VOL. Lvn.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., OCT. 11, 1902.
NO. 41
Con'erence of Farmers' Institute  Officers
* and Workers.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
The fifth annua] Conference of Farmers' Institute officers and workers, will be
held at Purdue University Lafayette, on
Tuesday an.l Wednesday, October 14, 1"*.
1902. Prominent men from Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio and Now York have* been
invitoil to take places on tin* program.
Tin- day session! **n Tuesday will be de-
voti-il entirely to livi* stock, dairy, agricultural and horticultural interests. These
great Industries will be so presented as t.*
adequately set forth their magnitude and
imparlance and Indicate feasible ways ot
promoting these great interests at tht*
county institutes to in* held later throughout the State.
Nature study ami college extension
work, in the way of farmers' reading
courses and suitable home reading, will
receive attention at tin* Tuesday evening
session. The sessions on Wednesdav
will be devoted to conference matters of
i-special interest to all institute chairmen
and speakers. The day sessions of the
conferences will be held in the new Agricultural building. A round trip rate will
be granted, for particulars address
Prof. AV. C. Latta,
Snp't,  Farmers'  Institutes.
The Apple Tree Borer.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Every man who has apple trees, should,
between this time and hard freezing. Investigate the bases of the trunks for borers. There are two species of this pi*st.
practically Identical, ami the knife is
the best cure for both, supplemented by
a stiff wire puncher, if the worm has gone
into the wood of the tree. No tree is too
old or too young to be rejected by tin*
borer.     The   fly   lays   its   eggs   abont   the
first of Jnne, and the young boret
be found now by dose examination. The
base of the tree, usually just at the point
of contact with the ground is where the
are generally deposited, and as soon
as hatched  the grubs strike into tbe bark
and commence eating, following just under the bark slantingwise around the
trunk. Sometimes there will be a little
Avail of brown sawdust, sometimes only a
a slight darkening of the bark, with th"
sawdust underneath. A knife prick will
iiis.li.se the channel made. The borer is
an effective gird ler, and if three of them
lappen to set onto a two or three year
**i*l tie**. **f apple or quince, and an* left
in eat fm* a season, that tree will be a fit
subject for the brush pile. On the other
hand trees which have been three fourths
girdled by borers, if thereafter kept free
from them, will grow and yield for years
with apparently undiminished ' vigor.
Such trees are always, however, in a precarious eomlition. hanging to life, as it
were,  by a  thread. G.  E.  M.
well started and the green tops begin to
show.
The  calls   lily   thai   has   been   resting
should be brought into the house iu September. Repotting is a benefit if the
roots are numerous ami the bulbs large.
The calla thrives in a rich soil mixed
with saml. When repotting sift the tine
saml around Ihe bulb. Liquid manure
will aid the plant in making a rapid
growth. It is a plant that will thrive
with little care, but it will not grow and
bloom   without   plenty  of moisture.
For shady windows we recommend the
umbrella plant. Many fail to grow this
plant successfully because they do not
give it enongh water. It requires tint only root moisture but a moist atmosphere.
This plant should be repotted at this
season in rich, black soil. Then if ymi
would have the plant show large, healthy
palm-like leaves place the pot in a jardiniere containing water. 'Tis said this
plant may be propagated by inverting a
leaf in a dish of water. It is commonly
known as the umbrella plant because the
haves resemble the frame of an umbrella.
When begonias drop their foliage the
usual cause is defective drainage.
Palms are suited best with a deep pot.
Their roots are inclined to reach down
rather than spread out.
When frost threatens move potted
plants to a sheltered location and bring
in the house by degrees. They should
not be brought into the living room until
freetdng weather. Most living rooms are
too dry for plants, especially when heat-
* *1 by gas. The pots should be set in
two inches or more of moist sand, and
moss should  be kept   on  top  of pots.
F. M. W.
Properly employed, prose may express
more poetry than could ever be found in
the minds of ordinary mortals, and for
these mortals, accordingly, prose is at
least   good  enough.
Iu all arts it is the same. A smaill
knowledge Of the art leads'to the belief
that the art is small: a greater knowledge
*li*i\vs one t.i be further and further from
its   mastery.      Let   him   who  has  the  itch
look more Into the great poems of the century and gain the reverence for the art
that will make hi:n leave it alone, and let
him study th.- great  prose writers to learn
what can be done in full page lines. Poetry
should be reserved as the art of a select
few. for. like piano playing, it is only beautiful in the hands of its masters. The
common herd should not think of it, the
world shouhl not  make note of what they
insist  nmm    producing,     dingle    pleases
many, and the editor has to publish poems
that appear simply an account of the lack
nf better ones. The ideal editor would
publish a year no more than a half dozen
**f those he receives, but the ideal editor
would lose his job.—New York Times Literary Review.
Editors Indians Fsrmer:
Geraniums   when   two   years   old   make
the  best   winter   bl tiers.     But   the  bnds
Should 1"- kept pinched off during the fall
months, if winter blooms an* desired.
They   cannot   bloom   forever  without   rest.
All bulbs will give better results if given the right kind of soil. They thrive in
the rich brown looking earth, found under a decayed log or around a well rotted
stump. Put tin** sand directly under the
bulbs and they can't help growing. There
is good reason for keeping bulbs in a
dark place. Kept in a light room the
will start before tiie roots, which is
"•ot desirable. They should be kept in a
< '• dark place until  the white roots  are
thi*: EDITOR and Tin: POETS.
The editor who reads a drawvrful of
manuscript poems a day characterizes
poetry for most people as a misdirection of
energy. That there is need for more poetry
in the practical things of life, 'tis true,
'tis very trne: but it is quite as true that
there is need for more practicality in
poetry. For as in contradiction to the fact
that in the great American world of mod-
ernuess the missing factor is the heart of
the machine, so in the min,Is of the great
henl of unsuccessful artists of all kinds
the missing factor is practical steadiness.
*>r Common sense, with a touch of humor
that always serves as an automatic corrector of mistakes. Through the host of
rejected manuscript poems the editor sees
the untrained  minds of their authors  who
have never grasped th** value of advisability of a thing and who have skipped t**
poetry over the everyday means of expression by which greater minds have built
the art nf literature.
The exact quality of poetry is misunderstood by all those unsuccessful contributors- unless it be that poetry is a form
of writing whieh ean be -Used legitimately
to amuse those who have not had enough
soberness to timi pleasure iu prose. Hy its
masters it has been supposed to be the
highest form of expression to Im* used by
those who have a finer shade of meaning
than prose can as well express ami who
understand the art sufficiently to warrant
their tackling it. The difficulty of limiting
**ti.'s meanings to the sphere of words the
poet overcomes by using a form that plays
upon   the     imagination     more     than   docs
prose, by reason  of its cadence and  its
euphony. Hut the strength of real poetry
does not come through jiugb* or honeyed
w..nls. Humorous verse ami song legitimately   turn   t*i   those,   but   nothing   else.
LOTS OF WAYS TO DIE.
The Chicago Tribune, a while ago. published a column of strange fatalities selected from its exchanges of a single week.
It illustrates on how slight a thread man's
life often hangs, and bow oddly unexpected may be the- accidents that result in
death.
One man. Henry Hush, of Quincy, kick-
eil at a cat. missel the animal and fell,
breaking his neck. At Akron, Ohio, a
barber died from inhaling hair while work-
in*; on his customers' heads. At Bloss-
burg. N. Y.. in opening a can of peaches the
top of the jar was fractured, and bits of
the powdered glass being eaten resulted
in death. At DUlsboro, Ind.. a farmer
undertook to shoot a hog. The bullet hit
the animal, bnt rebounded striking the
farmer full in the face. In* the midst of a
blinding storm Mrs. Mary Pcmlerland and
Samuel 11..Ian. of Altoonn, Pa., were
walking in opposite directions on the railway track. A locomotive struck the woman ami threw her with such force against
him as to kill Dolan instantly, while Mrs.
Pemlerlaml was merely bruised. Another
and more recent unusual death was that
of Prof. John Hut ler Johnson, of the
I'niversity *.f Wisconsin, who fell from a
load "f goods which he was assisting to
remove from his summer home, and was
instantly killed. Still another was that
of Frank Huntley, a seaman in the navy,
who ha*l been several times around the
world ami participated in the action
against Cerera's fleet, off Santiago. He
was killed while the ship was in port at
Seattle by falling down a gangway while
escorting a party of visitors over the
cruiser.
Suppose any one of these victims had
been told that he was to die as indicated,
could he have believe.1 it? Supposing one
of  them   had   been   implored   to  insure  his
life    to guard against    the possibility of
death by such a peculiar accident, would
he have thought there was much of a
chance of anything in the way of unusual
deadly disaster befalling him?
married life that they had ever been separated. When* Mrs. McMillan went the
Senator accompanied her. and wherever
Senator McMillan was called Mrs. McMillan was his companion. Forty years of
unbroken companionship is seldom ac-
i-ii ri led by husband and wife, and those
who have visited in the home bear witness-
to the happy and beautiful life of the
household.
Family prayer was a feature of the home
life of this family. In spite of multitudinous cares of business and state .the family   was     regularly   called     together      for
prayer and  Bible reading by the father.
The senator was a member of the Jefferson avenue   Presbyterian  Church.
Senator McMillian was the most domestic of men. I lis home life is to be regarded as appropriately the ideal. His
family came first in everything, and there
was nothing he loved better than to gather
the members around him for little family
dinners. Always at Christmas the ramil.v
gathered, and,since the affairs of state have
called  the senator to Washington  if he
could not return to Detroit for the Christmas dinner as many of the family as could
went there to spend the day with him.
Business cares were never allowed to obtrude iu the homo. When office hours
wen* over the senator threw off all responsibilities and went in for healthy recreation.—Detroit Journal.
SENATOR AND WIFE NEVER
SEPARATED.
When James H. McMillan, the son, died
at Colorado Springs early lo May. Senator McMIlUan, the father, was ill nnd
Could not leave for the West. So Mrs.
Mrs. McMillan made the trip alone. This
was   the   first   time   in   their  40   years  of
GOSSIP ABOUT THE PRESIDENT.
The President finds it hard to get Cabinet officials to walk with him. The memory of the day when he dismissed the
carriage at Cabin John's bridge and made
Secretary Boot walk back to the White
House with him, eight miles, still lingers.
The President is s** vigorous and so. fond
of outdoor exercise that he thinks every
body can do what he ean. His best walk-
in:,- chum is his oldest son. Theodore, Jr.
The President cannot tire that young man.
Tin* President is still extending invitations. He rarely has a meal without company. When there is no state function or
public dinner he has friends at his table
from everywhere. Dinner invitations go
out in every mail. Washington- notes
also that the President draws no party
lines in his invitations.
Al! parties look alike to him when it
comes to a dinner or a reception. Free
Silver, Populist, Republican or straight
Democrat—it's all one to him. Politicians
who rarely went* to the White House in
other days now eat. drink and are merry
with the President. McKinley did not
entertain many Democrats. His party
plan was followed iluring the Cleveland
and Harrison regimes to a greater or
lesser extent. Now everybody is invited
and  everybody  goes.
Rough Riders are received with open
arms. Most of them have been around at
one time or another to see their colonel,
Many of them want office. The President
does the best he can for them. A few days
ago he gave Ben Daniels an appointment
as United States marshal for Arizona.
Daniels was a war friend of the President. He sent him to the attorney-general with a note which said: "He's bully."
Somebody said that in the note the
President sent to Attorney-General Knox
n -amending Daniels he spelled it "mar-
shall."
"Don't let that worry you," said the at-
torney-'general: "he ean spell it with scv-
en-teen l's if he wants to and it will go.
Don't forget that."—Washington Letter.
At the  time   of  the  last  census  there
780,000 foreigners in the German emprie.