rsr
or
GardehJ
f
v
VOL. LXIV
INDIANAPOLIS, MARCH   6, 1909.
NO. 9
About Central Mississippi.
Edltora Indiana  Farmer:
We moved to Mississippi about twelve
years ago, and many inquiries come to
us from our old friends baek in the Hoosier state regarding this section—climate,
productiveness,  principal crops,    etc.
So many ask if this is a corn country.
Although Mississippi is not classed as a
corn section, right cultivation will raise
i.s much corn here as elsewhere. The
average yield for the state is not as lar^e
as Indiana, but 100 bushels an acre have
been raised on a farm here near Ridge-
land. At the State Exposition held in
Jackson year before last, the winner in
(he Boy's Corn Club Contest, raised 120
Isushels an acre. Last year the prize
winner had ISO bushels au acre.
We raise so many other good feed
ciops, we are not dependent on corn here
as in the North. . Sweet potatoes yield
250 or 300 bushels an acre, equal in feeding value to half as much corn.
One man who came here from Indiana
sowed 41) acres to oats in the fall, pas
tured them about six weeks in winter,
and in May harvested 1500 busaiels,
which he sold for GO and G5 cents a bushel, planted same land to cow peas for hay
and part to corn, and got good crops of
each; making two good feed crops and
seme winter pasture, or practically three
crops on same land in a year.
One mau planted four acres to Louis-
iana sugar cane, from which he made
1900 gallons of syrup, which sold for 55
cents a gallon. Another farmer, from
three-quarters of an acre of Louisiana
cane, sold -148 gallons of syrup at 55 and
OC cents a gallon.
There are hay lands of native grass,
where one year's crop will pay for the
bnd,    at present prices.
This is a natural grass country, consequently a fine stock country, and more
money can be made here, with less work,
raising stock,    than in Indiana.
This country has many advantages,—
plenty of cheap fuel, fencing, and building material; short mild winters; where
we can, if we plant, bave vegetables all
the year, and fresh ripe fruits for seven
months; where stock are turned on pasture in March and some grazing all winter; where people live cheaper, and enjoy life, with the added advantage of
plenty of northern people all about.
Last year a canning factory' was started here at Ridgeland which will be a
2ieat advantage. They can strawberries,
dewberries, blackberries, pears, peaches,
figs, beets, beans, tomatoes, okra and
sv.eet potatoes. It means a ready market for all such things that people care to
raise and profitable employment for a
large number of people, including children, for eight or nine months of the year.
Mrs. C. S. Everts.
Ridgeland,  Miss.
tiught school in the winter; the branches
taught were reading, writing, arithmetic,
and spelling. But we are living in a
progressive age.        During those 55 years
tion bills to run the state with all its
benevolent institutions then repeal the
fish and game laws; then adjourn and
return   to   your  homes   and   your   people
Centralized Schools.
Fdltora Indiana Fanner:
O. P. L., Jr., from Laporte, says thot
' fntrnli*ed schools are a nice thing for
trustees, county superintendents and
teachers Wo  agree  with   him  but   are
willing   to   go   further,   ami   add—for   the
I eople  and  our  children. I  can   look
back, 55 yeors to the old big school-house
"here I received what little educntion I
IS. Our school lastesl three months
111 the year, taught in the winter seasoq;
our teachers were generally farmers who
worked on the  fann in the summer aud
New Agricultural Experiment Station Building, Purdue University.
— /ccr—
riRST   FLOOR^PLAH
I have witnessed the old log houses torn
down and small brick buildings erected.
1 have seen these pass away, and today,
near the center of my native township,
there is a fine large schoolhouse of the
centralized kind. We have ten hacks,
which are driven to every home outside
o fthe town, where there are school-children. These children a.v delivered at
the school each morning promptly at 8:30
< clock. Five  teachers    instruct    two
hundred pupils; the ten wagon-drivers
each receive $2 per day, making $20 for
the transfer per day. All this has been
accomplished despite considerable opposition.
I feel proud of my native township; it
stands in the front for all improvements.
It was here that free rural delivery took
its start and it has grown until every
state in the Union has adopted it.
We would be glad to have the gentle-
mon from Laporte visit our school, and
wc would be glad to have the legislators
visit our school, and we would say to
them:
"Boys, after passing all the appropria-
will  say:        'Well
faithful servants.' "
Rugby.
done,
thou   good   and
A. D. G.
etc. He laughed at me aud didn't seem
ts want any sympathy, and told me that
he intended to harvest a bumper crop of
wheat of that field, then seeing my look
of incredulity, he told me that when he
was a boy, his father had put out a large
acreage of wheat, one dry autumn, similar to the past.
Springtime fouud the fields as bare aa
though unsown, and ns much of the
ground as possible was plowed for corn,
while the residue produced a wonderful
turnout of wheat.
Something similar had occurred in
18G8.
"Now," said the old man, "a little mud
wont hurt your shoes. Climb over here,
and I'll show you how the good old mother earth takes care of her rabies."
Seemingly, the seed had never sprouted, but had merely malted, and died.
However there were wonderful masses of
roots, extending deep and wide. Some
ol these root masses had a 'iny spire, and
some had a mere knob, a sort of modified
bud,    crowning its center.
My informant said that these strong
foundation roots would give an immense
storehouse of strength and vitality, when
the wheat got the spring sunshine.
This peculiar, or untypical method of
growth, owing to special conditions is not
unknown  in  botany. The  violet  is  a
good example. All of us are familiar
with the blue blossoms, but bow many
lave seen the infloresence of the same
humble plant, a flower that has no petals,
a mere budlike mass of the stamens, and
anthers, growing down in the dirt, barely noticeable, and yet these ere the principal seed producers.
I do not wish to arouse false hopes, nor
tr. lead any one astray, but if you are
hesitating about seeding to clover, or are
thinking of plowing or disking down your
tarren-Iooking wheat ground, be sure and
investigate first.     Dr. G. Henri Bogart.
Brookville, Ind.
Examine  the Wheat Carefully Be
fore Plowing it Under.
Bdltora Indiana Farmer:
I hear so many folks wondering whether it will be worth while to sow clover in
the wheat, for fear that the particular
field will not be wheat, while some others
have already decided to disk down the
wheat for oats, or early corn, that when
I learned the following facts, I made up
my mind that we do not, jet but barely
begin to realize the conserving powers of
Nature.
Also, it seemed a duty to prevent loss,
and hence this story. Onj day recently,
I was driving past a field that seemed as
bare as though it had been plowed the
previous week.
The old man to whom it belonged was
contemplating it. and I asked if he intended to disk the ground down, and said
something about the killing of insects
i%hen  tho  soil  was   exposed   to  freezing,
A Quick  Pasture.
Editor* Indiana Farmer:
Pasture is going to be somewhat of a
question this spring, and many of our
farmers will need something tbat will
come quick. A mixture of spring rye
and oats makes a good pasture for milk
cows and horses. Sow as early as the
growth will properly and thoroughly disk,
gc both wnys to insure a good seed bs»d,
and it will be ready for pasture by the
middle of May—almost as soon as any of
our clover pastures. For hogs or sheep
there is nothing better than oats and
dwarf cssex rape for a catch crop sown
as early as possible. I -lave used this
for hs.gs several years and intend to sow
■lit* year again.
The best results in obtaining a stand
of blue grass may be had by sowing in
the fall with wheat. Sow at least a
buahel '>f blue grass to the i'cre if a good
stand is wanted. About only seventy-
five per cent of the blue grass seed that is
put upon the market will grow, and if a
(;ood quick stand of grass is wanted to
rarer al! the ground, sow a bushel to the
acre. C. W. B.
Frankfort.
The annual meteorological summary of
the Weather Bureau for last year for this
city shows that the most notable departure from the normal conditions was the
deficiency iu precipitation from June to
December, inclusive. The total shortage during these seven months was 8.57
inches.