VOL. LXIV
INDIANAPOLIS, AUGUST 28, 1909.
NO. 34
Farming, Past, Present and Future.
[From Address by Prof. W. C. Palmer,
of Winona Agricultural Institute, before Bremen Grange Picnic, Saturday, Aug. 14, '09.]
The past in farming consisted largely
in taking the virgin soil, plowing
sowing and reaping. Crops needed only
to be planted and good results came in
abundance. Then again the farmer in
the past produced nearly , everything
that he needed so not needing to buy
much he did not need to sell much so
it was raise a little of everything that
would be needed and enough of a few
things to sell a little. The farmer also
had few tools and so could not handle
very much of any one crop and there
being few cities there were few to consume the products of the farm.
By the present, I mean the time since
the invention of the binder. This lias
meant a vast expansion in the size of
the farms, made possible by the introduction of machinery. Thise again
called for an increase in transportation
and it came with a rush. A net-work of
railroads now spreads over the land.
The making of farm machinery and the
equipment of railroads, along with
other industries connected therewith
made business for the cities so that
towns grew up to be cities and small
cities grew to be large ones. About this
time the industries that had been carried on on the farm and in the home,
as weaving, tanning leather, making
furniture, making shoes and garments
were also transferred to the cities as it
could be done there more economically.
The farmers more and more began to
raise fewer crops, but to raise these in
abundance and to exchange the surplus
for. manufactured products that he
needed, as machinery, clothing, furniture, etc. Land being cheap and in
many cases to be had for nothing by
homesteaders it was taken up very
fast. The production of grain and of
cattle increased faster than the consumption of them, which resulted in
low prices a condition which can only
come in a new country with a lot of
fertile land to open up and men of enterprise to develop it. The results of
'his period of cheap lands and improved machinery was low prices,
and       an       impoverished soil,       as
'he tendency has been to grow only one
or two crops and not to rotate them. It
lias been demonstrated that in the continuous growing of grain there is five
limes as much fertility wasted as the
crop uses, while by a proper rotation of
>rops such as corn, clover, grain, and
manure applied once every few years
the fertility can be increased. While
the continuous growing of grain reduced the fertility of the soil the market
value of the land at the same time went
ul>, which of course means that it be-
1 ainii' more difficult to make profit from
the farm.
The new era      in farming
that is now coming in really
started two or thre years
aso, and is characterized by this, that
the consumption of the farm products
's increasing faster than the production
"f them, as the public lands are practically au taken and the population is
KTowingat a greater ratethanever. This
''as resulted in higher prices and the
tendency'of prices now is upward. This
upward tendency of prices must continue, as from now on the consumption
of foodstuffs and clothing will necessarily increase faster than the production
of them. This is certainly a very promising outlook for the farmer and one
that needs to be taken advantage of.
These are the conditions of farming
today; Land high priced, soils low in
fertility, markets good. Thefarmers can
do nothing to lower the prices of the
land, so that is a fixed factor. Nor is it
in his power to do much toward affecting the markets, so that the one factor
that is in his power is the matter of
making   the   soil   produce   and   also   to
to take a course in agriculture in a
school especially equipped for giving
instruction in this line, the same as the
medical school does in medicine.
With a liking for the farm and this
kind of training it becomes possible for
the young man to make the most out
of cheap land, and so while it will likely not come to the time when a man
will have to pass an examination in order to be allowed to farm yet we are
fast coming to the time when he cannot make both ends meet unless he
knows  how  to  keep  up   and   bring  up
"Elmhurst," Home of H. C. Dawalt,     Washington      County.
produce a high quality of products, and
to manufacture these products into
more valuable products still, as turning
corn into pork and turning grass and
grain into milk and butter. So one of
the great questions before us as farmers is to make our farmes produce
more, and the question naturally arises,
How shall it be done?
We can get a hint by seeing what
has been done in other professions.
Medicine for instance has undergone a
big change. The man who wanted to
become a doctor fifty years ago only
needed to spend a little while with a
doctor, and then begin to practice
while now the man must spend several
years in a medical college and then
pass a thoro examination before he will
be allowed to practice. The same thing
is  true  of law. Fifty years  ago  the
lawyer could learn in a lawyer's oflice
in a short while, enough to begin to
practice, but now he must have a
thoro course in a law school and also
pass a thoro examination, before he
can be admitted to the bar. Likewise
with the farmer it was possible for the
young man to learn on the farm how
to farm, but at the present time this
is out of the question as the old meth-
nils will not go any more because they
have resulted in the land becoming run
down       in fertility, while we
must now have methods that
will       increase       the fertility       of
the soil, and better quality is also being demanded in the products of the
farm. So there is only one way to solve
tha- problem and that is for the young
men who wish to become thoro farmers
soils, knows how to select and care for
cattle, shepe and hogs and knows how
to spray and care for orchards. The
managing of these things are based on
science so in order to handle them intelligently he must be familiar with the
science  of agriculture.
Water Gaps.
Editors Indiana Parmer:
The fencing of branches aunl creeks
that run thru farms has always been
and I suppose always will be a vexing
question for the farmer to meet. He
wants a gate or gap that is Inexpensive,
strong and lasting. When we think of
the damage done nearly every year to
bridges and water gaps by high water
we see the necessity of studying this
question very closely. Three points
must be taken into consideration
in the construction of water gaps,
namely that after the water gets to a
certain hight it will either go over,
around or under the obstruction in its
way. We must so arrange them that
there will be as little as possible in the
way of the water to check it; also taking into consideration that fact that
during times of high water a great a-
mount of drift-wood and other trash
will be carried down by the water to
dam up and overflow your field above.
I will give a way that has been tried
successfully in this locality to meet the
water gap question. For the smaller
streams a post is set on each side of
the stream in line with the fence.
These posts should be placed deep in
Uu- ground, when the water is low.
They need be no more than ten or
twelve   inches     in   diameter.     Dig    the
hole some three feet in diameter and
fill in around the post with concrete.
Take the bark off the post so the concrete will adhere to it. Bore two holes
thru each post one near top and the
other near the bottom. Take an eye
made of iron with one end bent to
make an eye that will take an inch rod
and the 6ther end cut a screw for tap,
place one of these in each hole and
screw up tightly. Then get an inch rod
with a loop to the upper end, just supposing your two posts are 24 feet apart
take 14 foot rails or poles and bore an
inch hole in each near one end. Put
your rod in the upper eye, then thru
the holes in the rails using washer
made of short blocks of wood, next to
each rail to hold them the proper distance apart. Now slip your rod into
the lower eye. It is necessary for the
two eyes to be far enough from the
post that the ends of the rails will not
strike the post and keep them from
swinging, the other side being fixed
in a similar manner. The loose ends
are laid together like a rail fence, being
placed down stream. During a time of
high water the rails will be pushed
laawn stream and around against each
bank allowing the water to pass thru.
after the water goes down sufficiently
lay up th.- rails anil your gap is as good
as ever.
For larger streams another form of
gap is sometimes used. Take two logs,
the first one place in a ditch or trench
that has been dug across the bottom
of the stream, the ends of this log
should extend into the hank on each
side. Place the other log six or eight
feet below the flrst and 12 or 15 inches
higher than it. This log should extend
well into the banks, since it does not
touch the ground except at the ends.
A post set on each side of the stream
just below this log will help to hold it
in position. Spike poles on these logs
about three inches apart, the upper
ends extending into the bottom of the
creek far enough so that no drift can
catch on them. Be careful not to get
the lower end too high or it will catch
the drift wood. A  Reader.
Hendricks Co.
Listing Corn.
Editors   Indiana  Farmer:
In your issue of August 7th M. W. F.
aif Madison Co., speaks of seeing a plow
that breaks and plants at one operation, and thinks it is something new.
We have had plows here in this neighborhood on the same plan for fifteen
years. The first ones were walking
plows, now some have riding plows,
made by Illinois plow companies. The
way they operate is like this: They
use four horses and straddle an old row
of corn, two horses on each side of the
row to be plowed and planted. The
plow bursts the old row, throwing dirt
both ways. It has both a right and
left moldboard and shears, and bursts
all old rows of corn and plants. It is
what we call listing corn, and hun-
alrcils of acres are planted that way
here. G. F.  Hobart.
Fountain Co., Ind.
Self  Feeders.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
I would like for some of your readers to give me some information on
how to make a self-feeder to feed hominy meal, through the Farmer.
Pittsboro, Tnd. O. H.