VOL.LX.
INDIANAPOLIS, AUGUST 26, 1905.
NO. 34
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TELL HOW TO PREPARE THE SOIL AND
PUT IN A CROP OF WHEAT, AND
HOW TO GET A STAND OF
CLOVER WITH IT.
Make A Perfect Seed Bed.
1st Premium.—We are now preparing
12 acres ot clover sod for wheat; this
ground is being plowed a uniform depth,
followed with the roller; the next thing
in order will be the harrow. We .use a
harrow with two sections, each section
containing 25 teeth, this harrowing should
l** followed with a plank drag, the drag
will li)! all depressions and smooth down
high places, thus leaving a perfectly level
surface. We go over the ground ofton
enough witli the harrow and roller to
make a perfect seed bed, which should
b(. fine and solid.
In preparing com ground the disc is
indispensable; follow with a smoothing
harrow, and if your corn has been properly cultivated during tlie season and kept
free from weeds your ground is now
leady   for  sowing. Sow   nothing   but
recleaned wheat of some good variety.
_.. An application of 200 pounds per. acre,
of some good brand of commercial fertilizer v. ill not only increase the yield of
wheat onough to more than balance the
expense, bul will also make a plumper
grain, and at the same time bring harvest several days earlier.
.-■.ter seeding time is over we begin
hauling manure from the horse stable to
the wheat ground; scatter it as lightly
ns possible o?er the growing wheat; this
makes a good protection for the wheat
during the cold winter days in the absence of snow.
Now, the following spring, say last of
January or fore part of February, when
the weather conditions are just right, that
is, a still morning, the ground frozen
enough to the cracks will admit the seed,
and sure to Uuiw during the day, sow your
clover seed. The freezing and thawing
will cover the seed so Uiat when a few
warm days come, it will sprout and then
be killed hy the first severe freezing.
Now the fertilizer that you have applied will not only benefit your wheat
crop, but will give your clover a start
when spring comes, and with the top dressing ot manure you are almost sure to
get a good stand of clover.
I will just say to the readers of the
Indiana Farmer that our soil here in
southeastern Indiana is a rolling clay
upland, nnd responds wonderfully to fertilizing   and   thorough   cultivation.
Dearborn Co. W.
Learn What is the  Best Fertilizer.
2d Premium.—I find that best results
in wheat growing came from early plowing. Break the soil as early as July
if possible, and then thoroughly pulverize it by harrowing, draggiig, rolling, etc.,
till no clods remain. This leaves tho
soil in fine condition for a seed bed, as
it is worked together beneath the surface
which is better for wheat, 'and clover also,
and is soft and fme on top.
The sowing should take place the last
week of September or the first week in
October. Don't sow late and expect a
good yield, as the early frosts and freezes
come before tlie wheat is all up and has
started to grow, therefore a great deal
of it is damaged. The best results have
been obtained in this locality from sowing ],_. bushels to 2 bushels of wheat and
175 to 250 pounds of good commercial
fertilizer to the aere, with a drill that
covers the grain well. Of course rich
land does not require so much seed or fertilizer as poor to medium does; the farmer will learn from experience what quantity suits his land best, ami also the kind
of wheat and fertilizer that does best
on his soil. He should know enough about
his land to tell by looking at the analysis
of the fertilizer what will do best on his
soil, especially if the agent is not reliable,
and is only tryng for tlie sale and not the
good  results  you obtain. Do not  use
packed and the top soil smooth and fine.
Cood clean seed wheat should be sown,
auu if conditions are favorable a good
crop should be the result. If n fail-
use shouil follow have thefwyptpupu a
ure should follow the farmer would have
the satisfaction of knowing that the fault
is not in ths preparation of the soil, or
the selection of tlie seed but is due to
climatic condition over which he has no
control. The securing of a stand of
clover is someimes a dillicult matter. Good
clean seed is a necessity. It should be
secured   from   some   rvliaible   source,   and
1110 WHEAT AND OATS CROPS.
Kditors ludlana Fanner:
As there has been no report of Carroll
county on the wheat crop, I report a case.
On my farm we had au average of 25
bushels ou 37 acres. One 20-acre field
making an average of 20 bushels. My
close neighljor had nn average of 31 bushels on his crop of ten acres, and another
hud 700 bushels on 20 acres making an
average ot 35 bushels. Still another had
1,700 bushels oir 50 acres making an average of ill bushels. There has been
but little oats threshed yet, but I know
of 50 bushels and over per acre.
The oats crop is simply immense in this
county, ami tliere has never been a better
prospect for corn. So the farmer ought
to be thankful and happy.
Flora. B. S. D.
Old Covered Bridge over tlie "Nrrrows" on Sugar Creek,  North
of Marshall, Parke Co., Indiana.
acid fertilizer and expect a good yield
cf clover; it may do for one season, but
ihe soil becomes sour or clover sick and
clover will do no good.
I have the best success with clover by
sowing it on the wheat as early in the
spring as the ground will permit to take
a team and harrow. I harrow it in the
way the wheat was drilled, some people
cross harrow it, that is harrow it one way
lefore sowing clover seed, and then cover
seed by harrowing the other way. It
does not injure the wheat to harrow it,
although the field looks ragged when one
gets done harrowing, and the wheat
looks as if half of it would die. The
harrowing cultivates it and it takes a
fresh start growing, and soon looks better than it did.
Row eight to ten pounds of the large
red or medium clover seed to the acre;
six pounds alsike seed to acre and ten
to fifteen pounds crimson clover seed to
the acre. I prefer the large red or medium clover. I haul the stable manure
direct to the wheat lield. K.
Floyd Co.
should   be   free   from  weed   seeds. It
should be sown early in February or
March when the ground is frozen into
a honey comb, so that the constant freezing and thawing will cover it, or it should
be sown iu April and harrowed in with a
spike tooth harrow. It must be covered,
and I believe that a large per cent of the
failures in securing a stand of clover is
caused by the disregard of this point. We
should sow five quarts of seed to the acre.
Alter the wheat is harvested the young
clover should be cared for by clipping the
weeds tlint draw the moisture from the
soil and smother tho young plants. It
fhould not I*-, pastured during the first
summer. The value of he clover plant
as a soil renovator, a pasture plant and
for hay, makes it worthy ot our best care
nrd   attention. K.
Noble Co.
Oood Clean Seed A Necessity.
3d Premium.—In growing wheat the
f.ist matter of importance is the preparation of tlie seed bed. The ground should
be thoroughly plowed and harrowed. If
tne soil breaks up cloddy it should be
rolled with a heavy land roller in order to
I uh-erize it. Py harrowing and rolling,
a fine smooth surface two inches deep
may be secured, and this will make an
ideal seed ln-d.       The soil should be well
No.
graft
No.
build
house
No.
g'XXl    i
■t will
No.
class
400, Sept. 9—T"ll how to bud and
fruits.    Give full particulars.
4)7,    Sept.  10.—Explain  how    to
aud  ventilate  a  frost proof  warm
above ground.
4J-8, Sept. 23—Tell how to build a
ice horse and how to pack ice so
keep.
400, Sept 30.—Give plans of a first
poultry house.
The peach crop is only mediumiu qaulity
and quantity; apples poor aud pears fairly promising, while grapes are plentiful,
according to report ot Section Director
Blythe. We learn from other sources,
however that the black rot is cutting the
grape yield short in some sections.
A BIG BLACK SNAKE.
IssHtors  Ilid.:in:t   Farmer:
G. W. Crews, who lives ou a farm of
the late John E. McMahan, in Union
county, killed an immense Mack snake
recently. The reptile entered his henhouse some time durng the day, and was
shut in at night when Mr. Crws locked
the house. The next morning he found
the snake coiled up behind a board. He
killed it, and upon cutting it open found
eight hen eggs. The shells of six were
unbroken. He thinks the shells of the
oilier two were broken Ji* killing the
snake, yet the yolke were unbroken. The
snake was the size of his arm just below
the elbow, and according to his measure-'
ment with the tape line, was seven feet,
three iuchs in length.
Liberty, Ind. E. M. McM.
HAWKS AND CROWS.
Editors Indiana  Fanner:
I see several articles on hawks. I for
one don't want any of them, as they live
on chickens and birds. They took our
chickens last year and fed their young,
and last winter while the ice was on I
got some steel traps and caught five and
my neighbor caught three, and I don't
see but two around this spring. As to
crows they nre uot hard to scare.
I am not in favor of paying a bounty on
them, as that would give some sport a
chance to kill all ot our young quail; they
get enough of thtm any ways.
One man says they will kill mice
enough to pay for all the chickens they
eat. I never saw any but the little sparrow hawk catch a mouse, aud they don't
liother any thing else. If brother Farmer
will get him a fox terrier dog he will rid
the place of mice, moles and rats.
Jefferson Co. A. L. C.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Is it detrimental to an orchard say 15
to 20 years old to allow hogs to run in it,
if they are properly rung? P. N.
Elizabeth town.
—To an extent it should be beneficial.
The hogs would cat the falling apples and
improve their own condition, and at the
same time destroy the worms the apples
might contain. The droppings of the
hogs would benefit the orchard, unless it
is on a slope, where they would be washed
away. Whatever rooting the hogs might
d<- around the trees would be an injury.
Kdllors Indiana. Fanner:
Kindly tell me through the columns of
your paper, if there is a premium on 1853
twenty-five censt pieces.
White Co. K E. Van A.
—No There is no premium offered for
twenty-five cent pieces.