V
VOL. XXX.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., MAY 25, 1895.
NO. 21.
Written /or the Indiana Farmer.
Late Planting and  Replanting of Oorn
BY W. C   LATTA, AGRICULTURIST.
The early planted oorn ha*, been seriously damaged by the recent frosts and It has
been practically destroyed in some localities in southern Indiana by the cutworm.
This insect is now unusually prevalent
and destructive throughout the State. The
reoent cold weather has worked further
harm to the young oorn by retarding its
growth and thus placing it more fully at
the mercy of thts all-devouring enemy.
There will be muoh late planting of corn
as all who fear the ravages of the cutworm
or have already suffered therefrom, will
want to plant as late as possible so as to
avoid the "eating stage" of this insect
Where this pest is at all abundant it will
hardly be safe to plant corn—especially
upon sod ground—much earlier than the
first of June. The Important question,
therefore, to those who deem it necessary
to plant so late, is, what are the chanocs of
maturing the crop? While it is not poesi
ble to predict the character of tbe season,
whioh has a controlling influence on the
rate of development of the crop, the experiment station has some data of interest in
this connection. Experiments with early
and late planting or oorn have been conducted on the station farm for several
years to determine the effect of date of
planting: 1. On the yield of oorn; and (2)
on the time required to mature  the crop.
AVERAGE  YIELDS  FROM  EARLY   ANS  LATE
PLANTING OF CORN.
Buaoela
When planted. per acre.
May 1st  _~ »  4L0
May 8th to llfh _ 40.4
May 15th to 16th 29 8
May 21st to ffid 37.3
May SSth to 30th 31.7
The earliest planting yields most, and
the latest about one-fourth less. These
ret u .ts have been secured on ground peculiarly subject to drouth which accounts
for the low average yields of both early
and late planting.
DATS   REQUIRED   TO   MATURE   KARLY   AND
LATE PLANTED CORN.
Average
When planted. numb .r daya
Mar 4th to 6th „ 125
May 14th to 16th _ „ 180
May 2Rh to 26 h 114
Jane 3d to 5th -.   __.011
June 13th to 15th. _,-. 104
The figures above give the average of
three vears with Medium-early oorn and
are, therefore, approximately correct for
this latitude. It appears that planting 30
or 40 days later shortens the time required
to mature corn respectively two or three
weeks.
With the above facts before ns, and under existing conditions it would seem wise
to delay tbe planting, if necessary, till
about the first of Jane, by whioh time the
cutworms will have about finished their
banquet on "spring greens."
If the earlier varieties of oorn grown in
the north third of the State, are planted
the first week in June, they will matnre
under average conditions in 90 to 100 days,
with the chances decidedly ln favor of a
fair yield of sound oorn.
Purdue University Agricultural Experiment Station.   Newspaper Bulletin No. 10,
May 18, 1895.
■   •   ■
The Hessian Fly.
Editors Indiana Fabmeb:
I send you a sample of wheat that is
dying from some insect in the root, that is
unknown to me. There are many fields
dying from the same cause. P. B.
Tipton.
It is the larva; of the Hessian liy. It
snoks the sap from the stalks of wheat and
thns weakens them, and where the little
maggots are very numerous, causes them
to die. All the straw moat be burned
next fall or the ground be put in some
other crop.
Cultivation   vs.   Irrigation—The   Other
Side of the Question.
Editobs Indiana Fabmeb:
I was very muoh amused to read in a
December Issue of your worthy journal a
communication from E Y. Teas on the
snbjeot of Cultivation vs. Irrigation, in
whioh he makes the comparison between
two orchards near this city. He attempts
to show what wonderful results have been
attained by the Stark Brothers in their orchard, whioh is not irrigated, as compared
with those obtained in an irrigated orchard
just across the way. It is qui-e evident to
my mind that the gentleman has been
reading an advertising sheet, Issued from
the Stark R .others' nursery somewhere in
Missouri, in whioh but one side of the
story has been told, and it would not sur
prise me to learn that the gentleman Is one
of Stark Brothers' agents. While It is a
fact that the non-irrigated orchard referred
to is a thing of beauty it may be truthfully
said that it has proved a very unprofitable
investment, and that the owners are very
anxious to dispose o f It on this account,
for they c flared it to the city of Denver not
long ago for park purposes. The tract
contains 92 acres set in deciduous fruits.
It was planted eight years sgo this spring,
and while the trees have been growing
thriftily by a system of a most conscientious cultivation, they have never yet
borne a full orop of fruit and it is a question In the minds of many if they ever
wlll. The largest crop was that of last year
when something like 2,000 bushels of apples were harvested.
The fault with a non-Irrigated orchard in
this country is one that is very easily explained. We have long since discovered
that at the critical period in summer when
the trees are forming the fruit buds for the
following season's orop it is absolutely
necessary that they have water, or there is
no crop. In my book on Irrigation Farming, now in the press of the Orange Judd
Co., I have taken a good deal of space in
explaining this matter and have urged the
necessity of copious irrigation at that momentous period. This is something that
cannot be depended upon in non-irrigated
orchards situated In the arid region, and
fruit growing here will never be a success
without the beneficent influenoe of Irrigation, no matter how well the cultivation
may or may not be.
The orchard j 'at across the way, referred
to by Mr. Teas, was abandoned the firsty e»r
after it was set out and the trees are today
nearly all dead and the weeds have taken
possession of the place, hence it is a great
injustice to make an insidious comparison
of the two tracts, on the hypothesis that
cultivation alone is to have the credit for
the appearance of the one over tbe other.
I have been told that tbe Stark brothers
have expended over f35,000 on this non-irrigated orchard, and it ia cafe to say that
it has not produced enough fruit to pay
one per cent Interest, This is not a matter
for which the Stark brothers are to blame,
however, as their efforts are very commendable, especially in determining what
thorough cultivation wlll do here in the
far west in the growth of orchard trees, to
Bay nothing about the production of fruit.
While the Stark orchard has just begun
to i* how signs of bearing at the age of eight
years it has produced no more fruit than
many three year old orchards would have
done under irrigation. We figure that by
the fourth year an irrigated orchard here
shall be in bearing order, sufficient to pay
the expenses up to that time, and full
bearing is generally reached at the sixth
year. I have known many a six year old
Ben Davis tree to produce from seven to
nine bushels of marketable fruit in one
season. This result has been attained with
very Indifferent cultivation but with an
adequate supply of irrigating water. I do
not wish to depreciate the theory of culti
vation and the filea of the Field and Farm
whioh I have ed lted for the last 10 years,
wlll bear out this point. I have urged
cultivation first, last and all the time, but
I have also advocated the judicious use of
Irrigating water and have maintained that
this is the true method of agriculture the
world over, and that sooner or later we
must all come to it. The next time one of
your Indiana correspondents essays to
write something about irrigation of whioh
he knows nothing, aside from hearsay, we
would like to have him oome out to the
land of perpetual sunshine and ascertain
the facts for bimself. Lute Wilcox.
Denver, Col, May 16
Alslke Clover.
T.DIT011.S Indiana Fabmeb:
When at your city two years ago I purchased a small package of Alsike clover
seed and sowed about one acre. Last season I mowed it and raked with a steel
tooth rake, consequently wasted a good
deal of the seed. When I threshed it I got
three bushels of seed, which I could have
sold for seven dollars per bushel, making
a cash value off the acre of $21, which I
think better business than raising wheat
at 50 cents. This acre is now beginning to
bloom and I expect more seed from it
than I got last year. I was examining it
yesterday and pulled up a bunch and the
roots are short. Connected with this
bunch was a great mass of very fine roots,
not ooarser than a hair, so I oonclude as 3
fertilizer it is not so valuable as the other
kinds of clover. If you mow for hay you
get no seed, and to cut for seed, you have
to out right after wheat harvest. I put
mine In the mow, for at this season threshers don't like to stop threshing wheat to
thresh clover. I am told it makes excellent hay as well as choice pasture, and
when in full bloom it is the finest flower
bed you ever saw. I sowed 15 acres one
year ago, and 30 acres this spring. I want
to satisfy myself as to its value.
Clinton Co. I. D. Reed.
Herring have been selling in the villages along the Chesapeake at 5 cents a
dozen, and so unprofitable have the fish
become that a fisherman who recently
made a haul of 10.000 turned them back
Into the water. Hundreds of thousands
of herrirg p.ss annually through the
Chesapeake and Delaware canal, connecting the two bays.
WEATHER CB.OP BULLETIN.
united Stale* Department of Agriculture,
Weather Bureau. Orop Bulletin of the Indiana Weather Service in Oo-operation
With the Agricultural Experiment Station
at Purdue University, Monday, May 20,
1895.
The weather for the week just ended
has been unusual for this time of the year,
and quite the reverse of the week previous. Cold rains, general throughout the
State on several days, and considerably
below the normal »m aunt, character] zed
the precipitation. Cool temperature prevailed through the week, and was likewise much below the normal; it retarded
the growth of vegetation and crops generally. L'ght frost was general throughout
the State on several days, killing in many
places, caus'ng damage to tender plants,
early vegetables, fruits of every kind,
yonng corn, early wheat on very low
ground, and berries; corn Is being replanted in many localities on account of
the ravages of the cutworm, and in other
localities replanting is delayed, depending
on the .li.appearance of the cutworm;
damaged somewhat on low ground by
frost. Wheat has not been materially affected by the frost, except on very low
ground; the Hessian fly has been the
cause of considerable injury; wheat is doing very well on best soli; oats growing
slowly; Injured some on bad lands; yonng
grass and clover doing fairly well; rye in
jured in bottom lands. Fruit has been
more or less injured by the frost, depending on the locality; apples badly injured
in places; also cherries, strawberries,
blackberries and grape vines. The condition ot crops generally has not improved;
in fact, the growth of all vegetation has
been retarded.
NORTHERN PORTION.
Cold  rains,   frost, killing in some sections, have been very damaging to vegetation and growing crops; warm rains badly
needed; oorn  yellow and  sickly in many
localities  having  been  injured  by  cutworms; dryness of  gronnd in many sections  prevented  injury to corn by  frost;
it'is being replanted where injured by cutworms    Wheat except in best soil, looks
very poor; the  fly is working and some
fields have been destroyed; grass growing
slowly; Injured slightly In some sections;
young  clover doing  fairly well; timothy
not of the best; pastures short; oats growing  slowly;  Injured  somewhat  on   bad
lands; rye Injured in bottom  land; generally there is a fair  prospect  for fruit, although reports are apparently conflicting;
fruit  safe as  far as apples and  pears are
concerned, but other fruits are a total loss
ln some localities; grapes  and cherries injured slightly; frost damaged potatoes in
low ground; vegetation  In  general very
backward, suffered to some extent and delayed    by   low    temperature   and   dry
weather; sheep mostly sheared.
CENTRAL PORTION.
The weather approximately, was about
the same as experienced In the northern
portion, low temperature, frost several
nights and but little rain. The continued
drouth and cold assisted by the fly have
been damaging to wheat; some wheat on
very low ground killed by frost. Corn has
been damaged considerably on low ground
by frost; higher ground has fared better;
the out worm did more damage than the
frost; barley supposed to have been rained in several localities; apples badly injured in places, also cherries, plums,
strawberries and blackberries; grape vines
badly damaged; frost has apparently ruined oorn, potatoes and other crops in several counties. The condition of crops haa
not improved, ln fact the growth of every-
thirg has been retarded; clover damaged
by freeze; fruit in some localities reported
safe, but is more or less injured in many
seotions; potatoes and tomatoes badly
frozen in low lands.
SOUTHERN PORTION.
The same conditions regarding the
weather in the northern and central portions were experienced in the southern.al-
though not to as great a degree; the past
week has been remarkably cool, retarding
the growth of vegetation. On the hills but
little damage occurred on account of frost
and freeze, but the crops suffered severely
on low lands, besides, the cold rains were
detrimental to everything; rains latter
and part of week Improved pasture wheat;
oorn In places Injured by frost but little,
and will grow again; outworms still getting in their work and considerable corn
will have to be replanted on this ate aunt;
replanting delayed for same reason, hoping the worm will disappear; wheat ln
many fields yellow and worthlesss from
"chinch" bug and fly; it has been hart on
on very low ground by frost; hail also did
some damage; not materially injured by
weather; clover, young grass and pastures
are doing fairly well; rye Injured but little; fruits of all kinds damaged more or
less, depending on locality. Many beds of
tobacco plants destroyed by frost; early
vegetables somewhat injured by the frost
and freezing weather.
H. A. Huston,
Director Indiana Weather Service,
Per W. W. Dest,
Weather Bureau, Acting l Assistant Director.