VOL. XXX.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., DEC. 21, 1895.
NO. 5i
The Institutes.
Shelby County.—The sixth annual
Shelby County Farmers Institute which
was held at Shelbyville, on Friday and
Saturday, Dec. 6 and 7, '95, was one of the
largest and most successful ever held in
the county. Much credit is due to the
wide awake, intelligent and earnest efforts of its president, Hon. B. S. Sutton
and its secretary, E. B. Stroup. The program, covering two days and one night
session, was very lengthy and consisted of music, vocal and instrumental,
papers upon various agricultural topics,
discussions, etc. Time and space forbid
me to speak in detail of the many papers
read upon the occasion and the discussions arising therefrom. I single out a
few only. Prof. H. A. Huston, of Purdue
University gave a very able and scientific lecture on the subject, ".Money value
of fertilizers, and how to improve our
farm." He showed among other things
that the loss to the soil was 30 cents for
every bushel of wheat and 20 cents for
every bushel of corn produced from it.
This loss must be placed back upon the
land in some way. He contended that
the farmers should first use all their manure and waste material—the roughage
of the farm—in fertilizing the soil and if
that was not sufficient, to use commercial
fertilizers. He spoke of the fact that
while science was making rapid strides
in farm management, and in the production of suitable commercial fertilizers, it
was often the case that the farmers forgot to use the material on hand and even
wasted it to purchase the so-called commercial fertilizers. A very interesting
paper was read by Prof. J. H. Tomliu on
"Education essential to successful farming," in which he demonstrated the fact
that brains can be used upon the farm to
just as good advantage as anywhere else
—that improved farm machinery and
scientific soil cultivation and fertilization
call for higher education among the
farming classes. Hon. Sidney Conger
gave a brief talk on "Sheep raising."
His favorite is the Oxford. He said that
every farmer should raise a few sheep, if
for no other purpose than to keep the
weeds down, especially that latest and
greatest pest, the "wild lettuce." "Independence of farm life" was the subject of
a very interesting paper by John L.
Thomas, in which he showed conclusively that the farmer was always sure of
a fair living out of his farm, and that
there were fewer failures among the
farming classes than in other kinds of
business.
It was the unanimous opinion of all
present that this was the best institute
ever convened in the county and would
result in permanent and far reaching
benefit to all those who were fortunate
enough to attend. < Iku, Kinsley.
Jefferson Co.—The Jefferson county institute held at Madison, Dec. 6th and 7th
was poorly attended considering the agricultural and horticultural importance
of the county. The Farmer representative believes from his observations elsewhere, that music and a few literary
features added to the program are very
important to the popularity of these
meetings as they give a pleasing variety
and keep the mind better prepared to
appreciate the various topics, which
necessarily become wearisome when the
attention is not diverted and rested. This
program advertised no features of entertainment and partly for that reason, perhaps, the townspeople showed no interest in the sessions and few ladies were
present. Chairman of the institute John
Chapman; secretary 1*. M. Stewart; State
speakers, T. B.Terry and II. F. McMahan.
Mr. McMahan gave a talk upon "Farm
manners," which began by comparing
the present with the past. The agricultural conditions of to-day, the speaker
pointed out, were widely different from
those of the past. Farmingnow is a much
more expensive process than formerly,
and that added expense must be met by
greater skill and knowledge. One of the
adverse factors of to-day is a depleted
soil, and one of the first requisites as to return to that soil the richness that it
once possessed. The values of fertilizers
must be studied and their application
be made a question of economics, so that
the returns would always justify the expense. Stable manures, the speaker said,
made an almost perfect fertilizer, as they
supplied all the needful humus and also
furthered the mechanical condition of
the soil; and these should be saved with
great care. His method was to spread
plenty of straw over his barnyard and
scatter the manure from the stables over
this instead of keeping in heaps,and such
liquids as could not thus be kept in the
yard     were     conducted      by     rH'ches
would cost, perhaps, five or six dollars
per 100 square feet. Cisterns connected
with these gutters insures a perfect saving of all the stable manures. Plenty of
bedding should be used as an absorbent.
The value of manure saved by having a
perfect floor would, the speaker affirmed,
pay at least 20 to 30 per cent on the investment. Another good and profitable investment, Mr. Terry held, was a cover for
the barn-yard. His barn touches corners with his implement house and his
yard, which occupies the angle made by
the two buildings, he has covered and
partially boarded up at a cost of about
$300. Here his stock is well protected
from any inclemency of the weather, and
yet can have exercise. In this yard the
horse and cattle manures are spread in
alternate layers, with laud plaster mixed
in to hold the grass by absorption.   Being
ted him $300—this oft of less than an acre
of ground. One advantage is the lateness
of this pear, which ripens in October,
when the market is not glutted. Mr,
Hitz also spoke highly of the Japan
plum, a large, fine eating plum, which
promises a handsome profit for the man
who cultivates it for the market. Mr. E.
M. Wood, a berry grower of the connty,
spoke of "Berries." He thought small
fruit a very profitable crop in this region,
where the soil seemed peculiarly adapted
to it, and ended by stating: "I have
known an acre of blackberries to yield a
larger net profit than any 25 acres of
wheat in the county." Mr. Terry spoke
of "Small fruit for home use." He did
not think the general farmer should go
into fruit raising for profit, as one business would conflict with the other in
busy times but every farmer should raise
fruit for his own use. On his own farm
he devoted half an acre to berries, etc.
The work necessary to its cultivation
was scarcely appreciable, and as a result
they had an abundance of strawberries,
raspberries, currants and blackberries—a
succession of crops lasting for eleven
weeks. Other addresses by the State
speakers have been already given in the
report of the Switzerland county institute. On a point however, dwelt upon by
Mr. Terry and not reported should be
here mentioned. It is a doctrine of his
that in tillage if the surface is stirred in
such a manner as to bring new particles
of earth together the chemical result will
be of great value. As yet this result has
not been proven at the experiment stations, and it is but hypothetical, but Mr.
Terry believes it will one day be established beyond doubt.
SANTA   AND   HIS   0
to adjoining fields. Mr. McMahan dwelt
upon the great waste due to feeding in
muddy barn-yards and to the habit of piling manure under the barn eaves to be
leached by the rain drippings. Mr-
Terry, talking along the same line, discussed the values of different manures.
The liquids, which, ordinarily, are allowed to go to waste, were, by his showing, far more valuable than the solids.
Mr. Terry described his methods of saving manures. When he moved upon his
farm years ago, in place of more satisfactory preparations which he could not
then afford, he made his stable floors of
blue clay tramped solid so the liquids
could not percolate through. Afterwards
he substituted for this a floor of planks
made perfectly tight by pouring hot tar
in the seams. This lasted 8 or 10 years.
Eventually, when he built a new burn, he
made cement floors, with gutters in the
cow stable eight inches deep by 20 wide.
This, he considers the most perfect, and
HR1KT.MAN   DI.NNKI!.
covered the manures cannot leach and
the full strength is saved. In summer,
when not occupied by stock, the covered
yard renders another service. All farm
implements, when not in actual use, are
kept in it, the protection thus afforded
from weather being of no small importance. The speaker said that manure had
two values—a feeding and mulching
value; and in conclusion he emphasized
the fact that there was an economy in the
application; manure could be put on so
thick or in such a manner that it would
be only partially utilized as plant food
and much of the substance go to waste by
sinking into the subsoil. Mr. John Hitz,
an extensive fruit grower of Jefferson
county whose fruit farm will be spoken
of elsewhere, gave a brief but very interesting talk on the raising of pears and
plumbs. In his experience he had found
the Kieffer the most profitable of pears
In one year he had got from 100 trees,'six
years old, 100 barrels of fruit, which net-
Elkhart County.—Riley, Hobbs and
Huston were the three speakers from
abroad who attended the Elkhart County
Farmers' Institute this year. To say that
that they make an excellent combination
is not putting it one bit too strong. James
Riley, of Thorntown, Plain James Riley,
as he is sometimes called, deserves to be
styled the "(irand Old Man" of the State
institute workers. He is tolerably well
known to your readers, and would in all
probability be a great deal better known,
if it were not for his extrenu modesty.
In the institute work, he is a host in himself. Managers of institutes will make
no mistake iii selecting him. He gave
us three excellent addresses on "Corn
culture," "Management of swine," and
"How a young man can own a farm in
Indiana." The farmers of Elkhart
county who had the privilege of hearing
him are thoroughly convinced that he
has mastered his own specialties—corn
growing and swine breeding. C. M.
Hobbs, of Bridgeport, president of the
State Horticultural Society, gave us three
able and interesting papers on horticultural topics. He, too, is a good solid man
and is perfectly at home in discussing
questions relating to fruit growing. The
fruit growers of this county were especially pleased with his work, while at the
same time his talks were well adapted to
the wants of the average farmer. H. A.
Huston, the genial bachelor professor
from Purdue University, was with us
during but one session of the institute
but he made a very favorable impression.
His talk was on "Sugar beet culture." He
handles the subject in an able and attractive manner, at once convincing his audience of the fact that he knows what he is
talking about. Elkhart county has had
some very able institute workers furnished from time to time, by the State, but
it is safe to say that these three made as
harmonious a combination, and gave as
good satisfaction as any speaker we have
ever had. H. S. K. B.
Dearborn County.—This county was
placed first on the list this year with
Messrs.    Harris  and  Billingsly as   as-
Vontinue* on nth page.