VOL. LXV
INDIANAPOLIS, JANUARY 8, 1910.
NO. 2
BIG  BLACK   LOCUST   PLANTATION.
Editors Indiana  Farmer:
The black locust is time honored as
reliable post timber, and while recently somewhat in disfavor, because of the
borer, is still the favorite with many.
Locust will grow on gravelly or h'eavy
clay hills and slopes, where —.
catalpa will fail.	
Locust procured from Nebraska appears to be free
from borer. Indeed this pest
seems to be going out in the
Southeastern part of Indiana.
Some of my own young locust, which a few years ago
shed branches at every wind,
are now free of the pest.
I was recently invited by
the owner to inspect his
planting of 20,000 locust
trees, on Sprlngdale farm.
This farm was inherited by
Edward P. Meyer, from his
grand uncle, Philip Eschen-
bach. The young man drives
to the farm every day, works
harder than any tenant on
the land and is an omnivorous reader of agricultural literature.
The farm lies on the "second bottom" of Whitewater
river, and is a plateau about
100 feet above the first
bench, and is underlaid by
gravel, from which hundreds
of flowing springs gush forth.
Along one side of the farm
Little Cedar creek flows down
at about river level, and
every flood cuts into the
bank, until fully fifteen acres
have been undermined and
caved off, while the level
plain resulting along the
creek is of little value, because of the stone and debris
of the washed out soil.
Mr. Myer concluded to
bind this bank with locust
trees. He bought his trees in
Nebraska, at a dollar per
thousand. He had all the
straggy timber cut off the
bank, and got enough firewood to pay for the cutting,
the plants and the planting.
The plants were dibbled in, one man
thrusting a crow bar into the soil, and
another pushed the sprout down. The
plants were set three feet each way, too
close for timber, but the primary purpose was to mat the bank of rolling
gravel with roots.
That was three years ago, and there
has been no farther caving of the bank,
which is now a tangled mat of roots.
The trees will average fifteen feet high.
Mr. Meyer intends planting 20,000
more this year, some for bank protection, and some for posts   exclusively.
These  sprouts    should     be     planted
early.      A neighbor, who bought plants
| In the same order with Mr. Meyer, and
waited  until   later  in  the  season     for
| planting, lost nearly all of them.
The plants were well rooted,    while
he stems were not more than six in-
Icpes tall.    Better results seem to follow
|tl\e planting of small sprouts.
It any reader    wishes to    write Mr.
' yer, please enclose postage. Requests
'or information as to mutual farm in-
wanee and catalpa, relating to recent
rt.cles   of   mine     appearing   in     the
aimer, have cost me more  than two
K02m\\O
dollars postage.
There is a little incident connected
with the splendid buildings on Spring-
dale farm that is worthy of emulation.
Mr. Eschenbach was the heaviest tax
payer in Franklin county, and when he
was   near   seventy  years   of  age,     the
ly paying financially,    but are a splendid object lesson to the community.
Brookville. Dr. G. H. Bogart.
Valuable manuscripts transferred to
the library of congress this year from
various departments of the government
Best Bushel of Corn in the "World.    Awarded sweepstakes prize at Omaha Corn  Exposition
Grown and exhibited by G. L. Kerlin, Franklin, Indiana.
writer accompanied a contractor to his
home to look over some plans for a
new tenant house. These plans were
from a small frame cottage up to an
elegant brick mansion. After carefully
considering all of them he ordered the
latter, and added numerous Improvements to the architects drawings; closets, more cellarage, better interior finish, and the like.
A neighbor expostulated, and the old
gentleman answered: "I'll never live
on that farm, and I'll not live much
longer anywhere, but a good set of
buildings, worthy the good farm will
be a better monument to Philip Eschenbach than a granite shaft. Draw
that contract so that if any more improvements suggest themselves, they
may be added." And they were added,
and cheerfully paid for, and the heir
devotes his time to practical farming
for the love of lt, tho educated for a
professional life. Financially, he does
not need to work, but the fine farm and
its adequate equipment sends him down
where he can see the dew drops glisten
at the sunrise, and his intelligent crop
rotation and stock growing, are not on-
\
include all the "applications for offlce"
during Washington's administration,
the original vouchers and accounts of
Washington's expenses during the revolution, and historical documents regarding revolutionary pension  claims.
KERLIN'S PRIZE BUSHEL.
Editors   Indiana   Parmer:
The champion bushel of corn at
Omaha is of the Johnson County White
variety. It was grown on a piece of
clover sod on black and clay soil. The
clay spots were covered with manure
last winter, also a good portion was top
dressed with manure with a manure
spreader, after ground was broke and
before any harrowing was done. I
was very careful in regard to seed selection, choosing only the ears that
were true to variety type, looking well
to depth of grain, shape of ear, Indentation and strong seed vitality. My
crop rotations are corn, wheat and
clover. I believe any one can raise
prize corn who will exercise care in selecting seed and taking the proper care
of the soil. G. L Kerlin.
Franklin, Ind.
COWPEA—CORN SILAGE.
Editors  Indiana Farmer:
The cowpea is one of the sturdiest
and most valuable representatives of
the remarkable family of legumes
which possess the faculty of obtaining
large amounts of nitrogen from the
'' air.      There is no danger, by
the way, of exhausting this
supply, for over every acre,
including the ocean is
enough nitrogen to produce a
100 bushel crop of grain
every year for at least 400,-
000 years, The cowpea has
an especial advantage over
some other legumes in being
able to grow from the start
upon new land, without
inoculation, with the
bacteria which live
upon the roots and thru
whose activities it secures the
nitrogen from the air. Much
trouble is reported on some
soils in getting alfalfa, soy
beans and some other crops
properly provided with bacteria; but never with the
cowpea.
The Kansas Experiment
Station has, for a number of
years, planted cowpeas between the corn rows at the
last cultivation. They have
usually made a fair growth
if there was sufficient moisture. The next important
point brought out, however,
is that there seems to have
been no injurious effect on
the corn resulting from the
practice; rather in most seasons the result has been an
increased yield of corn in the
fields in which the cowpeas
were planted. In comparative averages of five year
yields of corn planted alone
and corn planted with cowpeas at the last cultivation
the figures were 44 bushels
against 47% bushels per acre
in favor of the corn with cow
peas planted between. Hero
was a net gain of 3 V4 bushels
per acre of corn a year, besides the value of the cowpea crop.
Further experiments of the Kansas
station show that it is good practice to
grow corn and cowpeas together for
ensilage, rather than in separate fields
and mix them as the silo is being filled.
The station tried this plan for three
years and produced from 10 to 14 tons
of green fodder per acre. The cowpeas twined about the corn stalks,
making the crop easy to harvest with
the  corn  binder. By  reason  of  the
cowpeas being mixed with the corn the
ensilage was of higher feeding value
than corn silage alone, since it was
richer in protein, while fully as much
ensilage was produced per acre as
where corn was planted alone. The di
rector of the Kansas Experiment Station   !s   E.   H.   Webster,   until   recently
Dairy Divi-
Agri culture.
G. E. M.
1909.
the energetic j&tSfAoT^tie
sion of the Department pf
s
/
The Ohio State Board
has. published  a calend
of Agriculture
of Farmers'
Institutes for the season of 1909-1910.
For copies address the /Secretary, A. P.
-unfiles.  Columbus.  Ohio.