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sVOL. XXX.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., JAN. 5,1895.
NO. 1.
^tz&ztX
ItQislntion.
{ Our Needed Legislation Department becomes more interesting with each number.
.These opinions of the farmers of the State
on subjects of so mnch interest to them
ought to have weight with our legislators,
and we hope that thsy will pave the way
to improvement in some of our laws.
"Bud" thinks that they are a mere waste
.. of ink, and will have no influence with
the Legislature. He Is mistaken we trust.
If farmers will follow his example and
his direction "to make their demands and
to make them early," and we add persist
ently, some good will come of it. But we
mnst repeat our request, made at the outset, to be brief. Several lengthy articles
on the subject have been crowded over to
' next week on account of being too long.
■i   An article on apples and peaches, by
IProf. Reubelt, which appears in this number, suggests  an important  subject for
legislation, namely, prevention of the de-
< struction of insect eating birds, like the
-'* quail.   This bird is one of the very best
4 friends of the farmer and fruit-grower,
J and onr Legislature ought to protect it
1  from the hunter till it becomes numerous
:  enough to help save the crops from insect
pests.   At least three years would be re-
"'.. quired for the purpose.
One subscriber says that  our coming
■ Legislature ought to pass an act making
>"*»the killing or trapping of quails a fineable
~-act, and for all time to come.   If there is
not something done soon the quails will
be extinct in a very few years, and "Bob
White's" shrill whistle will be heard no
more in our State.
Editobs Indiana Farmer:
\    Yours in regard to sugg estions of needed
': reform in present laws before the coming
Legislature is  to  the point and may be
| made to do much good.   I would suggest
•\ a change in the manner of settlement of
| estates.   How wonld it do to have one ad-
; ministrator for each county or township?
He to do the business on a moderate sal-
* ary and  not to be allowed to employ a
lawyer unless  he paid him himseli?   I
' have settled up one estate and would not
need a lawyer to settle a dozen more.   But
I know administrators who have several
estates on hand at once and a lawer Is feed
in eaoh case merely to repeat what he has
done in the first case.   I know of recent
cases where the administrator and lawyer
have divided the entire estate to pay themselves, and' then  complained  that there
was not enough.   Simplify the laws and
put this business for a certain district into
the hands of one man, qualified for it and
thus save more than half the expense to
the widows and orphans to whom it prop,
erly belong. C. H. B.
•   m   •
Gravel Roads.
Editobs Indiana Fabmeb:
In reading your paper I Bee several com-
' municatlons about the best way to build
gravel roads. In my judgment by taxation is the way. In this county some have
been built under the old law and some
under the new law, as they are termed,
;; and both ways are expensive. Some are
' built.by subscription, and still others by
hitching up your team and going to work
like a man. Many miles have built in the
last few years by the two last mentioned
methods, from the fact that there are in
almost every road district men who brag
about their fine horses, eto, who won't
turn a wheel when their neighbors, a mile
away, are hauling gravel right at their
doors. I have in my mind a road that is
being built where it runs one mile along
side of a pleoe of land, and the owner
opened np his magnanimous heart and
subscribed $20! By all means levy a tax
of not less than SO cents on the $100; fl
would be better. 8. C. M,
Fditobs Indiana Fabmeb:
Your "Needed Legislation" column is
very interesting, and is a valuable feature
of the Indiana Fabmer On this line we
should ever remember that all legislation
should be "for tbe people." I will mention some instances where the laws are
against the people. In our liquor law the
burden of. proof lies with the people. If
the saloonkeeper and his bartender both
had to be of good moral character, and if
found with open doors in unlawful hours,
and if any court of record showed that
they had been guilty of violation of law,
in any manner, it would debar them from
the selling of liquor, it would be a great
step forward in the cause of temperance
this State. Then drug stores Bhould be
put on the same footing as the saloons.
Then the preferred creditor business is
unjust. Why should the physician or undertaker'come in with their bills against
an estate before others?- If any prefer
ence, it should by the millers' rule, "first
come, first Eerved."
Oar county commissioners neel more
closely- defined limits to their power. In
regard to roads tbelr business should only
be to open and close pablic highways, and
build bridges of a certain value and upwards, say f200. Let the road funds and
work get back closer to the people; the
township trustee should have charge of
both.
There U $1,000, more or lea?, given to
the doctors of this county every year for
pauper^praotice. This business should also
go back to the trustee, and the "County
Farm" doctor shonld be the only one employed by the board of commissioners.
If the board of connty commissioners
and township trustees were required to
publish an itemized account of business
done, under oath, the former in a county
paper, the latter by posting in three public
places, quarterly reports, it wonld be a
great check to extravagant or corrupt
practices. Henbt Leamimg, Jr.
Romney.
year, fined in any sum not exceeding $500
and disfranchised and rendered incapable
of holding any office of trust or profit for
any determinate period.
Section 4, In any prosecution for violating section two or three of tbis act, it
shall not be necessary for the State to
allege or prove that the fruit, berries or
vegetables alleged to have been taken were
severed, or were growing upon trees,
vines, bushes, or in the soil, at the time of
the takiDg.
Section 5. There being an emergency
for the immediate taking effect of this act,
the same shall be In force from and after
its passage.
The following bill, • prepared by a lawyer, who is also interested in small fruit
culture, will have the endorsement of all
horticulturists:
A Bill for the-Itrotection of Horticulture^
to  Prevent   Depredations._ Thereon,   and
Defining  iCertain    Crimes    anil - Misdemeanors in Relation  Thereto.
Secton 1.   Ba it enacted by the General
Assembly   of    Indiana:   That  whoever,
without having first procured the assent
of the owner or his agent in charge of the
premises, enters into any garden, orchard,
vineyard, or lands upon whioh are planted
currants, blackberries, gooseberries, rasp-
berries or strawberries, the property of
another, on conviction thereof, shall be
fined in any sum not less than $10, nor
more than $100.
Section 2. Whoever, without having
first procured the assent of the owner or
his agent ln charge of the premises, enters
into any yard, garden, orchard, vineyard,
or lands upon which are planted currants,
blackberries, gooseberries, raspberries, or
strawberries, the property of another, and
shall take and carry away fruit, berries, or
vegetables grown thereon, on conviction
thereof, shall be fined in any sum not less
than $10, nor more than $500, to Whioh
may be added imprisonment in the county
jail not more than six months, and disfranchised and rendered incapable of holding any office of trust or profit ior any determinate period.
Section 3. Whoever shall feloniously
steal, take and carry away from any yard,
garden, orchard, vineyard, or lands npon
which are planted currants, blackberries,
gooseberries, raspberries or strawberries,
fruit, vegetables or berries, the property
Work for Winter Days.
Editobs Indiana Fabmeb:
'lis often said that man's work is from
sun till sun, woman's work never done.
A farmer that is really one of the progressive kind and one worthy of the name, resembles the woman in that his work Is
never done. There are seasons of rest for
the make shift farmer and seasons when
there is less rushing work to be done, but
in the proper use of the seasons of comparative leisure is found the best safeguard against the possible hurry and
worry of the busy season. Many things
can be done in the winter season in good
weather that are put off until the spring
work begins; then help is hired by the
day. It Is just as easy, possibly easier, to
get the next year's fuel ready for use in
the short days of winter as in the longer
days of spring. A day or two then, at
any convenient time, to. haul it up and
put under cover, and the job is done for a
year. No chopping wood to get breakfast
in harvest time. The hired man may rest
half an hour on a rainy day and not shed
tears, or want to leave. The good woman
will not burn a stick more because there
are oords under the roof dry and ready.
It is just as easy to repair a broken gate
in the barn or work shop some rainy day
as it would be to take a nice, pretty day In
corn planting time, and then it is dene,
and you can see things neat and tidy
round the place. We made all our gates
in winter and had them ready to hang
when the weather would permit of setting
posts. Those pig pens we described not
long since were all made in weather when
no one should attempt out door work.
With $10 worth of tools a farmer, who is
just a little- bit handy, can, in bad days
otherwise lost, in a year do many dollars
worth of work ln repairing and keeping In
trim the surroundings of the home and
the working stock of the farm.
We have not to exceed $2 00 worth of
harness sewing tools, and every year we
repair all harness that is broken and not
neatly repaired, and then oil and have
ready for use, and almost every week
something is broken that must be repaired
at once. We can usually do it without
taking it to town, whioh entails a loss of
time and money. Many little canven-
lences can be made that will repay many
times their cost in course of one working
season if only a few dollars were expended
for necessary tools to work with. To be
sure, there is some little expense for ma
terial to work with, but this is a small
item compared with the saving It makes.
Then, one forms the habit of economic repairing at home, whioh will soon extend
to other things in common use; but there
is suoh a thing as getting too much of a
good thing. '.'Every man to his trade," is
a good motto to follow, and a part of the
farmer's trade is to bs able to make small
repairs. "A stitch in time saves nine,"
and many times these nine meau half a
day or more in harvest or planting.
No farm is complete without its tools
and workshop to keep them in. Get the
shop and a few tools, and they will soon
If
opportunity to display their mechanical
skill, and thus improve hours that otherwise would be lost. We have seen and
heard it advised that a farmer should be
his own blacksmith, except ln difficult
work. For our part we do not want to
try our hand at hot iron or steel working,
horse shoeing, etc. This is intruding too
much on another trade; however, we try
to keep bolts, rivets and other minor things
to repair some things in this line, yet in
the main we want the blacksmith to stick
to his anvil.
We do our planning for another season's
work in winter, and solve some rather Intricate problems in mathematical agriculture In the long winter evenings, and try
to find some plan whereby we can attain
as gocd, or better, results at less expense;
consider where we can invests little of our
year's profits permanently so we can reap
the benefits in years to come, for there is
much in the farmer's life besides mere accumulation of wealth in land and chattels.
Another point tbat every farmer should
watch is when on another farm see what
things are advantageous to the owner, and
what are eye sores to a visitor.   See if you
can use the first to your own advantage
and the amount of money or work it wonld
save you; see if the second can not find a
counterpart at  your  own place and you
never saw at all.   It Is just as easy to have
things  tidy, neat  and  clean  about  the
farmer's honifi3sanyoce'*>.   All It requires
is effort.   In the dark and gloomy days
the eyesores in the backyard show to their
best advantage.   Look at them some day
and then put on your thinking cap and resolve to change the appearance of things
for the better, and suit action to thought
as soon as possible.
Spend a good portion of every evening
reading the agricultural journals suited to
your section, and don't throw the paper
down doubting the writer's sanity or veracity. Possibly he has done you a favor
by causing you to think on some point
you had never before. Don't be afraid of
getting too many, they will not eat anything, increase your taxes, make you any
trouble or interfere with your work any
way, if there are one or two issues in midsummer that are not read through, and
they may be the cause of the boy's studying at home evenings. Dewitt.
of another, upon conviction thereof, shall
bs imprisoned in  the State prison not I increase in number and  usefulness.
more than three years, nor less than one | there are boys growing np they will find
Manuring-the Fields ln Winter.
Editobs Indiana Fabmeb:
Coarse manure ss it comes from the
barnyard or stable is not completely available for plant food. The great bulk of
vegetable fiber it contains must be so decomposed that it will orumble y.ery fine
and be so thoroughly Incorporated with the
soil, that the soil moisture can dif solve out
and hold' In solution its fertilizing elements. The best place to accomplish this
decomposition is in a compact heap, so
sheltered and protected above or below
that the rich liquid manure will not leach
away. When manure is piled in large
heaps and not properly cared for it will so
heat from fermentation as to lose much
fertility and become "firefaDgod" on the
edges of tho heap. In the ordinary barnyard its fertility is soaked out by the rains
one month and the next it is dried Into
dust and blown away. If stable mannre
Is hauled out on to the fields about as fast
as it accumulates some ammonia may be
lost, but all the teachings and dust will remain in the soil where the fertilizer is
needed and the frost and snow and rain
will so disintegrate the piles that by spring
time they can be spread out as a fine top-
dressing forsod.orf >r'plowing under. More
fertility will be lost from manure exposed
in the ordinary barnyard than from the
same spread out over the fields in winter.
With tbe winter spreading of mannre the
barnyard is cleaner, a slack time is used
for the hauling and *he manure is immediately available for the next season's crops.
McL.