VOL. LXIV
INDIANAPOLIS, SEPTEMBER 11, 1909.
NO. 36
How to   Derive More'Profit Prom   and
Create More Interest in Farming.
[Paper read before Marion  County A.
and   H.   Society, at   its     September
Meeting    by Sam H.    DuShane,    of
irvington.]
Assuming that the farmer owns a
farm, our proposition is to make it
profitable to such an extent as to permit the owner to rear his family and
save enough to place himself in fairly
comfortable circumstances when he
has arrived at the age of sixty years.
For any man to even maintain a
farm, he must understand how to produce corn and wheat, as good, on the
average as his neighbor farmer. Such
being the case, by the present system
of business, the farmer, like the successful manufacturersand producers of
other commodities, must, without delay, begin to utilize to the fullest extent,
the by-products and in most cases the
offal of the farm. Every element on
a farm must be turned to use. If
there is a stream, with enough fall to
produce power for grinding grain for
feed, pumping water, etc., this power
must be utilized, even if it requires
transmission by electric wins. All the
water required for the several buildings
and for the stock should be raised and
stored at a hight where it will be available at any and all times and be of
good service for fire protection. This
power should be made to clean all cans,
crocks, jars and pails, used in handling
milk, to churn the butter, operate the
ice cream freezer, wash the clothes,
scrub and sweep the floors and thoroly
clean all rugs and carpets, as well as
generate electricity for lighting the
buildings and grounds and for running
an   automobile. If   no   such   water
power is available, a wind-mill can be
made to lift sufficient water to produce
power for all the above mentioned purposes excepting the electric lights and
automobile.
At this point the question may be ask-
>'l, How can any person elean carpets
with power? In reply it can be said
that with compressed air you can readily perform every one of the previously
mentioned duties and many more. Very
little expense will be required for the
' riuipment. By attaching an ordinary
Sarden hose to a compressed air tank,
you can clean your floors, better than
with a broom, the dust and cob webs
'an easily be cleaned from any wall,
or ceiling without the use of a dan-
Serous step ladder and without remov-
mS a picture or ornament. Two-thirds
°' all the deep mines in Western
''' nnsylvania use compressed air for
Power to pump the water from the
m'nes and for other purposes. Now
the question arises, what will the wom-
<'n do for work? Plenty of that will
be found   later.
L*t ub turn to a subject thatt has revived very little attention in the past,
"e oflfal. Not an ounce should be al-
"Wed to escape. All farm sewage
j> oui<j  be  turned  to use>    jn  th(?  way
fertilizer. This can  be done    by
v°tal  methods,     one   is  to   construct
whh°' 'arSre enoijef\   and keep it filled
fnt     manure-    An    chicken    feathers,
ralIs' dead fowls, rinds from fruit
in '..yegetabIes' etc., should be placed
tills. P°01 an<1 llkew,se used as a fer"
"hnT       The  leaves  from  fruit  trees,
'(|f* trees and from the groves should
be taken up at the proper time and
used as bedding for the cattle. This
will assure their going into fertilizer.
Nothing is better than leaves for enriching ground.
All limbs and parts   of trees    that fall
secure the right buyer. A good hotel
or restaurant or high priced grocer can
always handle good vinegar.      This is
only one item.        Many others could be
and some will be mentioned.
Continued   next   week.
AN  UNUSUAL,  FARM SCENE.
method and the mixture ia a perfect
success has been shown during the
present summer. , Despite the heavy
automobile and wagon traffic, the road
is perfectly smooth and very hard, and
it has met the test in every way.
This apple tree was badly pruned. Too long a stub was left. It rotted
away and formed a hole in the trunk in which this four foot cow snake made
its den.   •
or blow down should be collected, and
if not used for fuel, burned to ashes
and these in turn converted into lye for
cleaning fruit trees. None of the so-
called recent discoveries for destroying
insects bring such results as the proper
use of wood ashes. Some years ago
a man living close to a railroad made
use of such worn out ties as the section
foreman allowed him to have, by converting them into ashes and scrubbing
his fruittrees with lye water, madefrom
the  ashes. He   was  greatly  pleased
with the result, finding the method
quite profitable. A moderate quantity
of the ashes mixed with the dust used
by fowls for dust bath will keep all
vermin from the fowls.
When there is an abundance of fruit,
good use should be made of the surplus, by converting it into vinegar
and other salable articles.
Vinegar is easily made and easily
kept. When sold, the demand should
be good and the highest possible price
should   be   obtained. Take   time   to
A D listless Road.
The Hummelstown pike, near Harris-
burg, Pa., is considered by experts to
be a model road. It is made of a mixture of water gas tar, cement, liquid
asphaltum, road oil, carbolic disinfecting powder, sulphate of copper, and oil
of wintergreen. The sulphate of copper is used to prevent the oils from becoming ignited, and the wintergreen
counteracts the odor of the others.
There is nothing disagreeable about the
smell. A curious effect of the mixture is its disinfecting power. During the pasfyear there was not a single
contagious disease in that section. The
cost of applying the mixture is 6 %
cents ,a square yard. The cement
binds the dirt together like stone, and
the oils make it waterproof, so that it
readily sheds water. The road is
never muddy and unlike a tar road,
does not become slippery in winter
time. Frost has no effect on it at all.
The cost of applying it is very small, as
it is sprinkled on like water.      That the
Ginseng Culture.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Please advise me thru your paper as
to the kind of soil adapted .to the raising of ginseng. How should it be
planted to insure best results?
Fountain Co. P. E. M.
Answer: The best soil for ginseng
culture is a moist, mellow, deep loam,
light rather than heavy, and well supplied with decaying vegetable matter.
It must be free from stones, clods or
other obstructions that might cause a
branching of the roots. There should
be a suitable subsoil affording a good
natural  drainage. If such  a soil  is
used it will retain the' proper supply
of moisture. The seeds should be planted in the fall, one or two inches apart
and about an inch deep. It is important that they receive plenty of
moisture. When the seed are planted
the bed should be covered an inch deep
with leaf mold. No cultivation but
simply weeding is needed in the spring
when the plants appear. The plants
should be transplanted into permanent
beds in the second autumn.
Farm Survey of Canal Zone.
Believing that the Panama Canal
Zone may be made more habitable and
more Americanized, an investigation
will be undertaken by the Dept. of Agriculture for the purpose of ascertaining
agricultural possibilities in the zone. A
short time ago the Isthmian Canal
Commission made investigations along
this line, and those who have been on
the isthmus believe that the ten-mile-
wide stretch over which the United
States has jurisdiction could be placed
under highly productive cultivation.
The commission has taken up the matter seriously, and has now enlisted the
co-operation of the Department of Agriculture. The department is preparing plans for a survey of the zone,
and in October a corps of soil and plant
experts will visit it and conduct investigations. It is believed that they will
establish an agricultural experiment
station immediately at some point in
the zone, and also lay out several small
farms.
New York State Farms.
While the New York State bureau of
agriculture has been in existence only
three years, it has in that time been Instrumental in the sale of $3,000,000
worth of farms, which also means their
rehabilitation. It  has  also  sent  out
several thousand farm laborers to
those who need their assistance and
maintained an office in the State agricultural department to attend to correspondence in. relation to the sale of
farms and the engagement of agricultural labor. It has also advertised the
opportunities for farming in New York
State, posting notices in European districts which send the most desirable
immigrants. The latest bulletin contains a list of 936 farms, at prices varying from $20 to $50 an acre, and in
some cases small payments may be
made. To  those  who  desire  It,  the
State bureau will also furnish a scientific report as to the products for which
each farm is best adapted.