VOL. XXVIII.
..•
INDIANAPOLIS. IND.  OCT. 21, 1893.
NO. 42.
Thirty-Third Annual Meeting of Indiana
Horticultural Society.
Editobs Indiana Farmer:
Heretofore this society has met in annual session in December. Since the society of Indiana florists has recently been
holding very successful exhibitions of
chrysanthemums and other ilowers in November, it has been decided by this society
to hold its annual meetings hereafter at a
time coincident with the chrysanthemum
show. The coming annual meeting will
therefore be held on Wednesday, Thursday
and Friday, the 8th, 9th and 10th of November. A grand pomological exhibit to
be made under the auspices of the society
has al_o been provided for, and by mutual
arrangement, this exhibit will be held in
connection with the chrysanthemum show.
Thn business meetings of the society
will be held in our own room at the State
capitol, as heretofore, while the fruit exhibit will be made, as above indicated,
with the floral show in Tomlinson Hall at
the corner of Delaware and Market streets.
Although an off year, it is to be hoped
that the liberal premiums offered will
bring together a creditable exhibition of
fruits, while the combined show of fruits
and flowers, together with cheap railroad
rates, should attract the attention and at
tendance of all lovers of horticulture.
The program herewith presented is one
of the best ever offered the public. Several
names distinguished in horticultural oir-
cle3"_rom without the State, and much of
our best home talent are embraced in the
list, while the topics are diversified and
interesting. In addition to the names and
topics presented reports and voluntary
papers are due and expected from the several vice-presidents, from local societies
and from others throughout the State.
Through the existing arrangement with
the society of Indiana florists, who have
the business management of the joint exhibition of fruits and ilowers, all members
of the Indiana Horticultural Society, who
were members for the year past (1892-3)
will be admitted to tbe exhibition free, on
certificates of such membership to be furnished by the secretary. This arrangement
will doubtless be continued, the bare possibility of which should stimulate a large
additional membership for the current
year.
In consideration of tbe meeting occurring as it does at the time of the Chrysanthemum show, which attracts attendance
from all sections of the State, our people
can enjoy the usual privilege of a half-fare
rate on all roads within the State and leading direct to Indianapolis. Tickets will be
sold at this low rate on the 8th, 9th and
10th.
The first regular session will be held in
the lecture room of the State Board of Agriculture, at 2o'clock p. m.,on Wednesday
the 8th, when Governor Matthews will address the Society.       C. M. Hobbs, Pres.
W. H. Raqan, Sec'y.
LIST OF TOPICS AND contributors.
Annual address, O. M. Hobbs, President,
Bridgeport.
Secretary's report, W. H. Ragan, Greencastle.
Treasurer's report, W. A. Workman,
Greencastle.
Edible. Fungi—A great waste of vegetable food in Indiana, Iiucien M. Underwood, DePauw University, Greencastle.
Why 1 am a horticulturist? W. W.
Farnswortt, Secretary State Horticultural
Society, Waterville, Ohio.
Fruit lands of southeastern Indiana,
Amos W. Butler, Brookville.
The future of commercial orcharding,
Hon. H. M. Dunlap, Secretary State Horticultural Society, Savoy, 111.
Observations on a recent trip to the Pacifio Coast, J. B. Burris, Cloverdale.
Horticultural implements and'ma-*bi*-
eryatthe World's Fair, Sylvester John
son, Irvington.
Report of Purdue Univewity, Sylvester
Johnson, Trustee, Irvington.
Orcharding in the pocket. John B. Elliott, New Harmony.
Plant trees, James P. Applegate, New
Albany.
Fruit growing in Harrison county, Dr.
W. H. Reader, New Amsterdam.
Spraying as a means of protecting our
fruit, James Troop, Purdue University,
Lafayette.
Cultivation vs. Irrigation, E. Y. Teas,
Irvington.
On the Migration of Birds.
Editors Indiana Farher:
The subject of migration of birds is one
of great interest and of infinite possibilities to the student. With what regularity
do certain forms leave their summer
homes in the temperate and frigid realms
and traverse the great expanse of plain
and wood and ocean to far within the
tropics, thore spending the colder parts of
the year, returning to the same breeding
ground when summer approaches! Un
erringly they pursue long lines of migration, as though following beaten paths,
for thousands of miles. O'er river and
lake and sea, o'er marsh and mountain
and meadow they fly.   So accurate is the
fields of the Southern States. Next fall
they will return with their bright colors
deadened by the touch of the northwind,
but we will know them by their voices.
The impression which may prevail that
the winter residents are smaller than the
summer forms is erroneous. The Shore-
larks, which winter with us, represent the
same species which is resident in summer
and the northern form which is larger.
The idea that many birds migrate at night
is correct.
Some winters the Robins.Meadow Larks,
Klrgfishera, Killdeers, Redheaded Woodpeckers and Ohewinks remain with us.
Other years thoy pass to the southward.
Even when they are here, some years they
seem to the casual observer to have left;
yet the inquisitive lover of birds knows
his little friends are to be found, even in
inclement weather, though they do not appear to the uninitiated. To such a one a
protected thicket, a deep ravine, an unexposed hillside, a dense wood land, as his
tramp leads through such out-of-the-way
places, is found to be inhabited by forms
which have disappeared to many eyes
The instinct which calls upon some to seek
the better feeding grounds, the warmer
places of earth, bas impelled these to well
protected spots and localities where food
may be most easily obtained.
The Catbird, Blackbird, Chipping Spar-
prepare for winter or return for spring. A
call that must be answered, an inherent
demand that comes to each individual
through the accumulated experiences of
the past which it cannot disobey.
Brookville, Ind. A. W. Butler.
chart, so true the compass of instinct, that I . _,,    , ,    . ,...,    ,    ..
,  ' , V    ,,    , .'.       I row and Phu_be  go but   a little farther
each returning annual pilgrimage brings | **"
the little    wanderers    to  their   former
homes. When the frosts touch the maple
leaves and tinge the woods with bright
autumn colors we miss some of our little
friends. Day after day as the daylight
grows shorter others follow where they
led, until, when the snows come, many
of the summer's songsters have left us.
These have sought tbe regions best suited
to their condition in winter; where the
food supply is more abundant or more
easily obtained. Others from farther
north have taken their places. These, to
us, are winter residents. To our friends
farther northward, they are summer residents; between us there ls a region where
they are known as migrants. Among
these latter birds which spend a part or
the whole winter in our States are the
Juneo or Black Snowbird, one form of
Shorelark,' Tree Sparrows, the Sapsucker
or Yellow-bellied Woodpecker, rarely the
White Snowbird or Snowflake, the Snowy
Owl and the Bohemian Waxwing. Their
summer homes are far north of us.
Some of the forms, perhaps most of
them, which are with us the whole year
round are not represented winter, spring,
summer and autumn by the same individuals. In winter the Song sparrows
among the garden shrubbery or in the
willow thickets are not particularly numerous, but late in March and early April
a host of" Song sparrows have appeared
from the milder climate of Tennessee and
neighboring States. Their numbers aie
very noticeable, but they, with many, perhaps all, of those who wintered with us,
have passed on farther north. The usual
number remains to keep house, rear a
family and cheer hnmanity with their
songs. With October those who spent
their summers farther north return, and,
as the frosts succeed dews and snows succeed frosts, they gradually pass by to favorite winter homes, leaving the individuals we knew the past winter with their
children, our companions through the
colder part of the year.' The American
Goldfinch that appears with the apple
leaves in April in lemon-yellow dress
with black cap and wings, comes from the
Southland to replace other more hardy
relatives of his by the same name, who
were hardly recognized by many of U3 for
the plain winter dross they wore. Well,
they passed on northward just a day or
two before these brighter-appearing one9
arrived from the pine groves and cotton
south, some years lingering along the Ohio
river.
The Marsh Wrens, Redwinged Blackbird, Hermit Thursh and some times the
beautiful little ruby crowned Kinglet, and
eccentric little blue gray Gnatcatcher lingers along the gulf coast, while all the north
is snow bound.
Other birds go farther on their winter
journey. The Baltimore Orioles go as far
as Panama. Our Cheery Bobolink with
"his quaker wife," both plainly clad when
cold comes nigh, visit tbe West Indies and
South America. The King bird reaches
the West Indies and Bolivia. The Night
Hawk covers the same islands and Eastern
South America. The Cerulean Warbler,
on the contrary, visits Cuba, Central
America and Western South America.
Kirtland's rare warbler winters only in the
Bahama's. The little spotted Sandpiper
visits Brazil. The bluewing Teal extends
its journey to Equador, and Swainson's
Thrush to Peru.
Some make more extended tours even
than these. The American Golden Plover,
a well known game bird, which breeds in
the northern part of our continent, when
winter holds the northern hemisphere in
his cold grasp, is found as far away as
Patagonia. While the Knot, a coast bird
which breeds in very high northern latitudes, the eggs of which were taken by the
members of the Greely Arctic expedition
at Ft. Conger, about north latitude 82 degrees, ranges through all the southern edge
hemisphere during our winter. Thus it
will be observed migration may mean the
trip to the protected thicket in the vicinity
of wild grapes, hackberries, and weed
patches laden with seed at the southern edge
of the farm, or the almost endless voyaging of some shore birds across every one of
the earth's zones. It may mean a' change
of individuals; a moving of those which
summer with us a little farther south and
a filling of their places by others of the
same kind from a Uttle farther north. It
may mean a restlessness which some years
impels the Bob White to move southward
a few miles, or again to leave the hills and
congregate in the valleys, or the reverse.
Many times they fly into towns and becoming confused enter houses and stores,
and are readily caught in the hand. It
may meau the slow movement of the short
winged warblers and wrens, or the rapid
flight of the Swallow, aad wild Pigeon. Its
cause is the instinct which tells them to
Sales From  an  Indiana Farm ln  1803. ■
Editors Indiana Farmee:
In compliance with your request I send
you the prices at which I have marketed
the principal products of my farm during
the current year. It may tend as an argument in favor of diversified farming as a
means of more perfectly utilizing all that
the farm produces, and also out of a variety of farm products have something to
meet the varied demands of the market,
thereby broadening the opportunities in
studying tbe markets and enlarging possibilities of success.
Sold the first of June 78 head of fat
sheep, 5G being yearling wethers; price, 5
cents a pound, or $5 55 per head; 22 ewes
at 4 cents a pound, or $4 68 apiece.
At the same time, one carload of hogs,
50 head, at 7 cents a pound.
Wool, about 1,700 pounds, at 20 cents a
pound.
Three yearling heifers, §18 apiece.   .
Three horses, prices, 590, $85, ?125, or an
average of J100.
Sold my last year's crop of wheat in
June at 61 cents a bushel. I could have
sold the same wheat at threshing time for
74 cents a bushel. My present wheat crop
I will market next spring, as that for several years has been my time for selling.
Sold my clover saed at §5 per bushel.
I have contracted 160 head of hogs for
November at &\i cents a pound.
-1 have contracted 100 fat sheep after
shearing next spring at 4% cents a pound.
He who scans these sales will see that I
have marketed and contracted fat hogs and
sheep at good prices, while horses, yearling heifers, wool and wheat brought only
fair prices. It will be observed that the
largest sales were at the best prices. He
who does general farming has the opportunity to forecast markets and concentrate, for the time, his energies toward the
products promising best returns.
I have contracted all my yearling sheep,
both ewes and wethers. I regard the
prospective legislation in favor of "free
wool" as damaging to sheep husbandry. I
shall not quit the business nor sacrifice
my sheep to ruinous prices as many
farmers are doing this fall. I shall breed
over 100 ewes this fall.
I have 19 head of high-grade two-year-
old Shorthorn steers that I shall feed this
winter in anticipation of good prices next
summer. I shall breed 60 sows, and shall
continue to raise good draft horses.
The crops of my farm are good for this
year. I planted myself 110 acres of corn,
80 acres on low, black land, well drained.
I hoped for a yield of 75 bushels per acre,
but owing to intense drouths my yield
will be but 40 bushels.
One hundred acres of wheat, part sown
by myself and pftrt rented, made 2,000
bushels. This was all seeded in the corn.
The intense drouth made it necessary
for me to feed all my stock during September. I determined to made the best of
the situation and not be compelled to sell
any poor stock; hence I have cut 90 acres
of corn and shall utilize the fodder in wintering my stock, and save, as far as possible, my corn to produce fat stock for market. Fat stock during the winter and
next spring will bring good prices.
J. A. Mount.
To vaccinate or not is the question of the
hour at Yorktown, and until it is decided
finally some parents who do not view
with friendliness the idea of compulsory
vaccination will withhold their children
from school.