. Tho
heaviest weights are from plots which
show the largest yields. It will be noticed
that there is a greater variation in the
weight of straw than in the yield of grain.
Repeated examinations of plot No. 1,
sowed August 25th, showed that eggs of
the Hessian fly wore deposited soon after
the wheat came up. By September 25th
the ravages by this insect were plainly visible. Careful estimates made at this time
showed about one-eighth of the plants affected. A little later it was estimated
that about 10 per cent of the wheat was
destroyed by this pest.
Plot No. 2 was almost similarly affected,
although the injury appeared to be slightly
less.
Some larvra were found in Plot No. 3,but
the injury here was slight.
No perceptible injury was done to plot
4, sown September 15th, although a few
larva? were found. The fly was not found
In any of the plots sown after this date.
Our observations and investigations the
past season lead to the same general conclusions arrived at last year, viz.:
1. Winter wheat may be sowed too early
in the season or it may be sowed too late,
so thero must be a certain time, neither
too early nor too late, which is the best
date to put in the seed.
2. Many factors must be considered in
designating the best time to sow. The
condition of the soil, and the exposure,the
presence of the Hessian fly, etc., must all
be duly considered.
3. Early seeding does not secure an
early harvest. The same variety sown under the same conditions will mature about
the same time, whether the seeding be
done the first of September or the first of
October.
4. Wheat sown as late In the season as
It can be, and still be given time to become firmly and strongly rooted and time
to develop leaves sufficient to cover the
whole ground,will best endure the winter.
5. The earliest sown, wheat usually has
the largest top and proportionally the
smallest root; In the latest sown wheat the
root Is proportionally larger. This may be
reversed by peculiarities of soil and season.'
6. On poor soil and badly prepared
ground the wheat should be sown earlier
than upon rich soil and a well prepared
seed bed.
7. In this latitude the Hessian fly is not
very troublesome in wheat sown later than
September 25.
8. The best date for sowing winter wheat
in Central Ohio is from September 10 to
September 30, accoding to the conditions
mentioned above.
August Crop Report of Ohio.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Tlie August crop report of the Ohio
Board of Agriculture gives the following
figures and estimates. For wheat, oats and
barley, thoy are based on returns of actual
threshing up to August 18, by some 3,000
machines. For other crops they are based
on estimates made by 1,122 regular township correspondents. The estimates are in
per centages compared with full average
crop or condition of growth.
Wheat—Acres threshed, 500,430; bushels
from the same, 7,893,906; yield por acre,
1634 bushels; total bushels at same rate,
43,982,969; quality, 101 percent. This is
our largest crop, except 1880, which was
48,5-10,000 bushels. Tbe July 1st estimate
was 35,487,000,but it is yielding better than
was anticipated.
Oats-=Acres threshed, 98,454; bushels
from same, 3,109,510; yield per acre, 31.2;
total bushels at same rate, 23,893,003.
Barley—Acres threshed, 4,403; bushels,
153,155; yield per acre, 27.6; total at same
rate, 1,004,060.
Condition of other crops, (per cent)—
Bye, 92; corn, 79; buckwheat, 60; potatoes, 61; tobacco, 62; sorghum, 66; clover
seed, 48; apples, 68; grapes, 55; pastures,
69; stook hogs, condition, 84; stock hogs,
number, 76percent.
Drouth has been general and quite severe twice during the summer for about
four weeks each time, ending the first
time with general rains July 23 to 28, and
by fairly general local showers August 22
to 28. The July drouth was most severe
in Northern and Eastern Ohio, while the
August drouth was most severe in Central
and Southern Ohio. Pastures are very-
short feed for stock.
The quality of the wheat is on the whole
the best ever threshed In Ohio..
W. I. Chamberlain, secretary.
Columbus, O., Aug. 30.
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