VOL. LVII.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., AUG. 2, 1902.
NO. 31
%xptvitutt gspartroeut
TELL HOW TO SELECT CALVES FOR BEEP
QUALITIES AND HOW TO TREAT
THEM THROUGH THE FALL
AND WINTER.
Begin Feeding in October.
1st Premium.—
In selecting calves for beef 1 first look
at the general condition and form of the
animal. It should show thrift, a healthy
condition, and a shining coat of thi.'k hair.
As to color, I prefer red, roan, black ail.I
white. I will never buy another calf that
slinsvs tin- yellow coat or a mealy nose and
1 lack tongue. That indicates blood that
I do not want in my feedyard. A well
matured calf will show a fairly straight
top and under line, with paunch not overly
developed. A stunted calf will show a
large paunch and hollow Hanks. Having
decided that there is no bad blood in th*:
calf I usually ask to see the sire aud dam.
If they cannot be seen then I use my own
judgment. The calf must have a good
broad back, full in front of hips, well
sprung ribs with good depth; not barrel
shaped or too round or long. The hips
must not be peaked but broad. The leg
should be well fleshed but not too long. I
have described the back part first as I
think that is the most important. Looking
at the calf in front we should see a good
brisket, and the feet wide apart. If we
should place a straight edge along the side
from the shoulder to the hip it should touch
nearly the full length. We usually see
a depression behind the foreleg, but it
should be full there. The head and neck
should be neat and so placed as to give
the calf when fed out a showy appear-
i.n-ce. The eyes should be full and bright
indicating the conditon of the animal.
I like to have my calves on hand by
October. Let them have the run of a pasture with a little grain daily. It would
be best to give about one-fourth of a pound
of shelled corn or ground corn and oats,
one-third corn and two-thirds oats. This
should be increased gradually after they
have all begun to eat, until it has reached
■ne-halC pound per hundred weight of
calf. Thus ealves weighing 400 pounds
would get two pounds of grain daily. If
the calves can have the run of a stalk pasture they will do well in it until cold
weather. They should then be taken to
the barnyard, where they can have free access to a stable well bedded at all times.
While in the yard they should have feed
that will keep them in a sappy, growing
condition. The manner of feeding from
this time on will depend upon our plans.
If we expect to fatten* them for the spring
market the grain feed should be increased
gradually and corn should take the place
of most of the oats. They should have
access to clover hay, corn stover and
straw. A little oil meal added to the ration will be very beneficial. Their feed
should not be suddenly changed at any
time. As soon as the calves will eat it,
a hatchet. If corn silage can be had
they may be fed snapped corn cut fine with
I believe nothing is much better for young
stock or more economical feed. More
oats than corn should be fed all through
the winter with a smalt amount of oil
meal daily and clover hay and corn_stover
for roughage. Salt and fresh water should
always be where the calves can get at it
when wanted. Calves thus kept growing
through winter will make a very much
more satisfactory gain when put on grass
in the spring. J. H. B.
Minglewood Fa*"m.
Avoid Extreme Fat.
2d Premium.—
As an old breeder of Shorthorn cattle
I write from this particular standpoint.
A steer to weigh a ton at three
years of age, must be a calf of
heavy bone, square as a book, straight on
upper and lower lines, wide between the
fore legs, affording him lung power and
stomach capacity—a portable silo, if you
please—straight in the hind leg, broad
ankle, hair lying and standing like tangled grain, indicating a mellow hide and
tender meat, moving around like a half
grown boy, always hungry aud hunting for
mischief.
As to first fall aud winter care,
I commence with a ration of oats; feet!
when they are very young, not delaying
until after weaning time on account of
shrinkage, and failing pasture, as thi; is
'lie time of stunting for the winter. I
feed oats with plenty of clover hay, until
carves are 15 months old, (calves will nias-
Gcate <*als up to that age). At this age
you have built up a structure of substantial bone. Always avoid extreme fat
as it. has a tendency to retard bone development. Feed a ration ot bran, with salt
and a. dose of stock food twice a week.
Shelter.—A straw shed open to tin* southeast being warm and comfortable, affording plenty of room to hustle and lie warm,
lf this care and interest continues after
this period thoroughbred Shorthorns pay
from 25to50per cent on the investment besides furnishing the best fertilizer on the
market. A few good steers make the best
advertisement a man can have on his
farm. New beginners should remember
this advice. T. W.
Ohio.
Premiums of $1, 75 cents and 50 cents
are giveia for the first, second and third
best articles for the Experience Department each week. Manuscript should be
sent direct to the Indiana Farmer Company and should reach us ona week before
date of publication.
Topics for discussion in future numbers
of the Farmer are as follows:
No. 334, Aug. 2— Tell how to select
calves for beef qualities, and how to treat
them through fall and winter.
No. 335, Aug. 9.—Discuss the economic
value of paint. How, when and where
should it be used?
No. 336, Aug. 16.—Tell why the farmer
and his family should attend the State
fair.
Farm Buildings—A Modern Farm
Dwelling
Kditors Indiana Farmer:
Pioneer farming with its hardships and
exposures is passing. The rough log
cabins of our forefathers are almost a
thing of the past. The crude houses that
were the immediate successors of the log
cabin are also gradually giving place to
more confortable, tasteful and sanitary
farm dwellings. It is not now a very
unusual thing to find the well-to-do farmers living in dwellings quite as tasteful and
well equipped with modern conveniences
as the better homes in the towns and
cities.
This is as it should be. Who has a
better right to enjoy the comforts of a
really good dwelling than the farmer, who
by dint of hard work and careful saving,
has acquired a comfortable competency. It
is to help those who have the means and
the desire to build better dwellings than
they now have, that this article is written.
When we remember how much a cosy well
arranged and properly equipped dwelling
adds to the comforts and enjoyments of
life, the importance of careful attention to
ihe planning and construction of the dwelling will be apparent.
While the particular form of dwelling
will vary to suit the taste, the essential
features are much the same. Some of
these are mentioned below.
It is desirable to have a basement the
full size of the super-structure. This will
j'ive ample room for furnace and fuel, store
rooms, laundry, etc., and keep the floor of
the dwelling warm. The basement should
le high with hollow walls (made of building tile) to secure light, ventilation*, warmth
and dryness. If the soil is heavy there
should be drains under and around the
basement walls.
A south or west front is preferred because the living rooms can then be placed
on the sunny side of the house and the
kitchen in the cooler portion to the leeward, so that its odors will largely be
* anied out of the house and not through
it as is often the case.
It is assumed that the prevailing wind
i* from the southwest as that is the general rule iu this latitude.
I would make the dwelling two stories,
with an attic. Tliis will insure cooler
cliambers, provide valuable store room
over-head and give a more commanding appearance to the dwelling which, at best,
must be a small structure, in comparison
with the barn.
To make the house staunch, sink the
foundation walls well into the ground and
be sure to have a good base for the chimney as the least settling will mar the appearance and weaken the structure. As
far as practicable, let upper inside walls
rest directly on lower walls.
The grouping of rooms should be such
that two or more can be readily thrown
together for social, literary, or festive occasions.
There should be careful attention to light
and ventilation. The grouping of rooms
or. the second floor should be such as will
leave the chambers regular in form, provide a closet for each room, if possible,
place a bath room near the center, permit
a free circulation of air and afford good
light.
The house should be fitted with plumbing that will supply well water and hot and
cold water to the kitchen' sink and bath
room, and also provide for sewage disposal from both kitchen and bath room If
there is not good drainage, the waste from
the kitchen sink, may, in summer, run into
a barrel mounted on wheels and standing
outside. In winter this waste could run
into a covered can just under the sink and
be emptied into the barrel for removal. If
defective drainage will not permit a water
closet in the bath room, a dry-earth closet
cf.n be built into the side of the house,
on the first floor, and, if properly kept it
will not be unsanitary. The common
privy with its reeking vault, its discomfort and its positive menace to the health
**f frail people, should be forever abandoned as soon as a more sanitary and more
rational method o" sewage disposal can be
provided.
Whatever the method of diposing of the
house sewage, the utmost care should be
vaken to prevent contamination of the
drinking water.
Some one may say "house plumbing is
all right in the city where there is an
abundance of water and a sewer system,
but it is not practicable in the country."
True it is easier to plumb a city dwelling,
but it is also possible and in many cases
practicable to  plumb  the  farm  dwelling.
The hundreds of farm dwellings, already
fitted up with the above named conveniences, furnish ample proof.
In order to the perfect working of a
system of house plumbing, only two things
are necessary. First, there must be an
abundance of water. The cistern, well
and wind pmnp, with tanks in the attic,
will supply this. Second, there must be
ample  drainage.
A gravelly subsoil, or a knoll ten or
more feet above Ihe surrounding level will
give drainage. The rest is all "will" and
"head   work."
Grates are a desirable and sanitary feature of the modern dwelling. One or more
may be placed near the furnace chimney,
but each should have a separate flue.
Continued  next week.
postal (SovxtSspouil6.it*,.
Parke Co., July 26.—-Uood prospect for coin; pasture good; people threshing wheat, making from
8 to 2D bushels; oats 45 bushels; some have eoni-
maoced to plow for Wbeat; locusts did uo damage
to young treea or nursery; hogs 7c; cattle 6c; eggs
14c; butter 10c; stock hogs scarce and high; new
wheat selling  at  68c. J.   H.   H.
Howard Co., July 19.—Heavy rains last night
and yesterday; wheat threshing just begun; good
yield; oats partly cut. down anti badly tangled;
timothy meadows good; nearly all put uvi prospect for corn good, but some of It broken off and
tangled by high winds; blackberries scarce; apples and plums falling off; potatoes 28c per bushel.
O. h. C.
LaPorte Co., July 25.—We yet have too much
rain; have had hard work to get our hay made;
wheat too wet to stack or thresh, and In some
fields the wheat has grown in the shocks; grass
is? good, but too ripe; oats would have been pxxi
but drowned out on low lands; not much threshing done; potatoes doing well; stock looking well.
Mrs.   B.   A.   Davis.
Jasper Co., Nearly every farmer in this locality
will finish cutting oats to-day; they are very heavy
and down in spots; oats start at 32c; corn is 59c;
the corn crop is very promising right here, but in
the central and northern part of the county the
floods have almost ruined everything; fat cattle
and hogs are very high, but milk cows are very
low; horses are in god demand; pastures fine, and
stock all doing well. C. G. B.
Orange Co., July 19.—Wheat nearly all threshed
and the quality is mostly good, and the yield the
best for years; a great many farmers are selling
their wheat at 70 cents per bushel; clover about
all up; corn is growing rapidly, and looks fine;
oats all in the shock, and a flne crop; Irish potatoes are flne; also gardens; had a fine shower last
evening; one-fourth of a crop of apples and of
Inferior quality; the health of the people is fairly
good. J.  M.  H.
Madison Co., July 23.—It has been very wet here
since last Wednesday; lots of wheat to thrash yet;
it is sprouting in the shock; some timothy to cut
yet; it Is getting too ripe to make good hay; the
prospect for a good crop of corn never was tetter; oats good, most of it in shock; potatoes good
crop, some rotting in the ground; pastures good;
hogs scarce, but healthy; the electric railroad between  Elwood  and Tipton  is  nearlng  completion.
D. S.  S.
Parke Co., July 26.—Farmers have delayed in
harvesting oats, and timothy, and in threshing
wheat by the frequent heavy rains. The hay
Is of excellent quality and the yield of wheat
and oats is better than was expected. The best
wheat yield in this county as far as reported is 44
bnshels per acre. Corn in the Wabash bottoms except where protected by leaves was almost entirely swept away by recent floods, but on the
uplands corn never promised better for an abundant crop. The yield In raspberries and blackberries has been mueh below the average. Apples
are very inferior in grade and It Is believed the
supply of winter apples throughout this county will
be short. A.  B.  C.
&lal* Mkxos.
Henry county's corn crop this year will be the
largest for ten years. Wheat has passed all expectations.
Pineapples grow so plentiful in Natal at certain
seasons that it is not worth while carting them
to market, and they arc often given to the pigs
in consequence.
Announcement has been received from the fish
commissioner at Alexandria that a consignment of
black bass will be turned into the Tippecanoe
lake, near the new summer resort recently christened Kalorama.
The heaviest rain of the season, accompanied by
high wind, lightnii g and hall, occurred throughout
the eastern part of Boone county on the 2.3d. Corn
fields are flooded and wheat thrashing delayed.
Robert Pizer. a farmer near Evansville, was
gored to death by a bull last week.
Having a strong presentiment that lightning
would strike his building, James Hazen, of Ver-
sailes, stationed himself on a large, flat stone to
await developments. While watching his barn a
bolt of lightning struck bis home, ripping off a
rod of roofing, tearing off the weatherboard Ing and
weakening the foundation at the southwest corner.