VOL. LXI
Gardeh*
INDIAN AFOLIS,
6, 1906
AS
ft*
NO. 1
Sorgum  and Forage.
Editors Indiana Farmer
I have grown sorgum for feeding stock
for four years, and while my first year's
experience convinced me of its value, I
have this year been made to appreciate
it more than ever before. We planted i
two acres of sorgum about the first of
June; the weather being favorable it
came right up, and made a wonderful
growth, and by the first of August it was
ready to feed. This two acres of sorgum
yielded 100 bushels of fine seed, besides
tons of excellent feed for live stock. All
kinds of stock eat it readily, in the dry
stage as well as the. green. Sorgum is
not only palatable but also nutritious, as
cows will maintain a good flow of milk
wheu fed soVgum when pastures are short;
it also has a wonderful drought resisting
power and will endure much dry weather
and yet make a fair crop when rain* comes.
We are now feding eight shoats on sorgum with the seed on, and they are growing nicely. I believe that the expense of
fattening hogs can be greatly reduced
by feeding sorgum in connection with corn.
Planting.—Prepare your ground thoroughly, if you plow your ground before
you are ready to plant, go over it frequently with the harrow to keep the weeds in
chock. Plant in rows 3 feet apart, and
thick in the row, say from 10 to 15 stalks
to the foot of drill. Cultivate as you
would corn. We cut our sorgum with
the corn binder this year, and were much
pleased with it, as it did excellent work,
after cutting we set the bundles up in
shocks, when it has stood four or five
weeks it is ready to store for winter use;
any quantity can be put in the mow without danger of healing.
*"1 am sending you this paper at the request of C. R. Shade, of Edgar Co., 111.,
and hope it will influence him, as well
as other readers of the Indiana Farmer,
to plant some sorgum the coming year.
Dearborn Co. V. F. Weinman.
Growing Sorgum   Por Feed.
Editors Indiana Farmer
In reply to Sir. C. R. Slade's enquiry
relative to growing sorgum for feed I will
give some of our experience with it and
our method of planting and cultivating
and  harvesting.
We grow a field of sorgum every year
for summer feeding, and find it a valuable
forage crop and relished by all kinds of
stock. We plow our ground in April
an$ drag down with a drag to hold the
moisture until we are done planting corn.
We then harrow and drag the ground until
it is in fine condition; then sow with our
two horse corn drill, using the same plates
that we used for planting corn, making the
rows S__ feet apart the same as for corn.
As soon as it is up so the rows are easily followed, we cultivate with a two horse
cultivator, setting the fenders, well down
to keep the dirt from falling on and
covering up the little plants. We cultivate once a week for three weeks, when
the sorgum will be big enough to take care
of itself and we are not troubled with
weeds at all. We do not sow until the
latter part of May or first of June, as it
grows more slowly than when the soil is
thoroughly warm, and the weeds are more
apt to get the start of it, than when sown
later. We begin feeding when the
plants are about four feet high and continue until the seed is ripe, when we use
the corn harvester to cut and bind the
remainder for winter feeding. We
shock it in small shocks like corn until
thoroughly dried.      . It will not heat but
eps bright and fresh, and stock will
re the best hay to get the sorgum fod-
MOKMON TEMPLES, SALT LAKE, UTAH.
Editors Indiana Fanner
I noticed the article "Polygamy as it
is," in your last week's issue, and it
brought to my mind a pleasant reminiscence of the past when I had the pleasure
of visiting Salt Lake City. For the benefit of the Indiana Farmer's many readers
I give the following description tot the
temple, tahernacle and assembly hall.
The Temple.—One of the most beautiful
and massive structures in the United
States and usually the first object of interest a traveler looks for upon arriving
in Salt Lake, is situated in what is
known as the "Temple Block" irr almost
the center of the city. The building is
of beautiful gray gra.'ite, and is surrounded by well kept grounds, causing a very
imposing appearance. The cornerstone laid
by Brigham Young, April 0, 1853, and it
was finished April 6, 1893. The exterior
dimensions are: Length ___l_ feet; width
99 feet and height to the top of the east
central tower, upon which stands a statue
of the angel Moroni 221% feet. "This
figure is by the famous Utah sculptor,
Dallin, and is of hammered copper, gilded
with pure leaf gold and surmounting its
crown is an immense incandescent lamp
of 100 candle power. The hight of the
rest of the spires ranges from 191 feet to
219 feet. The walls are 9 feet thick at
the bottom and 6 feet at the top. The
cost of the building is estimated at about
$4,000,000. This building is not open to
the public, nor is it used as a place of worship as is generally supposed. It is within its walls that the different rites of the
priesthood and the strange ceremonies of
marriage "and baptism are celebrated. The
interior  decorations  and   furnishings     are
said to be the most magnificent of these
of anj building in America.
The Tabernacle.—An immense building,
oblong and oval in shape, and in the same
block as the Temple. It is 250 feet
long and 150 feet wide and 100 feet high
in the center of the roof, which is a single mighty arch, without any visible support whatever. it is said to have but
one counterpart in the world in this respect. This building is used as a meeting house as well as for other public gatherings, by the Mormon people, and every
Sunday afternoon they gather here for religious worship. The public whether
Mormon or Gentile, is not barred from
these meetings. The seating capacity
of the Tabernacle is 13,500, and its acoustic properties are so marvelous that the
faintest whisper of the dropping of a pin
can be heard all over the building. Within thi"*? building is the famous Mormon organ, built when the nearest railroad was a
thousand miles away, and for many years
the first, now the second, in size in the
United     States. The    Mormon  choir,
which is the largest organized church
choir in the world, assembles around this
organ every Sunday afternoon. Recitals
on the grand organ were given on Wednesdays at 11 a. m., and on Saturdays at
11 a. m., by Prof J. .T. McClellan assisted
at intervals by the best local talent, five
jears   ago. These   performances   were
given gratuitously by the church for the
benefit of the visitors.
The Assembly Hall.—A gray granite
structure in the same block as the Temple
and Tabernacle, is used for business meetings and for Sunday School work.
G. E. E.
der. There are three reasons why we
prefer this method,  namely:
1st.    It is easily puickly planted.
2d.    It is easily cultivated.
3d. It is easily cured and stqred away
in the barn.
Another method that we sometimes use
on a* small plat, is to sow the seed with
an ordinary wheat drill and cut it with
the mower. If sown in June in this
way, on freshly prepared ground, it will
need no cultivation, as it is a very rank
grower when the soil is warm and in good
condition. But if intended for winter
feeding, we prefer to sow with the corn
drill and harvest with the corn harvester.
We do not pasture the sorgum as there
is some danger of stock eating too much,
and it is a very wasteful "method. We
usually plant some corn very thickly, (running twice in the same row) to feed with
the sorgum, as we get better results than
with the sorgum alone. Any land that
will grow a good crop of corn will grow
sorgum, but I would not advise growing
large quantities of sorgum for winter feeding and let the corn fodder go to waste in
the field.
Sugar corn is one of the very best feeds
for milk cows, for both winter and summer feeding, but does not produce nearly
so much green feed per acre as either field
corn or sorgum, but contains more nutritive value than either. By all means
try a field of sorgum and you will be
pleased with the results.
Tipton Co. Charles G. Clem.
Ihe   Use  and Abuse of Lime.
Editors Indians 'Fsrrm^**
The Agricultural Press has of late devoted considerable space to discussing the
various uses and value of lime. There is
no question but what it has a place in
modern agriculture,      since    it acts    both
chemically and physically; chemically lime
unites with the humic acid in the organic
matter to form humate of lime, thus preventing the formation of free humic acid;
it aids nitrification, and acts upon the soil,
liberating potassium and other elements
of plant food. Physically lime improves
capillarity, precipitates clay when suspended in water, and prevents losses, as
the washing away of fine earth. Heavy
clays lose their plasticity when limed; the
fine clay particles are cemented, and act
as sand, thus improving the mechanical
conditions  of  the  soil. The  improved
physical condition alone which follows the
application of lime is frequently .suillcent
to warrant its use. Correcting acid conditions of the soil is another valuable use
of lime. There is a great di£ferenx*e in
the power of plants to live in acid soils.
Agricultural plants are particularly sensitive, while many weeds have such strong
power of endurance that 'they are able to
thrive in the presence of acids. The
character of the weeds frequently reflects
the character of the soil as to acidity. It
is useless to expect to grow alfalfa, clover
aud other leguminous crops successfully
on acid soil.
When speaking of "lime fertilizers" the
reference is made to land plaster, which
is tlie commercial name for gypsum or calcium sulphate. It i_ a combination of
calcium, sulpnur, oxygen and water, and
hence it contains some elements which
plants require as food. It was used *
quite generally several years ago, but a
caution should accompany its uses. Land
plaser acts like other lime compounds upon the soil, setting free some valuable potash, the sulphuric acid of the plaster combining with the potash to form sulphate of
potash, which is an easily soluble salt.
This reaction would liberate the lime of the
plaster, and we would have two of the conditions favorable to clover, namely, a supply of available potash, and a soil in
which any excess of acid has been neutralized by lime. In this indirect manner
it supplies food to plants, and of course
in many instances gives increased crop 'returns. Nevertheless this process, causing the soil to give up its potash, is too
much like robbery. It is a common say-
j ing that "Lime makes the father rich and
the son poor." This is true when a
I continued use of the land plaster is prac-
i tired, since it acts largely as a stimulant,
adding no plant food to the soil, but liberating the plant food already there, so
that the result of its continued use must
be a great detriment to the soil, unless the
plaster be supplemented by liberal fertilizing. It would frequently be wiser to
add some of the potash compounds, kainit,
muriate of potash or sulphate of potash,
to the soil," than to force it to yield up an
already scant supply.
When the correction of acidity is desired, slaked or quick lime is used, but
quick lime cannot be used on land after
a crop has been seeded. However, the
best results would be secured if both *jjr
slaked lime and quick lime be applied some
little   time   before   seeding. In     some
localities pulverized lime rock is used, and
can be applied as a top dressing in almost
unlimited amounts. It is most beneficial on light sandy soils, where it performs
the function of fipe clay as well as being
beneficial in its chemical actions.
Slaked lime or finely ground limestone
can be applied broadcast and harrowed in,
1>y using a grain drill, the wheel seeder.
or a home made box distributor. Any
amount ranging from 500 to 3,000 pounds
per acre can be applied.
Delaware Co. D.  I. Duncan.