, Three Central Western States.
May reports from the thre e central
j»ern winter wheat-growing States
i 'e It plain that the average condition
j ie wheat plant ls lower than for sev-
Tears, indicating a smaller yield than
j e has been in the past five years. On
Snt day of April many of our report-
thought that the condition would
nably improve during that month, but
reports show that continued unfavor-
weather made a change for worse
of better. The May report shows
^marked reduction of the estimates of
■ja ago in all three States, as will be
In the table of averages by States.
il lst reports the condition in Indiana
Ohio 70, and Illinois 69. .
r general reports state that an unity large corn crop is being planted
year, but it is not completed yet to
e definite estimate of area upon. The
| and was never in finer condition for
" .ting.
CROPS IN INDIANA.
| heat:—It is the southern section this
ji r that makes the State averages at all
^■ecUble as to condition in wheat. The
mnties in the southern-part ofthe
8 ayerage 74 per cent. The following
ties of this section report the wheat
tfition as follows. "We glve'oiily those
o per cent and oyer:
Percent. ...        Percent.
£ •   »0     : Dubois _...„„       75
Harri.on      90
Jefferson      75
Jennings :      75
Ohio      80
Orange     100
Ripley...:      90
U the remaining . counties of the 34 are
w 75, the one reporting lowest being
«, at 33 per cent.
« northern section of 27 counties
"is next, the ayerage being 49 per cent,
following counties in this section re-
Toper cent arid over for condition:
Percent.'    "■ ■   '■ Percent.
..   100     Elkhart      75
..■•■_»•■■•■• ■      ■    .-> - >.
ae remainder of the 27 counties are 70
Wow, Kosciusko only reaching to 70
cent, while Huntington is put at only
Miami 20, Whitley and Carrol 25, Allen,
J* and Stark 40, LaGrange, Pulton and
•shall 50 percent. This is the worst
JP'tlon reported from northen Indiana
if-wy years.
-16 31 central couDties report the low-
condition on wheat, the average being
J 4l per cent. Those reporting 50 and
veare:
he
Kington .„,
90
9T
75
75
90
SO
Percent Percent.
i'-oo            W     Hancock      50
'in M     He<"*_*...      60
b_   —      _o     Knsh....        61
tiwrmTTT     K     Randolph     50
I hli g coun0es Me 40 Per cent
°«ow, Boone   reporting, only   20,
\toTV ^ '"P*011 30'and Howard,
t ^ Unioi» and Vermillion 33 per
■'lvii3eareasowntooatsis consid-
»t wT!the ,uU ■*•▼««»>. much of the
ai-Z g pat to oats- The north-
».„7*ot th« State puts the acreage
Uorti, QeC8ntral atl16- The WW-
iptUh YT ta p,it at 87'" **><) month
atdid;Vr8been  cold  aud  dry, the
a wiZ 0ver l8itt bad condition
•.e<.t_on 1 tn**tog and lack of snow
; 5_ p.,' ** condition for the State be-
i conditi ° Tim°thy meadows, aver-
fiem ,°* ,or State, 80 percent, the
lth8to!?:l0n ^ng 81, the central 79
Appie
:t«neV(,"t't'1B8- Peaches and small
'^tton o teed * better c^P'the
^h«<x>ndlif *Teraglng 83to 95 Per
^•ectlon ^5lng ab°utthe same
r^^luv       nedronth °* last year
Te "topped wood-growth, and
directed the vitality of all fruit-gi owing
trees to maturing fruit.
Live Stock :—The short crops last year
tell somewhat on this industry. The reported conditions are not quite up to the
usual averages, cattle being only 82, while
horses, sheep and hogs range at 90 per
cent.
Further details as to area and condition
in this and the other two States will be
found in our table of averages by States,
and the remarks of reporters.
Indiana. Ohio. Illinois.
Wheat, per cent of condition     58 43 52
Oats, per cent acreage sown _    K6       ' 105 83
Oats, percent of condition....     87 83 69
Flsx, per cent of crop sown-     4' 80
Clover, per cent of condition.     54 40 41
Timothy,per cent of condition    80 75 71
Apple, per cent of condition.     91 97 90
Peaches.pet cent of condition     95 90 90
Rye, per cent ol 'condition      83 73 63
Barley, per cent of condition '   73 52
Horses, per cent of condition      90 80 84     /
Cattle, per cent of condition.     82 79 73    \
Hogs, per cent of condition...     90 87 89
Sheep, per cent of condition.     90 M 87
Small frnit.perct of condlt'n     88 82 80
REMARKS OP REPORTERS—INDIANA.
Monroe Co.—Very late dry spring;
ground works fine.
Washington Co.—Peaches, plums and
cherries are dropping oif.
Kipley Co.—Favorable for plowing corn.
Jennings Co.—Very dry and cold during
April.
Ohio Co.—Cold dry weather caused a decline iaco.iMiition of crops ;,J(*_ed scarce. .
Decatur Co.—Vegetation of all kinds
suffering for want of rain; unless it comes
soon late sown clover will be a failure.
Prospect for a large fruit crop good.
Fayette Co.—A dry cold April.
Gibson Co.—Late spring oorn going in
in good condition.
Posey Co.—Condition of growing crops
since first of April decreased for want of
rain.   Poor prospect for small fruits.
Jefferson Co.—Some of our wheat is superior; about 110 per cent.
Switzerland Co.—Too cold and dry for
anything to grow.-
Dubois Co.—Peaches all right. Corn
planting has begun and oats all sown.
Fly in wheat.
»Crawford Co.—Fine prospect for all
kinds of fruit.
Floyd Co.—Fruits all right. Large
quantities of strawberries and raspberries
have been set out and are in good condl
tion.
Clinton Co.—Wheat nearly all plowed
up and put in oats.
Bartholomew Co.—Wheat, grass, and
youDg clover need rain.
Harrison Co.—Corn partly planted; potatoes coming up and the bugs are sitting
on the clods with their teeth whetted.
Rain is badly needed.
Pike Co.—Want of rain has retarded the
growth of grass, etc.
Dearborn Co.—Cold dry weather has
badly affected meadows. Corn ground
mostly broken.
Tippecanoe" Co —The oold dry weather
is having a bad effect on everything.
Madison Co.—About 50 per cent of wheat
plowed up.
Grant Co.—One-half of wheat has died
since last report. Corn going in in good
shape. .Peaches still safe.
Putnam Co.—The late rain may help
wheat some, but there will not be more
than half a crop.
Vermillion Co.—Nice weather for gar
den making. **"
Howard Co.—Some corn planted. Raspberries injured by winter, but other small
fruits all right.
Randolph Co.—Wheat looks bad and
clover killed.
Clay Co Weather dry and cold.
Union Co.—Pastures short; some corn
planted.,
Tipton Co.—Farmers are plowing up a
large per cent of their wheat.
Jay Co.—Wheat looks bad, and the dam-
ge to it is general.   Clover  is worse than
was supposed.
Boone Co.—Spring is backward and
weather dry.
Montgomery Co.—Twenty-five percent
of wheat plowed up. Scarcity of feed
lowers condition of stock.
Delaware Co.—Wheat : never looked
worse, 20 per cent will be plowed up and
sown to oats.
Rash Co.—Young clover is supposed to
be hurt by the late frost.
Henry Co.—Clover in bad condition.
Stark Co.—Too drv for wheat; weather
cool.
DeKalb Co.—Farmers very much en
couraged.'
Huntington Co.—Only two days of
growing weather in April. Wheat almost
an entire failure.
Allen' Co.—Wheat and clover de creasing
Hogs healthy.
"Elkhart Co.—Wheat gone back since last
report. /'
Carroll Co.—Hundreds of acres of wheat
and clover plowed up and sowed in oats,
and planted in corn.
Jasper Co.^Snow April 30th.
Cass Co.—Wheat looks worse than it did
a month ago.
Whitley Co.—Wheat killed after the
snow went off.
Kosciusko Co.—Wheat very thin on
ground; may improve with warm rain.
Noble Co.—Wneat and grass suffering
for rain. Feed scarce and high. The outlook at present is more favorable.
OHIO.
Henry Co.—There will be an abundant
crop of peaol_83 and plums, if the frost
spares them.
Williams Co.—We are sowing more
spring barley than ever. Hogs doing
well.
Morrow Co.—Wheat a failure. Spring
work behind time.
Sandusky Co.—Wheat 40 per cent on
clay or sand.
Logan Co.—As far as wheat and grass
are concerned, this is a backward  spring.
ILLINOIS..
Lawrence Co.—Weather unusually dry
and cold.
Piatt Co.—Dry and cold; ice half an
inch thick on morning of 25th.
Effingham Co.—Cold and dry. Apples
not blooming full. Peaches and all small
fruits in excellent condition.
Montgomery Co.—Very dry weather indeed.   April gave 27 days of sunshine.
Gallatin Co.—Everything is very backward owing to cold, dry weather. Chinch
bugs are bad on wheat.
Crawford Co.—Weather cold and dry.
Very little corn planted.
Cass Co.—Very dry. Wheat and oats
suffering.
Clark Co.—Wheat frozen out; what is
left is dying; itis too dry. Too dry for
oats.
DeWitt   Co No   rain    during  April.
Farmers about done plowing for corn;
commenced planting on 30th.
Cumberland Co.—April dry and cold.
Pastures injured by drouth. Wheat is the
poorest we have had for ten years. Some
corn planted.
Macoupin Co.—The long severe winter
with but little snowfall greatly injured
wheat, clover and small fruit generally.
Apples, peaches, pears and  cherries  very
promising.   Spring very cool and dry.
 .   ■»   i	
Written for the Indiana Parmer
Soil Constituents.
BY JOHN R. OCSHMAN.
A standard author says: "The matter
in all soils capable of sustaining vegetation
exists in two forms.inorganio and organic.
The inorganic contains 12'chemical elements, viz: oxygen, sulphur, phosphorus,
carbon, silicon, and the metals potassium,
BOdium, calcium, aluminum, magnesium,
iron and manganese. Iu the organic parts
the elements are four: oxygen,*hydrogen,
carbon, and nitrogen. The inorganic elements are derived from the rocks; the organic elements from decaying vegetable
matter."
By far the most important of these elements are phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen.
Phosphorus is a simple body, and in its
natural state is of a yellowish color, and
in consistency resembles beeswax. Put
phosphorus into water and the hydrogen
and oxygen of the water will separata and
the phosphorus combine with both. That
which combines with the oxygen forms
phosphoric acid; and that which combines
with the hydrogen forms phosphurette4
hydrogen. Lime being added the phos-
phuretted hydrogen escapes in the form
of gas, and what remains is phosphate of
lime, which is the principal composition
of bones.
Potassium is a soft white metal and if
exposed to the air or water will dissolve
and absorb the oxygen and form potash
which is the principal component of wood
ashes. Make a lye of ashes and boil the
lye till the water evaporates and the dry.
substance remaining is potash. Four-
fifths of the air is nitrogen. Nitric acid is
contained in nitrogen,and'combined with,
potash forms nitre or salt-petre. Ammonia is aconstituentelementof nitrogen.
It is an alkali, in the form of gas. Add
water to this gas,and the product is aqua
ammonia, or hartshorn. When manure
is going through a beat, ammonia is constantly passing off into the air. If a compost of ashes and manure is made and allowed to'pass through a heat, the former
will cause the ammonia in the latter to
escape and thus be lost; but if water be
added during the decomposition Ihe ammonia will be absorbed by the water and
thus be returned to the compost.
The reason that these three elements are
considered so important as fertilizers is
because they are necessary to the formation
of vegetable life. Of wheat there is eight
times as much ammonia in the grain as
there is in the straw; three times as much
phosphoric acid iu the grain as there is in
the straw; and a very little more potash
in the grain than in the straw.
Of corn, the grain contains about b!x
times as much ammonia as the stalk and
cob; of phosphoric acid the grain contains
about twice as much as the stalk and cob;
but of potash, the stalk and cob contain
about four times as much as the grain.
One bushel of wheat contains 134 pounds
of phosphoric acid, and a bushel of corn
114 pounds.
The scientific names applied to fertilizing
elements are stumbling blocks to many
farmers, but they should become familiar,
and could be made so with a little mental
exertion.
Agricultural experiments are the most
difficult of all experimental inquiries, and
to establish the truth of a theory should
cover years; and it seems that field experiments can hardly give  a rational answer
But there is one experiment I am going
to try with considerable faith,and as there
may be others who would like to try it
but have not thought of it I will state the
principal on which it is based.
Water goes down and gas goes up. The
former will penetrate clay tiling to reach
its lower level, and the latter will do the
same thing to reach its higher level. Drain
a piece of land, bringing the tile to a common reservoir, located at a point lower
than the land drained. When this reservoir or well is dry, fill it with the composition necessary to form the gas required
and seal the lid. The only means of escape
is through the tiling and thus it may saturate, the soil and reach the roots that are
needing it as food.
One wool-grower of San Diego shipped
60,000 pounds in one week.