VOL. XXVIII.
INDIANAPOLIS. IND.  DEC, 23, 1893.
NO. 51
Corroll County Institute.
Editobs India**** FabM-SI
Our institut»held at Flora, Deo. 8 and 9,
was a decided success, both in attendance
and interest. "Old Probabilities" favored
ns on Friday, 8th, but on Saturday, Oth,
he was out with his "slicker" on. But
our farmers came out and brought their j
families and dinners with them
to the number of 200 and over.
Oar business men of the county
- and thn county press vied with
each other to make the session a
surce s. The visiting spelters,
Mr. Milt Trusler and Comrade
C. B. Harris, are "rustlers."
The home talent did excellent
work. Mrs. Jennie M. Buckley's paper, "The Hoosler Farmer," was a decided "hit." Mrs.
Backley is fast coming to the
front as a writer on farm and
household topics. The influences
coming from "over the hill" at
Purdue are quickening the pulse
of Corroll county farmers, and
by that greatest of all helps, agricultural papers, have been the
means of bringing to tbe very
threshhold of our farm houses
that school of all schools, the
Farmers' Institute. The institute is becoming popular out
here.
- .Same half dozen samples of-
coin were brought in by our enterprising farmers that could not
be beat in any good corny eat.
They were grown in 1893, and
without rain, too. It was with
pride, borne only by loDg practice in the corn field, that the
growers showed these samples
to Mr. Truster. After reading
his master piece on "Growing
Corn From the Seed to the Crib;"
then his delivery in the sciences,
searching the uttermost corners
of the earth, and then taking his
audience in imagination to Midway Plaisance to the tomb of
Barneses, the dead Egyptian
"corn kine," he said: 'There
lies the only man that ever
knew more abont raising corn
than I do." Then a shade of
disappointment crept over the
veteran corn growers' countenances; then in an undertone to
himself: "Why, I thought lTay-
ette county was the garden spot
of the world for corn, but these
fellows out here are claiming
the same thing."
NEXT MORNING.
On the arrival of Mr. Harris confidence
and good cheer was restored. Promptly
at 10 o'clock the hall was filled with farmers
and their wives, sons and daughters, all
in their holiday attire bent on having a
good time. When called to order two
farmers' daughters came forward to the
organ and gave us some excellent music.
Just at this point Comrade Harris leaned
over to Mr. Trusler and whispered in his
ear: "Say, Milt., what joke is this that
Will Latta is perpetrating on me. He
sent me here to talk In a farmers' institute; we have made a mistake and got
into a church. I have been a dairyman
for nine years, and as yon know, a dairyman has to work 365 days in the year. I
ain't prepared for this. I have attended
several institutes, but I never saw so
many ladies present. This is no institute,
I tell you. I have talked to nearly empty
benches at Institutes, but this takes the
wind right out of me."
Just at this moment Mr. Latta put in
his appearance, and Mr. Harris recovered
from his surprise, and gave us great big
chunks of information on dairying, the
farmer's cows and ensilage, and let me
say to those counties where he has been
assigned this winter: You will find him a
traveling encyclopedia on the above
named subjects, but his one weakness is
his bashfulness in the presence of ladies.
Out here with us there seems to be some
subtile influence at work among our farmers. Whether it be the agricultural papers
must accept the inevitable, or like Rip
Van Winkle, wake up to the fact some
day that the procession has gotten ahead
of him. What's the matter? What's the
remedy? Sit still, growl and complain?
No. "Go West and grow up with the
country?" No; the land out there is all
taken up__Go into politics?   No; all the
BRINGING  HOME TIIE CHRISTMAS TREE.
of Indiana, the Purdue station, the institute, or the great fair at Chicago, or all
these combined working together, that is
working a revolution in the minds of
farmers, I cannot tell;ibut I do know that
all of our best farmers are stepping right
up and putting their shoulders to the
wheel with an alacrity that means business. The gospel seed of improved farming is beginning to germinate. When I
flrst began to farm, 23 years ago, it took
considerable moral courage for a man to
talk about improved methods in farming.
You well remember, Mr. Editor, what a
mountain of ignorance and prejudice the
It* diana Farmer has had to overcome, to
survive and maintain an existence.
Away back in those days when you and a
few other men, now "wheel horses," were
young'a few old pioneers led the "van" of
progressive farmers. I might mention
such names as Wood, Thrasher, Gen. Sol.
Meredith, Charles Lowder, and others
whose names I have forgotten, gave you
encouragement and good cheer, but they
are gone. How I treasured up every wo»d
that emanated from the pens of those good
old men. But I am getting too reminiscent. It is the present with which we
h-sve to deal.   The farmer of the present
places are full and thousands waiting.
What then? You say everything is
crowded. Well, my friend, the remedy
for your tronble is simply to just roll up
your sleeves, and pitch right into what
you know how to do. Work with a determination to win. Stay right with your
farm, night and day. Spend less money
than you make, and you have it, is the
advice of an old man. James Haslet.
Flora.
so   large   and   respectable an  audience.
Mrs. and Senator Mount's papers were of
the best grade and those from home talent'
were not far behind.
There was no lagging in the discussions;
in fact the chair had to call time on many
who, in sf nsible talks were hardly satisfied to give way to the numbers who were
eager (o have a few words in tbe
discussion. Knowing the limited
space you have for such matter
in  your  most valuable paper I
must refrain from giving even
a brief.account of the many good
talks of  the many  parties who
assisted in this  successful institute.
The program was fully carried
out Not a moment of time was
lost during the session. Our representative on the State Board
of Agriculture, W. W. Hamilton took quite an interest in
the meeting, making two responses to papers, and at the
closing gave an Imitation to aU
men, women 'acd children to
attend the next institut)which
is to be heldat Greensburg next
year, saying they would do
equally as well by the visiting
members as was done by the citizens of Lett's Corner.
Your agent, Mr. Powers, was a
conspicuous figure in the ' institute with a load of sample copies and took many subscriptions.
By holding ib.3 institute in
this rural district many good
farmers took part who have
never attended one before, and
so well pleased were they that
next year-will find them in attendance in our capitol town.
I favor the plan of occasionally
holding these meetings away
from the county seats.
And again this school of farm
education causes those of the
rural districts to joinour Farmers' Club which has met monthly
for years in Greensburg and annually at Milroy (the latter being
a district composed of Decatur,
Shelby and Rush counties
meetings.)
Not having received the Farmer of the Oth, we bad no notice
of the road congress of Jan. 10th
and llth, hence no delegate was
elected, but I presume we will
attend to this matter at our regular monthly meeting fourth
Saturday in this month.
Wishing success to onr State agricultural
paper, the Farmer,   I remain &c.,
V. M. Carr,
Hartsviile.    Sec'y Farmers' Institute.
Decatur County Institute.
Editors Indiana Fabmeb:
Not being satisfied with our farmers'
institute last year we resolved to hold the
one this year in one of the rural districts.
Lett's Corner gave ns a pressing invitation
ta hold it there, assuring us of their cordial
support and providing all visitors with
food and lodgingdnring the session. This
they did beyond our expectation. The
dinner on both days was equal to a marriage feast and the committee on entertainment called for all who were visiting
to give their names, that they might be
provided for.
■The Hon. Z, T. Riley, who presided over
thts most successful meeting must have
felt proud when delivering his address to
Most of us laugh at the homely mule
and admire the lordly lion, although one
good mule is worth a thousand thieving lions. Most of us have laughed
at the mule which attempted to look like a
lion and was whipped by his master for
the nonsense. There is something wrong
in the public sentiment which caused that
useful mule to aspire to be a worthless
lion. There is too much disposition among
the people to admire the worthless ideal,
and make light of the useful reality.—Atchison Globe.
When the dairy is not a source of profit
it is pretty certain the fault lies more in
the man than in the business. That the
dairy pays for one man, and does not for
another on sn adjoining farm, is pretty
good proof of this. Compare the products
of the two, and you will be able to locate
the cause of one's success and of the other's
failure.