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VOL. LX1V
INDIANAPOLIS  FEB.   6, 1C09.
NO. 6
"Fundamentals" in Teaching:.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
la yonr issue of January 16th, there
is an article by "A Country Teacher," in
which he or she says that the algebra I
referred to, as taught in seventh grade,
"simply drills the pupils in fundamentals
and methods of solution." Now, why
not put a little more time in the "fundamentals" and essentials (or is it essential) of reading, writing and spelling?
From the teaching now it seems those
three things are very much in the minority.    Who is  to  blame,  teacher,  superin-
to the consolidated school our little ones
are on the road two or three times that
long both morning and evening.
Thank you, Farmer of Morgan county,
there is no arithmetic yet which can compete  witfl  White's  Complete  is  there?
A Country Mother.
Montgomery Co.
Sowing: Oats  Early.
editors Indiana Fanner:
Since so many fanners plowed and
partly prepared ground for fall seeding to
rye or wheat,   but did not sow on account
you  have  a  broadcaster. Two   bushels
per acre of clean .seed (herald 1"' sufficient.
Ihe seed oats should be thoroughly cleaned and separated. An eight hoe drill
ought to be preceded by a half bushel
broadcasted. A seed sower will do for
this purpose. There is too much space
between the rows that could be utilized
by plants.
If the land is somewhat thin two hundred pounds of fertilizer will assist very
much in producing a good crop. I sowed
a field* two years in succession; the sec-
ondl used $16.50 worth of fertilizer, and
That winter when the hard freeze came,
the alfalfa was raised up out of the
ground about four inches, and it nearly
all died. I let it stand, but it was no
good.
The next year I planted the ground to
corn, and the next to oats and alfalfa
pgain, the same as the first time, and I
had an even thick stand at that sowing1,
and the alfalfa looked good all through
January but with February came some
hard winter weather and the freeze raised
the alfalfa up about four inches, as waa
the case with the first crop.        Last year
Inspecting Scrub and High Grade Steers,  Previous to  Slaughtering for  Carcass  Demonstration—Farmers'   Short   Course.   Purdue. January,  KmiO.
tendent or state superintendent?
In the N. Y. World of Dec. 28, 1908 several of our most noted college professors
Pve their ideas in regard to spelling.
They say "little ones are being railroaded
through their studies." In Columbia's
*chool of Applied Science, according to
Prof. George, C. W. Odell, the spelling is
atrocious. He also says the proportion of
men who did not know how to spell cor-
'r is very  great.
The professor in the English department of Princeton College, says: "Weakness in spelling is a common and deplor-
"hle fault and when we get a letter with
three or four words incorrectly spelled
c"r opinion of the writer's culture is immediately  lowered."
"The man who spells badly," says the
dean of Illinois University, "thinks inaccurately, and is often careless in more important  details   than  orthography."
One in authority at Weslyan says the
Percentage of college men whose spelling
ls uniformly accurate is very small and
'hat such being the case is a disgrace to
American  primary   education.
->ow, why cannot we have more read-
mg, writing and spelling and a little less
"f  the  "fundamentals"  of  algebra     and
r-nglish history.        However, the English
'story I leferred to was not stories but a
real   live"     text     book.       A     Country
eacher must remember that country
People now have as good horses as any
*nd they can go several miles in an hour
•"d while we are taking an hour to drive
of the dry weather it might be a help to
some one to discuss some plan of procedure.
Not all can follow the same plan on
account of locality and pressure of spring
work. Spring is always a very busy time;
there is so much to be done and necessarily done speedily.
The ground that has been plowed
would likely have been sown in clover and
timothy, and now the next best thing will
be to sow tlie ground in oats, and set it
to clover and timothy..
In order to sow early it should be seen
to that the surface water will have a
good chance to get away. Furrows
should be drawn at once. For if the surface water is allowd to stand on any one
place it will become soggy and later very
hard. A few extra rods of tile might
be put in providing the field is not thoroughly tiled already. As soon as the surface is dry enough get on with a disc harrow and cut both ways, about four inches
deep the first time nnd about six the second; this will thoroughly stir the soil and
expose some weed seeds that may be
killed by later frosts. A few days may
(lapse between the diskings, to give the
sun's rays a chance to penetrate and
warm the 3oil. A spike tooth harrow
will now do good service in stirring the
soil again and leveling, for you will no
doubt have some unlevel ground after
laving used the disc. I think drilling
should be preferred to broadcasting. Yon
can sow more evenly than by hand unless
thrashed almost a hundred bushels more
oats.** The oats sold for 45 cents per
bushel, so you can 8 e it was a good investment, and it also helped the clover
that was sown on the field.
The last of March is a good time to
sow if conditions are favorable. We us-
ually have some warm days then and
winds that dry the soil very quickly.
Decatur. S. C. C.
*    How large a field?
**    More oats than what?—Ed.
I plowed up the alfalfa crop—what was
standing—and put the ground in corn.
Now I would ask if it be advisable to try
alfalfa on this ground again. It is a
rich soil, naturally rolling, with a slight
drainage three ways from center of
patch. This ground is underlaid with
(ravel from 2 to C feet beneath.
Henry Co. W. B. Brown.
Yes, we would advise you to try alfalfa on that ground once more. The
winters have been against you, but may
1m   more favorable in future.
Cowpeas, Oats and Alfalfa.
Editors Indiana Fanner:
I would like to have some experienced
fanner tell, through the columns of your
paper, something about the successful
growing of oats and cowpeas together,
for hay, and the kind that will best mature with oats; also the best time to sow
and the amount of each to the acre.
I also desire some information with regard to the proper sowing and treatment
of alfalfa. I have tried the old rule—"if
at first you don't succeed, try, try agian,"
but I have not succeeded yet. This piece
of ground that I want to get in alfalfa
has twice before been sown to this crop.
Six years ago I put the ground in oats,
and early as I could get the ground in
condition, sowed 20 pounds of alfalfa i
seed per acre. The alfalfa grew fine, |
end I clipped it off when I mowed the
octs. In about six Weeks I flipped the
alfalfa again, and    it was    a fine stand.
From the annual Meteorological summary, W. T. Blythe, director, we glean
that his records show that the most notable departure from normal conditions here
he deficiency in precipitation from
June to December, inclusive. The total
shortage during these seven months was
8.57 in. On Sept. 2729 1.13 inches of rain
were recorded. Only temporary relief
fiom the drought was afforded, however,
for, from September SO to November 22.
inclusive—a period of 54 days the total
precipitation  amounted to only 0.52  inch.
On the 16th, the 93d birthday of Dr. W.
H. Wishard was celebrated in this city,
where he has resided for almost 70 ; are.
He is perhaps the oldest living physician
:o the State.
The prize corn growers of Johnson
County held a jollification feast on the
19th. in honor of their great success at
the Omaha National Corn Show.