HOW TO MAKE   SOMETHING
WINTER.
.Why Not Use the Idle Tims Profitably.
; The Indiana Farmer Wants Agents
Where None aro at Work.
■I
■--v
We have arranged for over §3,000 of
premiums for those who will use a little
time this winter in making up clubs for
the Indiana Farmer, and want agents
■where there are none now at work in
this line.
.Take subscriptions at one dollar each
for the Farmer one year, for any sized
club. You can easily win one of the
following premiums.
. You have till April 1st to complete
Jour club, but can send them in as you
get two or three names.
I The bigger the club the more valuable
the premium you will get. Here is a
condens ed
;J UST OF    PREMIUMS,
\o be awarded to Agents April 1, 1891.
t Standard trotting bred horse.
? Five octave Sterling organ.
j  Wind engine, derrick and all complete.
.. .^.^. ^_.u(3| t"0ilipl6»^>  GUki...
Feed mill and power combined.
Six feet center draft mower.
Grain drill, 11 marker complete.
Champion mill, sheller and cob splitter,
Deron Bull, young fine bred.
Corn planter, outfit best made.
Gold watch, Springfield movement.
'   Silver watch, inlaid gold case.
_  Silver watch, Springfield movement.
^ Silver watch, Springfield movement.
£ Steel land roller, complete, b93t made.
Sulky plows, best made.
(There are three of these,'one to each agent)
Reversible hay carriers.
Ensilage machines and cutters.
The best cultivators made.
The great commentary on the Bible, 5
vols.
Fence building machines.
Broad cast seeders.
Harrows, hay carriers, fence machines.
Tank heaters, several garden clipper
plows.
Breech-loading shot guns.
Chilled, and other plows.
Combination feed cutters, etc.
Buggy harness.
Hay stacking outfits, truck and feed
carts.
Also a great number of other useful
articles, such as washing machines,
shovel plows, etc.
LIVE STOCK, FOWLS.ETC.
50 pure bred Poland China, Berkshire,
Chester White, Duroc Jersey pigs, to be
awarded singly and in pairs, all fine
breeding animals. .
12 pure bred Shropshire, Southdown,
OxfoidDown, Merino, and Cotswold
line breeding sheep.
i Some Collie dogs and Fox Hounds.
-. Plymouth Bocks, barred and white,
„ Brahmas, Wyandottes, Brown Leghorns,
ICochins, both of chicks and eggs in great
lumbers; also Bronze  turkeys,  and  the
(Duck tribe till you can't rest.
Large  number  of  Niagara  and other
jkinds of grape vines, and nursery stock.
t   Out of .these  200  or more  articles,  an
"active agent ought to be able  to  secure  a
good premium, that will pay him well for
his time and work.
Sample copies of the Farmer, blanks
"and full information -will be sent you on
application by postal card. Go to work
reader and make up a club, if no one is
•doing the work there. Address
| Indiana Farmer Co.,
,-■{ Indianapolis, Ind.
. *
3
BOTES  OF   TEIP THEOUGH  FLOE-
IDA.—HO. 2.
On Tuesday morning, Dae. 9th, we left
Ocala by the Florida Southern railroad and
made our first stop at Leosburg, after traveling about 20 milc3 south through a
gently undulating country, covered with
pines as usual, but interspersed with
numerous clearings whore orange groves
are growing. We made but a short stop at
Leesburg, but long enough to learn that it
was a flourishing town, and thecenter of a
large orange growing region, and at the
head of navigation of the Ocklawaha river,
a tributary to the St. John's. It is the chief
town of Lake county, in regard to population and trade, though Tavares is the
county seat. A circular that was handed
us states that "Leesburg has within a three
mile radius, 1,230 acres in orange groves,
containing 120,000 trees, worth §1,000,000
and producing annually 60,000 boxes of
fruit."
Speaking of this section of country a New
York paper very justly says: "The soil is
not naturally rich, but the richness of the
air makes up the dificiency. If Florida had
such a fsoil as northern farmers would
call fertile, in addition to its climatic
advantages, it would be one vast unbroken
East Indian jungle, effectually protected
from the inroads of man by its rank vegetation and its destructive miasmas; it1*
lakes known only to their alligators and
fish, and thn forests tho nndispnted domain of rattlesnakes, tarantulas and centipedes. Wherever now there is a spot of
earth of a fair degree of fertility, the result
is what Floridians call a 'hammock,' that
is, a miniature jungle. It is only in these
hammocks that we find native vegetation
in its tropical glory; and while viewing
them we cease to wonder that this region,
from the time of Ponce de Leon, downward, has been called 'the land of flowers.'
Outside of the hammocks the Floridian
can only boast of a marvelous combination of heat, sunlight and moisture, such
that, where the soil contains a little of the
elements of fertility, fertilizers can be
transformed into valuable crops with
greater rapidity and less waste of raw
material than in any other part of our
country."
PRODUCTIONS.
What the Lake county people' boast of
as their principal products, may be given
for most other ^portions of the State as
well, namely: Lemons,, limes, grape
fruit, citrons, figs, plums, peaches, pears,
bananas, pineapples, persimmons, grapes,
olives, pomegranates, loquats, . gauvas,
oranges, etc.
Trucking or vegetable raising has increased largely in the county of late years
and is now second only to orange growing.
Sugar cane, corn (or maize), millet, rice,
oats, hay and various fodder crops are
raised in considerable quantities. The
county is well adapted to tobacco' and cotton, and yet but little is grown. Horses,
cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry thrive well
under proper conditions.
Our next stop after leaving Leesburg,
was at
bkooksville.
some 30 miles to the southwest. Here we
wore met by the children of the public
school of the place, drawn up in line upon
the platform, with banners and music.
Marching up to the public square we listened to a short speech of welcome from
Senator Mann of our party, 'a resident,
however, of the place, and others, and
then were turned loose around a number
of long and heavily loaded tables, to enjoy
a sumptuous free dinner, prepared by the
Alliance people of Hernando county and
the citizens of Brooksville. Our party
numbered about 300, but there was enough
and for the citizens_besides. It is a pecU'
liar country about Brooksville,being quite
hilly, and yet the soil is sandy and covered
with pines.   It seems to be of better soil
than the average we saw, and judging
from the oranges that were given us there,
it is admirably adapted to their growth.
The local paper of the place, tho Hernando
News, recites some of the advantages of
the country in these glowing terms:
Hernando boasts of ths lino3t climate,
the highest hills, hardest roads, richest
lands, mo3t beautiful scenery, most varied production, the best health, tho cleverest people, and the best schools in the
State of Florida, and Florida is the best
State in the Union. Her territory embraces the famous Annuttaliga and Char-
cochattie hammocks, than which there
are no richer, more productive, or more
beautiful lands in the Union. Their high
hills covered with oaks of every variety—
hickory, red pencil cedar, cherry, maple,
red and white bay, magnolia, ash and
other hardwoods peculiar to the hammocks, or the stately yellow pine of the
lighter land—the bold, pure springs and
babbling brooks, the deep, clear lakes and
wonderful "sinks," the coast swamps and
river bottoms, the numerous small detached hammocks, the rolling lands—all
are strange and new to the visitor, and
present a constant variety that makes Hernando the most attractive county in South
Florida to the health or home-seeker;
while to the sportsman on pleasure bent,
she offers, with her charming landscapes,
fish and oysters and game of all kinds in
the greatest *>bvmdi»Y*»*f-.
Leaving Brooksville we were soon transferred to the Orange Bslt Railway, a line
that crosses the State, from Sanford on the
St. John's river to St. Petersburg on
Tampa Bay.   Soon after dark we  reached
TARrON SPRINGS
on an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, where
about one-fourth of our party were left,
while the remainder were distributed at
Sutherland, Ozona, Dunedin, Clear Water
and St. Petersburg. We were so fortunate
as to be of the first allotment. We had
excellent accommodations at the Tarpon
Springs hotel, and had the pleasure of a
boat ride in the "Springs" next morning.
All evening the principal streets and the
long promenade around the Springs were
lighted up with Chinese lanterns, in honor
of the visiting Jparty. The inlet is full of
fish. We saw them jumping out of the
water in all directions. Mullets are very
common and are an excellent frying iiah,
weighing from half a pound to a pound
and more. Tarpons grow to immense size
and 150 pounds is not an unusual weight.
They are common and catching them is
an exciting sport, as they often run quite a
distance with the fisherman's boat, before
they can be captured. Souvenirs in the
shape of tarpon scales with the compliments of "The Tarpon Route," the Orange
Belt railway, printed thereon, were distributed among the excursionists by the
polite passenger agent, Mr. Chas. Davies,
who had charge of our train on this line.
The climato of Tarpon Springs, and points
farther down the coast is said to be as
nearly perfect as is known anywhere.
Tampa bay lies a few miles east and on
the west is the Gulf, so that a breeze is
always blowing in hot weather. All kinds
of semi-tropical fruits flourish here. Fine
oysters abound as well as many varieties
offish, so that living is cheap and of excellent quality. A slight frost was visible on
the plank walks the morning after our
arrival, and we were told.that this was
about as cold weather as they ever have
there.
other nations, under the new order of
tbings. It is now felt here that the Italian market will open to American pork
and lard within a very short time. In
this case, it is stated that Italy will take a
great amount of our product in this line,
which will have a decided tendency to increase prices both for our pork and hogs.
The embargo will probably be removed
within a few weeks, possibly before the
middle of January. It is understood that
the Department of Agriculture at Washington i3 also making strenuous efforts to
open French and German ports for our
pork, and there is a strong hope that there
will be partial success at least in this line.
In the live stock trade, the market has
been rather dull and there is a falling off
in receipts over the previous week.
"The falling ofl in cattle is about 15,000
head over the previous week, and in hogs
about 50,000 head; in sheep, nearly or
quite one-half less receipts than the previous week. This decided reduction of receipts has stiffened up the market, and
prices are a shade better. It is noted here,
and at the other principal live stock markets, that the hogs are weighing much less
per head, on an average, than they did last
year. The falling off in receipts are as
noticeable in Kansas City, Omaha, and St.
Louis as in this market, 1,400 to 1,800
pound beeves, high grade, quality for the
holidays, brought §5 to §5 50 per hundred,
while tbe 1,""0 f-o.l,f)<y _-ovr-- **ro«». *=o>*J
§4 15 to §5 10 and medium at §3 to $4 10.
Everything is quiet, and but little is said
just now in regard to stock yard movements. Strong effort has been made to
harmonize the two factions, but everything in that line at present is at a standstill. Little will be done until after the
holidays in this, and perhaps during the
latter part of January and February, some
decided movements will be made.
Indications as I have written you before,
point to a decided advance in prices of
hogs and cattle after the first of January
It may bo gradual for a week or ten days,
but it is sure to come. Buyers begin to
realize that while great quantities of hogs
have been rushed into the market, they
have not been so heavy as usual on account of tho high price of corn, and therefore tho same number of hog3 makes less
pork.
The grain markets aro dull and it has
been so expected till after the holidays aro
past.]
Certain speculative movements havo
caused some fluctuation in both wheat and
corn, but tho payment of fixed charges and
interest which falls duo from so many
quarters on the first of January, has made
everybody conservative, and hence prices
have been about the same for the past ten
days. Everybody seems to be waiting for
the first of January to pass, before thoy
venture into any new deals, or even to
take hold of business energetically.
Chicago, Dec. 29th. Warder.
Chicago Letter.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Cablegrams just received from Italy
state that the Italian Government have
been looking into our strict inspection
laws and have about decided to remove
the embargo on American pork and lard.
Trade has been greatly increasing with
that country and they have found that our
I inspection laws are as strong as those of
WHEAT IH THE NORTHWEST.
The Northwestern Miller shows the
stock of wheat in private elevators at Minneapolis, and not included in the visible
supply statement, to have increased 56,000
bushels during the pats week, now being
3,915,000 bushels. The total stock in
Minneapolis and Duluth is 12,975,460 bushels^ gain of 261,433 bushels over last week.
The Market Record estimates the stock
in country elevators of Minneasota and
the two Dakotas at 8,847,000 bushels, an
increase of 53,000 bushels. The aggreate
stocks in the Northwest are thus made
211,438 bushels larger than a week ago,
the amount being 21,822,460 bushels.
A new silver dollar is to be created by
the Pan-American Monetary Conference,
Which assembles in Washington next
week. It will circulate throughout the
American republics.