THK BEST SOU FOB RAISING WHEAT.
Kes ult of experiments made at-the Ohio
Agricultural Station. /
The question, "What varie/ies of wheat
are best adapted to black sort?" is one of
considerable interest to ro»ny Ohio farmers ; for such soil, unless It contains a considerable admixture of sand, Is generally
found to be less suited to the production
of wheat than soils whose lighter color
indicates a smaller proportion of organic
matter in their composition, Ike following experiment, which it is proposed to
continue through a series of years, has
been undertaken in the hopo of obtaining
a satisfactory answer to this question.
The locality selected for this test is
thirty-nine miles west of Columbus, on
the Little Miami railroad, on the farm of
A. K. Wildman, in a section of country
where there are large areas of black land,
either covered orginally with burr oak and
elms or bare prairie.
The special field used for the experiment
had been in cultivation for many years,
the crop for 1889 being corn. Twelve
varieties of wbeat were selected from
those which had given the best results
at the station. They were sown in plots
of one-tenth acre each, about the middle
of September, the remainder of the field
(30 acres) beingsown with Egyptian wheat.
About the middle of June, rust made its
appearance in this field, and by June 20,
the entire field was covered. An examination made on that date, revealed a
marked difference in the amount of rust
on the different varieties. The wheat was
harvested in due season; the grain threshed
from each plot was carefully -weighed, and
the weight per measured bushels was
determined by means of an apparatus
made specially for this purpose by Fairbanks, Morse & Co. The results are given
in the following table, the yield per acre
being given in measured bushels:
WHEAT   ON BLACK   SOIL—YIELD OP   CHAIN
AND WEIGHT PER BUSHEL.
Vabikty. ■--    • *-■_      S =
° *-.      .1   ||
_ Sg,    2_     »
o _ __ -
£ *-       ?       .
1 Egyptian 31 8.50 40
2 Valley Si. 8.60 39
3 Penqutte's Velvet 73_. 16.67 .*'_
4 Poole 59_ 13.17 45
5 Diehl Mediterranean  17'. 4.G7 37,,
6 French Prairie K!'4 14.45 43..
7 Penouite'a Velvet 73". 16.21 45.
8 (ieneva 69 14.53 47'.
9 De.tz 53.'. 13.01 41
10 lteliable 55 13.75 40
11 Pen _ ite's Velvet ; 80 17..93 44}_
12 German Emperor* 53*. 12.73 42''
13 Farquhar .59_ 13.31 44'.
14 Mealy -.41 9.94 41. _
♦Synonym for Michigan Amber.
It will be noticed that three plots were
sown with velvet chaff. The object of this
was to test the uniformity of the soil. Apparently the soil was sufficiently uniform
for a satisfactory test, and evidently the
velvet chaff, although suffering from the
rust in common with all other varieties,
has proved superior to any of them in productiveness on this soil, for it can be no
accident that each of the three plots of
this variety should give such a decidedly
larger yield than that obtained from any
other variety.
The variety most nearly approaching
the velvet chaff in yield is Geneva, also
known as Hungarian, and the superior
weight per measured bushel indicates that
this variety has suffered somewhat less
from rust that any other, although it also,
was seriously injured.
CONCLUSION.
The velvet chaff wheat used in this experiment (Penquite's velvet) has been recommended, first by the farm department
of the Ohio State University and later by
this station, as being more reliable on
black soils than most other varieties. The
experiment above described justifies this
commendation.
Prices of Agricultural Implements at
Borne and Abroad.
Edltora Indiana Farmer:
In replying to yours of July 30th about
what the N. Y. World proves and does not
prove, I would say: Tho editors of the
World have not attempted to prove that
tho consumers in Spanish America pay
less for the implements exported from this
country than we. Thoy reproduced their
advertisements in foreign papers, and
their home discounts, of which they have
over 2,000, to domestic consumers show,
if thero is any truth in them or their advertisements, that they have two prices—
one for export and one for the domestic
consumer. I copy a few for the benefit of
your readers:
Spanish American
price . price
Advance plow f 9 u> .18 00
Mower 40 00 00 00
Horse rake _. 17 00 25 Oo
Cultivator  22 00 30 U0
This short list embraces only one class
of goods. The World says that over 2000
protected manufactories have admitted
that they sell cheaper to the foreigner
than to us. Because foreign countries
levy duties, and freights are added is of no
consequenco to us—there is no denying
that we pay the manufacturer more than
the foreigner. Thus proving that a protection tariff is not needed for our manufactories. See what one protected manufacturer says in the clipping I enclose.
You can satisfy yourself as to tho truth
of it by writing to Mr.  Stahl or Farquhar.
Give the people of this country equal
advantages and we will lead the world.
We need no tariff for protection at all, a
tariff for revenue is enough. The farmers
of this country are selling their surplus
wheat, corn, and cotton in competition
with the cheapest labor of the world, and
there is as much brain and capital engaged
in the manufactories as there is in farming. If the men in the minesandfactories
are inferior to the men on the farms it is
because the mill lord has imported ignorant Poles and Hungarians to do his
work. It is an insult to any intelligent
American to say we are inferior and need
"protection" from any European country.
Instead of needing "protection" we can
give them odds and beat them at any
thing, from a foot race to a feat at arms.
School, 111. E. G.
Following  is the  clipping referred  to:
THE TRUTH FROM HEADQUARTERS.
One of the largest manufacturers of
farming implements in the United States
is A. B. Farquhar, President of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Works, at York, Pa.
He is one of the largest exporters of American agricultural implements in this
country. In reply to the question ho says
in the Farmers' Call:
"The 'fact' is that our protective laws
are a monstrous swindle upon the agricultural community. As a manufacturer I
was inclined to say nothing upon the subject, for the reason that it was natural to
suppose if anybody was benefited it was
the manufacturing class, to which I belong. But, as I have explained, the farmer
is being destroyed. We are "killing the
goose for the golden egg. And I honestly
believe now that it is to tho interest of the
manufacturers themselves to eliminate
the protective feature from our tariff laws.
"Certainly our manufactures are sold
much lower abroad; we could only need
protection to get better prices from our
customers at home. We do manufacture
and sell in Canada, South America and
Europe many agricultural implements
and machines, and could we have free raw
material and the commercial advantages
which free trade would give us, America
would become the great manufacturing
emporium of the world and the farmer, of
course, would share the prosperity, since
he would have less to pay for everything
and get better prices for all he sold. Go on
with your good work. When the farmer
begins to think and rise up against this
swindle it is doomed".
—We had supposed that tho prices
which the mauufacturers quoted in Spanish American and other foreign papers
were thoso charged dealers and not consumers, and that they were the regular
prices to the trade here and everywhere.
If we wore mistaken we shall be obliged
to anyone who will set us right.
The papers in which the advertisements
copied by the N. Y. World appeared are
trade journals, and not intended for general circulation, and are read by dealers
and not consumers. It is true tho prices
quoted give a good liberal margin for pro-
tit, but this is the rule when such articles
are bought on credit and at retail. If farmers want to get bottom figures from manufacturers they can do so by bulking their
orders and paying cash.
If, as our correspondent believes, our
implement makers are selling their goods
to foreigners cheaper than to home consumers, it is time the peoplo should know
the fact, and act accordingly.—Eds.
 «  *»  ,	
A Trip Into Texas.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
The writer having recently returned
from a trip through a portion of tho Stato
of Texas, by way of the Denver and Ft.
Worth and the Texas and Pacific railroads,
can testify to a feeling of open mouthed
wonder, at the view of tne mammoth
State, and its wonderful resources. To
convey even a faint idea of the soil, climate, products and commercial advantages of the State would require a volume,
and even then the dwellers of the East,
hemmed in by mountains, forests and
streams, would consider an exhaustive
compilation of the wonderful advantages
of Texas in the light of fiction, fairy lore,
or "Nebraska lies." The State of Texas
has long been known for its vast extent
and cattle interests, but very few of our
readers have the least comprehension of
either its vastness or its many and varied interests.
All lands that are destitute of trees, resemble one another, on account of their
uniformity of surface. It is only necessary, as on the sea, to scan the horizon to
to find proofs of the earth's rotundity.
The tops of distant trees and hills appear
first, then as we approach they rise until
trunks and bases are seen. The motionless surface of the plain slopes down toward the horizon like the back of an immense shield, while above stretches the
enormous dome of the atmosphere, with
its varied play of light and shade,its clouds
chasing each other, now collecting, now
dispersing, drawing out into horizontal
lines and gatheringagaininto dark masses.
The Texas plains are unsurpassed by
any others for scenic grandeur. The
flowering grasses growing on them, wave
and quiver in the wind like the ripple of
the waves, and the clumps of trees are
dotted about like islands. Here and there
the islands are grouped'into archipelagoes,
and the arms of the prairie fork out and
unite like arms of a grassy sea. One single prairie is often so vast that as far as
the eye can reach not a tree can be seen,
and then again the clumps of trees follow
one another in rapid succession. Along
the Texas and Pacific railroad are about 3,-
500,000 acres of land granted by the State
to this road, comprising some of the finest
land in a most beautiful portion of the
State. They are all adopted to stock raising, fruit growing or farming. The eastern portion of this section is particularly
good; fruit growing and farming may be
extensively carried on without irrigation.
It is well watered and exceedingly fertile.
The rainfall averages from 25 to 30 inches
yearly and good crops are grown five years
out of seven.
In choosing a new home, where we may
have room for growth and development,
we are usually advised to go west, and by
that term we generally understand west
to mean Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado and
Kansas. All these States have their advantages of soil, water, or climate, some have
soil and climate, but no water; others
plenty of water but a severe climate. In
removing from the older settled East with
its advantages of culture and education,
we wish to combine all the good points
possible in the new home selected. We
want good soil fine, healthy climate,plenty
and cheap fuel, with capabilities for farming, fruit growing, forestry and grazing,
and a section that combines all these attributes may bo found east of the Colorado
river in Texas, along tho Texas and Pacific
railroad. This land lies bctweon the
Brazos and Colorado rivers, and is well
watered by the tributaries of these great
streams.
The land is a series of prairies rising to
the westward from 100 to 200 feet. The
soil is a sandy loam, black in some places,
chocolate brown in others and bright red
in others, all exceedingly fertile, as was
testified by the growing crops thereon.
The products are cotton, corn, oats,
wheat and fruits. Water for household
use is obtained from wells from 30 to 00
feet deep. Considerable timbor may be
found, especially along the banks of tho
streams, among varieties noticed wero
elm, pecan, hackberry and mesquite.
The elevation is from 750 to 2,2!. feet and
is considered very healthy.
Travelling westward botwoen the Colorado and Pecos rivers wo cross 1,000,000
acres of this same land grant, located in 15
counties, and whilo not as favorably situated as the eastern portion still it presents
many advantages to the home seeker^
The greater part of this section is devoted
to the raising of horses, sheep and cattle,
farming as yet being somo w hat experimental. In somo localities fruit growing
is receiving considerable attention, with
great promise for the future. The people
of the State are waking up to their own
interests and companies are being organized to induce immigration and to encourage agriculture, horticulture, vino growing and general farming in these unoccupied districts, also to prepare for irrigation
when this is found necessary. Some experiments have shown that within this
section nearly every product of the temperate zone finds suitable soil and climato.
The raisin grape, standard American and
European grapes, as well as apples,
peaches, prunes, quinces and blackberries,
flourish.
Farther west the grant covers a portion
of the Llano Escado or Staked Plain.
Here irrigation is necessary for farming,
and the principle occupation of the people
is stock raising. Water may be obtained
at from 10 to 100 feet and several tracts
cultivated in fruits are showing satisfactory results. The altitude is greater and
it is notably healthful, particularly to
those suffering from lung and throat
troubles.
Twenty thousand acres havo. already been placed under irrigation in the
past year. The trees and vines are in a
flourishing condition and from two to four
crops are grown yearly.
This section is a part of what Is known
as the Pan-handle of Texas and consists of
prairies intersected by tracts of broken
country containing rugged hills and gorges. The prairies are covered with a variety of rich grasses, among which may be
mentioned the mesquite and gramma,
blue stem, bunch sedge and buffalo. The
ravines contain pools and streams of water,
which seldom dry up. July 15th corn was
already in shock, and from almost every
station fruits, watermelons, cantaloupes,
peaches and grapes, tomatoes, cabbages
and other vegetables  were being shipped.
We are indebted to Jlr. W. H. Abrams,
land commissioner, Dallas, Texas, for
much valuablo information in regard to
this section of the State. A. 11. H.
Pontiac, 111.