VOL. LXV
INDIANAPOLIS, MAY 14, 1910.
NO. 20
RESTORING FERTILITY.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
In our older states the day of virgin
soil has passed. From twenty-five to
one hundred years of farming, not always the most intelligent, has exhausted the natural fertility of many of the
older farms in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. The time has arrived when careful and intelligent handling of our heritage, the earth, will be required in order to produce the necessary foodstuffs
for a rapidly increasing population.
The conservation and liberal use of
stable manure with growing of clover
and proper rotation of other crops will
assist in restoring this lost fertility. The
proper use of good chemical fertilizers
will also give satisfactory returns with
many crops. There is a point frequently overlooked, however, and when
overlooked, in many cases will prove
fatal to our entire scheme of restoration. If there is no natural lime in
the soil in question the constant removal of crop producing chemicals will
produce a condition familiarly known
as acid soil; in a word hydrochloric
acid, which is absolutely fatal to plant
life, has developed to such an extent
that the growing of a clover crop is
practically impossible. How often ao
we hear the expression "Clover will not
catch" in connection with certain farms
or fields. When this is true it is usually due to tho acid present. Fortunately modern science and chemistry of
the farm has given us an effective remedy for this tired feeling in the soil.
Carbonate of lime has an affinity for
hydrochloric acid and its application in
the form of properly pulverized limestone will correct this acidity and restore the former power to grow clover
crops and in the end, with intelligent
handling, make the old worn out soil
almost as good as new.
The acid in old land is injurious to
plant life. Carbonate of lime is required by all growing crops. The wise
farmer of the future will use plenty of
limestone as the very foundation on
which to build his structure of a renewed fertility. O. H. Binns.
Cass Co.
ARGTJE    FOR    RURAL    PARCELS
POST.
Much interest Is attached to the
hearings of the House of Representatives Committee on Post Offices and
Post Roads which are being held this
week on the Foster and Bennet bills
proposing the creation of a rural delivery parcels post.
Representative Foster of Vermont, in
advocating his bill expressed it as his
belief that with the adopting of the
Proposed measure, the deficit in the
Post Office Department will be wiped
out, or nearly so. "The deficit in the
Postal service now," he said, "amounts
to between twenty-five and thirty millions a yea- If by the operation of
a parcels post each of the 40,000 rural
carriers collected only one dollar a
year it would mean $40,000. I believe
In paying attention to revenues which
draw even so small a sum.
"The rural carriers are clamoring for
more pay. They will continue to clamor
until they receive a wage upon which
they can live, whether we have a parcels post or not Let the parcels post
«>r rural districts be tried out on ite
own merits for a couple of years.      I
am sure it would prove a paying institution."
"A rural parcels post bill would not
hurt the local merchants, but would
increase their trade," said Representa-
Bennett of New York. "No farmer
wants to hurt the local merchants. The
country merchant usually carries the
farmer on his books for months at a
time, until the farmer's crops are sold."
On the other hand, "W. F. Richardson
of "Washington, who appeared as the
representative of the National Association of Retail Druggists, contends that
the mail order business would be great-
things that they would never have
thought about going to see when they
had to go in the wagon or buggy.
Brother farmers, what do you know of
the country around your homes, in say
thirty or forty miles? Not very much
I dare say, unlss you are a little over
the average. Aren't there several places
you have wanted to see, but you never
got time to go? No railroad near
them either, or else not near you, so
you would have to go in the wagon or
some other way, 5 10 or 15 miles to get
to the train. Well just think of going
along 20miles an hour; it wouldn't take
ons and buggies.   What does he mean
by proper treatment?
Round Barn on the farm of EriasSnyder,     near   Goshen,     Indiana.
ly increased, trade centralized and the
small merchant ruined by the adopting
of a rural parcels post.
THE AUTO'S GOOD AND BAD
POINTS.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
I will try and give some of the points
both for and against the auto, according to the standpoint of a young farmer.
1. It is ever rea.ly, never too hot to
drive to town, after that broken casting for the binder or mowing machine.
When the work horses are all tired out
and the others out in the pasture on
the other side of the place it is nice to
Jump into the auto and go quick and
easy on such errands.
2. It can be made to take the place
of the gasoline engine, to grind your
feed, turn the grindstone, the cream
separator, the washing machine, fanning mill or pump the water on still
days when the wind mill won't run.
3. For the poultry, dairy or truck
farmer it brings the marketing to town
in one-third the time, and also brings
the farmer home quicker, therefore he
can do more of his work himself, a
double saving. The same with a grain
farmer, only he would have to have a
different style of auto from the pleasure  touring car.
4. The farmer by having an auto
will find that he will not have to write
to the papers to find the way to keep
the boys and girl-j on the farm, and he
will learn a little more about living and
not just staying, in the country, as he
and his family    will see    places    and
you long to go 40 to 50 miles would it,
Then you have no horses to get tired,
or to look after when you get there.
Now Mr. Farmer, just give this a fair
thought and see what you make of it.
Is the auto so bad after all; even tho
it does scare a few horses. The most
of the young horses do not care much
for them, or they don't In this neighborhood, at least. The auto is not so
much to blame for that as the driver
either. Put the autos in the hands of
the farmers and they will take more
care about how they drive, so as not
to scare their neighbor's horses. But
they may break down when you are
out on the road. This is another thing
that two-thirds of the time is the driver's fault, in being careless in driving
or not looking after his auto before he
starts. It is hard on the roads you
say. Well the roads are not taken
care of as they ought to be. By proper
treatment of the roads, before they get
dusty, they can be made better and
kept better and cheaper when used by
autos than when used by wagons and
buggies. So I think, brother farmers,
if you will look at all things fair and
square, you will say the auto is a good
thing for the farmer as well as everybody else  when used  right.
A Young Farmer.
Jefferson Co., Ind.
—Young Farmer ought to give something more than his mere opinion in
proof of his statement that by proper
treatment the roads can be made better and kept better and cheaper when
used by autos than when used by wag-
ROUND BARNS.
It was only a few years ago that the
Indiana Farmer published the first designs and description of a round barn
en-cud in the middle western states,
indeed in the United States. Since then
the round barns have been growing
rapidly in favor all over the country.
The one shown in this issue was built
by contractor Philip Laudeman, of
Bremen, Indiana, on tho farm of Mr.
Erias Snyder, six miles southwest of
Goshen, Indiana. This barn is 60 feet
in diameter, 24 feet siding, and 54 feet
to the top of the cupola. It has four
blinds and 26 windows. The heaviest
timber used in its construction are mow
joist which are 2x8x16 feet long.
The outer wall studding is 2x6, first
story 8 feet high, second story
16 feet high; the roof Is self supporting. The first brake of rafters 2x6
studding 13 feet long are used. Second
brake 2x5 11 feet long, third 2x4 11
feet long. The round barn is far ahead
of the ordinary square barn, saving at
least one-fourth on rough material, one-
third siding, same amount on paint and
painting and less walls. The round
barn can be arranged better than the
square barn . The barn herewith illustrated has a circular hay track in it
which makes it much more convenient
to handle hay or grain with slings than
in the ordinary square barn; can dump
all around the circle, don't havo to
move It far to mow away. The structure will hold over 100 tons of hay.
Could be arranged so as to stable 15
head of horses and 30 head of cattle, 45
head in all. In fact the same room can
be had at a saving of about one-fourth
the material used in a square barn the
approximate cost of the barn here illustrated is $1,200.
DRY    FARMING   IN    WASinNGTON.
That dry farming methods produce
profitable crops in the Columbia basin
uplands is attested by Gustave Bande-
ret, a prominent rancher of Okanogan
county, "Wash., who has been successfully raising crops with only seven and
a half to 12 Inches annual precipitation, for eight years, according to
statements made by him. During a
recent visit to Spokane, he said:
"My farm is located 14 miles west of
the Columbia river on the uplands at
an altitude of 3,400 feet. The soil
is a volcanic ash, wonderfully fertile
and capable of producing almost any
crop adapted to the latitude and altitude. The soil varies in depth from
six inches to six feet and is underlaid
■with clay or gravel. It is extremely
light and friable and easy of cultivation. On the tracts where the soil ia
thin, ranging from six to 12 inches In
depth, corn, beans and rye are most
successful, but anything, even fruit,
will grow wl.ere it is deep.
"I harvested five tons of potatoes to
the acre, about 166 bushels an acre,
last year. I had potatoes on the same
tract the previous year and the year
before. The crop  was  practically a
failure in 1908, so that instead of harvesting it, I kept on cultivating tho
ground, giving it, in effect, the benefit
of summer fallowing, or rather summer
tillage. Consequently, my 1909 crop
of potatoes got the benefit of two years'
precipitation which I conserved in the
soil by this method of cultivation."