VOL. LIV.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SEPT 2, 1899.
NO. 35
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What Variety ef Wheat Does  Bett
Suit   You?
let premium.—A new variety of wheat waa
introduced here a few yeare ago, that haa
gained in favor ever since. It ia the Bearded
Rudy, and ita characteristics are hardiness,
very large grain, long stiff straw, and great
etoollng properties. On our clay landa, with
the eame cultivation, the Rudy yields from 6
to 10 buehels per acre more than our older varieties. It ripene about 3 daya latter than
moet kinds.and consequently la more eubj ectto
ecab, but on fertilized ground, or ground that
Is not affected by late freezea, the scab seldom
damages lt. The grain frequently tests 63 and
6-1, and millers claim it to.be the best milling
wheat grown. Tbe grain is so large that it requires IK bushels per acre when other varietiee only require IM bushels.
Among the varieties with which it compete
ln this locality are Bed Bussian, Kentucky
Hill and Hickman. Hickman is completely
out of the race, the Hill is some better, and
the Red Russian doee better still, but the
Rudy beats lt every time. It is such a vigorous grower, that a very thin stand will make a
heavy crop under favorable conditions. The
beards are objectionable to aome, but if cut
in time, they are no bother.
The Hill wheat haa been improved by mixing with other varietiee. One farmer near us
eowe this kind of a mixture every year, and
hie wheat never falls below 20 bushels per acre,
and this year some of it will make 30. New
varieties seem to do better if kept pure, while
older kinds yield better when mixed.
New kinds of wheat may be improved fot a
number of years by careful selection, cleaning, and by getting seed frequently from an.
other locality. On cleaning, be sure that your
screen take* out all small grains, even the
under sized plump ones, as the tests at Furdue
ehow again of about 3 bushels per acre when
large kernels were eown over the plate where
email plump seed was sown, and a much larger gain over small ehriveled geed.
Seed will deterioate if taken every year
from fields which produce email yields, aB the
quality oi the grain ia usually in proportion
to the yield. If your wheat yields poorly, buy
your eeed; it Is poor economy to sow bad seed
besause you have it, although many farmere
do this.
None of our b3at wheat growers sowed a hilly
piece of new ground in mixed varietiee of
wheat last fall, and raised the banner crop of
this neighborhood. The field had been in
clorer two years, pastured. After breaking,
the eoil was pulverized eight times with har.
row and roller. One one-half bushels of seed
Per acre was used, and the drill measured just
eix acree. In cutting, the binder waBted lota
around the stumpa, and about one-half acre
had fallen so badly that but little of it was
eaved. Thia field made 237 bushels, machine
'eight, and over-weighed about 8 bushels to
the hundred at the elevator, making the yield
about 42 bushels per acae A larger field near
Richmond gave a yield of 45 bushels per acre.
Wajne Oo. 0. S. B.
—The Rudy has been quite popular here but
le being discarded.—Ed.
2d Premium -Harvest King has been the
leading variety with ua for eeveral years.   It
made a good yield from my first sowing and
a good many farmers have bought eeed wheat
rom me since.    The threehlng   machine
men eay my wheat waa aa good or better than
oy that they threahed, which caneed men to
ome for miles to get seed wheat.   Harvest
ln8 haa run out the old Fultz, Mediterran-
an and Velvet varieties that people used to
Da™ t      * n°* be beat   But  X belleTe "
even,t Be* BOme  new klnd of K&i wheat
ery four or five years, some that ia hardy
and adapted to the eoil. We have eown two
kinds together with very good reeulte, but I
prefer only one variety at a place. I do not
like any kind of eeede mixed. The beet way
to improve the aeed wheat ia to eelect the
largeet, beet filled heads, but that is too tedious for us, eo we Belect a good patch and
have it threshed by itself for eeed wheat, then
we screen it until we have nothing but the
nice large grains to plant. The 35 buehels
per acre that you talked about did not grow
any where near us thia year. We had four
acres that average 31 bushels per acre but we
also had 24 acree that went below the average
of the four acres. The four acres was
broken and the ground well pulverized before it was sown and it was sowed 'at the
proper time, the first of October, while the
other field wae corn ground and could not be
got into ae good condition, and it could not
be sown till the last of October, which is too
late. One reason for so much poor wheat is
that so many farmere eowed too late last
year. The beet and only way to obtain 35 or
more buehels ie to properly prepare the
ground and at the right time. The breaking
ehould be done early and the ground worked
once in a while, to keep the weede from growing. Sow good, pure and perfectly clean
seed wheat, and from one to one and a half
bushels to the acre, according to the size of
the grain. We usually sow one and a quarter
bushels per acre. Sow at the right time to
suit your locality, and do not cover too deep,
from one to one and a half inches ia plenty
deep. I Intend to try the Fultz Mediterranean thie year. J. D. L.
Harrison Oo.  	
3d Premium.—We have had the best success
with Harveet King wheat. We have been Bowing lt for four years. The grain is not eo
large ae eome other varieties, but it is etiff-
etrawed and etands up well for eome time after it ie ripe. It alao etands up well ln our
basins or flats. Some years ago we had good
yields from Fultz, but it finally ran out, or
got smutty, and we quit sowing it. We also
have eown Fultz and M^Jiterranean together,
with good reeulte, Thie fall we intend to make
another change in our wheat, and I have juet
ordered some. Red Btssian wheat, for new
seed. It is eaid to have a larger grain than
the Harvest King, and is also a good milling
variety. Vitality is kept up by Belecting an
acre or two of the beet wheat we raise and
having it threshed separate for seed. Our
eeed wheat ie thoroughly screened every year.
To rid wheat of cockle keep till two yeare old
and eow on clean ground, ae the cockle will
not come when It is two years old. This has
been the poorest wheat year we have had
since bone meal came into use; yet where the
ground waB plowed early and thoroughly
worked up there were some fairly good yields.
But the largest yields seem to have come from
a top dressing of good stable manure, with
about 200 pounda of some fertilizer per acre.
And where a heavy crop of clover was plowed
under early, the yield was increased etill
more. But we must remember tbat a yield
of 35 or more buehels per acre is seldom
reached in this section of the etate under any
conditione. Wheat does best here when sown
about the last week in September or the first
week ln October. B W.
Corydon. 	
BITOW.
We hoped to receive a large list of choice
wheats, but I think many are waiting for
othere to write. Suppose everybody were to
wait and not give their own experience, we
ehould have little chance to learn. Spring
this question in most any Btore, and plenty
will epeak up and tell whoee wheat failed and
whoee wae the beet. That kind of talk la
what we want.
The varieties eown mostly in this community are the Hickman Fultz,   emooth   Oold
Dust, emooth Budy, bearded and soft straw,
Red Oross, smooth, soft straw, good yieldera,
Harvest King, smooth. The New Columbia
is a new and promising kind. It is smooth
and a good yielder. Mr. Oar in Wayne
county reporta 45 bushels per acre on 35 acres.
In thla neck of the woode the Bed Bussian
ia by far the moet popular wheat. It ie a
smooth, stiff strawed, red wheat, is liked by
mills and Is a good yielder. It makes from 25
to 35 bushels per acre in good yeara. It seldom lodges. Ite only fault ln my own experience ie that it shatters if too ripe. It wae
Imported from Busela by a epeclal agent eeveral yeare. ago, ae being the beet wheat he
found.
Mr, Terry sowa three varieties mixed, equal
parts, I do not know what kinds he sows
but think Fultz ls one. He says that one can
grow a larger yield of grasa for hay or of any
kind of plants by having a variety. This principle is no doubt true. He eaya it is especially true ln wheat. It is well known that wheat
does not mix in the same field, eince it fertilizes Ineide the glume. So it ie thoroughly
practicable to mix the different kinde in sowing if desired: I have heard of sowing half
rye and half wbeat and separating them with
a fan.
The paet winter threw a foot of enow on
many sections, and left others expoeed. This
is why some sections yielded eo much more
than othere. Yet there are other general reasons. Some parties aeked me if I intended to
eow fertilizer in wheat thie year. I eaid I shall
sow in a field that I have not yet got rich
with clover, that in most fields my wheat was
too rank last fall, after English clover. It
was eo very rank that it waa damaged by winter. By the way, several partlee eay that to
pasture rank wheat in the fall will prevent
winter killing.   Ie' it true?
We complain that the virgin fertility of our
eoil ls gone and we .can't expect big crops.
We should remember that in old countries
farmed a thousand yeare; they average more
than we did on our virgin soil. We can never
expect to win a prize in a contest forthe most
bushels of wheat on virgin eoil. It ie mostly
a queetion of the right proportion of humus
and fertility. Of couree one should not forget vitality of seed and good sowing.
Is J. D. L right in eay Id g that cockle seed
two years old will not grow? I have never
seen cockle in wheat that had clean seed and
did not follow wbeat of the year bafore. This
is not true of chees.
Motto —"What's done ia won; joy'a eoul Uee
in the doing."     	
No. lfS; Sept. 9—Name eome cheap, good
feede for horses in winter. Ia it economical
or best to feed hay and grain tbe year round?
Ie it not a coetly curse to feed a horse ten ears
of corn two or three times every day?
No, 1.84, Sept. 16—Describe a handy way of
keeping cabbage, turnips and other vegetables
for winter use.
No. 185, Sept. 23—What causes that sour,
pungent smell even in some houses that
seem well kept? This is especially noticable
if closed a few hours.   What le the remedy?
No. 186, Sept. 30—(For children under 14)
Write from memory, in your own language,
one or more good etoriee, you have read or
heard.   (Not over 250 worde In all.)
Premiums of $1, 75 cents and .50 centa will
be given to let, 2d and 3d beet articles each
week. Let copy be aa practicable as possible
and forwarded ten daya before publication to
Oarmel, Ind. E. H. Collins.
Mrs. Charlee Gilmore. of Jeffereonville. had
been In ill health for several daye, and when
informed that a tornado wae approaching,
she succumbed to excitement and died.
Mrs. Gilmore waa a victim of the tornado
eeveral yeare ago, and never fully recovered from the ehock.
The Fairs.
Oellna, Ohio.—The Mercer Oo., Ohio fair
managers again demonstrated the fact that
it takes hustling to hold a successful ccunty
fair. With such a man as O. W. Half hill aa
secretary, euccese le bound to come. Tbe departments were all well filled, and everything
went smoothly. The attendance was very
large, especially Wednesday and Thursday.
Elwood, Ind.—The fourth annual fair of
this association was held last week, on their
commodius grounds adjoining the city, and
was a aucceee both financially and in exhibits;
each and every department wae filled. The
Secretary, Frank DeHority. waa ever at hia
poet to attend to the wanta of all hia patrone,
while W. G. Evans as superintendent of the
horse and speed department, gave to the visitors one of the best displays of horses and the
beet races ever eeen upon a fair ground. He
selected as his judge E. H. Peed, of New
Castle, whose qualifications aa a judge of
horses can never be queetloned. Ed Metcalf
again had charge of the ewine department,
which had a larger and better dieplay than
ever. The cattle and eheep departments were
also well filled, and so was the poultry. The
attendance was great, 50,000 people being on
hand Thursday, to attend the "World'a Fair"
of Indiana.
S. B. Quick & Son have two herds of Durhams making some of the best fairs, one of ,
Shorthorn, the other of Polled Durhams; also
two flocks of sheep, representing the two
breede of Shropthirea and Doraete. The
horned herd at Bainbridge took eweepetakes
on the high priced Miller heifer Modesty, and
herd prize also,; first on aged bull Ashburn,
beeides several other prizes. The Polled Durham herd and flock showed at Carthage, O.,
a suburb of Oinelnnati, where Duke of the
Valley took gweepstakes. They also took several prizes, but are of the belief that Hoosiers
haven't much of a show in certain Ohio falra.
The Lawrenceburg Fair Aesociation held a
very eucceeeful meeting laet week. Quick &
Son with their Polled Durhams and Douglass
ic Son with their Shorthorn Durhams were
the only representatives of beef cattle. The
honors were very evenly divided by an able
committee of three, Quick & Son taking
sweepstakes again on Duke of the Valley, the
four-year-old Polled Durham bull that haa
only missed one sweepstakes prize in five
ahows this season. Douglass took 1st, herd,
Quick 2d. The same herds will come together again this week at Franklin, where the
Quicks will also shpw their horned Durhams, that got their share of the prizes laet
week at Greenfield. Franklin haa aleo a fine
show of sheep, enhanced not a little by Douglass' Cotswolds and Quick's Shropshires. Very
few faire are offering classes yet for Dorset
sheep or Polled Durham cattle.
The Michigan State Fair.
The fiftieth annual fair of the Michigan
State Agricultural Society will be held at
Grand Rapids, on the grounds of the West
Michigan Agricultural Society, beginning
Monday, September 25th, and lasting five
days, The premium lists of the fair have
been issued, an can be had on application to
the Secretary, I. H. Butterfield, Lansing. The
later date at which the State fair is to be held
thie year ehould bring about a larger attendance of both vleitora and exhibitors, aa by
that time the hurry of the eeaeon on the
farms of the greater part of the State ie over.
The improvement that hae taken place in the
live Btock intereete of the State and country,
embracing all deecriptione, ehould aleo be a
material aid to the State society and its fair.
There is an epidemic of horee stealing in
northern Indiana, forty rigs having been reported missing within a short time. The farmers are getting desperate.