INDIANA  EARME1
Devoted to Agriculture, Horticulture, Mechanics and the. Useful Arts. *
D. P. Holloway, W. T.Dennis,"
R.T.Reed.—Editors. j
RICHMOND, October 1, 1855.
(Holloway & Co., Publishers.
I Vol. IV *X«. 23.
JHanuring that Fails to Pay.
In conversation with one of the most intelligent farmers of Rush county a short time
since, we were told of a circumstance which
seems very difficult to account for, and we
' give it as an anomaly which our readers may
explain if they can.
In the spring of '54, our friend H. B. Hill
had a considerable quantity of manure to
haul out, and believing in doing every he did,
well, it was spread very thickly over one end
of a large field,which was planted in corn.
The ground -was plowed very deep, and at
gathering time the .manured part of the field
was decidedly the poorest corn. This could
be accounted for. The dry, hot weather, op>
erated unfavorably on such large quantities of
manure, making the ground hotter, than the
other parts of the field, and consequently
causing the corn to bo worse "fired up."
Last spring the field was again planted in corn,
and on the manured part the growth, as was
expected, was most luxuriant. The stalks are
described as being of prodigious size, but the
mystery is that the ears are little more than
half as large as other parts of the field. Who
can give an explanation? This season, it'is
well known, has been wet throughout. Our
eastern friends are deeply versed in Agricultural lore, and are especially well acquainted
with all the results.of manuring;, will not some
of them condescend to enlighten us on the
subject. We should have said that the land
is a kind of second bottom; what we call a
gravelly limetone, producing great crops of
wheat as well as corn.
Signs of Progress.
' There is no surer int'ication of the prosperity of the farmer, and advancement in all the
improvements of the age, than to see him
adopting and bringing into service, all the
■valuable implements of husbandry which tbe
ingenuity and mechanical skill of the middle
of the nineteenth century have brought within
his reach. Show us a community of farmers,
whose tools and implements, however good
or their kind, are such as were in use ten
years ago, and we will show you a set of men
•who are ten years behind, the times.   But
show us tho farmer who is ever ready to try
every rational improvement in the implements
which pertain to his calling, and we will show
you a man who is in the rear of none, one
who keeps pace with, the light and progress
of the ago. .      *
It cannot, then be any other than cheering,
to notice how many Reapers, Mowers, Drills
and other newly invented and improved labor-
saving machines are in use among tho farmers
of tho west. Four years ago, a Reaping Machine was a perfect curiosity among the greatest wheat-growers. Now, notwithstanding
their: cost would seem to placo them only
within tho reach of a very few of our. largest
wheat-raisers, we find them distributed in
largo numbers in every part of our state,
where wheat is any considerable item in the
produce of the farm; so that, we may expect
to seo the Grain: Cradle in the course of a fow
years more, hang beside the sickle, as an implement not perhaps to be entirely dispensed
with, and get one, the servicas of which will
be little needed.
The Grain Drill is also of recent introdrie-
tion, and yet it is decidedly the smallest number of farmers, within our knowledge who
prefer to sow their wheat by hand. This implement is fast coming into universal use, and
certainly there are few which sooner repay
the capital invested. Of the tools and implements which are to be found in the barns of
our western farmers, we cannot speak so definitely, for they are not so readily noticed, but
we should expect to find scores upon scores
of the most approved styles of Fanning-milli,
Straw-cutters, Corn-drills and the like, even
among the farmers of Wayne. Although our
eastern neighbors boast of being a little' in
advance of us in the art of good farming, at
our present rates of progress, we should soon
overtake them; and if their superior advantages are taken into the account, it will be no
matter of surprise if we shall excel them. "In
stock we are already able to compete with
any thing in the country, and there is nothing
to hinder us from taking the same rank in all
that pertains to th« most approved system of
fanning-