XXIII.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, MARCH 3,1888.
NO. 9
e is no good reason why salt shonld
placed upon the   free list.   It is an
consumed as  extensively by the
er^capita as by the  rich, and conse-
j* by far the greater part of the duty
by the poorer classes. It approaches
sterial in character, inasmuch as it
■ largely Into the manufacture of our
1 products, such as  butter, cheese,
fish, pickles, etc., and being an ar-
■ ■■! heavyweight  and low value the
ortation  from other salt-producing
les to  this country Is  a protection
If, equivalent to an average duty of
cent, while if  we calculate  the ex-
of getting it from  our seaports 500
inland, the  transportation  protec-
irould amount to quite 50 per cent
ralue.—American Grocer.
 1    e>   e	
nkfort will be lighted by electricity,
ie contract has been awarded to a
company at $68 per annum.
OUR PRIZE ESSAY
"AL
ii
BT MILLER PURVIS.
(Concluded.)
Half a mile east of this little farm is another of 29 acres, which the owner, Mr.
Young, inherited from bis mother nine
years ago. This farm was a part of a
larger one that had been badly run down,
and when Mr. Young came into possession
it was in a condition akin to the one down
East, of which it was said, it needed manuring before it was rich enough to make
bricks. On this 29 acres were three
swamps, containing in the aggregate about
four acres. These swamps had never been
drained and therefore had yielded no revenue  to  the  former owners.   The  first
all saved and cared for. When a field was
plowed it was thoroughly tilled, and no
plant food was allowed to be wasted in the
support of weeds. Each year some tile
ditch was put in, until at the end of five
years the whole farm was thoroughly
drained. I forgot to mention that the first
winter the barn was burned with its contents. This was rebuilt 40x60 feet, of first
class material throughout, but was a hard
pull and cost some sacrifice. At the end
of five years the place was in thorough repair, and the land was producing more
than ever it had before, thanks to liberal
manuring, clover and perfect tillage. That
spring one-fourth of an acre was put in
strawberries, by way of experiment, and
what but a few years before had been a
thin and almost barren lot
PRODUCED A GREAT CROP.
The next year more strawberries were put
out, and now there is on the place nearly
two acres.   The berries were put in so that
interest he was obliged to pay taking all
the surplus. Eighty acres were sold and
my friend began to put his whole time in
on about 36 of the remaining 55 acres,
using about 19 acres for horse and cow
pasture, orchard, door and barn yard.
With "a little farm well tilled" he began
to forge ahead.   He raised
WIIEAT, CLOVER AND POTATOES,
and here aro his sales for one year, 1882:
From Il'_ acres wheat, 35 bushels per acre, sold
for fl 15 per bushel, 7 tons rowen and straw_*J58T 00
12 acres hay, 30 tons at fc. per ton, sir acres of
clover seed and straw at ?90 „ 330 00
fiacres potatoes, 9;0 bushels, sold atf424, and
% acre of squashes sold for $12.0 _ 5+1 00
6 acres potatoes, 1,130 busbels, sold for 571 00
Total for 34a acres $_,r 30 32
I have not the exact figures for later
years, but they would not fall materially
behind those of 1882. This man has paid
his debts, built a fine house and barn and
has a comfortable sum in bank. His little
farm well tilled has made him rich and
famous, for instead of being driven by his
Pell Drilling Machinery,
lmost every part of Indiana
■ ■ e Central Western States, peo-
drilling wells for water, gas,
.   The readers of the Fahmer
il interested in the machinery
Dr this purpose.   The Chicago
i r  Well  Works, of  Gould A
■ r.  make the very best of this
machinery, for all purposes.
9 the accompanying illustra-
"■ their latest  improved rock
machinery.     They  manu-
all kinds of well machinery
•  ,ures, and will send as adver-
1 our columns, a large illus-
atalogue to any one desiring
itlon* on  this  subject,  who
• Iress them at 167-9 East Lake
'hicago, Illinois.
_e*-y-» »£    -        Sr---i?s«^__i>*J_iry=?>ei_.'i_-fc>
_JL ,-=- ■-^*'b-**-t5"*-1-"__»>:-^ ■jj-»4r*'?ii
• and District Agricultural Societies,
r this head we publish reports of
;s, election of officers, etc., as they
". to us from time to time,
rick's County. Agricultural and
rttural Society was organized at
ild on the  18th ult. with   the  fol-
1 officers: A. W. Carter, president;
uthrie, vice president; J. M. Bar-
sretary; J. M. Carter; treasurer;
ox, John Morgan, Wm. Leitzman,
ive Committee/ A  committee  to
■ conjunction with the Executive
ttee was appointed to arrange for a
tt fall.
ndlana Farmer:
'Pencer county fair association at
)ft held their annual election on
& and elected B. F. Bridges Presi-
id Henry Hoch Secretary,
meetings will be held, a June race
•Ufair; the fair association is in a
ag spirit and arrangements are be-
' de lor new attractions and a large
-rounds are the finest in southern
*; water works are connected with
•"ind; plenty of blue grass pasture,
^h grove shade and a lake contain-
8 acres or more of water in center
k.
Henry Hocir, Sec'y.
■ ■ e   »   e	
P^at deer range of the country is in
'm Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Da-
■"•e Indians  slaughter great num-
'* them, but the deer continue nu-
i.
1 the Emperor William  celebrates
-»thday In March, every soldier in
*' An*y wui be presented with the
"^'os-rapby.
thing Mr. Young did was to clean out and
drain the swamp nearest the house, and
plant it in potatoes. He had two horses,
and that year he raised a field of corn
away from home. He had six boys at
home and his wife and daughter were kept
busy at their house work and the flowers
in the door yard. By the next spring another swamp of an acre and a half was
cleaned out and the land sowed to mangel
wurzels, and planted to potatoes, while the
one cleared out the year before, was sown
to onions. There was an acre and a quarter of onions, but it was not a good 5 ear,
the old swamp soil was too loose for onions,
drying out badly, but at ?110 per bushel
the crop brought S330, while the mangels,
hay, corn fodder and straw raised on the
farm kept two cows and two horses, and
the meat for the family was fed on corn
raised. The third year the onion crop on
the swamp brought almost $500, while
over 8100 worth of potatoes were sold, besides some corn, cabbages, four tons of
mangels and the broom corn from three-
fourths of an acre. That year 80 turkeys
were raised and from their sale the year's
supply of meat was bought, leaving probably $40aurplus. During this ilme there
was bought about one ton of superphosphate, and probably ?5 was paid for hen
manure, which wasgot at the ridiculously
low price of 25c per load from some Penn-
sylvanians who thought it "injured their
land." Those portions of this farm which
were not being cropped with onions and
potatoes were planted to corn, or wero in
wheat, or grass, receiving at each plowing,-
a liberal supply of manure,
of which a large quantity for the amount
of stock kept was pecuredj because It was
part of the proceeds of the farm could be
reali/.od in the spring, making it more
convenient than to wait until fall for the
income of the whole year. Besides this,
the work on the strawberry patch such as
cultivating, resetting, etc., could be done
in the fall when the other . crops did not
need attention. For a year or two quite a
large amount of cabbage has been grown,
as this is a profitable crop here and is easily grown.
Across the road from this farm is an 80
acre tract that nine years ago would have
brought §4,000, while the 27 acre farm was
appraised at 81,200. To-day Mr. Young
can take 53,000 for his 27 acres, while the
owner of the 80 acres could not get as
much for his whole tract. In this case a
"little farm well tilled," has not only supported a family of from five to eight persons, but has actually made for the owner,
by increase in value, 81,800 in nine years.
Mr. Young is happy and contented,
men because he has enough,
while the owner of the 80 acres opposite,
who has three or four farms besides, is on
the rack and continually complains of
"hard times," "high taxes" and "bad government." "Better a dinner of herbs and
contentment, than a stalled ox and contention therewith," is j-jst as true now as
it was 4,000 years ago, and for true happiness and contentment we must look to
"the little farm well tilled."
I might tell of more little farms that I
know of: for instance an acquaintance of
mine bought about 15 years ago a farm of
135 acres and began to keep cows and sell
milk.. -By close work he was able to make
about $300 per year, and being heavily in
debt he could  not get on at this rate, the
work he is able to keep abreast of it, and
this gives him time to write of his successes or failures, and in Ohio no farmer is
so well known as T. B. Terry.
I could tell you of others, but I have not
space. I might mention one, who broken
down in health and fortune went back to
the little plot of earth in
ALMOST UTTER DESPAIR,
but labor cured the ills of the f-lrsh, and as
the health improved hope came back.
Farm work ceased to be a task, but became a pleasant study, and now that one
is not only healthy and happy, but is able
to earn more with his pen than he ever
did while at office work, besides raising
up his family in the pure air of the country, surrounded by the unapproachable
beauties of the handiwork of God. In the
"little farm well tilled" lies the balm that
restores to man tho Garden of Eden and
takes away the effects of the curse that
declared "in tho sweat of thy face thou
shalt eat thy bread."
Preventable Accidents.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
I see in the Farmer of the 18th a note
about a girl who was injured by the farm
bell falling on her. A similar case happened near us, tho bell post was loosened
the bell fell and struck her head, and
crushed in one side, and here she lies, for
a month, fatally injured, suffering death
dail^. Do call attention to this matter,
and to railings beside cellar stairs.
Mrs. Ricketts.
A movement of ice in the Susquehanna
Friday caused a flood, and the bridge of
the Pennsylvania Railroad at Columbia,
Pa., was In danger of destruction.