1 OL. XXIII.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, MARCH 24,1888.
NO. 12
<$,ntv$ nn& &nsvjzv.
Can you refer me to any  party having
1 ,rking chickens to sell?
Huntington. H. O. W.
Who has them?
i S
lire yonr name nnd postofflce when asking qnes-
M>°7 querieago unanswered for failure to
Yerve tWs rule.
I send in answer to J. P. H.'s query in
jard to the last total eclipse of the sun>
jlit it occurred at 3 p. in., August 7,1869.
Hillsboro. J. H. H.,
}'. SI. L.: Can procure eggs of the White
R. breed of fowls  from  Allen Beeler,
litton,   Union  county, who  advertises
ith us.
I have a black soil that has been in corn
d wheat three years. Is it suitable to
tin onions? * V.
If not weedy it ought to be an excellent
lace for onions.
Where can I get a Newfoundland dog,
nd Embden geese,also Hong Kong geese?
Randolph Co, J. R. I_.
Any one having such stock to sell should
fhrertise in our columns.
Is it proper to  write on  one, or* both
Jes of the paper, or does  it make any
tference? M. H.
"Trite only on one side of. the sheet if
on are writing for the printer.
J. D. K., answers our Kentucky corres-
ondent, J. F. L., regarding a seeding ma-
!_ine he asks about, saying: Let it alone;
: will sow only 14 to 10 quarts of orchard
ad blue grass to the.acre and is not satis-
ictory.
Will you please tell me what bee jour-
al you consider the best and where it is
nbiished? Mrs. J. S. C.
Franklin.
The American 'Bee Journal, Chicago, is
ne of the best. We furnish it with the
uuier, the two at $1 90.
7. ho is our State Chemist, or to whom
aould I apply for copy of the analyses of
Jediflferent fertilizers sold in the State?
Switzerland Oo. I. V.
Address Prof. J. N. Hurty, of this city.
Ie makes the analyses provided for under
ie State law on the subject.
p  I lease give me through the Fabmeb the
'   'luresg of some firm, or of  a naturalist's
„J? .'rom which  I could  obtain  ento-
'°'???sta tools, insect pins,etc.,and greater"??, e U,
Hamilton Co.
Tbey can be bought in this city. Mate
"" a list of what you want and we will
«t you know the cost.
nr to —_?lve instructions in the Fabmeb
LP_ 5tm*** trees,as there are different
honi-i Taneed here, some claiming they
thorTeu set sr» as to cover the graft,
W?t ht_l_ thev ^ W the same depth as
ley stood in the nursery.
£.    ' w- c- H-
-**> article on thU subject on our second
,aSe> this number.
fc<S«?4? -nforQi me who bas the  Embden
jiiSffi*and at what *ric£ w. E.
- f». S. C. M. of  Fountain county asks
same question.   Some one who has
,««geese ought, to advertise them in
' nw-U Pekin  ducks  are in de_
7>tmlT'   Whohasthemor "«»r eggs
ng &?dUng trees m^6 K°°d fruit bear-
gV      r- SEVERAL SUBSCRIBERS.'
.r^ungs generaUy are hardy and good
^dL0/1™1'-'' *«t they seldom bear
a.erl * The quality is almost always
>no»!r' You 8h01ild buy trees of well
iab*6?alldweU tested varieties, from re-
ordtA^me nuraeryiaen, who cannotaf-
a to deceive you. •■•■-•
Is spring barley a profitable crop in Indiana? If so, when is the proper time to
sow? What amount of seed should be
sown per aero? What is its average yield
per acre? At what time of the year does
it ripen? Will some one of experience
please answer and oblige.
! Fairmount. J. O. D.
Please tell me through the Farmer.
what kind of timber to grow for fence
posts, as I want to set out a grove.   P. P.
■• Putnam Co.
■ The Catalpa Speciosa, is a valuable tree
for your purpose. It growB rapidly and
the posts are very durable. Locust comes
next to it, but is liable to great injury
from the borers.
I Do you publish in the Farmer the addresses delivered before the State Board
of Agriculture? II. S. B.
Middlebury.
We did not publish all of them. They
are all published in tbe report of the
Board. Address the Secretary, Alex.
Heron for a copy.
I see the experience of one operator
from Brown's Valley, signed P. I., in your
issue of March 10th. I*t me ask him
what is the best way of. operating for custom work in dedicating small amounts of
juice and different kinds of cane?
What is tbe best and cheapest plan of
making a good grade of sirup?    _    ___ .
Sharpsville. *"   ' " -"*'~"-j*,_ p."
Please give some information concerning the examination for the United States
Civil Service? Where are they held,
when, and by whom? S. Q.
Bloomington.
The next examination at Evansville will
be held March 31st, and in this city on
May 31st. Address the Commissioner of
Civil Service, Washington, D. C, for particulars.
Is there a taxidermist in your city who
would prepare and stuff birds and mount
them on the shares, if the birds were furnished him? Will shooting them with a
rifle injure the bodies so they can not be
used or prepared? K. T. W.
We do not know of such a taxidermist,
and doubt if such can be found. Shooting
with a small bullet does not seriously injure the birds for stuffing.
Please inform me how long it takes to
learn photography, and how much a cam-
lera will cost and oblige        A Reader.
We have no experience as to the time
required in learning photography. Some
students would learn it quickly, while
others would be a long time in perfecting
themselves, and perhaps never learn to
make a good picture. Amateur cameras
cost from ?10 to ?25.
Please let me know through the Farmer; when to sow orchard grass, how much
per acre,, what kind of ground is best, also
where can I get the last Geological Report
of Clay county Indiana? J. T. C.
Asherville.   ■
Sow early in spring; 20 to^30 pounds on
any good, well pulverized sod, clay loam
preferred. Address the State Geologist,
Prof. Maurice Thompson for copy of report.
I am a subscriber to your paper. I have
two cisters and need only one for house
use.
1. Would like to know whether one of
them could be used to store ice in? The
cistern can be drained very easily.
2. What Is customary in regard to keeping a hired hand's horse winter and summer? D. H. J.
Otterbeln.
Your cistern would make a poor ice
house. Would rather trust a rail pen,
with double walls well packed between
with straw and covered thickly with same
material, than any. cistern, however well
drained. Besides you would have great
trouble in getting the* ice out even if it
would keep. Better make a house of cheap
lumber, double walls 8 or 10 Inches apart,
and fill between with sawdust.
What is meant ln books that are advertised for sale by the abbreviations—quarto,
800. 12 mo. and other abbreviations ?
Walnut. G. B. P.
The terms refer to the size of the pages.
A quarto is made by folding a sheet of paper twice, making four leaves or eight
pages. The leaves in a quarto are nearly
square usually. In an octavo or 8 vo. they
are about half as large. In a Hi mo., half
as large as 8 vo.; 12 mo. two-thirds as
large.
Will some one who has tried it, tell me
through the Farmer, if sawdust is beneficial, or not, when used as a mulch for
young apple trees and small fruits? Also
at what time of the year it should be applied. Mary A. G.
Clear Creek.
In ordinary seasons fresh sawdust would
be of but little advantage. Too much of
it would be-an injury, as it would keep
the ground too moist and cold. In a dry
season two or three inches might be bene
ficial.   Apply in June or July.
Please inform me through your valuable
paper, the distance from Indianapolis to
Knoxville, Tenn, bv Nashville, Tenn.,
and by Cincinnati. O., and whether a
thousand mile ticket bought of one railroad is good on another road?
Peru. J. S. H.
We cannot give you the exact distance
to Knoxville, through the points you
name, but by way of Cincinnati, it* does
not vary far rom 350 miles.- The railroad
fare is $11 50. Thousand mile tickets is
sued by one line are not good on another.
What are the leading varieties of water
melons? Where is] the best place to get
seed. North or South? What is the best
fertilizer for melons? Are any of the
many kinds of bone meal and land plaster
equal to. or better than stable manure?
I think of planting 10  acres in   melons
tbi3 season and would like some information on  these subjects.
■ Jackson Co. A. J. L.
We hardly feel  competent  to talk to a
Jackson county man about raising watermelons.   The farmers down tnere are sup
posed to be fully posted in the business,as
they send a large proportion of the water
melons that supply our market.   Our correspondent may be a new comer there.  If
so we  will tell  him that Kolb's g6m, is a
very  popular variety, of  good  medium
size, large yield, and good shipping quali
ty.   It is dark green with lighter shading
and excellent quality.   Mountain sweet is
an  old  and  favorite  variety.   So is the
Georgia  rattlesnake;  but we  think the
first named is best for your latitude. You
can get seed cheapest in your own county,
and probably as good as from any source
Huntington & Hoss, of this city, can sup
ply you with any variety you  wish.   Use
well rotted stable barnyard manure if you
can get it.   Bone fertilizers are excellent,
but do  not always  act so  promptly .and
satisfactorily as the home made'article.
Another Word About Southern California.
Editors Indiana farmer:
The reply of your Santa Barbara corre
spondent resolves itself into a question of
veracity between us. I am loth to take up
your valuable space in making any criticism on this subject which has been worn
thread bare. Our weeklies and daily papers have been freighted with matter pertaining to California, and I may say that
the greater amount of said criticism has
been discreditable. What I've written I
shall reiterate. Mr. Delos Wood qualifies
his reply by saying that he knows but
little of any place other than Santa Bai-
bara county. As to the weather and the
possibilities of the thermometer I shall
refer him and all others to the United
States signal service.
Statistics willshow that it is rarely down
to 85° in the localities of Los Angeles,Riy-
erside, Pasadena and San Diego—during
the summer - months. Correspondents
from there have the trick of misleading
readers by giving the mean temperature
Let those  that desire the information
ask for the highest point reached by the.
mercury.   Again, as to the water, where
it is obtained as Mr. Delos Woods claims,
by conduit, I will concede that it is considered unobjectionable.   But throughout
southern California it is riot procured entirely through   that  source.    As  to  the'
enormous profits from strawberry culture,
the figures quoted savor of the redolence
of the glorious climate.   The profits are
greater from the same line of business in
the New Jersey settlements.   Adjacent to
New York there are thousands of gardeners that realize immense profits from small
areas of land, but those that are universally successful, are practical prof essionalists.'
The   "frosted   chestnuts"  that    wearily
wend  their  way from  the Pacific slope
which tell  of the magnitudes of profits,
prove nothing, nor should be an incentive for  a person  to leave the East for
the Occident when  he can get in a few
miles of  the market, (where all  that is
raised in the Occident  must  eventually
reach in order to command a sale.)   Land
can l*e bought for the business with good
improvements at  from  ?2o  to  $100 per'
acre.   Why should one go west and pay'
double the prices quoted for unimproved'
property.
Yes, yes, the climate? The climate I
Because it' Is a warmer, is it necessarily a
more healthful climate? Well no! Hardly ! Right at home, here, Indianapolis
has the second lowest death rate of
any city within the United States, and
we are not struck on the climate. The
fact of the matter is California is no better
nor worse than many other States. The
State is long and has some very desirable
locations, but they are all north of the
neighborhood of San Francisco. When
we write of California from this point we
generally speak, or mean to, of the southern portion of the State, which ls the
stamping ground of the largest gang of
characterless robbors that ever walked on
God's earth.
What I've written is not for the purpose
of influencing people to stay away from
there; not at all. But those that wish to
go, go with their eyes open.
I'll append a clipping from the New
York Tribune, which speaks of the weather this winter, your Santa Barbara correspondent no doubt will readily explain it
away. I will in connection with the
clipping add, the Indianapolis People
makes Mrs. Thos. II. Hendricks, deceased
Vice-President's wife, say, who has recently returned from Los Angeles: that
place is the "muddiest and dirtiest place
she ever visited."
"And, by the way, how in the world did
they manage to keep the fact out of the
papers that on January 7, 8 and 9 from
eight to ten inches of snow fell in the vicinity of Sacramento, Cal., and that around
the olive, orange and lemon orchards and
vineyards of Placer County on the morning of the Oth the mercury fell to 15° above
zero? And last, but not least, water froze
an inch thick at Los Angeles about that
time!"
In conclusion permit me to charge my
brother farmers to stay where they are if
comfortably situated. Indiana, agriculturally, intellectually and commercially
is equaled by few and excelled by none.
Other States may have a few characteris-
ics that differ from here, but sum up the
advantages and disadvantages and Indiana will make a pres.ntable appearance
in the front rank. But if determined to
go west, take your time, investigate, do
nothing hastily, and above all apply
practical sense to your judgment and not
let free booters, under the guise of land
agents, beguile you into arrangements
that will make you discontented and miserable.   '.'.'• Wood.
Fortville.