VOL. XXIX
INDIANAPOLIS, IND. FEB.,  3, 1894
NO. 5.
Some Results From Destruction of Our
Birds and Game and How Oan
the Evils be Prevented?
BT J. F.  BICHABDSON.
[Bead before Marion Co. A. sfc H. Society, Dec. 9.J
It may ba well to preface this discussion
with a general classification of hunters, that
the evils arising to the farmer and public
good therefrom may be reached.
Hunters    may be  divided  into  three
classes:
1. Those that are honorable.
2. Those that are dishonorable.
3. The lawless class.
To the first class belong belong gentlemen who ride to the country in their carriage, or other wise, and request leave to
go on your farm to shoot some birds, but
who always leave a part of a covey of
quails to perpetuate their species. To this
class permission is generally granted with
courteous hospitality to man and beast,
and the farmer can, by caution or stabling,
protect his animals from injury.
The second class comprise those who belong to a society for the protection of game,
consisting largely of liquor dealers and
their patrons. A party of these, with dogs
and guns will take the morning train to a
station, divide up in squads of twos, and,
without requesting permission of any one
will separate themselves, say sixty rods
apart, and, with their trained bird dogs,
take all of the game till the station nearer
home is reached, at which place they take
the homeward train.
During their scouring and driving their
path is marked by the letting down of
fences, which lets the farmer's stock into
his neighbor's fields, making him liable
for damage, or lets them into the publio
highway where they stray off, probably on
the railroad track, if not taken up, when
loss of his time and pound fees are
incurred. On the farms passed through the
sheep, colts, and stock are frightened, and
often wounded or killed. Their shooting
startles and often renders unmanageable
the team attached to the load of corn the
farmer or his help are husking, and not
unfrequently they are also treated to a
hall of shot from their guns.
To this same class belong those who ride
along in their conveyance, who send out
their dogs on each side of the road, stopping, hitching, and shooting the covey of
quails found by the dogs. The farmer
who objects to their so doing isgreated
with "O. Is this your farm? 1 thought it
belonged to Mr. Adams, or Mr. Merrifield,
who live in the city, and who gave us liberty to hunt on their farms." If you ask
their names they will mention that of
some prominent citizen, judge or minister.
To the third class belongs that lawless
tribe who, upon Sunday come out in
swarms with their dogs, guns, bags and
baskets In grocery and delivery wagons,
who kill the domestic fowls for game, take
the berries, grapes, fruit, paw-paws, corn,
pumpkins, p .tatoes, nuts, and even fence
rails—anything to make a load. They
shoot your horses, sheep and .stock, leave
open your gates, butt your trees with rails,
spoiling your timber and lowering your
fences. These curse and insult the farmer,
defying him, using the most abusive and
filthy language in so doing.
If the farmer should go where the birds
and game are offered for sale and take a
half dczen of the birds taken from his
farm and start away with them, he would
not go far before a policeman would have
him in charge, and he would be taken be
fore the proper officer, and with a short
trial, he would be sent to the work house
for thirty days, and for a second offence he
would be sent to prison for six months or
a year. If the farmer should follow up
and commence suit against these parties
after they ha~~e pillaged on his" premises,
They -will be fined a small sum,
To this third class also belong the coon
hunters who make night hideous with the
howling of their hounds and the barking
in consequence of all the dogs in the neighborhood added to their own yells. They
cut the coon tree, taking no care of how
much valuable timber they injure in felling it; set fire to your woods with their
torches, and the farmer's fences, cord
wood and cut timber awaiting being hauled
to the mill, are consumed, and the farmer
is fortunate, in a dry season if the fire does
not run in the night and burn his hay and
straw stacks, his buildings and himself
and family.
Gleanings from Exchanges.
The total wealth of this country in 1880
was $43,042,000,000; in 1893,102,600,000,000;
money in circulation in 1880, $973,382,228;
in 1890, $1,429,251,270. Interest bearing
debt in 1880, $1,723,993,100; in 1890 only
$725,31.'., 140; national bank capital in 1880,
$463,000,000; in 1890, $667,250,000; savings
bank deposits in 1880, $891,901,141; in 1890,
$1,654,826,142; total value of manufactures
in 1880, $2,711,579,999; in 1890, $4,860,285,837;
total value farm products in 1880, $3,475,-
000,000; in 1890, $4,500,000,000; miles of railroad in 1880, 92,296; In 1890, 166,702 miles.
Having called to notice some of the evils
resulting from hunters' visits on the farm,
a few questions will now be presented.
1. What claim has the farmer upon
birds and game?
He protects, shelters and feeds them.
How? He protects and shelters them by
keeping his farm advertised, and by paying taxes on his property. He feeds them
by raising crops, of which they have a
share, and by putting out food for them
in winter.
2. Of what use are these to the farmer?
They add a pleasing feature to his property. They are a food. The birds protect
his crops from ravages of insects, which
tend to destroy them.
3. What harm does the farmer in particular and the community in general sustain from their destruction?
Harm to the farmer.—lst. The depriving him of game on his premises is a food
Joss and a pecuniary loss; a food loss to
his own and hired hands' families, and a
financial loss, as he is deprived of their
market value. 2d. His stock is frightened, shot or killed, and himself and men
are liable to injury from hunters. 3d.
Gates are left open, fences torn down,
stock strays off, incurring loss of crops,
time, damage, and pound fees, if not total
of strayed stock. 4th. Hunters frequently class domestic fowls as fame, together with corn, nuts, fruit—ir general,
anything they can carry off. In the nut
and coon hunting the farmers' timber is
destroyed, and he liable to serious destruction by fires. 6th. It disturbs the farmer's peace; he is insulting when exercising
the right of protecting his property, and
he cannot leave his premises with any security upon the Sabbath.
Tho harm to the community in general
may be summed upas follows: The loss of
insect destroyers makes the crops short,
causing a partial famine, raising the price
of food products. This discourages a
worthy class of people upon whom the
public at large are dependent for food products. It is public evil, as it fosters a disregard for the rights of others; it, in a
measure, protects stealing; a bad example
is set* for the youtn in the country; it encourages the breaking of the Sabbath, owing to the distance of public officers.
These questions arise for our consideration:
Do our present laws establish justice
with judgment?
Do not our present laws protect hunters
at the expense of the farmer?
Should not the hunter be as severely
punished for taking the farmer's quails as
the farmer would be did he take a half
dozen of the same shot on his farm from
where they were offered for sale?
What shall we do to amend evils and establish justice?
.  »    s>   ■>	
Joseph RauEcr, of Ft. Wayne, despondent over inability to obtain emplyment,
committed suicide by shooting himself
through the head. A few years ago he
owned a fine farm in Allen county, which
he sold and squandered the proceeds In
dissipation,
Brighter Outlook.—While the farmer
has suffered during the past year, he has
suffered less than any other class of men
in the community and should therefore
take a roseate and hopeful view of the
situation. It would not surprise us in the
least to see next year one of the*-most
prosperous years that the farmer has ever
enjoyed. There is likely to be no glut
from old stores, unless it be perhaps in
wool, of any product of his farm. Heavy
exports and heavy feeding together with
the short crop are fast cleaning up his
granaries and there is likely to be no surplus of wheat, corn or oats, and with a
short supply of hogs and a decreasing supply of cattle, the outlook, except for the
I" lack of confidence, which is fast being restored, really seems better than it has for
a number of years past.—The Homestead.
Y., before the Pennsylvania Station he
shows how farmers have been cheated. In
one case the fertilizer sold throughout
New EDgland at a high price was nothing
but pulverized rock, which had lain for
years at the mouth of an abandoned gold
mine in New Hampshire. It was worthless as a fertilizer. Another commercial
manure, sold as Mason's high grade for
$30 per ton, was by analysis shown to be
worth only $1 35 per ton. In Georgia the
State analysis of fertilizers has saved the
planters of that State $1,500,000 in a single
year, that being the increased value of
the fertilizer bought after it had to be analyzed, as compared with the fertilizer furnished previously.—American Cultivator.
Oorn vs. Butter.—Mr. M. L. Brooks, of
Cavendish, Mo., told me that he and a
neighbor went to town with their produce.
The neighbor had 40 bushels of corn and
sold it for 22 cents a bushel. This was a
big load. Mr. Brooks took to town in his
light wagon less than the weight of one
bushel of eorn and got more money for it.
He took butter. Don't you think he gets
much more net out of his corn than the
other man; and with good management,
the fodder brings in nearly as much as the
corn? The butter was sold for 22 cents a
pound. He gets that the year round.
Butter brings as much per pound as corn
does per bushel of 56 pounds of shelled
grain. Just think of it! And the butter
practically takes nothing from the farm in
the way of plant food. A ton of corn takes
off what you could not buy back In fertilizers for less than about $6.—T. B. Terry, in
Practical Parmer.
Harrows.—Of the various implements
now used, there are two kinds—those
which run under the top soil and loosen it
up, and those which cut or press downward. The first Bucceed best by producing loose and mellow ground, as the
spring-tooth harrow; and the others are
most efficient on stubble ground and such
as has been rendered mellow by plowing.
Therefore the farmer whose land is sandy
or otherwise easily loosened or rendered
friable, may procure for his work such
harrows as the Acme, the smoothing implement and the "weeder," which operate by cutting down as they pass; and the
disc harrow and cutaway, which both cuts
down and raises the soil. The owner of a
hard soil, or one which is filled with an
abundance of small cobblestones, or coarse
grave), will find the harrows which have
the lifting character best suited to his purpose, such as all the spring-tooth implements, and the Acme when set to cut
deep, and the gang-plows when used as
harrows.—Country Gentleman.
The Farmer's Work.—It is the business
—we may say the fate—of all to work. We
can not escape that. Some work by their
hands and some by their heads, and the
latter work is many times more valuable
than the farmer's. Hand work on the
farm is the least of the labor. It is of little labor without the brain work to gui'.e
the hand with skill to succeed. Those
farmers who are working with their heads
are making no complaint, and whatever is
heard of this kind comes from the handworkers, and only from the least skillful
of these. What is wanted on the farm is
contentment with the good things we enjoy, enterprise to improve the work, perseverance to carry it through, economy to
make everything count, patience under
little disappointments, and thankfulness
for all the enjoyments we possess over and
above the generation which has gone before, and whose labor made for us what
we now have.—Henry Stewart, ln N. Y,
Times.
Some of the Fertilizers.—Thanks to ex
perimental stations and frequent analysiri
of all brands of fertilizers put npon the
market. . Worthless preparations do not
find the market they once did. Farmers
can now in most States buy fertilizers
with guaranteed analysis, and hope to find
it worth all It is represented to be. In the
address of Pr. Peter Collier, of Geneva, N,
Fewer Acres in Wheat.—The excessive
sowing of wheat on large tracts with small
yields has, we believe run its natural
course. The wheat sower in the future
must sow fewer acres and getlarge enough
yield to give him some profit, however
low the price. But when this time comes
the price of wheat must advance to a point
where it will pay to increase the permanent fertility of the soil. It will be slow
work to retrace the steps by which much
of our cultivated land has been depleted of
its fertility. But with the use of clover
and the combination of wheat growing
with other crops and the keeping of a
greater amount of stock this change can be
made. But it can only be by an improvement in the character of stock so that its
keeping will be more than paid for, leaving the manure pile as the profit. , The
improvement of the character of farm
stock meets us as the first necessity in any
discussion of the means to secure better
farming.—American Farmer.
Rape as a Forage Crop.
We have before alluded to the value of
rape as a farm and forage crop, and have
been asked to give a little mere extended
information concerning it. The best variety to grow in this country is the dwarf
Essex. This is a strong growing sort, producing very broad leaves, which soon
cover the field with a mass of vegetation.
From one to two pounds is sown an acre,
broadcast or in drills, and is cultivated as
corn or turnips. The seed can be sown
quite late in the season, although the best
results come from moderately early sowing, say June or July. The growth covers
the soil from one to three feet deep, and
nearly all stock will feed upon it. Sheep
will fatten upon rape alone. Swine will
make flesh rapidly if fed some grain in
connection with it. Milk cows will feed
upon it, and so hold up to a full How of
milk later in the season than by almost
any other metnod of pasturing. Wherever
it can be grown farmers will find a small
field of it profitable.—E~f.