The Possibilities of
to Agriculture.
. dltora Indiana Parmer
'llie State will soon locate its proposed
epileptic village. Its primary object will
I* for the care and cure of its unfortunate
. itizens afflicted with epilepsy. At the
present time we know of no remedy in
medicine or surgery which will relieve
more than a small percentage of them. The
greatest iH'netit or relief comes from living
.1 simple life, away from excitement, re-
-|...nsiliility aud cnre. aud out of doors.
I inter these eireitmstaiices ther are many
who will greatly improve, and some who
will become well. At the present time
these unfortunates nre being cared for by
friends, iu county  poor houses, jails anil
■uliiins. Tliey are not insane, neither
in- they criminals, but human beings unfortunately so afflicted that they cannot
care for themselves at all times, nor is
it safe for them to be left alone. The
care, er rather lack of care, now given
i hem often makes their condition worse.
Under a recent act ofl the legislature
.in epileptic village is to be formed. A
thousand acres or more of land is to be
provided for their use. They are t.. be
given the conditions of a aanitorium. They
arc not to be, or shouhl not be maintained
in idleness, but given such employment
for the self support as their condition anil
li.st interests will warrant. It is a mistake to enforce idleness upon any sane per-
M.ii. and a greater one upon any person
alflicted with a nervous disease like epilepsy.
Tlie operations in agriculture and horticulture will afford more nearly ideal conditions for them than any other. While
the cultivation of this land will be primarily for the support of this village, there
are possibilities connected with it, which
may be of exceeding value to the whole
State. This can be obtained by proper
planning and supervision, without in the
slightest degree detracting from the productiveness of the place or increasing the
expense. These results may be obtained
b) rightly directing that which must be
.lone.
For example: In the maintenance of
a colony of five hundred to one thousand
persons, a large quantity of fruits will be
.1 necessity. Fruit trees will lie planted.
Why not set out this orchard with all
llie varieties of apples, cherries, plums,
I-ears, quinces, peaches and other fruits,
■ind different parts planted in different
ways? Every problem proposed by the
State Horticultural Society could be work-
1 d out here and the product used. The
State will own the land, will have to buy
trees, and the expense will be the same
whether little or much comes from them.
The opportunities for testing grapes, rasp-
l-crries. blackberries, currants, gooseber-
iies, service berries, and all the host of
other small fruits, are equally good. The
.inning industry in this state is now con-
lined to ivears, beans and tomatoes. If
these small fruits could be studied and developed as they would be better suited
-nch method of preservation, it ought
to mean the addition of a million dollars
each year   to thnt   industry.    Studies   in
i'velnpment of these fruits to change the
per cent of acid, the content of sugar, the
solidity of the pulp nnd amount of supporting tissue ean only be carried on .1
vuntageotisly when large quantities are
produce.], ami these are the factors con-
' erne,! in canning.
The sugar beet was developed by scientific selection. untM.it has become of great
ommercial    importance.      There   is    the
for the study of tomatoes, peas
and beans for their improvement for canning. All these should be greatly improved, and could be when such quantities will be demanded and the labor so
abundant It is not to be expected that
the inmates of the home could do this
plowing. But they could ,l<i the manual
work of replanting, cultivating and bringing  forth the finished  product.
There is an excellent opportunity for
the study of floriculture tind parking. The
Ik ine should be made as Ua liful as skill
and labor can produce, and in this the results Mhoul.l have a value to every home,
■ ity and town where the beautiful is ap
predated. It  will   not  be  numy   years
no doubt the idea will commend itself to
the (iovenor and Board of Trust.,- [Editor.
Kdltora Indiana  Farmer:
In Harrison county we have fairly good
loads; all the roads near the county seat
are very good, but hack in the country
farther awa.v they an not n good, because
tlie disiricts are too large and the super
\isors are limited tc. only 4l» days. Thus
M is iinpnssil le tn ;_ive all the r.na.ls jus
tice in that length nf time. As I., llie
Oame l_:n« it may Ik- right but it docs
not appear so to inc. When a person
has land ami pays taxea on Ihe same, and
rabbits   are   destroying   fruit    trees,     and
Written for tbe  Indiana  Farmer:
Wasting Manure.
Bj w. a Palmer.
Farm Home of Win.   Webber, Hancock County.
until every town of four thousand and upward will have its parks and resting
places. Thousands of homes will want
trees, bushes, vines and flowers. They
will want an object lesson in specimen
plants, in clumping, in seasonal effects,
nnd in adaptability to soil and other conditions. It should be possible to obtain
a vast fund of information along these
lines. The nurseryman's catalogue cannot be expented to gire us as reliable information as could be obtained by direct experiment.
These arc lines of work which the
State does not now undertake, but
which could be undertaken at very little
expense, if only rightly planned and superintended. There are many lines of agriculture which might be benefited just as
much as those indicated. These esperi-
ments are not now undertaken by the
States but could be in this way at one
per cent of the cost involved in a special
study.
Let us hope that the new institution
may accomplish more than is now anticipated for the relief and cure of the epileptic, and that the farm, orchard, garden,
and grounds be superintended along scientific and practical lines for the benefit of
the whole State. Reader.
[Xote.—The Indiana Village for Epileptics will be located in Henry county, about
two miles northeast of Newcastle, the
State Commission having purchased a
tra. t nf L200 acres at that point, at a
cost of $100 per acre.      This tract is ad-
some times the grain, and he has not the
privilege of killing them, it docs seem t..
me that he ought to have the same privilege to kill the rabbits that lie woul.l have
to deal summarily with his pigs if they
Committed the same depredation. The
quail ought to have protection for he is
the farmer's friend. Wheat is looting fine.
We have had the dee|>est snow for this
winter so far. with zero weather following
the snow. Plenty of Scarlet fever.
Corydon. Mrs. 0. 0. H.
mi: QAMH law.
Edltora  Indiana   Firmer:
I am like Brother Trester, I think Ihe
man that pays taxes on a farm and pays
for it, owns it and all tint is on it. If
anybody bas a right to hunt or tish it is
the fanner as Brother II. C. savs. When
the farmer is at work aome one is looking
for his game. Let us hear from more
ot the Farmer readers on this subject.
Wheal looks well; hogs high and scarce;
corn 4tV; mads in good ennditinn. I have
been leading the Farmer for a long lime
and would not do without it. Wishing
j'ou sn." II-  IL  S.
Daviess Co.
COKREfTION.
Rdltnrs  Indiana   Fanner:
Iii your issue of the Farmer of February 10. on page 13, I cull your attention
t.. a mistake in the article "Potato Crop
Profitable." It shonld read Mr. .lames
Whipps, of    Sullivan    county,  instead  of
In my previous paper I tricl to bring
..ut "the Idea that a man who is to fiarm
ought to liave systematic training to prepare him for his business. 1 will now,
■ ii a series of papera, attempt to show
the losses that occur from our farmers
not having this systematic irainiug and
education  in  their line of mock.
Th.-  Department    of    Agriculture    at
Washington, 11. ('., has found that ou an
average the value of the manure from a
horse or inulc is $37 a year; from cattle,
$10: from a hog $11'; and from a sheep, $2.
Indiana   baa    1,582,729    cattle,    88&570
horses iin.1  mules,  2,031,470 ho^-s,  ami   1,-
184,771 iheep,     Using ihe raluka for the
manure has given above, the manure is un-
nually worth $81,880
I.el us consider the six months tlmt the
cattle arc atabled. The value of the
mannre for thai time would be *5|II,N17,
V.V. Hut if the liipiiil manure is not
tared, not* than hair of the fertilizing
. onstiliienls ar,. |,,st. leaving but $20,488,
'<n\. Mini losing a like amount. As a
mailer Of fact the loss will le considerably
greater,    t>ui, for argument's sake, hi us
suppose lhat if is but half. The plant
food I..si. wool,| he sullicicut then to pro
.luce 88,-3*8,483 bushels of wheal, or 84
I.usheis for each man, woman and chihl
in   Indiana. Is  it   any   wonder that   the
average yield of wheat is lull IM bushels
pat acre in ihe United States. while
in England the average is .'!:>? England's
land has been under cultivation, some of
it for more than a thousand yi'ai-s; while
most of the soil in Indiana has been cultivated less than To years.
Now. it would du less harm iu the long
run for our bankers to throw away $34
for every imin, woman nnd child, than for
the farmer to waste that annum! of plant
food. Bnt   the   State   and   the   Nation
have bank examiners to see lhat the hanks
•ire  properly  managed. It Is mure im-
jiortant that there be farm examiners, to
IM that the wastes on the farm are
■topped, and some day that will be the
Caae,        In Denmark that is true now.
Plant food is in some ways like the
bucket with which we draw water from
the well. The crop takes it up. Then,
when it is fed to animals, it is returned
in the manure— is put buck on the land.
na.lv to be taken up by another crop, and
so it keeps on. making a trip each year,
and the Hop is in proportion to the
amount of plijnt food, just as the water
brought up will be in proportion to the
size of the hracMt Wasting plant food
is like reducing the size of the bucket, and
then wp wonder why it does not bring up
as much water ns at first.
tirst duty of the person who is to
till the soil is to learn about plant food;
how the plan) lakes it up, how it is returned in the Manure when the crops are fed to
live stock, and bow to return it to the
soil. Or. 1.1 use the well bucket illustration, he will soon lie drawing water with
a   pint   measure
To be Continued.
Winona  Agr.   Institute,   Winona   I/ake,
Indiana.
r
$
St Joseph county. Give Sullivan county
mirably adapted to the carrying out of the her due credit. 1 have been a read, r „t
experimental and illustrative work sug- the Farmer f..r Tl years, and wish it sue
gested in the above article, and  we have
cess and a long life. James Whipps.
Newton Campbell of Tipton county
savs. in reference to the great snow
stnrin ..f 1MB: "My diary notes for October 7 and Bi 1*<i!' show that those days
were warm ami I was at the county fair
at Tipton. So Thomas I>. Campbell, of
Brown couuty. a Jjr wrong."