VOL. LIV.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., JUNE 17, 1899.
NO. 24
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Experience    in    Sowing    Rye,    Beans,
Clover, or Other Feed Crops in Corn.
1st Premium.—I always try to have
the ground clean when the corn is "laid
by." But if any weeds appear between
the last planting and the time to sow
rye, • say Sept. lit. I go through the
standing corn and cut them out with a hoe.
I use a one-horse drill, either five or six-hoed,
running once in a row. This will do good
work if the ground has been left as it should
be—level. I use" the large white rye; run the
eeed through a good fan and make it perfectly clean and sow one bushel per acre. This
will make it thick enough. Since rye is
hardy and stools out well. I do not regard
rye as a money crop, but use it occasionally
to renovate and' fertilize fields. I have also
poled it down, after letting lt get dead ripe,
so that the boards would soiten, then I turned
hogs on it. After getting it down and rained
on, it makes fine hog pasture, upon which
they will gain in weight, become sleek and
eaucy. Rye will loosen up and enrich the
ground, and where the etraw is left on, as in
hogging down, will greatly add to the store of
humus. It is also an excellent crop upon
which to sow clover or timothy, as the straw
is tall with a few blades near the ground,
hence the young grass is smothered out. I
have heard of farmers sowing rye right down
in etanding corn, not even plowing it in,
claiming that rain will beat it in. I would
not do that. Always use a drill, a steady
horee and clean seed. Rye may not be a
money crop, but it will seed, makes fine
ground feed, good straw, gives lots of early
paeture for calves or sheep, and looeens up
and helps the ground. In fact rye deserves
more attention. A. B. M.
Spencer.        —
2d Premium.—I have sown rye a number
of times in corn, always with success. Generally sow the last time I plow my corn. It is
leas trouble than if the corn gets too big.
Paeture with sheep. If you have none borrow
eome. I have sown clover several times, and
always failed. I know of some cases that were
a success. The rye is the surest thing I have
fried. I knew a case where a man sowed rye
in his corn every fall, ten years, and broke it
up in the spring and planted It to corn. He
claimed the land was as good as when he
commenced. S. D. E.
Hendricks Oo.
BIVIEW.
Our best farmers make it a rigid rule not to
let any land go through winter, without some
kind of a covering of green. They take the
hint from nature which always keeps some
green thing on her seedbed.
The corn crop dies in September. The soil
has been stirred most all summer and much
Plant food has become soluble. This will all fix
iteelf in the soil so as to not wash out, except
the nitrogen. Take a rich clover sod and
take off corn or potatoes and that soil contains a lot of soluble nitrogen. The only
'ay to fix this kind of plant food is by a
growth of green plants.
Wo have September, October, November
and April, all open months, with lots of rain.
Examination of water from tiles shows a
heavy lose of nitrogen but scarcely any loss of
otter elements. Mr Terry hastens to sow his
wheat after potatoes, riot so much to get the
'heat in early as to prevent a heavy rain
from washing many dollars of soluble nitrogen out of the rich seed bed. One will also
hnd that a seed bed that has been protected
'rom eun and weather will be much more
mellow and lively in the epring.
There are five crops at least that are ueed
for this purpoee: Wheat, rye, clover, crimson
clover and cow peas.
This is by far the cheapest way to sow wheat.
Rye for pasture ls usually sown in this latitude either juat after harvest and drilled ln, or
worked ln with a Planet junior. It does well
on mellow black land if the eeaeon is fairly
wet, sown down the last of August, without
working in. But it is always risky. Pour
pecks per acre is enough. Olover is usually
sowed immediately after the last cultivation
after harvest. I prefer sowing ahead of the
Planet junior. The trouble with this practice is that if it ls a little dry the clover will
perish. I have lost my seed and trouble twice.
One eeaeon it rained till we could not thresh,
and it came up well but all perished later.
Crimson clover is fine, especially if one
wishes to follow with a cultivated crop. Of
course it may die either of drouth, or may
freeze. I have a neighbor who grows it on
his garden potato patch every year. It never
fails with him, and usually makes a heavy
crop. It would of course be much more likely to live after potatoes than sown in corn.
While near the Ohio river laBt winter I was
much interested in hearing Dr. Wolf tell of
his marked success in growing cow peas ln
his corn. He drills one drill mark in the middle between the corn rows. This fills the row
with a wonderful growth df feed, by fall. He
then turns sheep* on it. They eat the peas and
corn blades. He says it looks like a wilderness of feed. The cow pea as you know is a
true legume, and acts like clover. Its fault
iB that it is tender, and the soil has no green
covering in winter. It does however have the
dead carcas of the pen, which is far better
than no cover. Dr. Wolf Bays that he thinks
too much of clover to care to displace it, but
that where the pea Buits the farming it Is awful nice. The peas and other clovers are much
richer fertilizers than rye.
The crop does three things. It retains and
adds moisture, shades the soil and furnishes
pasture. Where hilly it checks washing. It
it a crop that ip not appreciated, and is very
much neglected. If some farmers are afraid
to let their ground lie idle a week or two, how
impudent it is to leave it expoeed half the
year. It also makes lots of good pasture, and
if not pastured when wet it does not harm the
soil more than any other pasturing. You can
have your cake an eat it too.
No. 172, June 2d.—How best clean rooms in
dally housework, floors, furniture, brass, pictures and the like.
No. 173, July 1.—The effect of the policy of
political expaneion on American agricultural
interests.
Premiums of $1, 75 cents and 50 cents will
be given to let, 2d and 3d best articles each
week. Let copy be as practicable as poeelble
and forwarded 10 days before publication to
Oarmel. E. H. Collins.
A Rich Man's Generosity.
A etory hae been going the rounds of the
press, concerning a well-known politician and
business man, that is good enough to be true.
This politician is aleo a very rich man, and
last fall, when he was exceedingly busy, he
was informed that one of his corps of bookkeepers was about to be married. The man
of business at once sent for him, and asked
where he intended to go on his wedding tour.
Ae the young man wae poor, he timidly replied that he did not expect to make much of
a trip. "How would you like to go through
the Great Lakes, and return on one of my
boats?" pursued the employer kindly. "Very
much," the bookkeeper replied, brightening
up, "if I could be spared so long."
"I will give you a vacation and a pase," was
the reply, and the young lover went away rejoicing.   True to his promise, the magnate
went to the captain of one of hie finest boats,
and told him to give the bridal couple the
best quarters and every [attention without
charge. "After you are well out from shore,"
continued the employer to the captain, "hand
the bridegroom this envelope with my compliments, and toll him to have a good time."
The envelope contained $200.
All the little worries about wayB and means
were swept away for these young peoplo by
the rich man's generosity and kindness. If a
man can do so much to shed light on the
path of his fellow, how much more ehall tho
assurance of God's embracing love dissipate
our worries and put them to flight. The rich
man's generosity wae only a temporary kindness, but God is always dealing with us in
that way, and His rich provision for us ls unlimited.—Selected.
POSTAL CARD CORRESPONDENCE.
Quxkij atuT ^nsurje*.
Can you give me the address of tho person
who had a gate at the State fair laet year that
slid back and forward, and was painted red?
Homer, Ills. J. S.
—Perhaps some reader who saw the gato
can tell tell ub.   We do not remember it.
Oan you inform me who is growing or has
the swamp Mediterranean wheat, the beard
variety. J. W.
—We do not know, but would suggest that
any reader has this wheat to sell he will do
well to advertise it in our columns, at the
proper time.
Should barn yard manure to be hauled out
now and plowed under next epring be placed
in piles or scattered immediately? What are
the objections to either plan?
Carroll Co. A Subscibkb.
—Unless the ground Is quite level we would
leave it ln piles, to prevent the liquid portion
from being washed away by rains. If the
the ground is so level that it will not wash'
it is not so material about when you spread
the manure. If hilly, pile the manure
on the higheet points where fertilizing is
most needed.
I wish you would inform me.through the columns of your paper, whether or not a public
school student is compelled to take part in
commencement exercise, ln order to secure a
graduation diploma, providing he or she has
passed the township examination and has
received the required grade for graduation?
Jay Oo. 0. 0.
—We are quite sure the law makes no such
requirements, but we would advise you to comply with the rule of the echool and take part
in the exercises, botb on your own account
and to avoid unpleaeant feelinge on the part
of others.
I have five acres to clear for next year.
Shall I put it in potatoes? What about second crop potatoes for Boed? I have an old
threshing yard which I am thinking of plowing up and planting ln a few weeks to raise
my seed on. How many buehele and what
varletlcB?
If the new ground is stumpy* or soddy
I would rather grow corn on lt a few
years. Or better still eow it down to paeture
till many of the etumps rot out. As to varieties In this latitude, the best yielders are the
Carmen and Rurale. Aleo the Potentate and
Roee family. The practice of planting the
green second crop tubers hae not yet proven
very successful. Some like it very much, others had lots of trouble. If I were in your
place I would plant this year'e patch ae eoon
as possible to late varieties, and give it good
care, so as to get eeed out of it next year. It
is impossible to decide which Is the best
adapted to any ono locality without testing
them. I would not grow five acres at one
time until I have tested the seed in smaller
patches. It takeB from bIx to ten buehels per
acre, according to the way the tubers are cut
and planted. The best time to plant late
potatoes ls when the ground is in fine condition; any time in May. E. H. O.
Ghees County, June 0.—Early sown wheat
on good ground all O. K. Com not all planted, and but little plowed over; too wet for
anything but grass. Oats good. Clover good
as ever known. Strawberries never better.
Apples and cherries, a fair crop. Early potatoes good. H. B.
Wayne County, June 5.—The warm weather
and frequent showers of the last week have
been very favorably to the growth of vegetation. Much corn has been planted over. Fly
has damaged wheat to a considerable extent,
but many fields are in fine condition. Late
sown wheat on poor land is not good. Potatoes were never better.   Stock looking well.
J. G. W. B.
Knox County, June 8.—Wheat not over half
crop, fly being tho cause, promoted by dry
April. Oats moderately good. Growing
corn looks well now. Young clover and pasture fino. Potatoes and garden truck fine.
Meadows not so good, too many weeds, Live-
etock looks well. Apples, plume and moet all
other fruit, except peaches, plenty. Let us
hear from every county in the State.
E. J. O.
—We eecond the suggestion as to hearing
from other counties.   Send more postals.
Norway, Sweden and Denmark—Regions
Without Agriculture—Some Temperance Lessons.
Kditors Indiana Fasimek.
Nearly the whole Scandanavlan peninsula
is a confused combination, of rocky hills,
swamps, forests, and etreame. One would
hardly expect to find a promielng agriculture
especially when the eeasons are at variance.
As I write, epring is just making ite advent.
Potatoee are being planted and the recently
eown oats are coming through the ground.
While the season is late the winter ls not severe and a visit to the city markets revealed
many kinds of vegetables. But farming is
not a principal source of industry. Iron and
lumber and Its carrying furnish the chief
sources of wealth. Theee northern lands have
plenty of scenery, but its people cannot live
on that alone, and the emigration to the
United States ls very large; so great in fact,
that the population of the country remalnB
about stationary. Moet of the emigrants find
homes ln the great northwest, principally in
Wisconsin and Minnesota, a climate not unlike their own, but far more favorable in an
agricultural way. These people are a vigorous, honest race, and form one of the best
elements that come to us.
Their temperance law and its effectiveness
has interested me as to Its' enforcement and
reeults. It is much the same in Norway and
Sweden, and I give its main features. Formerly the liquor trade was entirely free and
the consumption was enormous. Now, under
a "permission bill," the authorities may refuse to grant a license for the sale of spirits
entirely, or they may grant a monopoly of
the trade to a company or Individual, who is
bound to pay the whole of its profits to the
municipality, after deducting expenses and 5
per cent Internet. The privileges to sell are
disposed of by auction to the highest bidder,
and tho bar-keeper must have no interest In
the business, only as an employe. Another
provision requires that the food should be
sold at all these places. So effective has been
the meaBure that little drunkenness is observed, when formerly it was very prevalent,
and poverty, crime, and disease has been
greatly diminished. The revenue returned to
the city government ia considerable and goes
to the support of the improvident classes.
This migmr furnish an Incentive to our prolific law-makers. J. B. Bubms.
Stockholm, Sweden, May 27.