VOL. XXX.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., DEC. 28, 1895.
NO. 52
The Institutes.
What the Farmers are Thinking,  Doing and Saying.
Hendricks county.—We had the pleasure of attending the last half-day's session of this inftitute at Danville. Tuesday, the 17th, and heard a most excellent
paper on "Supplementary education for
the farmer's family,'' by Mrs. Doan, also
a witty and wise talk on "The farmer as a
citizen," by J. X. Babcock, and an illustrated lecture on hog raising by James
Riley. These papers and talks were a
real treat, and highly enjoyed by the
large audience in attendance. After
hearing Mr. Riley's talk and seeing his
diagram of hog house and yards,with clean
feeding troughs and convenient water'
ing tanks, one can readily understand
how he has had such remarkable success
in the business. He has taken remarkable careas well in feeding as in breeding his handsome Berks. Mr. Babcock
has a captivating way of his own with an
audience of farmers, and is always popular and instructive. Mrs. Doan has some
ideas regarding the proper way in which
the farmer and his family should spend
their winter evenings that we should be
glad to publish. They would do great
good we think to the immense audience
the Indiana Farmer would give the
lady. Will she oblige us by making some
extracts? A very fine dispaly of frvjits,
grains and vegetables formed a principal
attraction at this institute.
Pike county—The Pike county farmer's
institute held at Algiers, Dec. 11th and
12th, was by far the most successful one
ever held in this county. The attendance
was double that of any former meeting,
while everybody manifested an interest
in the work. There were quite a number
of ladies out. Had it not been for the inclemency of the weather on Thursday
morning the attendanse would have been
much larger. Mr. Cal Hussleman and
Mr. W. B. Stevens were the instructors.
Both gentlemen gave very interesting
and practical talks on the subject assigned them. From the interest given
those talks we will be surprised if agreat
many of Ihe suggestions offered by them
will not be put into practice this next
year, especially as to the wastes on the
farm. Mrs. S. W. Chappel read au excellent paper on "Better education for the
farmer and his family," in which she
showed the need of more practical information on the farm. She also showed
that all our education does not come from
books, but much of it is gained from observation and experience. Mr. O. A.IIad-
lock had a very able paper on "How to
make home happy." This was a very
carefully prepared paper, and contained
some very excellent thought upon this
subject. .Mr. Hadlock showed that if
home was what it should be there would
be no trouble in keeping the boys on the
farm. Mr. Kime read a paper on the
"Duties of a farmer's wife," that received
the very best attention, especially from
the ladies. It showed that the writer
was entirely conversant with his subject.
Mr. Ellis Craig, a former student of Purdue and one of our practical young farmers, read a very able paper on "Corn culture." Mr. Craig gave many points of his
own observation and personal experience
in the preparation of seed bed and cultivation of the crop after planting. The
next institute will be held at Winslow.
• ilezen. M. L. H.
Putnam Co.—This was an excellent and
well attended meeting. It was held at
Bainbridge on the 13th and 14th of December and the reputation of Bainbridge
for excellent institutes was fully maintained. The writer had the pleasure of
attending the meeting until noon on Saturday.   From the very beginning  up  to
that time the audience showed an eager
interest in the proceedings and a very intelligent appreciation of the work that
was done. The program was a full one
and two to three home workers were assigned to many of the topics. With one
or two exceptions these workers were on
hand and thoroughly well prepared to
discuss the questions assigned them.
The Putnam county farmers who attended the institute,—and there were
many of them—understood the nature
and purpose of the work, and are in full
sympathy with it. By actual count, over
500 were found to be present at the afternoon session the first day and the attendance was considerably larger in the evening. Great credit is due to the chairman,
Mr. O. P. Lane, who almost unaided performed the preliminary work. That his
work was performed faithfully and well
is shown in the fact that, although the
weather was quite cold, families attended,
the meeting from over fifteen miles
away. The features of the institute that
especially pleased the writer, were: The
evident intelligence of the audience: the
large percentage of young men; the
presence of ladies in very considerable
numbers; the hearty participation in the
informal discussions on the part of the
audience; the friendly social spirit and
harmony of the proceedings; the pointed,
practical papers by home workers and
the spirit of progress which characterized
the meeting. Farmers living in adjoining counties, who enjoy a cordial welcome and a good institute, will do well to
attend the next one in Putnam county.
W. C. L.
Park county.—This institute was a decided success. Homer Allen, a young
farmer, welcomed the institute in well
chosen words. J. A. Mount, in a forcible
address pointed out the way whereby a
poor young man might attain success in
life. He set forth backed by numerous
examples, the road from humble beginning to praiseworthy attainments. The
same elements of success, he said, must
characterize the young man "without
capital" starting in any vocation, etc.
Diligence in business, temperate habits
and economy in the expenditure of
money. John Osborn in a well written
paper discussed "Intensive vs. extensive
farming." Mr. Osborn argued in favor of
smaller farms, better tilled, with better
economy in utilizing all crops grown.
A. O. Leckeridge compared farming with
other callings. He pictured in well
chosen words the sunny and the shaded
side of farm life, lie thought the farmer
was the producer of the largest part of
the country's wealth, but did not enjoy as
large a share of the profits as his arduous
labor demand. John L. Campbell followed with an address in which he could
distinguish but little difference between
the stock transaction in the country, and
margin trading in Chicago. This called
forth some pointed argument to the contrary. This was Capt. Campbell's object
in his paper. "Practical house keeping," was the title of a well written discussion from the pen of Mrs. Emma Morris. At the close of her paper she called
for all men who could take the wife's
or mother's place in the kitcken to stand
up. Seventeen men promptly responded.
The reverse side, asking how many
women could take the farmer's place out
doors, found but half a dozed respondents>
"The successful farmer of the future,"
was discussed by Mr. Mount, who at
length presented the many and complicated problems to be solved by the farmer
of the future to secure success. Among
these were soil fertility, live stock husbandry, markets, rotation of crops and
the utilization of the same. The mind he
said must be the dominant factor to point
out the road to success. "The dynamics
of a farmer's opportunity," was the
theme of a most able paper from Mr.
Lockridge.   Mr. Lockridge  posseses   the
grace and eloqnence of a polished literary
speaker. "The bright side of farm life,"
was beautifully illustrated in a paper
from Mrs. Clara McCord. Mr. Mount
briefly but earnestly, presented the special agricultural course at Purdue and
also the Farmers' Beading Circle. The
institute showed the largest attendance
and the best interest of any yet held.
The court house was well filled the last
day.
Vigo Co.—The Vigo county Institute
by reason of the continuous rain was not
largely attended, but there was no lack
of interest manifested in the addresses
and discussions. The Curry Band furnished excellent music. Rev. J. H.
Crum in a fervent appropriate prayer
opened the meeting. Senator McLean
delivered the address of welcome, to
which Rev. Crum appropriately replied-
J. A. Mount was the first speaker on program. He paid a compliment to Terre
Haute and said he did not grow weary of
coming to Vigo county, but was fearful
that the institute would grow weary of
him, as this was the fourth consecutive
meeting he had attended. The president
replied he was the choice of all the vice-
presidents from the townships in the
county. Mr. Mount discussed "The corn
crop, how to grow and how to utilize it."
Good seed, good soil and good tillage are
the foundation of a good crop. He said,
the corn fodder, or stover, if properly
cared for, was 40 to 45 per cent of the
value of the crop. He discussed different methods of using this, and exposed
the unthrift of its waste. "Our grasses,"
by O. A. Lockridge was an exhaustive
discussion of the subject as it related to
the grasses profitable to the farmer. Mr.
Lockridge said for fattening cattle, one
steer should have four acres of blue
grass. He said a good sod of blue grass
would require from 7 to 10 year to secure
it. The discussion evinced the fact that
parts of Vigo are not well adapted to this
grass. "Electricity, what is it? Will it
be of special use to the farmer?" was presented hy Pres. C. L. Mees, of Kose Polytechnic University. It was a treat to the
farmers to have this scientific question
discussed by one of distinguished ability.
He predicts the time will come when it
will be a factor in light and power on the
farm. F. J. S. Robinson discussed in a
practical and forcible way, "How to
maintain the fertility of the soil. "Farming compared with other callings" was
ably discussed by A. O. Lockridge. Mr.
Lockridge, in the course of his address
read from the Secrefar3' of Agriculture's
report, in which is presented the large
surplus from the farmers, feeding all our
population, and furnishing 69 per cent of
all our exports. Mr. Lockridge claimed
this was misleading and did not prove
the prosperity of the farmer. He argued
that the farmer did not receive a fair proportion of the profits. Mr. Mount reviewed the trend of markets for our live
stock, presenting many facts from statistics, tending to show the increase and
decrease in demand and supply and
urged the farmers to study these factors,
as they in some degree forestalled prices.
Mr. Lockridge, Mr. Mount and Prof.
Xoys, occupied the last session in valuable addresses which were well  received.
Wayne County.—The Wayne County
Institute, which is one of the best in the
State, met at Centerville, December 13
and 14, with an attendance so large that
the town hall could scarcely accommodate the visitors. At the night session
there were at least 600 present. There
was an unflagging interest throughout
the sessions and important topics were
frequently followed by animated discussions. One feature of the work was a
"question box" on the chairman's table
into which written querries could be
dropped by any one, these to be read aloud
at the close of each session by the chair
man, who solicited answers from  the audience.   Mr. Trusler, in a talk on "The relationship of agriculture, manufacturing
and commerce," pointed out that these
three dpartments of human activity were
so inter-related that one cannot languish
without  the  others  suffering.   The re-
sesults to each should be in proportion to
the labor, capital and service involved;
but the agriculturist, the speaker  maintained, does not receive in proportion to
the wealth he adds to the country. "How
can a young man begin on a farm without capital," by J. A. Mount, has already
been reported from the Franklin county
institute.   Mr. Mount's evening address
was "A farmer's home, and what it should
seek to afford."   This was an energetic
and eloquent  plea   for   the home in its
fullest sense. The home, it was contended,
is the unit of government, and no government will ever rise above or sink below the level of its homes.   The home influences are more intact  in the   country
than in the city, because of fewer external attractions to draw away,   and in the
country  home  of all  others,   these  influences may be made binding.   Let  not
our energies be   given wholly   to the  increasing    of    herds—let    us   also    give
thought  to   music,  love,  comforts   and
weave influences that  will   reach   from
time into eternity.   The speaker made a
plea for the children and   for the   young
men and women. The sanctifying effects
of a  home   where   love   and    kindness
dwell will always remain with a   child—
the loving ministrations of a mother will
never be lost.   The address was listened
to with deep interest and   sympathy, and
its many pathetic   touches were  visibly
effective.   Mr.  Trusler read   a paper  on
"Intensive   vs.  extensive   farming,"   in
which he ardently  advocatsd the   intensive method.   The  successful   farmer of
the future must utilize less  ground   and
raise more to the acre.   Farm   economics
must be studied and   everything done to
the best advantage.  Discrimination must
be made between  the things   that  profit
and those that do not, and the latter be
discarded.   Pharaoh's dream is   a truism
to-day.   The seven lean kine will eat up
the seven fat kine.   Do not till or   gather
one  crop    to  the    neglect  of    another
If work presses   the   best  economy is to
hire sufficient  help   to have everything
well done.   Mr.  Truster's  definition   of
"intensive"   farming   was    still   further
narrow ed]   Xo more of the crop products
than   are   absolutely   necessary   should
leave the farm.   One important factor in
successful farming   is   maintaining   the
fertility of the soil and   this can be best
accomplished by "animalizing" the crops
or converting them into animal flesh, live
stock being  the ultimate products.   As
determined by the experiment stations
every ton of clover hay hauled from the
farm takes off $8 20; of timothy, $5 48; of
wheat, $7 75;   these   figures representing
the cost of commercial fertilizers necessary to replace   the   fertility  lost.   The
economy of stock raising consists in the
judicious selection of animals  that will
make a profitable return for their feeding
and the rigorous weeding   out  of  poor
ones.   Wheat as a feed was discussed, the
speaker affirming that where wheat and
corn are about the same price, if either
must be sold it should be the corn.   For
hogs, he maintained, no feed is equal to
mashed or soaked wheat for the forming
of bone and muscle and for growing stock
generally  it  is   better   than   corn.   Mr.
Mount spoke of the "Prospective prices
and profits in the growing of live stock."
Farming, he said, cannot  be   carried  on
without the raising of some kinds of live
stock and he advocated the animalizing
of crops.   The next question is the economics of stock raising and in this question
first essential is to raise good animals and
such as are in demand or promise to be.
A most important factor in the economics
Continued on Oth page.