vol. xxir.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, NOV 12,1887.
NO. 46
THE CONSOLIDATED CATTLE GROWERS' ASSOCIATION.
The   Annual   Meatlngr   Last   Week   at
Ki^nsis   City.
The annual moetiftg of   this body was
held last week  at Kansas City, Mo.   The
association for two yews exhibited a good
deal of  vitality, but the   disasters during
the past year to the west  and" southwest
ranche  interests, and low prices, seemed
to have  taken a good  deal of the former
spirit out of it. Candor requires the statement that the late meeting was a tame affair.   The very  first movement after the
organization   was  a determination  of  a
few to organize themselves into a steering
committee lest what was seen, known and
felt on all hands.should become public. The
delegates were not there, at least comparatively few of them, and that fact must be
suppressed  by the  lists as   appointed in
the States, and handed to the press; there
were   Colman   and anti-Colman factions
in the motions to create the committee on
resolutions; there were views and views on
the   pleuro-pneumonia   and   quarantine
questions; and finally the oleomargarine
question had all by the ears.   The steering
committee  on   resolutions   consisting of
seven, played   hide and seek with all that
was referred to  it, even   suppressing papers   specially prepared  for the   body by
thoroughly scientific and qualified gentlemen. This latter in behalf of a very clever
and capable veterinarian, who simply had
different views   from  Dr. John W. Gadsden, of Philadelphia, who had prepared an
able paper on   pleuro-pneumonia,   which
was full of  data from   experiments.   Dr.
Salmon, the chief of the bureau of animal
industry held  to different views, and was
a member of   the committee on the order
of  business, and   the result was that Dr.
Gadsden was "not in   order" on that line.
All   this clashing, not to say puerility; as
plain to all as the sunshine of those pretty
days in Kansas City, was  for the purpose
of  keeping  from the public the differing
views and   diverse interests   moving  all
present.   And so it  all resulted, as might
have been expected, in utter weakness in
the outcome.   Suppose Phil. Armour and
the other packers   have  interests  differing from the dairymen; suppose Dr. Salmon and Dr.   Gadsden   held to different
views  as   to pleuro-pneumonia,   and so
of all the rest  of differences,   the manly
way   to have   settled these   things was to
present    them    and   discuss  them   and
intelligently settle them.   Weakness and
timidity was the chief characteristic of the
resolutions and order of business committees,  and    this    discouraging    situation
seemed to take the l"fe out of the association generally.
But with all this there were some good
points in the meeting. The committee on
legislation appointed a year ago, presented
an able report showing its effective and
excellent work in securing a little legislation on the pleuro-pneumonia question.
The report held up to public contempt
Congressman Hatch, of Mo., the chairman
of the House committee on agriculture.
It shows that he did everything he could
to defeat the Miller-Carey bill, even to
misrepresenting the views of President
Cleveland and tho Attorney General, as to
that bill.
One rather ludicrous thing done was in
declaring against the importation of any
more cattle to this country, on the pretext
that It was to prevent the spread of pleuro-
pnemonia, while at the same time the fact
was before the meeting that for over 8 years,
under the present quarantine regulation,
not a single case of that disease in this
country could be traced to imported cattle. There, did not seem to be sincerity
enough to acknowledge what wais in
everybody's mind, that the real reason for
this action lay in the low price of cattle
and beef, and that foreign cattle for the
present were not needed in competition
here. No one is to be blamed for holding
that view, but there ought to be frankness
about these matters.
The oleomargarine question was suppressed in the committee. Resolutions
were offered in favor of sustaining the
present law of Congress on that subject,
and others in favor of repealing it. These
went to the committee, and that body refused to report pro or con on tho subject,
but did report as follows:
Resolved, That it is inexpedient to discuss or take action upon either of the resolutions in regard to such legislation submitted to the convention, and that they
be laid upon tho table.
But while the committee itself did take
some action, it seemed to be afraid to allow the question to come before the association, for it passed the following:
Resolved, That these substitutes for butter discriminate against the products of
fat stock not asked for by intelligent and
fair-minded dairymen, and we respectfully ask that such discrimination be discontinued.
The following resolution was unanimously passed:
Resolved, That this convention rejoices
in the official declaration made by the officers of the general government that contagious pleuro-pneumonia no longer exists
west of the Allegheny mountains, and in
the further assurance given by the live
stock board of Illinois, that the disease
does not now exist and has not for some
time existed in Cook county, that State,
and the convention designs to express its
confident anticipations and hope that all
quarantine restrictions arising from
pleuro-pneumonia, imposed by the government and by the several infected States
west of the Alleghenies, may be raised by
the date suggested by the authorities
named and thus restore the uninterrupted
How of commerce now prevented thereby.
During the meeting of the association,
Commissioner Colman of the Department
of Agriculture, delivered an able address
on the work of the department in behalf
of the animal industries of the country.
Besides excellent papers and addresses
were read as follows:
"Middlemen," Hon. Ives Coy, of Chicago, attorney of the Union Stockyards
Company, read by Mr. C. W. Baker.
"The Chicago outbreak of pleuro-pneumonia," Dr. D. E. Salmon, chief of the
bureau of animal industry.
"Transportation of cattle," Mr. J. M.
Osborne, division freight agent of the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific railroad at Toledo, O.
"Dairy cattle," W. J. G. Dean, of Mich-
gan, tester of the American Jersey Cattle
Club.
"The Benefits of Organization," Dr. Azel
Ames, of Montana.
The following are the officers elected for
the coming year:
President^-W. A. Towers.
Vice-presidents—Elmer Washburn, H.
E. Alvord, Asel Ames.
Executive committee—J. T. Brush, T.
B. Wales, Jr., Granville Stuart, Adams
Earl, Thomas Sturgls, F. C. Stevens, Isaac
Prior, T. Alex. Seth, James Ballentine,W.
M. Liggett, W- A. Paxston, L. N.|Bonham,
Thomas B. Price, George W. Simpson, L.
K. Scofield.
Secretary—A. H. Sanders.
Treasurer—Jake Clay, Jr.
Written for the Indiana Farmer.
JEFFERSON COUNTY AND ITS FARM
LAND8.
Wonderful   Results  from   Commercial
Fertilizers—Experiments in
Corn Growing.
BY JOHN R. orslIMAN*.
Representatives of the Indiana and Central Indiana Poultry Breeders' association
met in this city to further the arrangements for the poultry show to be held at
Tomlinson hall January IK to 25. It was
decided to offer such inducements as will
secure the attendance of foreign poultry
men, and pigeons are included in tho list
of fowls to bo exhibited. The American
Poultry association will hold a convention
here at the same time, at which the standards by which poultry are graded are to
be revised and improved.
Madison, known in Indiana as the "beautiful city 'neath the hills," is on the Ohio
river, about 45 miles above Louisville, Ky.
It sits upon bottom land,principally above
high water,with the river to the south and
a semi-circular range of bluffs from 300 to
350 feet high to the west.
The first settler came here nearly with
the beginning of the present century and
selected a site for a town, which for more
than a generation was the metropolis ofthe
State.   At one time Madison was also the
LKADISIl  PORK-PACKING CITY
in the world. There is another distinction
of which the natives are proud) viz.: The
first railroad built in Indiana, and probably the second in the West, was made by
the State, beginning in this city and terminating in what was then a little village
called Indianapolis.
It is not the city to which I wish to call
attention so much as the farming interests
of the county in which I am also directly
interested. While there is some rich bottom land, and some red clay hilly laud,
the principal soil of the county is white
flats. The first settlers came largely from
States south of the Ohio river and they
lacked the energy and enterprise of their
brethren who were reared in a Northern
climate. Consequently they farmed with"
out much regard to the preservation of
the soil, getting what they could from it
and returning nothing to it. Twenty
years ago
THK LAND SEEM Kl) WORN* Ol T,
and the farmers began to sell and move
to the far West, and the emigration has
continued. Their places were taken by
others, however, and during the last lu
years the owners have studied and practiced fertilizing, and now a largo portion
of the soil is more productive than it ever
was. The white fiats, formerly considered
almost worthless, with proper cultivation,
drainage and fertilizing produces 80 bushels of corn, and from one to two tons of
timothy to the acre. Hundreds of tons of
commercial fertilizer are uBed in this
county and the quantity annually increases. There is yet a question with
farmers as to the best manner of using it
with reference to the improvement of the
soil as well as to large production, but 1
believe the day is not far distant when the
correct solution of this problem will be
reached, and poor old Jefferson county
will prove to be as much "God's country"
as the virgin soil of the West where, at
present, the farmers have comparatively
nothing to do in raising a crop but to
scratch the soil a little.
During my experience at practical farming, a few miles from this city, I believe I
LEARNKH SOM.rnnNO ill* V.M.IK
to many of your readers, part of which I
take pleasure in relating in this article.
Our main crops were grass, corn, wheat,
oats and potatoes, but my first ambition
was to excel the neighbors in corn. I divided my object into three questions:
How to plant, how to fertilize and how to
cultivate. I will give the result of an experience of three years with this crop as
brielly as possible, and I thiifk it will contain suggestions at least, which will benefit some tiller of the soil who faithfully
asks nature to assist him in his work to
produce something for the benefit of mankind, the noblost work of man. In order
to accomplish the object of my undertaking I determined to solve the three
questions, the fertilizers necessary to
make- the  stalk, the  same  to  form the
grain, and the habits and growfti of the
roots. So far as the first two of these last
three questions were concerned I could
easily secure all the information necessary
by referring to my files of agricultural
journals, the Indiana Farmer especially
but with reference to tho formation,
OROWTII AND HAHITS OK THE ROOTS
of cereals, and of corn especially, I could
find nothing in my favorite journal nor
in any work on botany at my command.
I looked carefully through old text books,
recalling pleasant days at college, when
we studied the habit and growth of flowers, but I could find nothing satisfactory
with reference to corn. I learned something, however, with the aid of the microscope, and it is this information I want to
impart", in words which will be understood, avoiding as much as possible all
technicalities. Take a stalk of corn in full
growth and suppose it has 20 joints. It
will also have 20 blades, and going to the
tassel we will find that it contains 20 main
branches. Digging into the ground at
the foot of the stalk we will find one root
which goes straight downward. Just
beneath the surface of the soil we will
find, branching from the main root, 20
separate roots, corresponding in number
with the joints and blades, which may be
called stalk roots. Examining the ear we
will find that it contains 20 rows of grains,
the number corresponding with that of
the joints, blades, stalk, roots and tassel
branches.
On each stalk root there are many
KINK, HAIR LIKE ROOTS
of various lengths, which may be called
grain roots. Counting these we will probably find they number 50. Within each
is a little tube which enters a tube in the
stalk root. Continuing they ascend tho
stalk through the pith to the cob, branching off at each joint through the blades
These hair like tubes, 20 in number enter
the pith of the cob, where each separates
into 50, making 1,000 in all. Each of the
1,000 tubes penetrates the cob suri*ounding
the pith and enters the tips of a grain,
Ihere being 1,000 grains or kernels, whioh
will always correspond in number with
the grain roots in the soil. Returning
through the pith of the cob they ascend
the stalk again, stopping at each joint as
if to get a breath through the blades, and
each enters one of the main branches of
the tassel. Here each tube separates into
50 finer tubes oach of whioh terminates in
a mesh.
While these fine tubes, which are but
the continuation of the thousand grain
roots in the soil, enter the tips of the thousand kernels and terminate in the thousand meshes of the tassel, a silk grows
from the but end of each kernel and all
project from the tip end of the ear with
mouths wide open watching for food.
This is
THE ANATOMY OK I'ORN,
as plainly as I can put it in words on
paper. The value of the information lies
in the fact that it teaches one here to feed
the plant properly. As to the kind of
food to give we must depend upon chemistry and experience. The food necessary
to form the stalk is derived wholly from
the soil, while that which forms the grain
comes not only from the soil through the
grain roots, bnt from the air and the
pollen through the silks.
Bach of the 1,000 grain roots is covered
with innumerable little white, tender,
bristle-like feeders from a sixteenth to a
quarter of an inch in length. The roots
hunt for food and the feeders absorb it,
after which it proceeds on its journey to
the grain, passing through the blades as
it goes, to be still further vfM-Wwvrith
the action of the air and sun-lig
We might say that the roots supply the
material part of the  grain while the silks
Concluded on page If,
sOim