VOL. XXII
INDIANAPOMS, IND., SATURDAY, SEPT. 10,1887.
NO. 37
Experiments with Wheat—Test of Varieties.
Tlie following is Hull..tin No. 23 of the
Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, on
test of varieties:
"Che varieties of wheat enumerate.! le-
low were grown upon the same soil as last
year, this being the seventh successive
crop from the same ground. During this
period barn-yard manure has been applied
three times, at the rate of 12 tons per acre.
Xo fertilizer of any kind was applied to
this crop.
The soil is a clay loam, underlaid with
gravel. The ground was plowed seven to
eight inches deep in August, aud the seedbed thoroughly prepared with roller and
Acme harrow, and sowed with a Buckeye
grain drill, October 2d, at the rate of four
pecks per acre.
The plots are one thirty-second of an
acre in size, and the preparation the same
for all.
The following table contains the statistics of this experiment:
SKILLED LABOR.
This term, as now used, is applied to
the work of regularly trained mechanics.
This elassof laliorei*s,has lieen diminishing
in the proportion of laborers, in this country, for the last 20 years. Indeed, it isa
very rare occurrence now, to find a mechanic of American birth, under 30 years
of age, who has served a regular apprenticeship to his business. Aliout our large
cities, nearly all the skilled workmen are
foreigners, and but few apprentices of any
nationality are now to be found. This
condition of things has given rise to serious apprehensions among social economists, as to the future supply of that class
of labor.
This condition is generally charged to
the action of trades Unions In restricting
apprenticeships; amino doubt but this
is a prominent factor, if not the principal
one in the deficiency, but the introduction of machinery into almost every
branch of mechanical labor has so modified the work of   the shop as to render the
Variety.
I H.-ar.te.l KiiiK	
- niehl Mediterranean..
;i Wyandott Ked	
' Egyptian..
5 Ffnlr-v	
6 Extra Early Oaklev .
" Micks	
B Delta	
9 Rocky Mountain	
Hi Martin'B Arrrher	
11 Nigger	
12 Democrat	
13 Meliuay	
li Mediterranean	
15 Tasmania!! Ked..
I" Miller's Prolific.
lTiTheiiw	
1* Hungarian.
IU Holden Prolific	
"il Fulcaster	
'1 llr-il Eultz	
'-- l.airdrelh	
'*i Patagonian Trigo..
21i Royal Australian..
25 Pool.-	
'*- Surprise	
■!7 Silver Clratl*.	
■-*y Tuscan island	
•"I Jennings	
M Valley.	
■II High tirade	
3* Karly Rice ~t~
33 Karqutiar	
IM Red Brazilian	
» Ked Line	
V, New Mouar-cll	
17 silver til all* Bearded.
:te W.itter	
38 French Prairie	
Kl Herman Emperor  20.1
II Raub's Black Prolific 1-.7
*-N.n-K.- size ..! t.iain -1., large; M, I
R, red; \V, white.
The varieties were all injnred somewhat
l.v the severe winter. Those given in the
first half of the table were in a position
slightly more ex*>osed than the others,
and appeared to have suffered greater injury-
The plants did not tiller so well as ordinarily, the straw was a little shorter, and
with most varieties thep-e was v*£'ation in
time of ripening in different pn s of tlie
plot. dk y\
The average yield of^Bu 41 vArTfrcfes was
27.9 bushels per acre. Witter gave .the
largest yield, 40.S Inishels per acre. Five
plots of Velvet (.'hall grown near the above
varieties gave an average yield of 30.2
bushels per acre. The lirst to ripen was
Kxtra Karly Oakley, on the 20th of June,
followed by Finley on the 21st.
"Wm. R. Lazenby, Acting Director.
W. S. Devol, Supt. Field Experiments.
Date of
Ripening.
June's ,
June's '"
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old method of apprenticeship almost impracticable. Except stone-masonry .bricklaying and plastering, there is scarcely
another branch of skilled lalmr that has
not been invaded and modified by machine labor. In fact the handicraft of the
old time mechanic is rapidly falling into
disuse, and man mil dexterit3r is no longer
held in the esteem that it once commanded, How many of the younger
class of blacksmiths can make a horseshoe
nail or turn a horseshoe from the bar?
How many young carpenters can dress
the stuff, mortise, tenon and put together
a windowsash iu a workman-like manner?
But such jobs are lietter done by machinery and such manual dexterity is not
needed. A similar change, to perhaps a
less extent has come over the work rrf the
farm. The young farmer who now rides
a sulky   plow or  cultivator,  and does  a
good job, would make sad work with the
plow of 40 years ago. To do a good job with
such a plow was an example of "skilled
labor," but it was often done. The youth
on the farm to-day would hardly do a respectable job of sowing wheat broad-east,
mowing a meadow with a scythe, or reaping a crop of wheat with a sickle. These
were arts that required a good degree of
manual dexterity, but being superceded
by machinery, its skill will be forgotten.
Hut the labor of the mechanic and farmer now is to ae.|iiire the use of the machinery adapted to do the work that
skilled bandsonoe did, ami to ilo it better.
On the farm this can be readily acquired,
but in the mechanical arts, il is a problem
not so easily solved. < Hi its lirst face it is
evident that the apprentice system, even
if the obstructions of the trade Bunions
were removed, could meet the demands ..t
the case only in a very limited d<
Machinery has so divided labor as to make
it almost impossible for one person t..
learn the whole process of producing any
arti.-le. Inthe persona! attention to machinery while doing work, there is DO one
iii the factory to instruct tbe apprentice,
so that apprenticeship can be of but little
use. Will the trade schools lie able to supply this defect? A general knowledge of
the simjile principles on which machinery
is constructed might be communicated in
the grammar grade of the common school.
This would be sufficient to enable the
fanner to keep his field machinery in
older, or his goorl wife her sewing machine; but this could be no more than a
stepping-stone to a school of practical
mechanics. This school should be of two
grades. (1.) The elementary class, in
which the general principles involved in
mechanical work in wood or iu metals,
and with machinery, or by hand tools
are taught; and (2) the special craft grade,
in which the learner shall, select his particular trade and proceed to acquire its
handicraft under the direction of a skilled
workman. Graduating from tliis school
the workman \\ ill take his place in the
ranks r.f his special trade, as the young
physician or lawyer takes rank in his
profession. In this line skilled workmen
are now made in France and Germany,
and England is moving in a similar
(-purse. Whether any such schools oould
be grafted on our educational system remains to be seen, but something must be
done tr. supply skilled labor lor our workshops. In the meantime there is a danger
that the reputation of American mechanics may sutler from Incompetent Workmen. If the trades unions would institute
a strict examination into the qualification
of those professing to be skilled workmen,
ami admit to membership only those
that ate skilled, they would confer a favor
on the |.ul.lie.
and
Experiments   with   Wheat—Early
Late Seeding. ,
Bulletin No. 21 Ohio Experiment Station :
The plots, one thirty-second of an acre
is size, were prepared by plowing eight
inches deep, and rolling ami harrowing
[heground thoroughly, each on the day
it was sown. Velvet Chaff wheat was
sow 11 at the rate of live pecks to the acre,
with a common hoe grain drill.
The soil was in good condition and the
weather favorable for each seeding, except
for Plot :i; at the time this plot was sown,
the ground was very dry, antl wheat germinated slowly. Plot 4, sown a week
later, showed a larger growth of blade
throughout the fall and winter. The
plants in Plots 111 aud 11 attained a growth
of but a single small blade until the opening of spring, and but a comparatively
few plants of Plot 11 survived the winter.
Neither of these plots tillered well.
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The plot sowed October 4 produced the
largest yield. TIM difference in the yields
from the plots sown on different dales
earlier than this was but slight, but the
decline in yield from each subsequent
seeding is very marked.
There was great uniformity in the quality of the grain, that from the last plot
sown Jreing but slightly inferior to the
other.
The early sown plots were slightly af-
fected with the rust and with the Hessian
liy. The injury was not great, however,
from either of these causes.
Wm. K. La/knbv, Acting Director.
W. S. Dkvoi., Supt.  Field Experiments.
ftmeral ^JXcuis.
An epidemic of fatal black diphtheria is
raging at Ixickport, Pa.
After this week the trade dollar can no
longer be used in trade.
Richard Kind-son, a Chicago l>oy 10
years old, died at Kenosha, Wis., of hydrophobia.
The growing corn crop of Virginia is expected to be the largest raised for the past
S2S years.
CM. Ilovey, the best known horticulturist and jioniologist in this country, died
al his home in Cambridge, Mass., on the
2d, aged almnt 77.
The prevailing drouth in the Michigan,
timber country is the worst known for
years; not a drop of rain has fallen since
July 4, and forest fires are raging.
Very heavy rains have flooded the
stieaii s and caused great damage in Texas
along the lines of the Gulf, Colorado and
Santa Ke and Texas Central railways.
The young women of Ban Diego, Cal.
have organized a christian temperance
association, and will build a $15,000 hall.
The association has over 200 members.
The Ohio Oil Company has been formed
at Lima by producers, who intend to
market their own product and cut loose
from the Standard oil Company in that
regard.   The capital is $r*oo,lK*o.
The wife of K. Hawkins, a section foreman on the Mobile .V* Ohio road, jumped
in front of a train at Anna, 111., to rescue
her child playing on the track. She was
fatally Injured, but the child escaped unhurt.
The dry weather has made fall plowing
almost impossible about Huntington, 111.,
in consequence of which a smaller average
of wheat will be sown than usual. Farmers are driving their stock to streams for
-ft-ater.