VOL. XXVIII.
INDIANAPOLIS. IND. DEC. 2, 1893.
NO. 48.
Farmers' Institutes for 1803-4.
Editobs Indiana Fakiikb*
As the season for holding farmers' institutes is approaching permit me again to
call the attention of tbe readers of the
Farmer to the Institute work.
Preparations for the coming season were
begun in the early summer and notwithstanding the engrossing interest in the
World's Fair during the period of its exis
tence, there has been a prompter response
from local officers than ln any previous
year. As a result the general arrangements are complete for the institute season
of 1893-4. With a single exception, due to
the death of the chairman, local institute
. officers have been appointed and are at
work actively preparing for their respective institutes in every county in the
State. There will be better preparation
for and more thorough advertising of the
institutes than in any previous year, and
judging from the encouraging tone of the
correspondence we shall have a more
highly successful series of institutes the
coming winter than ever before in, the
State.
AN  EFFICIENT CORPS OF INSTITUTE WORKERS SECURED.
I An able corps of experienced and earnest
institute workers will vie with the local
oflicers in making the several institutes
an assured success. A very large proportion of the workers are not only practical
men, but highly successful farmers who
will be able to contribute much from their
fund of experience that will be helpful to
their fellow-farmers.
THE WORK WILL BE THOROUGHLY PRACTI
CAL.
The aim of the general and local managements and of the institute speakers is
to make the institute work practically
helpful to farmers generally in solving the
many perplexing questions with which
they have to deal. The results of the rip
est experience, keenest observation and
earnest study of the principles and practices of successful agriculture will be
brought out at the institutes. An especial
effort will be made to conduct the work on
a plane within the reach of the farmers ot
small means. In other words, the [aim
will be to make the work most helpful to
those wlio most need help. With this end
in view the farmers everywhere are urged
to
ATTEND THE INSTITUTES.
Every one should go prepared to con
tribute something from his experience
whether of success or of failure. The institutes will not be conducted as a pouring on
process, but rather for the purpose of
drawing out the experience of the most
successful and.the reasons for any failures
that may have occurred. It is therefore
expected that the local workers in the several counties will heartly join with the
outside speakers and by an earnest interchange of experiences and observations
bring out and disseminate a knowledge of
the most successful practice. The institutes will prove exceedingly valuable to
young farmers and to young men about
to engage in farming, who should not neglect the opportunity thus afforded to equip
themselves more fully to achieve success
in their calling.
THE INS'ITIUTE   SEASON WILL OI*EN   IN DECEMBER.
Active work will begin early in December. In view of the small attendance at
most of the November Institutes in previous years, it has been decided not to begin
active worklthe present season until De
comber. It is hoped in this way to avoid
the rush of fall work so that from the first
the attendance may be large. The farmers everywhere are urged to make their
arrangements to attend not a single session only, but the entire institute in their
respective counties and in as many others
as are within their reach.   In most cases
these institutes come but once a year and
special effort should be made to attend them not only for practical benefits, but for the opportunity they afford
for enlarging the acquaintance with the
most successful and intelligent farmers in
the State.
The dates and places of the December institutes are given below and full program
ot the several meetings will be found ln
the local papers.
Every ono should note carefully the
time and place of the institute in his own
county and plan to attend both days.
Agriculture  and   Fruit   Growing: in the
New State of Washing-ton.
Editobs Indiana Fabmeb:
Here Is a country In the Coumbla River
Valley where agriculture and fruit farming is now actually yiolding more net
profit on 20 acres than my farm of '110
acres in Central Illinois yielded. The
country is yet new, and yet there are a
few farms here which have been cultivated for several years, and this is the result. The secret Is this productive valley
soil and irrigation. Something of the
wonderful productions of this new State
of Washington was seen no doubt by
scores of your readers at the World's Fair.
This lack of knowledge as to particular
localities has boen productive of keen disappointment in the past to many persons
who have come to the State and who have
come to the wrong localities for the occupation they desired to engage in. West of
ths Cascade range of mountains the climate is cool and moist. It is a great lumbering and fishing region. The heavy
timber makes it difficult to establish
farms, but there is considerable farming
done. In going east from the moist
"sound country" one no sooner reaches
the eastern slopes of the Cascades than the
rapid thinning out and final disappearance of the timber ahd setting in of sage
brush in the valleys and over the rolling
hills proclaim the reign of a different set
of conditions. The dry, semi-arid belt
now extends with its wave-like undulations to and beyond the Columbia basin
of iCentral-southern Washington eastward until the elevation of its rim along
the plains and foothills* of the Cocur d'
Alenes again brings sufficient rainfall to
grow the great crops of wheat which have
made the Palouse country celebrated for
Its productiveness.
The moist eastern and western thirds
of the State were the first to be settled
upon, and for years tho dry, ashy, comminuted soils of the Columbia basin were
only an eyesore and burden to the traveler across the continent as the trains
wended their way across its monotonous,
wear.* miles enveloped in heat and clouds
of dust, until capital unlocked the treasure house of nature by the buildiDg of canals which have led the water from the
great rivers which flow across the plain
along the foothills to develop the latent
fertility of the land and grow crops which,
for profit, have surpassed the expectations
of their most sanguine projectors. Nature
had combined an ideal soil and heat to
grow the highest-priced fruits and vegetables. But one element was wanting—
water, the key that has made it possible
for a dense and prosperous population to
occupy what had been before an arid
waste.
A dozen different irrigation enterprises
are now under way in Southern Washington, but the only large one that is completed is the Sunnyside canal that waters
the northern slope of the Yakima River
some miles above its confluence with the
Columbia. This river, rising among the
snow-clad peaks and glaciers of the Cascade range, carries a rushing volume of
clear, ice-cold water across the warm Sunnyside plain to the Columbia, but the canal diverts enough of its waters to irrigate
100 sections of land with a soil from 55 to
80 feet deop, of even quality, and which is
now being rapidly transformed from its
primeval condition of dusty, sage-covered
barrenness to fruit orchards, hop yards
and alfalfa fields. And the profits of
farming by Irrigation on the desert soil
and in this climate of long, warm summers and short, mild winters, and their
largeness tests the credulity of one not
accustomed to thoso parts of our country
not producing products of a high money
value per acre.
The results of farming under the conditions found here cannot help but have one
effect—to convince one that rainfall ls a
mighty poor substitute for irrigation, for
here it is not a question that there can be a
short crop or a failure; the perfect control
water insures the largest crop possible
every year, and there Is no possibility of
untimely rain injuring them after they
raised. But it is the human side of irrigation that most strongly appeals to me. A
10 or 20 acre farm makes its owner not
only a good living, but lays up "a siller"
for a rainy day. Therefore, neighbors are
near to each other and the :i0 miles of land
under the canal is becoming one vast village with schools, churches, and that cultivated society caused by nearness of
neighbors to each other.
We residents under the canal are just
going through that Interesting phase of
American settlement of new countries—
the starting of a now town, Sunnyside,
where the land irrigated by the canal Is
nino miles wide and where it is surrounded by over 50 sections capable of irrigation. They are surveying the town now;
the resident plots will be one acre in size
for those who want the advantage of living ln town and yet desire to be surrounded by fruit and grass plots.
A lot of people around here have been
watching for it to be started for over a
year and they are having considerable
difficulty keeping them off until the survey has been completed, and about Jan. 1
a new town will be born with its business
houses, dwellings, schools and churches
in the midst of a country settling densely
with farmers who, from their fruit, hops
and vegetables, make as much fiom one
acre as an Eastern farmer will from 10 to
20 acres. D. R. McGinnis.
Sunnyside, YaMma Co., Wash., Nov. 15
 ^ ♦ .
The Army Worm and Birds.
Editobs Indiana Fabhbb:
The following singular occurrence, related by an old settler of this county,,hap-
penedsome 40 years ago: At that period
the army worm appeared in vast numbers,
defoliating and destroying every green
thing in their path. The wheat, oats,
corn and meadows presented an appearance as If lire had par-sod over the fields.
Farmers had just about given up In despair, when one morning myriads of birds
mado their appearance and commenced to
devour the worms, and within two days
there was not a worm to be found. The
birds were strangers to the country; never
were seen before nor since. They were a
little larger than the English sparrow, and
had some very peculiar marks on the
head and wings. They were tame and
seemed Indifferent to the presence of man.
They fed in the same manner as- wild
pigeons, and seemed to roll over the fields
like a huge wave, the rear ones rising and
settling down In front, and this was repeated continually, giving the appearance
of a huge wheel rolling along. So effectually did they do their work that the army
worm has never appeared in such vast
numbers since, and have never appeared
except in small numbers and have not
done much harm. They have appeared in
some old meadows this season, and have
defaliated the timothy so as to spoil it for
hay. I noticed that the much-abused
! English   sparrows were busily  feeding
their young on the worms; no mistake
about it. Where their young was fledged
enough they took them to the meadows
with them, and where thoy were too
young they carried as many worms as
their beaks would hold; and so Intent and
industrious were they that they worked
from earliest dawn until the gloom of eve.
Other birds came in for their share, but
the much-detested sparrow has exonerated
himself for his petty thefts of grain and
berries, and has made himself quite a
reputation among the agriculturists for
his aid ln destroying a threatened pest. I
notice that birds are more numerous since
the appearance of the army worm. Birds
of all varieties and species are abundant.
We suppose they are attracted here by the
abundance of available food.
Newton, 111. D. Moffitt.
The Faculty of not Noticing*.
General II. K. Oliver upon being asked
to what one faculty more than to any
other he attributed his success as a disciplinarian, replied promptly "To my
faculty for not noticing." In connection
with this the resporse of a bright woman
In answer to a question concerning the
tendency of woman to constantly say
"Don't" to their children may come In
point.
"The reason why so many woman are
continually checking their children seems
to me," she said laughingly, though with
an undertone of seriousness, "because
women have usually so little chance to
exercise authority that they like to display
whatever shred of power they have. They
usually stand in sufficient awe of their
servants not to pester and tease them with
continual remonstrances; but their children they feel at liberty to check and direct
or try to do so whenever they feel like impressing people."
Now did anyone ever see a woman with
the peculiarity alluded to who was a good
disciplinarian? . I think not. The women
who can hardly see their children move
without saying "Be still," "Don't," or
"How can you!" are almost Invariably the
weak sisters, and their incessant "dinning"
at their helpless subjects soon brings thei*
words into disrespect.
General Oliver's wise words will bear
pondering upon by every teacher and
every mother, for every mother is in one
of her most important capacities only a
teacher too.
Take pains not to see every little thing.
That is, see it but don't say anything
about it. If a child seems to have no
malice, but only to be heedless, do not observe him every time that you see him doing a little something out of the way.
Discriminate carefully between the acts
that require instant and sharp reprimands
and even severe penalty, and the little
misdemeanors which .may be passed over
in love and mercy and wisdom. In other
words, never make your chidings so cheap
and so frequent that they become meaningless to your child. But never pass by a
flagrant offense. A little boy once said to
his younger brother "You'd better not do
that. That's the kind of thing mamma
always whips you for, she never skips
once."
Never "skip once" anything in which a
moral principle is violated. But there are
scores of petty disagreeable things which a
child must be broken of eventually, but
which It wont do to see every ime. It is
an art, this learning how to "not notice,"
but it is one which it will pay everybody
in authority to learn.—Christian at Work.
The State "Veterinarian was called to
Sandborn by a report that pleuro-pneu-
monia had developed among the cattle on
several farms in that vicinity. He found
six head afiUcted.with ["lumpy jaw," and
these animals were killed by his order.