A CHAKCE TO TEST A THEOEY.
Now's the time, and Indianapolis is the
place for Uncle Sam to send up his balloon
and rend the skies with his dynamite
bombs. He will lind no better opportunity to test Senator Farwell'a theory of attracting rain storms. If the plan is a success, Marion county farmers will gladly
foot the bills, and Uncle Sam may keep
his $2,000, to experiment  with elsewhere.
OH, FOR A DELUGE!
"Fair, stationary temperature," is the
song the weather bureau men sing to us
day after day. It's getting distressingly
monotonous. We are afraid to look at the
forecasts, and hope is almost gone. Hot,
dry and dusty; grass dry enough to burn;
leaves on the trees withering,corn shriveling, potato vines dead; such is the melancholy prospect, and to add to our grief
comes the daily weather report "Fair,
stationary, or warmer temperature."
When will the change come?
RIDE INTO   KENTUCKY.
From Mr. Jchn Burroughs _ "A Taste of
Kentucky Blue-grass," in the Century for
July, we quote as follows: "All the way
from Washington till I struck the heart of
Kentucky the farmer in me was unhappy;
he saw hardly a rod of land that he would
like to call his own. But the remnant of
the wild man of the woods, which most of
us still carry, saw much that delighted
him, esp_as_y "down the Xew River,
whero the rocks and the waters, and the
steep forest-clad mountains were as wild
and as savage as anything he had known
in his early Darwinian ages. But when
we emerged npon the banks of the Great
Kanawha, the man of the woods lost his
interest, and the man of the fields saw little that was comforting.
"When we cross the line into Kentucky,
I said, we shall see a change. But no, we
did not. The farmer still groaned in spirit; no thrifty farms, no substantial homes,
no neat villages, no good roads anywhere,
but squalor and sterility on every hand.
Nearly all theafternoon we rode through
a country like the poorer parts of Xew
England, unredeemed by anything like
New England thrift. It was a country of
coal, a very new country, geologically
speaking, and the top-soil did not seem to
have had time to become deepened and
enriched by vegetable mold. Near sundown, as I glanced out of the window, I
thought I began to see a change. Presently I was very sure I did. It began to appear in the more grassy character of the
woods. Then I caught sight of peculiarly
soft and uniform grassy patches here and
there in the open. Then in a few moments
more the train had shot us fairly into the
edge of the blue-grass region, and the farmer in me began to be on the alert. We
had passed in a twinkling from a portion
of the earth's surface which is new, which
is of yesterday, to a portion which is of
the oldest, from the carboniferous to the
lower Silurian. Here, upon this lower
Silurian, the earth that saw and nourished
tbe great monsters and dragons is growing the delicate blue-grass. It had taken
all these millions upon millions of years
to prepare the way for this little plant to
grow to perfection. I thought I had never
seen fields and low hills look so soft in the
twilight; they seemed clad in greenish-
gray fur. As we neared Mount Sterling,
how fat and smooth the land looked; what
long, even, gently flowing lines against
the fading western sky, broken here and
there by herds of slowly grazing or else reposing and ruminating cattle! What
peace and plenty it suggested! From a
land raw and crude and bitter like unripe
fruit, we had suddenly been transported
into the midst of one ripe and mellow
with the fullness of time. It was sweet to
look upon. I was seized with a strong desire to go forth and taste it by a stroll
through it in the twilight."
ACTIVITY IN TRADE.
According to H. G. Dun it Co.'s last
weekly review of trade: More money and
higlier prices meet the wishes of most
traders, and accordingly the tone of the
business world is more satisfied and confident. Meanwhile, silvei is accumulating,
having risen a cent per ounce by Monday,
and since declined three-quarters of a cent,
and shipments hither from ltussia have
become known. Because of speculation
in grain and cotton, and higher prices for
some manufactured goods, the general
average has risen during the week one-
half of one per cent, and there are indications of a renewal of the speculative fever,
which the prospects of monetary expansion produced some time ago. But in
other respects the outlook is good, business largo for the season, and the great industries are on the -vhole improving in
condition. Latest reports of exchange
through . clearing houses, outside of New
York, show a gain of 15 per cent over last
year.
Thk ofler by the Louisiana Lottery
Company of §1,250,000 a year for a charter
has bought ovor two thirds of the legislators, and, in spite of the veto of the noble
governor, who showed clearly, in his message on the subject, that the lottery was a
damage to the State that no amount of
money could compensate, the charter prevails and tens of thousands of deluded
victims in all parts of the country will
send their hard earnings from time to time
to the managers. It would seem that the
most simple ought to see that there is an
enormous swindle somewhere in the business, or the company could not afford to
expend the enormous sum of a million
and a quarter yearly for this charter.
Thk price of silver bullion has advanced
15 per cent in consequence of the passage
of the silver bill already, and a further advance is predicted.
Farmers' Day at Battle Ground.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
The Battle Ground Camp Meeting Association have inaugurated a "new depart
ure" in setting apart
WEDNESDAY, AtKil'ST 6TH,
as Farmers' Day. A program of especial
interest to farmers has been arranged.
Senator Mount, a prominent farmer of
Montgomery Co., will discuss "The farmer as a factor ' in our Government." Mrs.
Henry C. Meredith will read her admirable paper on, "Privileges and possibilities
of farm life." Prof. J. C. Ridpath, of the
De Pauw University will give his lecture
on "Indiana." Dr. O. J. Craig and Dr. II.
E. Stockbridge, of Purdue, will make addresses.
Battle Ground is a delightful place to
spend a holiday; and when the opportunity occurs to combine so much of pleasure
and profit as ''Farmers' Day" will afford,
it should not be missed. Farmers, attend
"Farmers' Day" with your families. It
will be a treat to all, a wholesome break
in the farm routine and a source of real
profit to everyone.
Kemember thatthe battle field of "Tippecanoe" joins the Camp Ground; thatthe
rail roads all give reduced rates, and that
frequent trains between Lafayette and
Battle Ground insure quick connections
on all lines centering at Lafayette.
W. C. Latta,
Supt. Farmers' Institutes, I__.fayette.
Editors Indiana Farmer -.
Marion county wheat was a failure; oats
hardly worth cutting; corn will be a failure if rain does not come this week: timothy grass was a good crop; flax promises
to be good; early potatoes a failure. I live
in Hancock Co. Ind., and have visited over
400 farmers and find the prospects for
them discouraging. The question among
us is how  shall we  make a living  if the
corn crop fails.   We all feel  oppressed on
every hand, but  trust in (Jod   for the future. M. A.
Oaklandon.
<Qucri) itutl £_tsn, .t*s.
Give your name and address when asking ques
tions. Many queries go unanswered for failure to
observe this rule.
Correspondents who desire an Immediate reply to
their queries should enclose a stamp for the purpose.
Can you or some of your many readers
tell me where I can get the Fultz wheat
and at what price per bushel?   O.P.M.P.
Hillsdale.
Our seedsmen do not keep the Fultz, as
there are so many better varieties.
Who has Fultz to sell?
Can you tell mo where I can buy bone
dust, or any good fertilizer by the 1,000
lbs., in sacks, and what it will cost?
Koist. X. Priest.'
Bainbridge.
They are kept by F. C. Huntington <t Co.,
this city, and prices range from $25 to §40
per ton.    Write for their list.
^ccrtctl legislation.
Free Gravel Roads.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
I propose to confine myself this time to
the above subject. I say stop! stop! Turn
around, we are g)ing in the wrong direction. Our laws should bo based on justice
and equality. Taxation without representation is what brought about tho revolutionary war. Xow this is just what we
are doing, taxing people that have no gravel
roads in their township, to keep up the
roads for the benefit of others. The cry is
being mado "unjust taxation" and justly
made too. And there is a complaint coming from a different class; farmers that are
in the midst and surrounded by free
gravel roads begin to feel that the present
free gravel road system is going to be
burdensome. Why? Because they feel
that they are keeping up roads for others'
benefit, and that they begin to find that
their free gravel road tax is more than
their toll used to be when the roads wero
owned and controlled by • companies.
Xow for a better system. I will give you
mine, and ask for a bettor one if any one
has it. I would not have the roads go back
into corporated companies, but be owned
as they are by the counties and kept up
just as they are, but the money for keeping
our free gravel roads instead of coining
from tho county tax let it come from the
travel on the roads; just enough to keep
the roads in good repair (a tarill for repairs
only). This can be done by establishing
toll gates for collecting toll. It does seem
to me that nothing can be more just than
for the parties that use a road to pay for
repairiwg it.
I will recapitulate the objections to tho
present system:
1. It taxes often parties that are not
benefited.
2. The taxes in many cases will amount
to more than their toll.
8. And worst there is a class of professional log haulers who make a daily
business of hauling logs, and by their skill
they have learned how to put three loads
on one wagon, and draw it with four
horses or mules, as the case may be. Now
professional log haulers do more damage
to our roads than all the travel and hauling by the farmers of tho county, and they
pay no taxes. The toll system would
reach them, and a heavy rate should be
put on four horse loads. John Clore.
Franklin, Ind.
cost, let that saving go on for 20 years and
we could have 20 State Houses twenty
thousand dollars finer than the present
one. That would be a great scheme. That
would give Indiana a unique position
among the States. We could point to our
State Houses with State pride especially if
built at the cost of popular education.
Aside from all nonsense, I don't see the
point where the efiiciency of the schools
will be increased by decreasing the wages
of the teachers. Any man who hires any
work done knows he has to pay his best
hands the highest wages or they will leave
him aud go whero they can get what they
demand.
If S. B. II. wants tosay somethingon the
efficiency of tlie schools I wish he would
say it. Our school system needs an overhauling as well as some other things. The
people will find out then what is really
being done. I will agree with him that
teachers work for what pay there is in it,
so does everyone in whatever pursuit he
may be found. I do not see the analogy
in the illustration of tho individual who
has a number of places to givo in private
business. If there is any it is rather far
fetched. Suppose however, it was the
caso, would not this individual select with
the greatest care the one to teach his children? It makes no difference who would
apply, he would carefully consider those
questions; Is he qualified? Is ho morally safe to Irust with my children? Can
ho do the work with success? The one
who fills all these conditions is the one
employed, and not one picked up at ran-,
dom as S. B. II. supposes and as some
trustees do.
Xow the trustee has something to do
with the schools, and happy is the township which has a trustee who knows his
duty and does it. Too maDy townships
have trustees who regard their offices as
stopping stones to something higher, that
is they belong to the class of big little men
who are afraid to do anything. They set a
premium on ignorance by employing their
followers as teachers at the lowest possible
wages. In making his selections this kind
of trustee is governed by the following
considerations: Will his employment bo
to my advantage? Will I gain more support from the patrons by employing this
one rather than that? Thus a teacher of
experience and success is apt to be set
aside to mako way for some one with little
or no experience and success, and various
are the excuses given, but the welfare of
the school is the last thing considered.
Thus in many localities our schools are
doing but little good; no wonder the taxpayers aro beginning to object. But give
us a trustee who knows his duty and does
it and good schools are the result and the
tax-payer is satisfied. Although good
schools may cost more in the start they
are the cheapest in the long run.
Monroo Co., July 2»>. W. J. G.
Teachers,  Trustees and Schools.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
The suggestion of S. B. II. that the teachers teach for nothing and save two million
dollars is something I had not thought of.
Two millions, that is twenty thousand
dollars more  than the new   State  House
K1L.LIM1 Canada Thistles.—I had a
nine-acre lot that was complety overrun
with Canada thistles; besides on a part of
it there was a great deal more quack grass
than made it agreablc to farm. In the
spring four years ago, I put it under barley
and when the crop was cut, scarcely any
barley could be seen, so thick and high
were the thistles; but the yield of barley
was .o bushels to the acre. Just as
soon as the crop was gathered, the plow
was started and we plowed deep. Then
dragging and rolling followed. The
weather was dry. Iu this condition the
land was left until about Sept. 1, when the
sulky plow was started around the lot
plowing with two horses at the rate of
three acres per day. Tho plow was set to
runabout two inches deep; after that we
dragged once and sowed to wheat. The
result was that the thistles and quack
grass are no more to be seen in that lot.
Of course, dry weather is needed to perform the operation successfully.