tr
Garden
VOL LXII
INDIAUAPOLIS, OCTOBER 26, 1907.
NO   43
BROOM CORN.
Cultivating and Handling the Crop.
By T. M. Ciset.
Although but a few states plant any
broom corn it is one of the most paying
•eld crops to be grown, and is adapted to
almost any soil found in the northern
states. It takes but little from the soil;
everything but the brush is left upon the
field where grown, and the stalks when
green can be plowed under and greatly
improve the land for other crops. The
planting and cultivation of broom corn is
tke same as Indian corn, only the seeds
are planted mueh thicker in the furrow.
If planted the first of June, the crop will
be ready to cut by the 15th of September,
and can be cured, seeded and placed on
the market by the middle of October, thus
Hiving the farmers quick returns for his
lalpor.
When ready to cut ths brush must be
gathered as soon as the work can be done,
as the seed will commence to ripen and
the brush will turn red and become brittle.
It should be cut the seventh day after the
kead pushes from the boot. Thus cut
asd properly cured the brush will be of a
»ale  green  color,  and  very tough.
To cut and cars for 20 acres of broom
corn, tho farmer should have 15 men tn
table and cut, and four men and two
teams to haul the brush to the seeding
yard. In forming the tables two rows
of stalks broken, about two feet from the
ground, and by overlayying the stalks a
table, is formed, on which the brush is
placed when cut, and by the overlapping
•f the stalks the brush hangs in an open
middle space and can be reached by the
cutters. After the brush is cut and
placed on the tables it is loaded on wagons and taken near the curing sheds, and
dumped in piles, after which it is run
through a seeder, and all seed and boots
removed. The brush is then placed in
the curing sheds, which is done by placing it in layers supported upon sticks,
five inches apart, to give plenty of air
jspace. After three weeks it is ready to
fc* baled and sold.
One acre will produce from three-
fourths to One and one-quarter tons of
enred brush. The cost for tending and
getting the crop ready for market is about
$55 to $00 por acre. Brush this year is
celling for $110 per ton, and the farmers
of the broom corn belt of Illinois will
make more money from their broom corn
than other farmers will make from three
Hes the amount of acres planted in other
crops.
St. Francesville, 111.
s    m  .   	
Farm Architecture.
By W. A. G.
Continued from last week.
The subject of architectural advancement from its beginning when home building as an art was so simple that the farm
residences of the early and somewhat
aster settlers, were almost destitute of
size, beauty or convenience, has been hurriedly and briefly traced, and for a closing division of what has been said, something further on the subject must be stated regarding conditions at the present.
In bringing this subject before the reader,
an effort has been made to exclude everything bearing upon the art of home building except tbat  which  has,  or now  per
tains to country life. The architecture
of the cities, has from early times, beeu
much in advance of country home building, and has therefore, been left out of
account in the history of the past. The
present time finds such advancement in
the construction of thousands of farm
mansions that no better are found in the
great cities or their suburbs.
A class of expert architects have
through several centuries operated in the
construction of city buildings only, and
until very modern times professional men
in this line have not been required in the
building of farm houses. Now many tarin-
ers on the large estates,  build  as  exten-
kinds of material are being substituted
for wood. The time is not far distant
when the frame house with all its present beauty nn.l perfection, will go the way
of the old log house, which is now scarcely  ever  seen.
— Life on the Farm at Present. —
Something of farm life and the conveniences of this age that are now the farmers inheritances and comfort, and the
subject will be dismissed. It is not possible to say or affirm as a fact, that with
all that has taken place with reference
to. rural surroundings and modern home
conveniences aud luxuries, that the people as a whole live any better, so far as
Taking Broom Corn Brush From the Tables.
sively aud as elegantly as the city
dweller, and only eompeteut architects
can plan and construct such homes. But
leaving out this class of buildings on the
farm there are multitudes of country
homes, modern in style, but not so large
or so difficult of planning and building,
that have called or demanded another
class of professional builders, called "cottage architects." Many of the leading
carpenters of this generation have studied the art of scientific home building, and
the smaller but yet elegant homes in the
greatest variety of architectural designs,
ate now being built all over the country
as farm  residences.
In the days of log buildiugs and small
frame houses, the farmer or his carpenter
were not in any sense designers of new
styles of architecture, but copied from
the buildings about them, and by this
mean* but little difference was to be noticed in the way of variety of shape or
size, as the people attempted to build
their farm homes.
Now in modern days as the traveling
public is carried with ease and almost
lightning speed on the great steel highways of the country, a great diversity of
architecture is noticeable all over the
land, and it is pleasant to look upon because of the beauty and variety it gives
to the landscape. So improvement has
advanced and the end is not yet in view.
The scarcity and high prices of lumber
for the construction of buildings made almost wholly of wood is creating a revolution in the art of erecting homes. Beginning in the cities this is rapidly spreading throngh the eonntry. Not only are
new designs still sought, but many other
f.ip.pl is concerned, than tliey did from
oil t'j  100 years ago. During that pcr-
io.l. something has been said regarding
l.p.w the people lived, or the food they
subsisted upon. The people still live
luxuriously, but the whole matter has
undergone a great revolution. There has,
however, only been a change, with some
added articles, from older to newer processes. Domestic life on the farm, has
changed in other matters, much more
tban it has in the variety or mode of preparation of the food. The greatest change
baa been in the manner of cooking and
style of sewing.
TJp to the time of the great civil war
between the States, domestic manufacturers of woolen aud fiax products, as also
many other necessities of the people
were almost universal iu the homes of
the people of America. At least this
was the case in the central and western
States. With the advent of water power
and steam for driving the machinery used
for manufacturing purposes, all home production of goods of many descriptions
seemed to suddenly cease. The people
a'.sp> began to build large and finer homes
in all parts of the country and furnish
them differently. Better school systems
were inaugurated, and education took on
new life. The introduction of Uie sewing machine, oil for illuminating purposes,
musical instruments cheaper and better
books and newspapers, cooking stoves,
dairy apparatus, home decorati.ms, and
numbers of other conveniences, made a
great change in the home life on the farm.
From these changes, dating back about
four decades, or possibly a little longer,
in s..me sections of the country, there has
been   a   steady   and   rapid   advancement
and development.
The girls now have all modern advantages of a liberal education, and enter into mauy of the professions of life. They
are very fit rivals of the y.mng man in
all positions in the business world, and at
the same time shine like stars in all good
society. As stenographers, book-keepers,
cashiers, dry goods clerks, trained nurses,
teachers, and many other professions and
ociupntins, they are very proficient, and
have proven themselves valuable additions
to the business world. They are also
entering the learned professions of law,
medicine, and theology.
The sons of farmers are generally well
educated so far as comon and high
school instruction goes, and very many
of them attend colleges and universities,
and fit themselves for all stations in life.
They dress splendidly, possess horses and
buggies for private use, sometimes own an
automobile, get the advantages of travel
and lectures; have luxurious homes furnished with music, books and high class
literature, and pass in the highest circles
of educated and polite society.
The scope of employment now for
young men is very wide, an.l keeps on Increasing as the years go by, and ability
with proper training is in great demand
in all the professions and commercial departments of the country. There has
never been a time in the history of the
world when promises were brighter, or remuneration better; but the business, professions, and trades now demanding
tlip'tisauds of young men, require steady,
capable, and sober individuals, and these
are the kind that will win in the end.
Keeping pace, or really taking the lead
of the very superior farm homes, models
of. architecture and conveniences, or
those, plain and unpretentious, are the
superb equipments of modern housekeeping. Excellent furniture, fine musical
instruments, extensive and well selected
libraries, bath rooms, steel ranges, heating furnaces, hot and cold water, tele-
phonos, rural mail delivery, daily papers
and market reports, and many other
comforts, now make farm life all that
certainly can be desired. In connection
with all these, and to make life still more
pleasant in many rural districts, are the
steam and interurban roads. Especially are the electric railways or interurban
roads a great convenience to the rural
homes where they are near by, and the
buil.ling of those thorofares is yet but in
its infancy. Cars to and from neighboring towns and cities an.l at low rates and
hourly make it possible for farm residents
to visit or attend all kinds of public gatherings 50 miles or more away, and return the same day or evening without
much fatigue or loss of time. Progress
has been made by gradual steps from a
wild and unbroken forest witli its "log-
cabin homes," to a time now when the
whole country has been opened up for agricultural purposes, with elegant residences nnd surroundings; and yet, there
is no doubt there is a grander period still
iu the future.
The electrical age has dawned, and the
morning is fair. What may result by the
coon-day, by the full -employment of this
great force, can hardly be conjectured.
The ancestry of the American people laid
the foundation for happy and prosperous
hc.ines, and from these tho plain, have
grown the splendors of modern building,
nnd the future bids fnir to still make wonderful advancement in farm architecture
and life.