VOL. XXVI.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., DEO. 5,1891.
NO. 49
What the Farmer Needs.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
All the farmer needs to make him prosperous is something to sell, stands as an
indisputable fact, self evident to the simplest mind. It is the corner stone to the
successful farmer. L_t him once get this
fact firmly fixed in his mind and he will
straightway strive to increase the surplus
capacity of his land, whether owner or
tenant, he will study out the best plans
for increasing the capacity of the soil
the most pro lita' le crop for his land
and community. He will study economy
in feeding his stock and in housing them,
and after a little experience, he will be enabled to obtain the top prices for the market not fixed by|the commission man or the
consumer, but by the law of supply and
demand, you seldom see farmers impecunious without, as the old saying is,
"There is a screw loose somewhere."
Bead what Solomon said in regard to him
that tarryeth al the wine cup or that is
slothful in business, or is unmerciful to
his beast, or that goes security for his
friends, etc., etc. Also what our Lord and
Master says about those that
attempt to build or go to war
without first counting the cost. There
is a class of wonld be farmers who toil not,
neither do they spir, yet some of them
vie with Solomon in thoir style of dress
and living. They pay no taxes, but are
constant in their demands of improve-
- ments, cheaper transportation and better
prices when they have nothing to ship
and but little to sell, while their security
generally pays their last spring's sale
notes.
Let all put in practice the following advice, which all must admit as sound and
true as gospel, do not keep any more animals than you have feed to keep well, nor
any more horses than are necessary to
your operations, and be kind and merciful to them all and you  will  be blessed.
New Carlisle. A. S. C.
A Proper View of Philanthropy Barely
Held.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
That grand and humane man, Biro n Dp
Hirsh gives in a recent number of one of
our best reviews, his views of philanthropy, from which I extract the following, as
being of rare merit and virtue. "In my opinion there is no possibility for doubt
that the possessor of great wealth lays a
duty upon the possession. It is my utmost conviction that I must consider myself as only the temporary administrator
of the wealth I have amassed, and it is
my duty to contribute in my own way to
the relief of the suffering: I contend
most decidedly against the old system of
almsgiving which only makes so many
more beggars, aud I consider it the greatest problem in philanthropy to make human beings capable of work out of individuals who otherwise would become
paupers."
If the wealth of this country was in the
hands of only such as Baron De Hirsh it
would matter little if but a limited number did have control of it. It requires
but a very simple creed for us to live a
praiseworthy and peaceful happy life, and
would it could be embraced by all people
and that is "Do as you'd be done by." A
thoughtless and free giving of alms can
never prove conducive to the moral well
being of the recipient. It is like a constant little stimulant applied to the physical man, as time goes on the allowance
will seem to be inadequate, and the willing alms receiver will grow ere long to
think he has need, and a right to have, the
quantity increased commensurate with
hi. earnings, and finally the pensioner will
retrograde into a miserable form of parasite losing all individuality, and what is
worse, caring for   none.
It would S9em he disposition of Baren
De Hirsh is as rar    «.    is beautiful, and I
fear although mimicry is a common disease among men, few will permit themselves to be inoculated with his peculiar
spirit, and many we can call to mind, no
doubt will at once sethim down as a lunatic of very dangerous propensities, a fit
subject for a rigorous commission
de lunacy. At the present rate
of amassing wealth it would
look to the every day man or woman as
thongh slavery of one sort had been
abolished but to institute another,ot more
far reaching effect, one taking all grades
and shados of mankind: Though far
from advocating the brilliant Rober. E
Ingersoll's views on the one most vital
subject, the one nearest and dearest to
every soul, I can Dut admire and applaud
his bravo and generous words when he
says: "I believe no man should bo permitted to control more land than he can
use, and itis the duty of the Government
to legislate to that end." To all thinking
people this will seem a wise proposition.
Any observing person either living, or
sojourning, for a time, in any of the larger
cities of our dear America cannot fail to
note the growing degradation of one class,
in full ratio with the growing aflluence of
another, and if we are to save our fair
country from the same Ills and vexed ques
tions that the older royalty ruled nations of
the world have been battling with for con
turies, we must heed some such proposi
tion as this of Col. Ingersoll or retribu*
tion swift and destructive can but follow
There, unmistakably, is something radically wrong, that so early In the life of
this great country want should stalk
abroad, and any should hunger and not
be fed, or lack a decent place to rest the
weary head. Yet, alas, how much there
Is of this kind of misery that many in
their secure and thoughtless lives never
dream of. Evelyn McCormick,
Lafayette.
 . » .	
Garden Work in the Fall.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
There are thousands of gardens in which
much hard work should be done right
now, if not already looked after before
this. I know perfectly well that the rule
is little or no work at all is done, or can be
done in the garden in October and Novem*
ber, and with a few gardens this may be
true, but it is not true if we would have
the best garden possible next season. I
speak from the standpoint of my own
garden, and I think it is a fair sample of
country and village gardens in Indiana
and Illinois. While it would not do to
prepare the soil for potatoes, beets,cabbage
and other garden stuff as we would pre
pare it for a good crop of wheat, yet, in a
general way I apply the same principles
to the culture and management of tny
garden that I do to my farm. I tiled the
farm years 8go, and we break all our land
for corn and oats in the fall, or as much of
it as we can. The garden should be well
tiled, even if it is not wet land, and the
soil should be dug up and plowed late in
the fall. No poorer land could have been
found in this part of the State, than where
I grow potatoes, but it is rich and mellow
now. In the fall I have well rotted manure scattered upon it, and then it is
broken up and seeded down to rye. The
next spring the fine coat of rye is turned
under deeply, and the plat planted with
potatoes. I am continuing this plan year
after year, and the soil is getting deeper
and blacker every year. It is coming to
be a perfect mold. The plat for the cabbage, beet and other vegetables is well
tiled also. It gets a good coat of fine
rich earth every fall, hauled from the timber. After the vegetables are taken from
the garden, we commence digging it upside down and hauling in our leaf mold
from the timber, and rich black bottom
soil from the river, with some sand spread
overall to loosen the stiff clay of the
natural or original soil of the plat.   When
land ls treated in this way, and tiled, you j
can get a good deep soil and you can dig
and plow deep, which you must do for
deep rooting vegetables, to get large returns. The soil in the garden ought to be
ton or twelve inches deep, anyhow. I
don't mean tbat if It is that deep to blue
clay or hard paD, it will do, nor do I mean
that it will do if it is that derep to poor
yellow clay. I mean the rich, loose black
manured cultivated vegetable mold,
ought to be at least ten or twelve inches
in depth, with fair subsoil beneath that, if
we can havo it. If we put our gardens
into this condition it requires some hard
fall work, but after it is done, such soil
will not only go through a long dry spell
better, but it will remunerate us for our
hard work. If the soil is plowed and dug
up in the fall, it secures to us all the advantages we gain by plowing our farming
lands, especially for corn, in the fall,
which is rapidly becoming the rule in
Illinois, or in my part of the State at least.
The larva* of injurious insects are thus
thown up into the cold air and surface
soil and perish. The work pays for this
consideration, if for no other. Yes, indeed, there is much, very much hard
work to be done in the garden late in the
fall, and It is so much easior to put out
the garden in the spring, when "rush" is
the word, and the hue and cry upon every
farm in this fair and prosperous land.
Dr. A. C. Williams.
Hugo, 111.
orders than he oould possibly fill with his
limited means of manufacturing. One
farmer was astounded at tbe magnitude, of
the invention, declared that he was almost
persuaded that tbe time would come
when they would cut grain by horse
power, which tickled the spectators so
that they jeered him and he wont home
mortified because he had made such an
idiot of himself, as to entertain such an
idea. Botts' cradle was tho commencement of the revolution in small grain
raising in Knox and the adjoining counties, larger areas being sown and better
methods of tillage* adapted, and to-day,
Knox county stands in tho foremost rank
as a wheat producing county of the State,
and all was due to the Bimple contrivance
of the old fashioned grain cradle and one
man's ingenuity. D. Moitit.
Newton, 111.
Early Days of Knox County, Ind.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
In the year, 1841, Mr. B.tts of the State
of Connecticut, came to Knox county,
Ind., and settled in the vicinity of Vincennes. Being of an ingenious turn of
mind, he turned his attention to the agricultural wants of the farming class of
people. He soon ascertained that the farmers were cutting their grain with the old
time grain hook or sickle. So he went to
work and manufactured for himself a
grain cradle. His neighbors asked him
what it was. He told them and explained
its utility and amongst other recommendations he told them he could cut six acres
of oats per day. They laughed at him and
said those long crooked sticks (meaning
the fingers) would tangle in the grain.
They scoffed at the idea of any one claiming to cut six acres per day, and Betts'
grain machine was a standing joke, and
Mr. Betts was considered a crank, and one
farmer, to bluff him, offered a cow
and calf if he would cut five
acres of oats for him in a day, Betts accepted the offer. So when the day arrived for the feat, Mr. Betts and cradle
were on the ground ;bright and early, but
what surprised him was that the fence
which surrounded the patch was full of
farmers who had heard of the grain machine and had come several miles to see
the failure, and have their fun at the
manufacturer's expense. When he commenced his job they left tho fence and
followed him around, and never were
such surprised farmers. Those crooked
sticks did not tangle as predicted but the
oats were thrown in the nicest swaths.
They measured the width of the cut and
found it over six feet; one man timed
while Betts cut 40 rods, and said that it
beat anything in the annals of grain cutting. One aspiring fellow said he believed
he could run that machine. Mr. Betts let
him try. After a few strokes he got the
"ha.g of it," and soon another tried it
with equal success. Finally every one
had to run it. That five acres was cut by
the middle of afternoon, and Mr. Betts
did not cut one-fourth of an acre of it.
The farmer told him to come after his
cow and calf, but Mr. Betts declined, and
said that his machine had come o_ victorious and that was enough honor; the
farmer asked him to build him two grain
cradles as remuneration,   He got more
Notes From California.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
The past summer has perhaps had more
warm days than any during the ten years
that I have lived here; yet there have been
but few days that we call hot- None that
would equal a hot day in Indiana, owing
to the cool sea breeze that Is continually
blowing in this county. 1 do not remember a single day or night that has been
what you term sultry. Crops of all kinds
are fairly good. Some .varieties of fruit
proved ligher than usual, but where so
many kinds grow to perfection, a short
crop of one or two varieties ls not felt.
The weather has been very pleasant for
several months.
There was a light shower of rain during
the latter part of September, but not
enough to do any harm. It may seem
strange to you that although we have had
only the one shower In six months, farmers do not want rain yet, but it is even so.
The only good a rain would do now would
be to Improve the roads. Perhaps another strange thing to you Is the fact that
our roads are usually better In winter than
during the summer. In the dry weather
they wear into holes, similar to your
chuck holes ln winter, only minus the
mud. But the first good rain washes the
loose dust into the holes, and after half a
day of sunshine, the road is perfect.
It is said of some folks that "they don't
know beans," but if the people of Santa
Barbara and Ventura counties, don't know
beans, they don't know anything. It is
estimated that California produces more
beans than all the rest of the United States,
and it is conceded that Santa Barbara and
Ventura counties raise half the beans in
the State. Last season Dixie Thompson
shipped Blxteen car loads at one time, from
his Ventura ranch. Mr. Thompson ls a
resident of the city of Santa Barbara, but
owns several ranches in this and adjoining counties, and is said to be the largest
bean raiser in the world. If I am not
mistaken he had over two thousand acres
of beans this year in one field. «
The Ventura Free Press is responsible
for the following:
"TOR BF.AN CROP.
"It Is estimated that there will be 2,000
car loads of 20,000 pounds each in Ventura
and Santa Barbara counties. This would
make a train nearly 11 miles long, not including the locomotives. Supposing one
locomotive pulls 20 cars, lt will take 100
engines to move the crop. There will be
600,000 sacks of beans, allowing 300 sacks
to a car. The empty sacks cost the grower
530,000, notwithstanding the McKlnley
bill, but the beans will bring about $1,100,-
000 into Ventura and Santa Barbara
counties."
I will try in my next to describe a lemon
orchard that is just being started in my
own immediate neighborhood.
Grapes, blackberries and strawberries
are still on sale in our fruit stores.
Delos Wood
Santa Barbara, Cal., Nov. 10.