Garden
VOL LXII
INDIANAPOLIS. NOVEMBER 9, !l907.
NO   45
Water Power on the Farm.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
All thruout the rural districts of the
Unied States are found many streams
varying in size and volume from the small-
fist brook to the largest river. The waters of these streams pass along on their
journey to the sea, without their great en-
orgies being turned to good account in the
Bervice of man, so far as doing useful
work is concerned. Why not utilize this
great power to the advantage of the farmer?
The day of grist mills by water power
is almost gone, for it is only occasionally
that we meet with oue in passing thru the
country. They served their purpose to
our ancestors and now here and there,
they stand as a finger board pointing to
the possibilities of water power intelligently applied in modern agriculture.
The day is at hand in which the utility
of every rural stream will be developed,
and the farmer shall be the beneficiary.
Aside from draining our lands, providing
water wheel the potentalenergy of pent up
sections and affording means of transportation, they will be compelled to deliver
their energy, now going to waste as far
as man is concerned, in the form of electricity to the inhabitants of the regions
thru which thoy flow.
By means of the overshot or turbine
water wheel the potental energy of pent up
water can most readily be transformed into
either mechanical or electrical energy, the
whole system of change depending upon
Nature's laws of evaporation of sea water,
of its transportation over land and its
final  precipitation  thereon.
Wherever a land owner has a reliable
stream of moderate size he can readily
build a dam across it at a suitable location, and at a comparatively small financial
expenditure, and this imprisoned water
can be made to drive his stationary farm
machinery. If the stream is near his
buildings the power can be used directly,
but if it is some distance away a dynamo,
driven by the water wheel, will change the
water energy into electrical energy. The
electricity of course, can be conducted by
wires to the place of application.
Take alone the electrical feature of
tliis plan, and consider the ease with
which water power is converted into electricity, and then transferred by wire; and
when the electrical energy from a water
driven dynamo is changed, by means of a
motor into mechanical energy at the point
of usage, what possibilities for saving hard
labor lie before the farmer and his family!
Here can be installed and successfully
operated such machinery as the wood saw,
washing machine, cream separator churn,
pumps for delivering water, milking machines, feed mills, air compressors, fodder
cutters and shredders, and many other mechanical contrivances found upon the
farm.
When once the machinery, operated directly or indirectly by water power, is installed the cost of operating the entire
plant will be merely nominal; besides what
Places. It is believed that the streams of
which formerly had to be done away from
home hecause of the lack of power and
machinery.
Then again, the farm buildings, can be
lighted either directly from the electrical
generator, or from storage cells handily
located. Incandescant lamps cnn be used
'or lighting, not only the house but the
"•.rn and outbuildings, and this far more
safely than with kerosene lamp or lantern.
This plan is not impractical nor visionary. In the artesian well districts of
South Dakota some farmers have converted the water pressure from the flowing
wells into power for driving farm machinery and generating electricity for lighting.
In some localities there are yet in operation old grist and saw mills driven by
water. These by modification and adaptation can be made to serve admirably in
generating electricity for the surroundiug
communities, to be used in practical ways
on the farms.
Individual farmers can readily develop a
water power system of their own, where
good streams are available, or several
farmers in a neighborhood, thru which serviceable streams flow,  can combine tbeir
feeding the stock, night and morning.
There are yet six, and two are enough
for all the recreation, amusements and errands of the day; and still there remain
four. Think of it, young farmer! How
much might be read in four hours?
Counting out om; religious duties, requiring our evening hours for two days in
the week, there are yet five days; and five
times four are twenty.
By using these twenty spare hours in
.some intellectual pursuit, we may grow to
a high rank in the matter of human intelligence.
The farmer ought to be a good reader
and au interesting and instructive writer.
There are many things he knows that
would teem with interest to people who
never see the grassy  hill or the nodding
Highest priced ear of Corn in the World.    Grown in Indiana.    Sold for $250.00 cash.
capital for the same purpose and thus provide power enough to supply their needs.
Coal and wood as fuel are growing
scarcer and higher in price, and something
places. It is believed that the sreams of
our land wil in time all be so harnessed,
must be brought forward to take their
as not only to produce power to run our
machinery but also energy which will be
utilized to cook our meals and heat our
homes. H. S. Chamberlain.
Tbe Intelligent Farmer.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
It is one of the blessings of onr great
country that it is situated above the tropica. Our seasons, Spring, Summer,
Autumn and Winter have their several advantages. The days are long in summer
and short in winter, and the nights are
vice versa. As we approach the long
nights we face the farmer's opportunity
flor study. It is too good a thing to be
overlooked. Why should not the fanner
do a lot of reading 'as the days go by"?
It is too dark for outdoor work from half
past five in the evening to half-past six
in the morning through December and
January, and all of the nights are longer
than the days for five and a half months.
Suppose then that we divide the day (24
hours) into periods of eight hours each.
This is to cut it into thirds. The eight
hours of sunshine may be devoted to work;
and a managing farmer will always find
work for the hours of sunshine. The
two periods measure sixteen hours, and
we devote eight of these to sleep. More
than this amount of sleep is not required,
except in our first or second childhood. A
man in the vigor of life, who sleeps more
than eight hours may be classed as a
sluggard.
Well, what of the other eight hours?
Say we spend one of them in eating and
forest. What farmer could not tell "how
sorgum is ade"? "How land is cleared"? "How corn is raised"? "Where
cattle arc fed and how"? Our green
cousins in the city know next to nothing
of all these things; and some of them
would like to know it all. Let the farmer practice composition, in leisure moments, and supply these people with all
such information.
A live farmer should read the leading
farm papers, the works of science that
bear npon his profession, and enough of
general miscellany to round him out as a
good average citizen. Professional  lop-
sidednesa is not good for useful citizenship
r.or  for  the  best of  professional  work.
Then it is not a bad thing for the farmer to discipline his mind by struggling
With hard problems. Arthimetical problems will pay well for the solving. He
must figure on the profit and loss of his
cattle and hogs and    wheat. He    will
have more or less to do with partnership
transections, with interest and discount,
with partial payments and a multitude
of other matters; and these are among the
difficulties of arthimetic. He should
know how to measure his own corn crib,
his own cistern, his own fields, and the
fall of the ditches on his farm. If these
calculations, must all be made by professional experts they are very expensive. It
is easily within his reach to master every
such question: and much greater questions;
such as the chemical and geological character of his soil. The use of his leisure
time is one of the matters of greatest moment with the farmer.
Rush Co. Walter S. Smith.
Value of the Cow Pea.
Cowpeas are much more generally planted
than they were a decade or more ago; but
tluir value in many sections is not yet
fully appreciated, especially as a means
for restoring worn out soils. At the Missouri Station it was fouud that as much
fpirage could be produced from this crop
in 80 days as red clover would yield in 15
months? Cowpeas, it is stated, not only
produce a rich foliage but they increase
the fertility of the soil and improve its
physical condition, making it more open
and friable, more easily worked and increasing its moisture holding capacity.
The crop is also said to cause soil to dry
out earlier in the spring.
It has been my own experience that
planting in rows is a far better practice
than broadcasting, under average conditions. Poor land can probably be more
quickly reclaimed to fertility with cowpeas at slight expense than any other
crop. I broke up a piece of Virginia
poor man's land, which had been cropped
on shares by negroes for a dozen years,
taking everything off and putting nothing
on, until it would grow absolutely nothing
more. I "laid it off" in rows 3 feet apart.
sowing 200 pounds of kainit and 200
pounds of acid phosphate to the
acre. As the cowpea is a legume, like
the clover plant, it needs no nitrogen or
ammonia. These peas had three workings with a five tooth cultivator. In nippst
Instances the leaves met in the rows, so
that the field looked solid, except in a couple of check rows, where no fertilizer was
used. Here the growth was only about
one-third as great as in the fertilized rows.
In other words, the amount of nitrogen
which the cowpea can capture from the
air, is regulated by the supply it has of
phosphate and potash. It was also instructive to note that two rows not cultivated, but fertilized, made less than two
thirds the growth of those cultivated. This
latter test, while crude, showed the advantage of row planting—allowing for culture—over the broadcasting method..
In row planting, also three quarters- of a peck of seed is sufficient, while for broadcasting . a bushel and a peck or a bushel and two pecks is
needed. The amount of seed used, depends, of oourse, upon the fertility of the
soil. If the soil is rich, less seed is required. <!. E. M.
In Austria the product of every margarine factory is frequently analyzed by
government chemists.
There is a big difference in the way orchards should lie handled. During the
first four or five years, after the trees are
set out, tbe cultivator and harrow ahould
be kept going right through the summer,
or all through the growing season. But.
when the trees have come to the bearing
stage they should be urged to set fruit, by
checking the wood growth.
There is no way to account for the different tastes of different people. Por instance, the city buyer of nppfles thinks
Ben Davis the best apple that grows outdoors. His taste is largely a matter of
looks, 'ine man who really knows what
a choice apple is. would prefer a Grimes
Golden or a Jonathan, and he selects hia
apple by flavor alone.
A correspondent says he has a fine yonng
apple orchard, but it does not bear much
fruit. The trouble is, the trees have been
pushed too fast. A moderate set-back will
tend to check the wood growth and urge
the trees to set fruit. If the orchard has
been cultivated, stop it for a year or so,
and seed down to elover.