WEEKtf
VOL. XXVI.
i-
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., NOV. 14,1891.
NO. 43
Our New York Letter.
From Our Regular Correspondent:
The government crop report, so far as
the wheat crop Is concerned, was a surprise to many, In that It places the probable average yield per acre at 15 bushels, a
rate of production on the average which I
believe has not been heretofore reached,
should tbis estimated yield of wheat
throughout the country be general, some
of the larger estimates as to the size
of the crop will be likely to prove
true, though it must not be overlooked
that serious damage has been done to
wheat in the northwest since  the report
.was prepared, and that the report itself
admits a decreased average in California.
It is n >t improbable, even after making
due allowance for these drawbacks if the
15 bushel per acre estimate be accepted,
that our wheat crop this year may touch
the unprecedented total of 580,000,000
bushels, acd It will. be of interest, two
months hence, to note how far this total
will vary from the "official" crop estimate
which will be due about the middle of
December. One month ago government
reports were construed to point to a yield
of about 550,000,000, although a well known
Cincinnati bread stufls and provision
journal has long contended that 535,000,-
000 bushels would prove about correct,
and a prominent Philadelphia daily has
stuck a "pin in at the 000,000,000 bushel
mark.   Indian corn crop   prospects   have
"'Brightened ia'M6'TXgEr^1~mmt~*SpattB;
but the cotton crop has probably been
damaged quite a good deal. It should not
be overlooked, however, that present
damage to cotton has been offset by improvement in price.
General business is still marked by a
somewhat slower general movement, although there ls no depression observable.
Gold arrivals by European steamers and
the practical elimination.of the so called
"silver scare," in the face of such elements
of prosperity as unprecedented grain
harvests and large crops of cotton, fruit
and vegetables, rapidly increasiug railway
earnings, and impibving bank clearing",
with increased probable demands for our
surpluses from Europe, will render it
doubtful if 1891-1892 can help being one of
marked commercial and industrial
ac.ivity.
In explanation of the seeming delay in
the revival of the demand for iron and
steel, Mr. Joseph D. Weeks, Editor of the
American Manufacturer, than whom perhaps no one is better informed on that
subject, writes me as follows: "I do not
think that, with the possible exception of
the steel rail makers, the iron and steel
trades of the country have any reason to
complain of the volume of business. It is
simply enormous. Possibly the returns
for the year 1S91 will not show as large a
volume of business as those of 1S90 exhibited, but still the production will be
very large, so that, on the score of volume
of business, as I state, I do not think that
the Iron and steel manufacturers of the
country can complain. I have excepted
steel rails from tbis general statement,
but I do not think that the output of steel
rails in 1891 will be by any means the
smallest in recent years, and if the railroads buy as they ought to be able to do,
in view of the heavy traffic that they are
receiving and that is promised them, I
thing the early part of 1892 will find heavy
orders for steel rails on the books of our
manufacturers. While the prices received
for product are less than they were ln 1890,
I do not believe that, on the whole, tbey
are unsatisfactory. In some localities the
prices received for pig iron may have been
too low, and it ls possible that in certain
branches of the iron trade where raw ma
terials were bought at a high price and the
product sold at a low price, profits may be
small, but yet on the whole I believe that
they will not be entirely unsatisfactory
when stock is'taken on  the first of  the
year.
"And this is all happening in the face of
the fact that we have enormous capacity
for production, a capacity very much in
excess of our wants at the present time,
and built largely on the future. The demand of the country Is by no means equal
to keeping this capacity employed, and
when in addition to actual increase in
plants,furnaces, trains of]rolla,etc.,itis remembered that old works have greatly increased their capacity for output, it will be
seen at once how much idle capacity there
is waiting for emplsyment, and I think it
ia this that has prevented the revival ln
the iron and steel trades, as the reports in
the Americau Manufacturer for July, August and September show that we have
made mote iron in these three months
than was made in the corresponding three
months of 1890, the last six months of 1890
giving the largest production of pig iron
ever known in our history. The first part
of the year there was considerable fall off
In production as compared with 1890, owing to the strtke in the coke regions, and
the shutting down of the Mahoning and
Shenange Valley furnaces, but for the last
three months we have been making more
iron than for the corresponding trade of
1890. A somewhat similar condition of
affairs exists in other branches of the iron
industry, so I think it may be safely said
that the reason why the iron and steel
tftM&s _.rtf_ltfW lrr*revl-_.njr*_!r the enormous capacity for production that we have
in the country, a capacity much in excess
of our present demand."
Albert C. Stevens.
New York, Oct. 15.
Threshing* ln California.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Suppose you go with me to a thrashing
now in progress at neighbor Crawford's.
You will notice this crop of barley has
been cut by a header. There are about
400 acres in the field, and for the sake of
convenience the grain is piled in loDg
ridges, ln perhaps tix or seven places. No
effort la made to rick the barley with a
view to turning rain. Though cut the
first of July, and ricked as fast as cut, it
has laid there without even a stack bottom ever since. The header cuts through
12 feet wide, and loads it into an immense
grain wagon, driven by the side of the
machine. Two of these wagons are required to a machine, one unloading while
the other is being loaded. Thus binding
and shocking is dispensed with. The
header ls a rtality of the "cart before the
horse." The horses are hitched behind
the machine. The steering is done by a
rudder, the driver standing astride of it;
inclining it to ths right or left, while both
hands are manipulating the lines of tbe
four or six horses driven abreast. With this
imperfect description of cutting and ricking, we will pass to the arrangements and
machinery for this work, which are quite
novel to a Hoosier. All the owner has to
to do about the whole job is to provide tbe
sacks and haul off the grain. The latter,
however, is not always done at once, and
it is no uncommon thing to see ricks
of sacks filled with grain in the field, with
nothing between them and the ground, or
to keep off the rain for weeks before they
are stored away or sold. The owner does
not have to kill a pig or chickens, or even
prepare fuel for steam, and the women
have no additional work to do In cooking,
or bed making. The thresher goes prepared to board himself, has his hotel on
wheels, does his own cooking, and sleeping, feeds his horses on the grain he is
threshing, and burns straw in his engino
for steam. The entire outfit comprises
from 17 to 20 men, and from 20 to .5 head
of horses are used In hauling water.
The thresher is similar to those back
East, except lt is larger,  but lt  has two
carriers, one conveys the grain to the cylinder, and stands at right angles to the
thresher, and near the ground. A derrick
stands over this and a man seated at the
outer end of the carrier operates two immense straw forks by machinery attached
to the derrick. Each of these forks is
worked by a man drawing it back to the
pile of grain to be threshed, where it is
inserted and then it is elevated over the
carrier and the grain dropped on it. Tbe
forks work alternately. You now see
the use of the double row of ricks. The
carrier is between these and one fork
is used on each rick. Two men stand
at the pile of grain dropped on the
carrier, and rake it on as evenly and as
fast as necessary, and from there it ls carried about 25 feet to the cylinder, but no
one is required to "feed" aa with you
back East.
You see they dispose of the straw differently from what prevails with you.
Two horses blindfolded by placing a common grain sack with one side ripped open
over their heads, and reaching down below their noses, open end down, and the
silt fitting around the n«ak sorves to keep
the (Just, or the most of it out of their eyes
and noses. These are attached to each
end of a scantling about 12 feet in length,
and when the pile of straw Is of proper
size, one horse is driven on one side, and
the other on the other side, drawing the
scantling against the straw, and thus it ls
dragged away ,-and scattered about to- get
rid of it, an occasional load being taken to
the engine for fuel. The grain is all
sacked and sewed up. Generally two men
do the sowing, and it is wonderful how
dexterously tney do it. AU this large
outfit can be set up and started in ten
minutes. With these trained men the
novelty has worn off, and everything
goes like clock work. They claim to
thresh from 1,100 to 1,500 sacks a day. The
sacks average 105 pounds. Take 1,300
sacks as an average and we will have 2,275
bushels as a day's work. They charge 10
a sack for threshing.
Hope this will compare favorably with
"Threshing In Kansas" In Indiana
Farmer of Oct. 24th. A. Furnas.
ElModena, Cal.
.   m  »
Bee Answers a Reader From Tippecanoe
County.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Has the querist asking for a remedy to
"rid" his family of "city visitors," during
the busy season, ever tried paying them
back in their own coin J If not try it; and
if your city friends are stylish people, invite some old fashioned acquaintance to
accompany you, one who eDjoys wearing
ancient clothing. I never shall forget
when a girl In my "teens," of the mortification a family I was visiting endured at
the arrival of a family of relatives from
the country to eat Christmas dinner with
them, and they with a houseful of city
guests. "Uncle George" wanted to look
extraordinarily fine, and he did. He wore
a silk bat tbat he had bought years before
when he had lived In "town," a black
broadcloth coat, of ancient date, a buff
vest, and brown jeans pants. "Aunt Lucretia," made no change in her toilet, w aring
a many colored flannel dress, a black silk
apron, a bright shawl and hood.
I am sure If our friend from Tippecanoe
county, will try something similar he
will not be troubled any more in the busy
season with city visitors. I think city
relatives who make themselves burdensome during the busy time with their
country relative^ need a lesson. If our
city friends will visit at such a time, let
them roll up their sleeves and assist with
the work. Now ln the incident I mentioned, it was quite wrong of course for the
oity relatives to be ashamed of the old oouple
from the country, yet It was not an unusual occurrence. At such* a time "aunt
Lucretla's golden butter, delightful bread,
preserves,  and delicious   this,   that  and
the other" are entirely lost sight of and
wonder  why  they did  not send  word
they were coming, and then  they  would
have sent some excuse to have kept  them
at home.   They forget how they  visit  at
Uncle George's every summer, never sending word, and often   find  aunt  Lucretia
and ber help in the midst  of  a  washing,
they must hurry through with in order to
prepare a dinner for the harvesters.   Asa
rule country people are  very  hospitable,
and I have seen farmers' wives and daughters in limited  circumstances   receive  a
carriage load of visitors from  town  with
smiling faces, wait  upon  them,  serving
their very best food, and at the same time
knowing there was work that could hardly
be laid aside at this particular  time.   We
all know that the busy  season  with  the
farmers'wife and daughters is just  the
time when  city  friends  long  for  green
fields, cooling streams,  and  a swinging
hammock under some luscious fruit  tree,
with an interesting   book  for  company,
and after a while to hear a pleasant call to
dinner or supper, as it  may be; and  tbe
red and perspiring faces of the  cooks  tell
their own story to those who wish to read.
I am sure that the correspondent  from
Tippecanoe complains only ot the relatives
who come at the busy season, to be waited
upon,   instead    of   making   themselves
useful.   It would be a' hard  matter also
for friends with a family of  little  ones,
and some of their neighbors thrown' ln, to
be very useful, so I  trust next   summer
they will, for the sake of many, rest under
their own vine and fig tree. B__.
Written for the Indiana Farmer.
How Electricity Moves the Street Cars.
BY R. HASSK M. D.
Although Electric street cars have now
almost got to be common in nearly all of
our cities,notwithstanding their comparatively recent introduction, there is hardly
any application of the electric force, that
arouses more of a lively curiosity ani
wonder in most intelligent minds, than
the conversion of the electric current into
that invisible force that drives the electric
cars.
From the bare copper wire lines over
head, which are in connection with the
heavier and insulated feed wire lines,
strung from pole to pole along the road,
the electric current comes down into the
propelling gear or motor, which is located
under the motor car, by way of that wheel-
tipped rod above. An Insulated rod that
runs down through one side of the car,
connects tbat rod, at its universal joint
end, which is mounted on the car _ top,
with a switch which can be worked from,
either plat farm, in order to close or to
open the circuit, for allowing the electric
current to reach the motor when starting,
or shutting off the current when the car Is
to be stopped. The instant the current
enters the motor at the particular part, one
of the two brushes that bear on the communicator the electricity runs through
the several hundred yards of wire, which
is wound around the field magnets ahd
the armature of which every motor consists, and makes these parts correspondingly magnetic. This magnetization it is
which pulls the revolving armature continuously around to meet the field magnet
poles, which In turn exerts its traction
force through appropriate driving gear
upon the wheel axles of the car. The electric current takes lis passage through the
car wheels and the rails, back again into
the electric generators at the power station, thus completing the circuit through
them.
Indianapolis.
By the Japanese earthquake 7,500 house,;*,
I were wrecked and 6,500 people killed.