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SOKGUM CULTURE.
From Seed Time to Harvest.
BY W. P. LEITZMAN, CLAYTON, IND., PRESIDENT INDIANA CANE GROWERS'
ASSOCIATION.
SELECTION OP SEED.
The first step towards securing a good
crop of cane, Is the selection of good seed.
It is more profitable to buy good seed,
even at a high price, than to plant poor
seed though it be a gift. Seed should be
procured from cane growers who are
known to be reliable men, and whose land
has produced good results in quantity and
in quality.
Fresh seed should be produced every
few years from a more southern climate
than our own, as continued planting of
home grown seed tends to deteriorate the
crop.
Seed should be selected before the cane
is cut, that which ripens first should be
taken.
SELECTION OP SOILS
is next in importance to that of seed, as i
herein to a large extent, will depend on
the success or failure of the crop.
Any good soil will, if not too wet, produce a good crop of sorgum, but the best
results can only be expected from soils
best adapted to its wants.' The best soil
for sorgum la a rich, warm, sandy loam,
■with a sandy or gravely sub-soil; the
next best is a clay loam; the worst is
black mucky bottom land. All wet lands
should be avoided, also lands heavily manured with any kind of rank manure, as
it will impart its flavor to the syrup.
PREPARATION OP THE GROUND.
All trash, such as weeds, grass and corn
stalks should be removed from the ground,
this can best be done by raking and burning.
Deep plowing is very essential, and
when practicable, should be done in the
fall, as the frosts of winter favorably affects the soil and tends to destroy grubs
and cut-worms, which otherwise might
greatly damage the crop.
If the ground was not plowed last fall, it
may be done at any time in the early
spring when the ground is in good condition for plowing. Wait until the ground
is thoroughly warmed up, which in our
latitude will be about the first to tenth
of May, then harrow and drag until the
ground is quite smooth and thoroughly
pulverized.
Hemember that all extra labor, properly
put in Qn the ground before planting, will
be doubly repaid in the after cultivation of
the crop, and in its increased value.
PLANTING
should follow as quickly as possible after
the ground is prepared, this is very essential, as the seed should be deposited in
fresh moist earth, that it may germinate
quickly, and get a fair start with the
weeds.
The depth to plant will vary from half
an inch on heavy clay to two or more
inches on light, loose, sandy soils.
The seed should be planted at a uniform
depth, to insure its coming up evenly.
This can be done much easier and better
by machinery than by hand. A good garden seed drill will answer for small
.patches, and do good work.
For field planting in drills the best thing
is a good force feed wheat drill with all
the holes stopped except two,which should
be the right distance apart for the rows.
But a two-horse corn planter, with or
without a check-row attachment, gives the
best results, depositing the seed at a uniform depth, and the wheels firming the
soil about seed, causes it to germinate and
and grow more rapidly, thus getting a
better start of the weeds.
If the planter has not got broom-corn
plates, the corn plates should be placed on
a level smooth surface and the holes filled
with melted lead, the leads should then be
carefully hammered to prevent them from
dropping out; holes may be drilled in the
leads the proper size to drop from six to
ten seed at each motion of the plates, the
holes must be largest at bottom to insure
against clogging.
Plant enough seed to insure a good stand
without replanting as the cane should all
ripen at once, it is much better to thin
than to replant.
Thinning may be done with the hoe.and
before the cane is more than four inches
high.
Good soil will produce a stalk every four
inches of row if drilled, if in checks from
four to seven stalks to the hill may be
grown.
CULTIVATION
should begin as soon as the plants can be
seen along the rows; this is the time to
make the crop. Cultivation should be
merely upon the surface so as to avoid
cutting and otherwise disturbing the roots,
which would tend to retard the growth of
suckers.
All that is necessary is to keep the weeds
and grass in check. This may easily be
done with common corn cultivators with
harrow attachments, which can bo had at
most any implement ^store for a few dollars. They are excellent for cultivating
young cane.
Whatever kind of implement is used,
the object should be to destroy weeds
without disturbing the roots of the cane,
as it is desirable to have as few suckers as
possible, for the evil they do can never be
entirely remedied by their removal after
they once appear. When the cane is about
three f6et high, the ground being clear of
weeds, all culivation should cease, as it is
then able to take care of itself, and nothing more will be required until the cane
is ready to work up, which will be when
the seed is beginning to harden, or in a stiff
dough.
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BY VINSON CABTBB, ESQ., THIS CITY.
Quefftloni _u_ Have Oeneral Application.
We must decline hereafter to reply to queries by
mail. It was not our intention to open a free legal
bureau, as many seem, to think, for the benefit of
private individuals, although subscribers. All we
can consistently do is to give opinions on cases of a
general character, such as are likely to occur to citizens in any part of the State at anytime, and the
answers to which will be generally useful. These
questions should be stated as clearly and briefly as
possible.
In Farmer of 5th inst, question: A has
$100 owing to him, and owes §100. Your
answer, he must give it in and claim set
off.   Of what must the set off consist?
Hall. W. B. B.
The ?100 which he owes.
A section of land (of which I own ajpart)
measures 10 rods over a mile. At some
time long ago corner stones were set at %,
\_ and % mile from one end or section
corner and the present owner claims the
balance, can those stones be moved so as to
divide the section equally and by what
process?
This question has been answered sometime since. The answer was the stones
could not now be removed.
1. Is it the duty of the road supervisor
to repair the streets of an unincorporated
town?
2. Can he compel those not living on
said streets to perform labor on the same?
3. Is there any difference as to his duty
in incorporated and unincorporated towns
or cities, and if so. what? Reader.
Fountain Co.
-1.   Yes.
,2.   Yes.
3. Yes. The supervisor has nothing to
do with incorporated towns. The town
marshall takes charge of repairs of streets
in, such towns.
1. Would a person holding the office of
county commissioner, by resigning, be
eligible to the offlce of county auditor, tho
term of which commences 30 days before
term of commissioner expires?
2. Does the board of county comission-
ers constitute a Judicial oflice?
3. Would a member of the board of
county commissioners be considered a
Judicial officer?^    * A Surscribek.
Rising Sun.
1. Yes.
2. No.
3. No.
R and M join farms, and M has a pond
and had to get an outlet through K's land,
and furnished two-thirds of the tile and
work, and R had an open ditch to M's pond
and agreed to take his back water another
course. After the pond was tiled he cleaned
out his open ditch and run the water over
M's land. Has he the right to do this, or
has M got to run tile to the line between
RandM? I). M.
Gessie.
No. R has no right to run his back water over M's land in violation of the agreement.
In the election of the trustee in our
township, Monroe, there was a tie vote.
The Democrat candidate received 70 votes,
and the two Republican candidates received 113 votes each. Now the question
is what will we do for a trustee. The present trustee was not a candidate for re-election. Will the present trustee hold over or
can there be a new election called, or will
the auditor of the county have*the appointment? Will there be a vacancy when
present term of trustee expires August
1st?
r*^t_nr__- n~
The present trustee will hold over until
his successor is elected and qualified. In
case of a tie vote a special election must
be held.
At the April election last Monday, I was
elected justice of the peace. I do not
want the office, and will not qunlify, or if
I qualify I will at once resign the oflice.
Now, am I barred from running for any
other office within the time for which I
was elected; or would I be an eligible candidate for the office of county commissioner next fall? O. H.
Boone Co.
If you accept the office of justice of tho
peace and qualify, then you will be ineligible for any other than a judicial office,
during the term for which you were
elected. A resignation after qualification
will not restore your eligibility.. If you
refuse the office and do not qualify then
you are eligible to the office of county
commissioner or any other office.
1. Does it pay to use commercial fertilizer on corn, if so what kind is best to
use?
2. A and B adjoin one another.
Over 20 years ago the line was established
and fence was built. Now B sells to C,
who orders a new survey, by this the line
is changed a few feet. A is not satisfied.
Can he be made pay for part of new survey, and will last survey change old established line? A. M. B.
1. If the land is much run down you
will see good results from a liberal use of
ammoniated guano, or bone dust. The
first named is best for corn. Apply 200 to
300 pounds per acre, broadcast. It costs
here about ?25 per ton.
2. The old line cannot be changed by a
new survey without A's consent, and he
cannot bo compelled to pay part of the expense.
How Farmers Should Live.—AVe notice among the reasons offered why farming has not been so profitable as it should
have been for some years past that it is often urged that "they live better than they
used to." Well, why shouldn't they ? In
these days when there is so much more to
enjoy than there ever was before, what
right has anyone to hold that otLer pursuits should have a better show at these
things than farming ? The farmer should
be able to carefully educate his family ; to
surround himself with home comforts; to
see and enjoy a little of the world as he
goes along ;—in short, to live as other men
live. Who can say nay to this ? If his
business does not permit this, when well
managed, then there is something wrong
with the conditions affecting it—that's all.
—National Stockman.
 .  » .	
Wheats   at Purdue—Backward Season.
Indiana Farmers' League.
Editors Indiana Parmer:
I have just made a careful examination
of the growing wheat on the Experiment
Station Farm and find an average stand of
fully 90 per cent for all the standard sorts.
In the shallow depressions where water
collected when the ground was frozen, the
wheat is about all destroyed, hardy and
tender varieties being about equally affected by the submergonce. The wheat
plant is not even semi-equatic and hence
cannot endure submergence for any considerable time, or thrive in a water-logged
soil. No wheat that we have tried—and
over 100 varieties have been grown here—
can long stand an excess of water, either
upon or near the surface of tho ground.
Last winter's experience should convince
farmers all over the State of the
ABSOLUTE NECESSITY O I' DRAINAGE.
in successful wheat culture. The conditions that enabled the wheat on the Station Farm to pass the winter so successfully are: (1.) Thorough preparation and
moderate fertility of soil, which caused an
even vigorous but not excessively rank
fall and winter growth; (2.) good natural
(3.) hardy varieties, which have proved
best able to endure the rigors of our
winter and spring climate.
The oats seeding was considerably delayed in this section, owing to wet weather
in March. Recently the weather has been
too cold and dry for either oats or grass,
though wheat is making satisfactory progress.
I note with pleasure the editorial in the
Farmer of April 19th, which raises the
question "shall wo have an Indiana Farmers' League? There is no reason why there
might not be such a league in this State.
The farmers very generally desire
LEGISLATION IN TIIE   INTEREST   OF    AGRICULTURE
and a league of farmers' organizations
would be helpful to that end. It seems
to me, however, that in order to the highest success of such a league, there needs to
be a good deal of of fundamental work in
the way of public discussion of questions,
concerning which legislation is desired.
The farmers are by no means a unit on
the many questions of vital interest to
them; and working independently, or
wholly within some one of the several
farmers' organizations they are not likely
to reach oneness of view and harmony of
action. I have no word of criticism of existing farmers' organizations. I believe
they are all doing good work and trust they
will continue to prosper.
But is it not time for farmers to meet,
not merely as politicians, Patrons of Husbandry, Patrons of Industry, members of
the Farmers' Alliance, etc., but as farmers?
Do you ask, brother farmers, where we
shall find common meeting ground? 1
respectfully suggest in the Indiana Farmer. While it is not in the usual sense the
organ of any of the various farmers' organizations it warmly espouses the cause
of all, and of farmers in general. May we
not hear, through the Farmer, from the
leaders of the various farmers' organizations, State, county and local, and from
wide-awake farmera generally, as to the
desirability and feasibility of an
INDIANA PARMER LEAGUE?
And may there not also be a full aud free
discussion pro and con of the merits of
the various measures, for the relief of the
farming classes or for the encouragement
of Agriclture, -which the farmers themselves have to propose ? W. C Latta.
Lafayette, April 23d.