f:      --i
VOL. XXX.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., FEB. 9,1895.
NO. 6.
l^jetlctl %t_isXrttiou.
Editobs Indian*, fabmeb:
Kt a plug into the hole through which
so much of our school fund leaks into the
pockets of our attorney general.
Newton Co. Jos Mo"lintock.
A correspondent says our legislature
will not need to pass any laws in regard to
the quails, as what there is left will perish
this winter; And most of the birds (except sparrows) will be extinct in another
ten years.
Enr «*cg IsnusA Fabmj-b:
An__[_d the law so an estate shall ba settled and divided among the heirs when
the wife dies just the same as it is when
the husband, dies.
Not allow grading done on the road after
June unless well graveled.
Allow no saloon unless by a petition of
a majority of the voters in the ward, town
or township in whioh it is to be located.
Parke Co. Pbbley Peabson
lies," wten it oomes to trying to prohibit
an applicant from procuring a lioense; and
so long as we have no change in our State
laws in regard to the saloons, we may expect to see them flourishing on the right
and left in every city, town and country
village.
The quiokest way and the shortest route
to prohibition Is first, a local option law,
that will allow any city, town or village to
dispense with the saloon by a majority
vote of precinct or ward,- and second, by
imposing a tax of not less than f 1,000 per
annum on all saloons sanctioned under
local option, and also compelling all saloon keepers to remove all screens from
all doors and windows, both day and
night, making their plaoe of business as
open tb public view as that of the hardware or dry goods merchant.
And further, I would make the "burden
of proof" fall on the applicant by requiring him to prove his "fitness" by others
than those who are themselves patrons of
the saloon. B P. C.
Rob Roy.
Editobs Issusi Fabmeb:
I. A. F, in giving his views on needed
dog laws, wonders lf any one else Is both-
" ered with sheep killing dogs I can answer,
yes. On Feb. 1,1894, I had a flock of 30
sheep killed and wounded by dogs. I like
his suggestions except that he wants an
authorized officer to kill dogs not tagged.
"I say authorize any person to Sill any untagged dog, and If caught after sheep or
other stock kill him, tag or no tag.
Bloomington. O. P. C.
Editobs Indiana Fabmeb:
, I think the present Legislature should
pass a law concerning county normal
schools. Jn many counties the superintendents are connected with these schools,
and they grade the applicants below the
standard for license to force them to attend
these schools. The superintendents hold a
special examination at close of school and
most of the students get license. Some
superintendents will withhold grades for
two months to keep students in the school
until it closes. I think the Legislature
Bhould pass a law prohibiting the county
superintendent having any connection
with such schools, or holding spscial examination based, on the work of these
schools. A Teacheb.
Clinton Co.
Corn Culture.
Editobs Indiana FA-tiCKB:
My way of raising corn, and I don't generally come in hindmost, is to plow in the
fall or winter deep, say five or bIx inohes.
Spread all the manure on the surface as
made. Work in in spring with disc harrow; plAnt and cul .Irate as soon as planted.
Harrow again as scon as or before up.
Start cultivators to work thus as long as I
can. Then finish with a Morris Gopher
cultivator, at no time more than two or
thre inches deep. J. MoC.
Parke Co.
The following bill is before the Leglsla
ture:
An act entitled an Act for the Encourage
merit of Agriculture, making an Annual
Appropriation io the State Hoard of Agriculture for the Payment of Premiums
and Declaring an Emergency,
Be it enacted by the General Assembly
of the State of Indiana:
Section 1. That* the sum of {10,000
annually is appropriated for the use of the
Indiana State Biard of Agriculture, to be
expanded ln the payment of premiums
awarded by said bDard, to be paid out of
the State Treasury upon the first day of
April yearly and to ba reoelpted for by
the president, attested by the secretary, of
the said board.
Section.. An emergenoy exists forthe
Immediate taking effect of this aot; therefore the same shall be in effect from and
afr*r its passage.
Editobs Indiana Fabmkb:
All though your columns are now well
filled with articles on needed legislation,
yet I would like to have a little space. It
seems to me that other questions of needed
legislation sink into utter insignificance
when compared with the needed leglsla -
tion in regard to the saloons of our country.
As a member of the board of commissioners of our county I-have had some experience as to "where the burden of proof
Editobs Indiana Fabmeb:
As simple oorn culture and not successful oorn culture, is our subject, I will give
our experience of the past season, hoping
that others hearing it may not go and do
likewise. As we learn most by our mistakes and failures it may not be entirely
out of place. In April husband said to
me, "I am going to break the pasture lot,
plant corn in hills three and one half feet
apart, cultivate both ways and if the season hits, I'll show you some corn."
"I wish you would," I said. "It will be
so convenient for me to plant beans and
squashes, and a few melons in one corner;
and you must leave a strip for sorghum,
and I'd like to have a few rows of broom-
corn."
"That will do," said B, "I don't propose
to turn my cornfield into a truck patch."
Well, the sod broke nice and mellow, and
as there was only four and one half acres
it was soon ready for harrowing. B. uses
a Gibbs' Imperial plow No. 10, which turns
the soil about four inohes, he being a believer in shallow culture. A strawstack
which the stock had run over two winters,
stood in one corner. This was scattered as
far as it would go; no other fertilizer being
used. B. harrowed and boated until the
surface was as fine and smooth as an onion
bed. Then he laid it off in beautiful,
straight rows and at this stage there came
a dashing rain which obliterated all trace
of those furrows.
In ab.ut a week B reharrowed,reboated
and refurrowed ss before, though not quite
so carefully, and announced his intention
to plant the next day. That night came
another rain, like unto the first bnt more
of it, and the gloom on that poor man's
face deepened till it seemed no sun oould
penetrate it. After a dreary interval he
took the laying off plow, made a slight
mark on the stiff clay, recroesed it, took
the hand planter and commenced planting.
The planter wouldn't work; a hitoh somewhere. "It will have to be planted by
hand and covered with the hoe," eaid B ,
"and not a hand to be hired at this time.1'
After a pause, "Thompson's women folks
helped him plant yesterday."   As Thomp
son's family boasted seven women and
ours but one, I said nothing; but when I
saw him carefully placing the grains on
the hard ground and painfully burying
them, I relented, and taking a quantity of
beans and pumpkin seeds, went to his assistance. Before we finished the weather
became so severe that we actually suffered
with cold, which convinoes me that we
began several weeks too early.
Results: The oorn made a fair stand,
was cultivated twice each way, where the
strawstack had stood, and for quite a distance around, it grew rank and matured
large ears; the rest of the field did not
grow much taller than my head, and the
ears, though well filled and solid, were
very small. This corn "fired" so badly
that it is a wonder it produced anything at
all. In view of our painful experience I
am fully persuaded that the planting of
this noble cereal Bhould be deferred until
winter is over, for "though Paul may plant
and Apollos water," they will have but
meagre success until the sun warms the
earth and nature begins her chemical processes in the grand laboratory of the soil.
Jennings Co. Mus. E B.
Editobs Indiana Fabmeb:
In reply to your request for an article
on corn growing, I will say that I have
spent my days of usefulness, so far ss
labor is concerned, on the farm, and the
following is the best method that I have
discovered. Have a good sod, clover is the
best; break it deep; set it on edge; this
will give as many inches of plowed ground
as the plow turns in width, will distribute
the soil evenly and leave recesses at the
bottom to hold surplus water. Nearly
any plow will edge if set deep and nearly
any one will lay it flit if set shallow, and I
like to break deep Take an Acme harrow,
set It to cut about halt way through the
sod. Get on to it and drive until every
clod or lump is pulverized; then drill
good seed in rows 3 feet 8 inches and 16
inches in the rows. As soon as
done planting set the harrow to
run very shallow and walk be"
hind it while you go over the field. This
will destroy all weeds that have started,
and give the corn the start instead of
weeds. As soon as the rows can be followed take a one horse spring tooth harrow, adjustable, and go through it, repeat
this every week until the corn shades the
ground, but your rows should be of uniform width, to use the harrow after the
corn gets brittle. I take the harrow because it stirs every inch of the ground,
and breaks but few roots. Not a drop of
water escapes downward after the ground
is fit to plough. It all gets away by evaporation, carrying wilh it plant food from
the soil and the plants feed upon it as it
passes up through them. The finer the
tilth the longer will the moisture remain
In reach of the roots. Frequent stirring
prevents the formation of air passages, for
its rapid esoape. In 1893 I rented a field to
a neighbor. It was a timothy sod, creek
bottom sand and clay. It was broke in
the spring and harrowed with a spike-
tooth harrow until somewhat leveled, and
planted May 10th. cultivated three times
with double shovel and yielded 12 to 15
bushels of very inferior corn to the acre.
One half inch of rain fell on it on June 27
and no more rain fell until it was mature.
On May 20, 1891,1 planted the same
ground to oorn, that night and the next
day three inches of rain fell, flooding
everything so that it was -two weeks before it was fit to work, and I thought I
ought to loosen it up deep with bull
tongues, but I wanted to experiment, so I
cultivated as described above and got 30
bushels to the acre, with the usual per
cent of merchantable corn. I forgot to
say that the only rain that fell on this
orop was the one referred to on the day
after planting, except   one fourth inch
which fell the last week of June.
I also grew abont 70 bushels of potatoes
to the acre in 1893 without a drop of rain
fall, or artifiolal watering after they come
up. They were planted June 22 and got
they half inch rain before referred to.
They were first cultivated deep, then harrowed onca a week until the vines began
to fall.
The foregoing experiments convince me
that fine tilth, level, shallow cultivation
should be the rule. L C. Fish.
Shoals.
Irrigation and Rotation.
Editobs Indiana Fabmeb:
The irrigation question is attracting
much attention both East and West—in
the West because it is a vital question, in
the East mostly through the public prominence given it recently and owing to last
few years of unusual drouth. In many
portions of the West Irrigation is an absolute necessity and this necessity and the
amount of water required for successful
growing of profitable crops varies with
the varying climatic and soil conditions,
and products to be grown.
Many crops that may ba profitably
grown in the humid and even semi-arid
regions would be grown at'a loss with the
increased expense of proper irrigation;
hence tbe prime factors determining the
profitableness of Irrigation, either In arid
or humid regions subject to occasional disastrous drouths are: Cost of water and its
application; what can be successfully
grown to supply a home demand, or bear
transportation and commission charges
for disposal in a distant market. In many
places in the central and eastern States,
gardening truck and berry patches could
be so located with reference to an inexpensive water supply that the occasional
watering—by various means—necessary to
develop and mature a crop, would add to
the yield and improve the quality so that
the increased value would far exceed the
additional expense. Bat I doubt whether
any of the cereal crops, in excess of that
required for home consumption, conld be
grown anywhere with profit with the additional expense of irrigation, unless, perhaps, In favored localities, where a large
yield of superior grain would offset a mln-
mum cost for water and transportation of
grain.
In northern Indiana are thousands of
acres of the rich marsh lands, susceptible of proper drainage in which the tiling
could be so laid and distributed that both
perfect drainage and sub irrigation would
be under control of the farmer, insuring
maximum crops of vegetables and also of
corn and some of the berries; the latter
though running some risks of blighting
frosts.
While the West is investigating and discussing the water supply for Irrigation
purposes and legislating for a more equitable distribution of the same—for the more
easily accessible and abundant supplies are
largely controlled by greedy corporations
—the farmers of the upper Mississippi and
tributary valleys should study and familiarize themselves with soil capillarity and
the best methods of cultivation for retaining the soil moisture near the surface and
absorbing the greatest amount ot moisture
from the air during the cool nights. This
section appears to.be the natural home for
corn, wheat and the other cereals and their
necessary ally, clover. What is the best
rotation for these crops in different localities and soils is always a profitable study
for every farmer. At present corn and
clover are king and queen in the rotation.
E. P. Diehl.
Lsesburg, Kosciusko Co.
The publio schools of Westfield have
been closed because of the prevalance of
mumps and measles. Fifty.per cent of
the pupils are reported to be affected.