VOL. LIV.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., AUGUST 26. 1899.
NO. 34
KING CORN.
A Rhapaody.
BY W. T. DENNIS.
Inscribed to Gov. Mount.
Cotton no lo-ger rales the ring.
For times have changed, and Cobn is Kino !
Corn and its products feed tha world;
On hi4h its banner is unfurled:
From Nova Zambia's ice bound coast
To India, where they know no frost,
English, Irish, French and Spanish,
Russian. German,* Greek and Banish,
With many more have learned to feel
And prize the value of Corn Meak
To high or low, to rich or poor,
A welcoms guest at every door:
To each tome blessing he imparts
To nourish them, and warmthsir hearts.
Then let Corn wear the crown imperial,
It proudly stands ths matchless cereal;
With serrie 1 ranks of waving green
A grander sight is nowhere seen.
Now, as the autumn days spp«ar,
Precursors ofthe waning year,
Tbe earth again ita bounty yields
From vine, and tree, and fertile fields;
The granaries with fullness groan,
The strrbble fields are sere and brown,
While far and near the echoes ring
With shouts proclaiming Corn is Kino!
King Corn it is whose grain nutritious,
Hakes our favorite Ham aeliclous;
King Corn it is that paves the way
A nd persuades the Hens to lay;
King Corn, therefore, humbly begs
Due credit for our Ham and Eggs.
But for King Corn, pray what the dickens
Would we do for our Bpring Chickens;
Thanksgiving day, if bright or murky,
Owes to Corn its fattened Turkey;
And amid domestic scenes
'Tis Corn that gives ns Pork and Beans,
And, unless I'm quits mistaken,
We owe to Corn our Breakfast Bacon,
While the task will not prove hard
To show that Corn makes all the Lard,
And all tbe good tilings found in swine,
From Sausage Meat to Tender Loin,
And, boss of Hog and Hominy,
He preaches strict economy.
and while with evrry changing year
lie brings the juicy Roasting Ear,
He justly claims as all his own
The poor man's matchless loaf—the Pone;
While on his grand triumphant march
He furnishes the world with Starch;
To all who seek, and have the cash,
He furnishes the famed Sour Mash,
While rich Glucose and limpid Oil
Are gathered from the copper coil.
Whi'e thus much time the King devotes
To Berkshire and to other shoats,
He ne'er forgets the festive Board,
But takes his place as honored lord.
Enthroned in state as King and Chief,
A monarch, Sir-Loin of Roast Beef,
Uis subjects are all served with care,
Each has his choice "well done" or "rare";
But previous he regales the group.
With bowls of steaming Oxtail Boup;
Meanwhile, the epicure or glutton
Finds juicy Chop or Leg of Mutton,
And his daily round of Hash,
Diversified with Succotash.
Corn Starch pudding crowns the feast
Of which King Corn was Grand High Priest;
And the henchman finds it is no joke
Should his Corn Cob Pipe be lost or broke.
The ripening Corn, when cut and cured,
And in the silo's depth immured,
To drouth and frost bijs strong defiance
And forms the Dairyman's reliance;
An ample store of rich, green food,
Ensuring MiU, profuse and good,
While merrily the milk maid sings,
Great is Corn among the Kings.
The patient ox, the fiery steeds,
The plodding mule, all these he feeds.
The huek in mat and mattress too,
Finds some useful work to do,
Whi.e the cob is a handy plug
To fit most any size of Jug.
Uncle Sam, when he settles np,
And gets returns from every crop
Tc at is the product of the soil
And compensates the farmer's toil,
Finds that the largest net amount
Is credited to Corn account,
And thinks about the proper thing
would be to say that Corn m King I
-■Richmond.
<_xpzxizntz _zpi%xtmzut.
GIVE EXPERIENCE WITH   IRRIGATION,
FOR CROPS, GARDEN OR   FRUIT.
How Do You Manage It, and How  Does
It Pay.
I have had a little experience in irrigation,
and in a little difierent way from moet other
folka, I reckon. In the aummer of '97 I waa
raising truck for the towne of Olcero and
Sheridan, and dry weather coming on the aupply wae running far behind the demand.
About thla time my brother returned from a
visit to Valley Mllla and told a great tale
about a man who irrigated with a wind pump
and tile ditches. Now it happened that right
under one end of my truck patch run a tile
ditch. It waa fourteen inch tile and carried
the water from a never falling apring. The
ground along the couree of the ditch waa very
productive and alao very dry and looee. So I
thought I would Imitate the Valley Mills man
aa beat I could, and went to the lower end of
the ditch and threw up a dam, In a few daye
great damp spots began to appear on the
ground over the ditch. Theae spots would
fade away in the heat of the day and then appear again in the morning. It waa not long
until there waa a change in vegetation. The
first thing noticed waa that almost the whole
surface of the ground along the ditch waa covered with little weed8, which had a decided
inclination not to stay little. I tore away
eome of the dam, letting aome of the water
out, and plowed and hoed the irrigated part.
Then I built up the dam again. And how the
truck did grow! I think it waa fifty per cent
better here than eleewhere. In this part of
the patch I had cucumbers, tomatoes, eweet
and Irish potatoes, and many were the exclamations of surprise and delight when I marketed them. I have had eome experience in
irrigation by running a epring branch over
the surface of the ground, but it ie just nothing when compared to the tile ditch. In irrigating by means of a tile ditch care must be
taken not to get the ground too wet, as it will
rot the roots of the truck. For fear eome one
will draw a wrong conclusion as to the amount
of water I had I will eay that a two inch tile
would have carried all the water ln a dry
time. A. L. B.
Hamilton Oo.
2d Premium.—Irrigation certainly paye
from what experience I have had. We have
a truck farm on muck eoil, and in draining
it we made the dltchee in euch a manner that
we could use them for irrigating them if necessary. We have a water eupply higher than
our farm, but it muat pass through their
farm. Whenever we need the water, the main
ditch ia closed and the water turned down a
lateral ditch. On the ditchee we use wedge
shaped boards, and put them where needed,
and the water can be raieed or lowered at the
operator's will. It costa little or nothing to
do this, and the help to the cropa la quite an
Item. We raise mostly onions on this muck
aoll. On such soils water can be used to better advantage tban on clay land, ae the water
is more porous. Iba Gbaber.
Wayne Co., O.
BBVIXW.
I have been much interested in our letters
thie week. But I note that they both give a
similar experience. It la evidently not common to irrigate in the central weet. Many do
not appreciate that ln large sectlone of country we live over a lake of water. About here
itis often within 20 feet of the eurf ace. Another fact that many do not coneider ia
that our machinery for pumping la now
ao very simple and economical. Pumping
water le one of the most Blmplo problems of
mechanics.   I have a friend who growa small
fruit and garden plants for market. He uses
a wind mill to irrigate one-half acre. And
he eayB that in the berry eeason he drenches
the soil every other day, If dry weather. That
it makes a uniform growth and large and
high flavored fruit. It aleo largely increases
the yield. He tells me that with a good well
he can irrigate an acre enough for small fruit
with one windmill. I once tried watering a
few hills during a very dry time,, and I found
that to overflow the ground hardened lt, and
of couree when hard, it dried out mora than
ever. A man came to my creek one day with
a water tank to get water to wet some currant
bushes. But a little vigorous talk induced
him to invest in a Planet Jr. In irrigation ae
in manuring too many are wanting to water
their plants when tbey are not half tilliDg the
soil to Eave what moisture they have. If the
soil le fairly damp, a dust mulch two inches
deep will stop the evaporation at least ten
tons per acre a day. An inch of rain is 113
tons. So in 13 days one may save as much
water from evaporating as equale an inch of
rain. There is more in a shower than simply
the falling of water. In fact the condition of
a low barometer and presence of clouds are
often worth more than the water that falls.
One can have some of theee advantages by
watering in cloudy weather, but much of the
irrigation muet be done in dry weather with a
low barometer. A Wesleyan preacher said
the other day, that the more religion a church
had the leee Ice cream lt took to run it. Ie it
too etrong to eay that the better tillage one
one hae the lees irrigation it takes to run the
cropping? I was looking at a field of corn a
week ago when it was dry and eaid to the
owner that that corn had a rough hard surfaco
all over the field and looked hot like brick.
The ground was thin and the corn small
enough eo that the soil shone on it white and
hot. What could he expect? Irrigation may
be quite profitable In gardening. I ehould
try it. But not in field crops in Indiana, with
wheat at 60 to 70 cents.
No. 182, Sept. 2—What variety of wheat does
beet with you? Doee it pay to eow two or
more kinds mixed? How do you Improve
your wheat? What were the conditions that
made eome wheat near you yield 35 or more
buehele per acre?
No. Is83, Sept. 9—Name eome cheap, good
feede for horses ln winter. Ie it economical
or best to feed hay and grain the year round?
Ie it not a costly curse to feed a horse ten ears
of corn two or three times every day?
No. 1.34, Sept, IG—Describe a handy way of
keeping cabbage, turnips and other vegetables
for winter uso.
No. 185, Sept. 23—What causes that sour,
pungent smell even in some houses that
seem well kept? This is especially notlcable
if cloeed a few hours.   What is the remedy?
No. 186, Sept. 30—(For children under 14)
Write from memory, in your own language,
one or more good stories, you have read or
heard.   (Not over 250 words in all.)
Premiums of $1, 75 cente and W centa will
be given to let, 2d and best articles each
week. Let copy be as practicable as possible
and forwarded ten daye before publication to
Oarmel. E. H. Collins.
POSTAL CARD CORRESPONDENCE.
LaPobtk, Oo.—We are having a very dry
time; corn ie wilting in the middle of the
day and will be injured if rain doee not come
aoon. Late potatoes that are in blossom will
be spoiled also if we do not get rain eoon;
ground too hard to plow; roade dry and
dusty, hot days 90 and 92 degrees ln shade.
Mas. B. A. Davis.
The eleven-year-old eon of Lewis Campbell
of Madison ia dying from the effects of a bite
of a copperhead anake.
San Joae Scale.
* Senate No. 12 provides for the inspection,
by the State Eutomologlet, at leaet once a
year, of all nurseries, where trees and planta
are grown for eale. He ia required to give
notice at once, in writing, to the owner of the
nursery, the Secretary of the State Board of
Agriculture, the director of the State agricultural experiment station, and the president of
the State Horticultural Society of the presence of any San Jose scale or any other destructively injurious insect he may discover,
and may compel such owner to take measures
to destroy such insect or fungus.
This act creates the office of State Entomologist and denounces a fine of from $10 to $25
agalnet any one who interferee with* him in
the performance of hie duties. It is made a
misdemeanor to ship or deliver any nursery
etock without having lt examined and pronounced free from deetructive ineecte or fun-
gii by a State or government entomologist.
When trees or plants which have not been inspected are shipped into tho State, the carrier's agent is required to notify the State Entomologist, under penalty of a fine from $25
to $100, and imprisonment for from fire to
thirty days, and they can not be delivered to
the consignee until examined and approved
by him. If found to be infected by destructive insects or fungil, tbe package and ita
contents shall be destroyed. The act contains
an emergency clause, and took effect March 1.
Farmers on the Philippine Question.
About 20,000 legal voters have expressed
their views on the new issues of the day, in
response to our invitation. No effort waa
made to iifluence the vote either way. Moet
of the postal card ballots were mailed during
May and June, only a few coming during
July. This expression of public opinion wae
therefore obtained before the issues became
partisan in any way, and when the situation
ln the Philippines was generally considered
less serious than lt ia now admitted to be.
This ls the first and only effort yet made to
obtain the unbiased opinion of the people on
the new factors growing out of the Spanish
war. As farmere are slow to write, but quick
to talk, the result may be safely accepted aa
reflecting agricultural opinion.
The apparent contaldictlona in the returns
show how new these matters yet are to the
masses who must decide upon tbem. Fifty
per cent more favor Filipino Independence
than voted for their subjection. But five
times aB many want the United Statee to adhere to ita former policy of non-interference
with nations beyond either ocean, aa favor
departing from that policy. By a big majority
our farmers favor tbe independence of Cuba.
On the other hand, by an equally large majority, they want Porto Rico to be annexed to
the United States, to be held a territory rather
than a colony. Opinion is about equally divided as to whether there ehould be free trade
between the Unlthd States and Porto Rico,
Ouba and the Philippines. Yet by a practically unanimous vote, the farmera protest
againat contract or coolie labor in Hawaii
and other tropical dependencies, and the fostering of agriculture in the tropica to the detriment of farmera in the continental States.
The vote ia aleo practically unanimous that
United States senators ehould be elected by
the people direct.
The high principlee of right and juetlce that
have ever animated the American farmer are
emphasized in theee results. He wants the
Fillplnoa to have their independence under
the protectorate of the United Statea. He
wanta hie country to fulfill its solemn pledge
to bestow independence upon Ouba, but believes that Porto Rico la exempt from that
pledge and ehould therefore be annexed.—
Farm and Home.