VOL. XXVIII.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND. DEC, ld, 1893.
NO. 50.
Letter From Washington.
Editors Indiaha Farmer:
I have a great number of enquiries from
the readers of yonr paper in regard to this
section of the new State of Washington.
This Columbia River Valley ls Indeed a
very attractive as well as exceedingly productive country. A great many have expressed the deepest interest in how we Irrigate and how it is that such profits are
made on an acre and again a great many
want to know if the farms here are really
only 10 and 20 acres large.
Our land in its natural condition is dry
as powder for 50 feet down. It has no
grass en it bnt is covered with sage brush
which is easy to clear. The water to irrigate with is taken out of the Yakima in a
very large main canal', then it is tapped
with smaller ones called "laterals" which
ln turn are divided into smaller ones
reaching every man's farm whence it
is turned into a small ditch across the
highest part from whence It flows by
gravitation between the rows. If the land
is smooth the operation is simple, cheap
and easy.
As the returns in the way of profits here
are very large per acre, our farms are
small. Most of them are 10 to 20 acres
with an occasional large owner who has 40
acres. Thus in the section where myself
and brother have our land there are 19
different owners and it is not all sold yet.
They say here it is the water that la
bougnt and the land is "thrown in," for it
is valueless without irrigation, but with it
is immensely productive.
Onr climate and soil are such that we
raise things in endless variety. Hops will
make a paying crop the first year, say 800
to 1,000 pounds or f 150 worth per acre.
The second year they will produce 1,800 to
2,200 pounds an acre or 5300 to 5400 worth
an acre. They require much attention and
-work, but pay well. Our fruits are of the
choicest in quality, size and appearance,
They are of all kinds except oranges and
lemons. Winter apples are the best paying; one man sold 5728 worth per acre but
the average is very much less, say $150 to
(400 worth. Some raise prunes, some cherries and peaches and other pears and small
fruits.
Alfalfa is our great forage crop. It Is cut
in this mild climate four to five times a
year and makes eight to 10 tons of hay an
acre per year. It is first class for all kinds
of stock, including hogs, which eat the hay
like cattle or horses.
Melons, sweet and Irish potatoes, beans,
corn and all the grains and grasses are at
home here, but they do not make as large
profits as hops and fruits.
Oar climate is dry. Crops are raised altogether by irrigation. Farm work begins
in February and March and the summer
is long and warm. The first hard frost
came this year October 25th, and we have
no freeze yet and farmers are plowing and
clearing right along. The winter has little
rain or snow and the ground is not frozen
over five we?ks altogether, and sometimes
not that long.
The soil in the Sunnyside is 55 to 80 feet
deep and it is a brown loam with enough
sand to keep it from baking under irrigation, and it is bo mellow that two horses
can pull a plow with ease. Plenty of good
well water is found at 55 to 90 feet; the
water in the canal is pure, clear and good,
and can be used for all purposes; in the Irrigating season streams of water How all
over the country. The least anyone should
try to start a farm of 10 acres with ls ?600,
and 20 acres will require at least 5300 to
start with. This ls calculating that a man
does his own work. A good crop here can
be had the first season. There is no tough
sod, and the ground is in condition from
the start.
Horses are cheap, and so are cattle; a
good team can be bought for 5100, and a
cow for 515 to $25. ■ Our conditions are altogether different from the Mississippi
Valley. Here there are great differences
in climate and soil in different parts of the
State, and even between different valleys.
This is caused by the mountain ranges and
elevation. Some parts ot the State are
heavy timber, and others are prairie. Some
valleys raise only grain and grass; others,
like this, are warm and all products of
temperate climates are raised in great variety. This is the warmest valley north
of California, and the newest. It is settling very fast with a fine class of. people.
Most of them are from other parts of the
Pacifio Coast, but now we are getting
many homeseekers from east of the
Rockies, as they are beginning to find out
the advantages of irrigation.
Sunnyside, Wash.      D. R. McGinnis.
 .  »	
An Interesting: Farmers' Institute.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Tbe farmers' institute held at Logansport, Cass county last week was a success
in every respect except in one particular.
There were not as many ladies present as
should have been.
Messrs. Trusler and Harris read interesting papers; and the discussion of the papers
was spirited. Cass county has many intelligent, enterprising farmers.
A very pleasing and as we think a most
profitable feature of this institute was a
"Farmers' experience meeting," from 9:30
to 10:30 a. m. It was understood that all
present could ask any question pertaining
to agriculture or call out any one present
to give their experience, and that none of
the speeches should exceed three minutes.
It was a free lance and every minute of
the time was occupied by the members
and many good things were brought ont
that otherwise would have been lost.
The old officers were elected to serve
another year. Thornton Tyson, president,
and Mr. Guthrie, secretary. They have
resolved to hold monthly meetings for the
next four months. J. J. W. B.
said fence, and if the township trustee
shall declare the fence insufficient, then
the trustee must employ some person to
rebuild or repair the same, and the cost
thereof shall be a lien on the land of A,
and may be enforced by suit.
My neighbor's land drains onto mine.
A five inch tile will carry off the water
from mine, but it will take one twice as
large to carry off his overflow and mine
too. He will not help pay the expense of
tiling.   Can I compel him to do so?
C. F. P.
If he will not agree to put in tile then
your only remedy is to petition the county
commissioners to establish a publio drain
or ditch for your land and his and any
others that are interested.
(StUCXtiX "&&X08.
A and B own adjoining farms where
there is an old road running through to
the creek. Where it overflows A has a
hedge fence on his side of the road. B has
a plank fence. A wants to know if B can
cross the line and join to his hedge fence.
Also can B compel A to make half of the
fence on tho line where A wants his hedge
fence? A Subscbiber.
We think this was answered a week or
two since, but we answer again.
1st.   No.
2d. No. A has the right to maintain
his own fence on his own land.
Mntt 2L«id s.
gfte 'gxxm.
Postal Oard Correspondence.
LaPorte Co., Dec. 0 We have now had
good sleighing for about one and a half
weeks, bat now thawing some; wheat still
covered up good; stock doing well, and
business dull. Mrs. B. A. Davis.
Lawrence Co.—Corn is mostly gathered and makes two-thirds of a crop; hogs
scarce; stock in good condition; plenty of
old wheat in the granaries; wheat in the
ground under the sleet in delicate condition. D. L. Sheets.
North Dakota, Osaqo, Nelson Co.,
Dec. 6 —Foster's predictions regarding the
weather during the first part of this
month have been verified here in a mild
form. We have had a slight sprinkle of
snow on two days since December began.
Our cold snap came on Wednesday and
Thursday, the 29th and 30th ult.; thermometer marked 30° below zero on
Thanksgiving day. We had quite a fall of
snow, about four inches, a few days before, and this with a brisk wind made
quite a blizzard, vl^aather fierce and fair
to-day; wagons are still in nse on the
traveled roads. P..C. H.
%nxa gtpvxxtmmt.
Three years ago B bought a farm adjoining A. The line fence not being sufficient to turn stock B immediately repaired
what belonged to the former owner. B.
has asked A at different times to repair his
part of the fence. How long notice will A
need to have before B repairs the fence
himself, and how can he collect- the
money? Rush Codnty Subscriber.
Give A three days notice that you will
call upon the township trustee to examine
Seventy-five cases of the grip are reported in the prison north.
A fall of 16 inches of snow was reported
last week in Elkhart county.
Beecham's Pills Instead of sloshy mineral waters.
Six members of the opium and Chinese
smuggling ring at Portland, Ore., have
pleaded guilty.
Mrs. Andrew Dlnwiddie, of Madison, 84
years old, died of injuries received by a
fall down a stairway.
Capt. R. A. Riley, the father of James
Whltcomb Riley, died at his home in
Greenfield on the 6th.
William Moore, a pioneer resident of
Delaware county, died at the Soldiers'
Home, at Marlon last week.
Crawford county lost a valuable citizen
in the death of John Landiss, of Sterling
township.   He was 89 years old.
Henry Adair, in attempting to cross the
railway tracks near Centerville, was struck
by a passing train and seriously injured.
The five-year-old child of Wm. Wll-
hoyte, near Jeffersonville, was burn to
death, her clothing catching fire from an
opetf grate.
Henry Bruner and wife, of Greencastle,
who died within half an hour of each
other, were buried in one grave. Their
married life covered a period of 62 years.
Jesse F. Cool, of Hamilton township,
Jackson county, not returning home at
the expected time, a search was instituted,
and he was found to have been killed by a
falling tree.
The war of the New York Mercantile
Exchange against the illegal sale of oleo-
margerine continues to be waged without
mercy. During the past two months
nearly 100 cases have been successfully
prosecuted and one-half that number are
still awaiting judicial action.
Mrs. Patsy Foutz, of Boston township;
Wayne cpunty, has celebrated her eighty-
fourth birthday. She is the first female
white child born in Wayne county now
living, and she has resided in the home
now occupied by her for 72 years. Her
father was one of the first sheriffs of
Wayne.county.
Prendergast, the slayer of Mayor Harrison, of Chicago, was placed on trial last
week.
Seven hundred families at Springfield,
Mo., have applied for food and fuel to the
township trustee.
The business portion of Creal Springs,
111., was destroyed by fire. The losses
aggregate 550,000.
Kansas farmers have given their alliance
a political cast by deciding to take in
laborers and mechanics.
Mrs. MacReady, of Florence, Kas., is
suffering from hydrophobia taken from a
chicken that had been bitten.
Twenty-five deaths from grip have been
reported at Leavenworth, Kas., in the past
10 days.   The disease is almost epidemic.
The Supreme Court of Missouri has decided that option dealing is gambling, and
that such transactions, under the law, are
absolutely void.
Governor Rich, of Michigan, may call a
special session of the Legislature to consider the matter of relief for the Upper
Peninsula miners.
The new cruiser Marblehead showed an
average speed of 19 knots an hour on her
trial trip. This will entitle her builders
to a premium of 5175,000.
The Emperor of Germany is negotiating
for the purchase of the champion yacht
Vigilant, with the purpose of taking her
to England to rnn in the international
regatta there next year;
The new Brazilian cruisuer America,
which recently sailed from New York, is
lying disabled at Bridgetown, Barbadoes,
with a broken valve, the work of some
traitor among the crew.
Barn Yard  Manure  Deficient in Phos.
,    phoric Acid and Potash.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Barnyard manure is ordinarily looked
upon as- a general and complete, manure,
and in the sense of supplying the most
| needed elements of plant food, such is
true. Yet it seldom, if ever, contains
these plant food ingredients in the proportions which have been found to give the
best results.
Farmyard manure contains (according
to the animal and food consumed) from .4
to .8 per cent of nitrogen, .2 to .4 per cent
of phosphoric sold, and .3 to .6 per cent of
potash; piactieally twice as much nitrogen as phosphoric acid, and considerably
more than of potash. This is too nitrogenous for a well balanced fertilizer, and
anyone using barn yard manure does well,
therefore, to use acid phosphate and potash salts in addition.
Farm manures usually deficient In potash, such as those produced from corn
meal, silage and stover, and hay from the
grasses generally, and especially when fed
with nitrogenous food, should always be
applied in conjunction with fertilizers
containing larger amounts of potash and
phosphoric acid.
A still better plan Is to sprinkle these
materials In the stable and upon the dung
heap, and thus a double benefit is obtained
by preventing the escape of ammonia from
the manure. Potash salts are especially
solnble ln this respect, and when so used
no leaching must under any circumstances
be allowed as they will be easily washed
out of the pile to the detriment of the manure. K. A. L.
The two-year-old daughter of Albert
Preston, a farmer living near Petersburg,
was so badly burned Thanksgiving day
that she will not recover.