Garden
V
VOL. LVI.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., NOVEMBER 16, 1901.
NO. 46
Men Wbo Have Helped the Farmer.
Editor*  Indiana Farmer:
William Saunders.
(Horn Dec. 7, 1822; died Sept. 11, 1900.)
"Th» art ot agriculture is the parent and
precursor of all arts, and its products the
foundation of all wealth. The productions of the earth are subject to the influence of natural laws, invariable and indisputable; the amount produced will, consequently, be in proportion to the intelligence of the producer, and success will
depend upon his knowledge of these laws
and the proper application of their principals."
These words were put into the preamble
of the constitution of the Xational Grange
of tbe Patrons of Husbandry by William
Saunders, the first master of that great
fanners' organization. They expressed
the philosophy of his life. In 1802 Mr.
Saunders was appointed superintendent
of the experimental gardens and grounds
of the Department of Agriculture at
Washington. In 1866 he prepared an article for Commissioner Newton's annual
report, in which he declared that "there
are certain fundamental principles, unchangeable in their nature, governing the
growth of plants": and in* 1898 he began
his last contribution to the Yearbook of
the department with this brief statement
of the same opinion: "Natural laws are
constant and unvaried in their operation."
Mr. Saunders was born at St. Andrews,
Scotland, and came of an old family of
gardeners. He received a good general
education, took a special course in horticulture at Edinburgh, and was engaged
for several years in gardening before getting married and coming to the United
States in 1848. His first work in* the
country of his adoption was done at New
Haven, Connecticut. He immediately began writing for the agricultural and horticultural journals. In 1854 he established
himself in the business of landscape gardening and horticulture at Germantown,
Pennsylvania.
The fame of the young Scotchman grew
apace. He was employed to lay out
ornamental grounds in different cities and
States. In 1859 he designed the Rose
Hill Cemetery in Chicago and the Oak
Ridge Cemetery at Springfield, Illinois,
and was consulted in regard to the plans
for the ornamentation of Central Park,
New York. He had previously designed
Fairinount Park in* Philadelphia. In 1863
he planned the beautiful National Cemetery at Gettysburg: and on November 16th
of that year had the satisfaction of explaining his drawings to President Lincoln
ami having them approved by that great
man. In his excellent sketch of Mr.
Saunders, published in the Yearbook for
1900 of the Department of Agriculture,
Mr. eGo. Wm. Hill says: "Mr. Saunders'
connection with this splendid memorial
was the result of a convention of governors of States at Altoona, Pa., where it
was decided that this important work
should be intrusted to him. It is a singular fact that, in spite of his being thus
selected and of the immense amount of
work which he performed in this connection, no provision was made at any time
for any remuneration, even for his traveling expenses. From first to last the
work was to him merely a labor of love."
Mr. Saunders served for many years as
one of the park commissioners of the City
of Washington. The terracing of the
western front of the Capitol was mainly
bis work.
All this represents what may be called
the beauty side of the work of Mr. Saunders.     But he did vastly more than to de
sign beautiful parks, cemeteries, and ornamental public and private grounds. He
introduced many valuable plants into this
country, the most valuable of them being
the famous Washington Navel orange,
which he imported from Brazil. Indeed,
he may be said to have been the first systematic importer of foreign plants with a
view of their general use. In outlining
the objects and aims of the experimental
gardens and grounds in 1802, he recommended as of first importance "To procure
and encourage the transmission of seeds,
cuttings, bulbs, and plants from all
sources, both foreign and domestic, for the
purpose of testing their merits and adaptations in general, or for particular localities in this country." Next in order he
proposed "To procure, by hybridizing and
special culture, products of superior character to any now existing." No one needs
to be an expert in agriculture to see that
this was the plan of a man of sound
wisdom and unusual foresight. For 38
years Mr. Saunders continued to develop
the plans outlined in 1862.
When Mr. O. H. Kelley and his associates were planning the organization which
became the Grange, Mr. Sannders was
consulted. They were enthusiasts, full
of a great idea; and his practical wisdom
and large experience were of great value
in perfecting the organization. In the
sketch already mentioned, Mr. Hill says:
"Widely as Mr. Saunders is known among
horticulturists, landscape gardeners, nurserymen, etc., it is probably as one of the
founders of the Grange that his name is
most familiar to the farmers of the United
States. As long ago as 1855, in a contribution to the American Farmer of Baltimore, Mr. Saunders outlined such an organization as the Grange afterwards became. It was not, however, until 1867
that the first grange was finally organized
at Washington.
For six years Mr. Saunders served as
master of the National Grange, afterwards
serving for a number of years on the executive committee. In the first difficult
decade of the existence of the Grange, no
one of the Seven Founders was more faithful or more useful than William Saunders,
and no one had greater influence in. giving
it stability and respectability. In later
years he withdrew as much as possible
from the responsibilities of the organization; but as long as he lived he was frequently consulted by those in positions of
authority. He never lost interest in the
Grange, and its members never lost faith
in him. All over the land are Grange
halls and farm houses whose walls are
adorned with his portrait. He was a man
willing to spend himself for the good of
agriculture, and his services will not be
forgotten as long as the Grange exists.
The Grange was never stronger than it
is today, with nearly half a million members. The 34th annual session of the
National Grange, which began November
13th, attracted thousands of members of
the organization to the city of Lewiston.
Maine. This simple sketch of the life
and work of the strong, modest man who
gave so much of his best effort to the
Grange may induce some who have doubted the usefulness of the organization to
think better of the great association whose
mission to improve agriculture and "to-
develop a better and higher manhood and
womanhood" on the farms.
Denver, Col. D. W. Working.
Large and Small Stalked Corn.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Selecting   in   the   field   before   ripe,     a
medium-sized stalk with a large ear, has
a tendency to breed down the size of the
stalk, and to correspondingly increase proportionally the size of its ear. Thereby establishing a grain producing, instead of a
fodder  corn.
Other kinds of field and garden crops
will admit of the same principle. The
seven-top turnip developing an enormous
foliage at the expense of the size of its
tuber, is a striking example of this. This
case being strikingly contrasted in the
purple top strap leaved turnip (both varieties are now growing on my farm), developing enormous tubers of fine table
quality, much out of proportion to the
quantity of its foliage. As another example: Great bodily weight and great mental endowments are seldom found combined
in the same person. Certain particular
soils and climates have a tendency to produce a too large growth of fodder and
stalk, in proportion to yield of grain.
A variety of corn given to great stalk
and forage production, is delegated by economical mother nature, to conserve its
energy by means of lessened grain production. The production of a stalk or corn
is a soil exhausting process, demanding
much of the plant's natural vigor. And
a variety of corn which produces a very
large stalk, invariably does so at the expense of its grain production; the plant's
energy being used before growth of grain
begins. Luxuriant stalk growth makes
the first demand upon the plant's natural
vigor. In order to spend liberally on one
side, the law of compensation, or balance-
ment of growth forces nature to economize
in some other organ. If excessive nourishment flows to the stalk, it will in consequence be developed at the expense of
grain production. The prodigal development of the stalk of corn out of all proportion to the quantity of grain which it
produces, shows that it is degenerating
from grain production towards more exclusive stalk and fodder production. As
ft is very difficult to get a cow to fatten
readily who gives much milk, on the same
principle the small-stalked variety of
medium sized corn developes a large quantity of grain at the expense of the size of
its stalk. The law of correlated variation in plant growth comes actively into
play in this connection. For if the breeder marks medium sized stalks in his field
of growing corn, he can easily see that
they will produce a much larger proportionate quantity of grain than will the
larger stalks. There is no question in the
writer's mind but that the excessive
growth of a stalk of corn diminishes its
grain producing capacity. There are but
few kinds of cultivated plants that can
produce two diverse and profitable products during one season's growth.
Therefore the medium sized stalk of
corn developes a one pound ear at the expense of its size of stalk. A short thick
stalk with a great profusion of blades,
tends to center the bulk of corn-producing nutriment in the ear. The writer has
discovered that the largest grains that can
he found in any variety of short thick
stalked corn tends to intensify this character, and that the largest grain produces
the largest grain yield per stalk. The
writer living as he does, in the center of
the greatest corn belt on earth, and in a
locality of almost exclusive corn production, where probably the largest average
crops of corn are annually produced, has
during his 28 years' experience as a corn
breeder and seed grower, often verified
the foregoing facts, while roguing his
growing crops, and harvesting his seed
crops. And has had plainly demonstrated
to him that a fodder or ensilage variety of
corn is not generally a good grain yielder,
and vice versa. Such farmers as may be
led through the reading of this article to
select their seed corn this autumn by proportional size, vigor and healthfulness of
the stalk, storing their seed away in a
warm, dry, well ventilated place, will secure a good quality of seed corn for next
year's crop, and will have their grain yield
increased at the expense of stalk production. The writer firmly believes that
with the future great scientific development that will come in corn breeding during the next 25 years our average yield
and quality of eorn will be largely increased.
The writer during his 28 years' experience as a cereal breeder and seed grower,
has grown a certain variety of dwarf-
stalked yellow flint corn which has produced ears more than 12 inches in length
and weighing almost one pound. During
the same year he also grew another sort
of yellow flint corn whose stalks reached
a height of more than 14 feet. But it
required about four of its ears to equal
one ear which grew on a stalk of the
dwarf stalked corn. No doubt many of
the readers of this journal can give facts
concerning the proportional size of stalk
in corn which is not here related. Brother
farmers kindly write me your personal experience on the subject in hand. I will
take pleasure in reciprocating such kindness by giving you any further detailed
information on this important subject
which you may wish for, provided same
be at my command. J. C. Suffern.
Voorhies, 111.
Soil for Alfalfa.
Bdltors Indians Farmer:
I have a river bottom farm, sandy loam
soil, with sand and gravel subsoil to a
depth of 40 feet or more—at any rate to
water. The soil is 20 to 30 inches to
sand and gravel subsoil, and there is no
clay between the surface and sheet water.
Blue grass, clover and timothy do not do
well on this land for pasture, when we
have a dry season. I want your advice
in regard to a plot of this land being sown
in alfalfa for a permanent hog pasture.
Is it as good as clover for this purpose,
and is it a fact that on such soil as named
above it will remain for years and withstand our driest seasons? If it will do
this and is as good as clover for hogs
and will stand tramping, I surely will sow
it. Any information you can furnish me
in regard to this plant for the use I
intend to make of it will be appreciated.
What can you tell me about preparation
of soil, and time of sowing? This land
is along the Wabash river in the southern
part of the State. A. E. M.
—We do not like to recommend you to
try alfalfa in such soil. The plant is a
deep rooter and rank feeder. It must be
to yield several crops in a season and from
six to ten tons of dry hay, as it often does
in California, where its roots often run
down ten feet or more throngh rich clay
loam. To undertake to get profitable
crops on only 20 to 30 inches of sandy
soil we think would prove a failure. In
Kansas alfalfa has been found to be most
excellent for hog pasture. One farmer
in that State, who has tried it for this
purpose, says: "As a food for swine
green alfalfa goes far toward solving the
problem of making hog raising a profitable
industry for the arid States. If properly
handled pigs will make a rapid growth on
green alfalfa from the time they are
weaned until they are ready to be finished
off in the fall, when grain should be
added." Our advice is to try it on good
fertile upland soil rather than in your bottom land.