VOL. LXV
I.NDIANAPOLIS, APRIL 16, 1910.
NO. 16
Written for th* Indiana Farmer:
A  SINFUL  WASTE.
By Walter S. Smith.
As I ride about on the interurbana,
I see fleld after fleld in which the old-
time dark streaks across the fields appear, where corn stalks have been raked together and burned. One particular field, near Fountaintown, that has
had no soil food given to it in a quarter of a century, was treated just like
the rest. And the soil now looks thin
and sick and hardly rich enough to
sprout black-i -ed peas. It seems that
the owner possesses, (or is able to borrow, a stalk rake, whether he hag any
other tools or not. And the stalk-
rake is diligently applied every year.
I would like to tell him, if he i-,   not
"too   good   a   farmer   to   read   a   larm
paper, or to attend an agricultuia
stitute,"   that   a   little   more   than
stalk-rake costs would buy a disc  •
row; and a disc harrow would v.
pieces   the   dry   corn   stalks;   and   he
would   thus  have  on  his  fleld,   already
spi ead, a very valuable coat of manure,
I use this word in the sense of fertilizer.
One can hardly realize how much
there is on the ground until he attempts to haul it ofl". There is in fact
not often a heavier coat hauled or
than is thus already on. The first
reason for burning it off is that there
is so much of it that it stops the plow,
lt would pay better to have a man go
along and lay the stalks down in the
^urrcw ahead of the breaking plow
than to l.urn them. It would pay better ' 'haul tht rr; off (as we haul the
ma: uie on) and cut them up in a cutting box a'fid then haul ther.-, back,
than to burn them. It would not be a
bad use of the shredder to make fertiliser of the corn stalks, though of
course that would not be convenient
unless taken off as fodder.
A good sharp disc harrow run over
them when they are dry would soon
fix them. T- ice over will commcnlj
do it. r.iit if twice is t enough it
can be done three times, and then
again, better than to burn them. Nor
will the disc harrow do the ground any
harm. It will chop up the surface
while it chops up the stalks, and then
when you turn the surface under you
have it delightfully free from clods.
Nor Is the harrow the only implement. There is a regular rolling cutter advertised, which is said to do the
work in a more effective manner. The
disc harrow, is good and can be used
in other fields.
I may be asked why I so strongly
urge the saving of the stalks. It is a
matter of economy. The elements of
vegetation are laid up in all vegetable
bodies, and as corn stalks are the
largest of our cereal bodies, they contain the largest store of such deposit.
Wh \,as not noticed the dense black
smoke 'that goes off from the burning row? The color of the smoke Is
due to volumes of carbon not quite
consumed. This is practically the
saine as the black humus of the swamp
land and tve chip-pile. Going off in
the air, it falls elsewhere, and is lost
to the land where it belongs. If turned under the stalks gradually decays
and remains in the ground till further
reduced, by oxidation, to the carbonic
dioxide, wherewith the new plants are
fed.
Nor is the black smoke all that is
lost by burning. The transparent flame
with which the black particles are mixed is full of the dioxide itself. By
far the largest part of the Ave products is this gas (called carbonic acid)
and it goes off into the air, unseen.
Tons of carbon thus escape from a
large stalk fleld, and must be resup-
plied to save the land from ruin. For
more than half of all vegetation is carbon.
Now the very best management of
this problem is to cut off the fodder at
the right season pass it through the
shredder (or the cutting box) and feed
it to the stock, which will eat a part
of it. Then haul back to the land the
uneaten portion, and the droppings
from  the  feed   lots.
One   good   farmer   told   me   he   de-
oyed his stalks because he could not
■rd to speiiil   $25  for a  disc  harrow
. a cutter.      I answered that he could
by no means get the same quantity of
humus   into   his   field,   all   evenly  scattered  ,for  twenty-five  dollars.
The greatest plea is that the stalks
are bothersome in the tillage. This
iaa, a L so bal as it used to be; for -. !
havvj just now learned the advantage
'low culture,
who have given it a fair trial
_sk> "nanimous, in favor of saving all
such  products.
vt* ji
Written for the Indiana Farmer:
WASHINGTON   LETTER—NO.   3.
By Geo. S. Cottman.
The Charms of Puget Sound.
Puget sound, considered as a body of
water, is as extraordinary as is its climate. It has been likened to the famous inland sea of Japan, but a missionary clergyman I have met here,
who is familiar with them both, says
that of the two the sound has the
greater natural charm and interest. In
the broad valley between the Olympics
and the Cascades, separated from the
ocean by sixty miles or more of mountainous country, it lies cradled with its
many long sprawling arms that make a
confused tangle on the map. Its total
length from north to south is about 100
miles, but to follow' its total shore line
thi ough all the devious windings of its
many bays, passages and inlets would
require a journey that has been estimated approximately 2,000 miles. A
geological explanation will help to
an undertanding of its curious character. The trunk of the sound with all
its various branches was once, we are
told, a system of rivers and tributary
streams. A subsidence or sinking of
the country lowered this system of valleys till the ocean entered and filled
them, converting them into a landlocked sea with broad channels and
ramifying lagoons. The hills that
bounded the ancient valleys are now
wooded shores that, in most places, rise
boldly from the brimming tides of the
sound. Unlike most "sounds" this
one has a depth as well as sea-room,
and there is not, perhaps, a finer sea
harbor on earth, the ocean steamers
being able to follow its windings far
inland. Last summer the large torpedo-
boat destroyers, of the U. S. Navy, in
search of quiet waters where they
could "run" their torpedoes; penetrated to the remote inlets at the southern
end of the sound—which means the
end farthest from the straits
where they entered. Tacoma, though
held in check by the greater Seattle, ls
destined to be a great city because of
her splendid docking facilities. She
has now something like Ave continuous
miles of docks where the largest vessels take and deliver their cargoes.
This belongs to the commercial history
of the sound, but it also gives some
idea of the life and variety that adds
interest to these beautiful waters.
The scenic attractions of the sound
are beyond compare. Here broad open
reaches stretch away for miles without
a break; there they are choked by
archipelagoes of islands, and again
they narrow down to long "inlets" and
"passes" where the traveler seems to
be threading the course of some noble
river. On every hand are romantic
little bays and coves, projecting capes
and bold headlands, and the universal
mantle of fir forests lends to all a
primeval wildness. Flanking these
forests on either side, bounding a valley some seventy-flve miles wide, rise
the mountain ranges, the nearer ones,
the Olympics, rugged, savage and
stria., r with snows even in the sum-
, th.> further Cascades, to the
east, showing blue with the intervening
miles, and, the grandest spectacle of
all, lordly Rainier, far to the southeast, dim and spectral with the eternal
snows of its seven great glaciers. From
the level of the sound you look up to
what is claimed to be the highest
ground In the United States, and which
heaves up into the blue heavens to a
sheer altitude of two and three-quarter miles (14,528 feet). For one who
finds recreation in exploring and seeking out remote nooks of romantic interest, either by foot or by boat, the
waters of the sound and the great fir
forests alike offer opportunities that
are simply exhaustless. The long,
narrow inlets of the lower sound, penetrating the wild wooded regions are
particularly inviting. After a taste
of these attractions the east seems very
tame.
* « * *
In conclusion I will revert to the
practical question that has all along
been in my mind, namely, the reasons
for and against an Indianian coming to
Puget sound as a home-seeker. Be it
repeated, if he comes simply to better
his fortunes as a farmer he probably
will be disappointed. If he seeks,
primarily, a healthful, invigorating climate equally free from the rigorous
cold of the north and the enervating
heat of the south, here is where he will
find it; and if he desires to make his
home in the midst of unexcelled natural charms, they too are here. The
preferred property for such a home
seeker, and the best Investment is water front land on the sound. This
is gradually enhancing, the search for
it is extending farther and farther from
the cities, anil much of it a half-day's
trip from Tacoma is selling at $100 per
acre. This means a desirable waterfront, on a sheltered cove or bay, with
an easy sloping approach to the water.
From the map one would infer that
here, if anywhere, water-front would
be a drug on the market, but on investigation he learns that a vast proportion of it, while it makes a splendid appearance from the water, is rough, difficult   of   ascent,   and   exposed   to   the
winds that sweep over the broader waters.
Rudyard Kipling, I believe, has said
that the Pacific northwest is destined
to one day be the "play-ground of the
nations." This would seem to be particularly true of the Puget sound region, and it is safe to say that a desirable home on its shores will one day be
at a premium. That it is destined to
commercial greatness, too, is amply
evidenced by the swelling tide of trade
that today finds its way from Alaska
and from the Orient through the strait
of Juan de Fuca.
FOR
PREPARATION     OP      SOIL
PLANTING  CORN.
Editors  Indiana  Farmer:
No progreassive farmer ought ever to
be satisfied until he gets the best in
everything in his line, it is his by right.
I began to raise the better crop only
when I had learned the lesson of preparing the soil for planting; and it was
"on this wise" that I learned It. A
number of years ago a subscriber
wrote a long letter to the Indiana
Farmer asking the question: "When is
the proper time to plant corn?" The
editor eopied the long missive in full,
and then answered it in just six short
words: "When you get your ground
ready." That was the best lesson I
ever had, or ever have had on raising
corn. I took it in with all Its fullness of meaning, and whether it satisfied the inquirer or not. I have been
blessed by it, and have never piante,i
a fleld of corn since but those words
were "ever before me," and unless the
season prevents I "get my ground
ready." .
It is true my ideal of preparation of
soil has increased and machinery for
preparing the soil has multiplied, yet
we have not reached the ultimate of
the   Farmer's  advice.
My ideal has reached this formula:
Clover sod, if possible, well covered
with stable manure, well disked in,
plowed thoroly to a depth varying from
6 to 8 inches according to soil location;
then dragged, rolled, disked and
dragged, etc., until the seed bed is in
as fine condition as the most particular farmer would prepare his fallow
ground for sowing wheat. Then, "your
ground is ready," according to my
ideal, and evolved from the advice of
the editor of one of the best farm papers, and no better in the world for
the  Hoosier.
With the addition of some of the
best commercial fertilizers at the time
of planting, your best crop is secured,
as the cultivation will be a secondary
affair if properly done, after such
"getting ready." T. J. Mawhorter.
BLEACHED FLOUR.
Flour bleached by the Alsop process
contains added poisonous and added
deleterious ingredients which render
the flour injurious to health.
Flour bleached by the Alsop process
contains a substance known as nitrites,
which reduces, lowers and injuriously
affects the quality and strenrth of the
flour.
Flour bleached by the Alsop process
is mixed, colored and stained in_a manner whereby damage and inferiority
are concealed.
For these reasons flour bleached by
the Alsop process is adulterated within
the meaning of the Food and Drugs Act
of June  30,  1906,