VOL. LXV
INDIANAPOLIS, MARCH  12, 1910.
Written  for the Indiana Farmer:
SKETCHES  OF   EXPERT    SPECIALISTS.
\o.  II.    Wm.  A.    Alexander aad    His
Gold-Standard Corn.
By Walter S.  Smith.
This story is one of deep interest, and
will be valuable to any farmer boy who
has an  ambition  to  excel.       It  is  this:
When Wm. A. Alexander, of Rush
Co., Ind., was a babe, his father wearied of the shoe trade and moved to the
country. Being one season engaged in
school teaching he did not get his corn
orop planted until June; and altho it
grew and eared admirably it was yet
growing when the frost came, and the
antire crop was frozen. Grieving over
this calamity he determined not to
plant again of a late-maturing variety;
and, having only this in mind, he sent
to Ohio for seed  the ensuing year.
The venture was a success in more
than one way; for the variety he introduced made great stalks, vigorous
I.hules and good ears. By selecting the
In st ears for a few crops, he produced
. a.in so excellent that little Willie,
grown to twelve or so years of age,
proposed to his father to show some of
it at the county fair. The boy took
lirst premium on some he selected, and
his father took second. W. A., the
son, continued to capture the first
premiums for nine successive years;
and was requested the tenth year to
withhold his display to give others a
chance and increase the interest of the
fair. His first triumph was in 1876,
and he has been an assiduous student
nf corn  ever  since.
He early adopted Dr. Ryland T.
Hmwn's idea of rotation; and "corn,
wheat and clover" has been the order
all along. He also believes in under-
alraining (high ground as well as low);
and on his large tract there is scarcely
an acre that is missed by some tile
rlrain. In fact there are many miles
(20 or more) of this work; and any
sort of season he has corn.
The past year there were' out about
200 acres, and altho the season was
rainy and the wind disastrous, he gathered about 75 bushels to the acre.
The premiums he has been taking all
over the State and at Omaha, are not
unfair indications of the real corn industry on the  "Gold  Standard"  Farm.
Five years ago, at Purdue, he showed
corn as one of 256 contestants, and the
prize he carried off—the grand sweepstakes—made him at once a corn
grower of fame. As a natural result, he has received orders from the
experiment stations (outside our own
state) of Texas, Iowa and Ohio and the
Government collection at Washln,gton,
O. C. He stood second-best for ten
f ars yellow at Omaha. And the "Best
Ear in the World" displayed by Mr.
Palin was derived from his; as witness
the following from the Indianapolis
Xews  of December  7th:
"I was seven years at work on that
ear," he said. "My parent stock consisted of Reid's Yellow Dent seed, as
the male plant, and the mother plant
was from the Alexander Gold Standard
variety. The corn was planted, two
rows of yellow dent and two rows of
Gold Standard. The Gold Standard
was detasseled the first two years. This
Produced   the   seed,   from   which   the
'World's best ear of corn' was produced."
This language is from an interview
with Mr. Palin, himself, conducted by
a News special reporter.
I  asked   the   following  questions:
"1.     How   deep   do   you   break   your
ground?"
"2. When do you prefer to break
it?"
"3.    What  treatment do  you  give  lt
alter   breaking  and   before   planting?"
His answers were  easy and  prompt:
"1.     Ordinarily,   eight   inches   deep."
"2.     I  usually break  as  early in  the
spring as  the soil will  do  to  work.     I
have  no  objection  to  fall   breaking;   in
The buyer told him no other such crop
had  ever come  to the elevator.
And, quite recently, he returned
from New Mexico, with 60 head
of thorobred white-face steers. So all
his corn, except what he ships for seed,
he feeds on the land; and one cannot
but note the long strong cobs that remain on his lots where the hogs are
fed.      .
Let young farmers learn from this
account that there are many points to
be gained by doing things well. The
financial income, the credit or reputation, the satisfying of our craving for
glory, are all secured by doing thoroly
what our hand finds to do.
Farm Home of C. H. Stafford,  Henry County.
fact, I like it. But I do not commonly get to it, on account of the heavy
volume of work in the other departments."
"3. I use two harrows; the disc and
the springtooth. If I had to dispense
with either of them I would spare the
disc and retain the spring tooth. But
I like to disc a sod before breaking, and
I always do if possible."
I asked him about his method of fertilizing and how he procures enough
for so  many acres.
He answered: "In the first place, I
have six barns; in all of which are kept
and fed large bodies of stock. The
droppings, liquid and solid, are all saved and carted on to the ground. This
especially for the corn fields. My
wheat I fertilize with what is called
Ground Steam Bone Fertilizer; and it
goes on 60 to 80 pounds; sown directly
with the grain. I sow wheat in the
corn, and clover on the wheat. I rarely fail to have a good stand of any one
of the three crops."
In speaking of his six barns he mentioned five tenement houses, connected
with them, all supplied with natural
gas, from his own well, and all connected by 'phone with him and with one
another. And all the six barns have
concrete floors, with contrivances to
catch and save the liquid droppings.
Mr. Alexander would have it understood that he is not an exclusive corn
crank. His wheat, his clover, his hogs
and his cattle are as good as his corn.
He operates heavily in all these lines,
and each line supplements all the others.
In the harvest of 1908, for instance,
he sold 4,761 bushels of wheat, which
graded 60 to 61 pounds to the bushel.
He illustrates, personally, another
matter of importance. The thoro mastery of the common school course, and
a subsequent period in Butler College
did not spoil him as a farmer. He believes, with all his heart, that education
is a valuable asset  on  the  farm.
FARMING   AS   A   FINANCIAL   BUSI
NESS.
Editors   Indiana   Farmer:
Are farmers as a class adequately
paid for their time and investments, is
a question that has been discussed by
writers and others, without any definite
conclusion or settlement of the point
in controversy.
It will be noticed that the general
rise In price of farm products, has
caused a great many to get the idea
that farmers are simply rolling in
wealth, and that the increase in price
of farm products to the farmer is a
detriment to the prosperity of the consumer.
The principal reason of this erroneous idea is the deplorable and helpless
condition to which the farmer has been
subjected in the past, the natural prey
to men in all other occupations, helpless because of his living isolated or in
scattered homes, making it impracticable to organize for mutual benefit, also
his possessing a natural timidity, probably brought on from being so long in
bondage to the speculators, office holders, and others. These are some of
the reasons for this state of affairs.
The Idea has always been prevalent
that anybody can be a farmer, that it
takes no education, no skill or fore
thought, no business sense to run a
farm successfully, but instead that
things on a farm  run somewhat auto
matically, or take care of themselves,
the farmer meanwhile acting as treasurer, being kept busy stuffing the
greenbacks into his  pocketbook.
There are two things belonging to
farmers that have as much right to pay
financially as the same in other occupations, i. e., his capital invested in land
stock, etc. his profession as a
farmer. A lawyer that could not command a salary of from seventyrfive to
two hundred per month would soon be
looking for another situation. A mail
carrier gets seventy-five dollars per
month, school teachers from sixty to
ninety, and doctors and other professions,  proportionate salaries.
Suppose we compare the case of the
farmer with the teaching profession.
The time of the farmer should be
worth seventy-five dollars a month, to
be on an equality with the teacher, (or
one in any other profession for that
matter). That would be a straight
salary of nine hundred a year; then he
should have a fair per cent on his investment, say one hundred and twenty
acres of land valued at about one hundred and twenty-five dollars per acre,
or fifteen thousand, also for stock and
farming implements three thousand
more, or total eighteen thousand dollars, which at six per cent would be an
income on investment of one thousand
and eighty dollars, which, together
with nine hundred slary for his time
and labor, would total nineteen hundred and eighty dollars, a very reasonable estimate of what a farmer should
have for his time, labor and Investment. We could probably lessen this
amount one hundred and fifty dollars
for his board, I do not count board
for rest of family, as they surely could
earn more than their board would
amount to.
Now do the general average farmers
over our country, with amount invested as in the foregoing estimate, receive
$1,850 per year? I think not; statistics show that land investments net only slightly more than three per cent.
If farming operations were so profitable as other callings we could keep
our hands on the farm that otherwise
flock to railroads, factories and hundreds of  better paying  industries.
Morgan Co. W. R. A.
VALUE OF NUTS AS FOOD.
As to the food value of nuts, scientists are more and more advocating
their use as food for the human body,
since they average from 15 to 33 per
cent protein and from 50 to 70 per cent
fat, thereby proving a natural substitute for meats and much cleaner and
healthier nature.
The nutritive elements of nuts are
better balanced than of meats, and
when properly eaten, they are as easily
digested.
Many farmers of this state are becoming more interested in nut culture
and are planting their otherwise waste
lands in chestnuts, walnuts, etc. Chestnuts come into bearing at an early age,
and are very profitable, as are pecans.
Editors  Indiana   Farmer:
I saw an article some time ago on
how to make a pecan tree bear. It
did not state how. I have a tree 20 or
25 years old tliat never bore but three
nuts. If the gentleman will state how,
thru your paper, I would be glad to
hear from him. .        H. N. W.
Laconia, Ind.