VOL. LXV
INDIANAPOLIS, OOT. 15, 1910.
NO. 42
THE CARE OF FARM IMPLEMENTS.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Franklin's old maxim. "A place for
everything, and everything in its place"
Is a golden rule on the farm.
Farmers get on badly who have new
tools and implements to buy every year.
A cross-cut saw that rusts out in one
year, if left on the log where last used,
would last a life-time lf carried to the
shelter and hung up in a dry place.
The same is true in principle of all else
with which the farmer carries on his
work.
A rusty implement is not only partially decayed, but rendered less fit for
use. The rusty saw runs hard; the
rusty square is hard to read; rusty
steelyards or rusty scales will not
weigh accurately; the rusty auger will
not cut without great pressure; the
rusty plow balls up for a half day before it will turn the furrow; the rusty
spade or shovel is four times as hard
to use as- a clean one. And so on,
through the list.
Wooden handles of all sorts will rot
if exposed to the weather, in shady
places or in the grass or dirt. And
everything, in Iron or steel, is daman* d
ta>- 4-orrosion.
What then is more natural than the
ruin of mowers, binders, windmills,
harrows, plows, wagons, buggies, and
all manner of machines that are .allowed to lie aliout the stable lots, or in the
fence corners on the farm?
So the commonest economy would
suggest the provision of adequate shelter. On any ordinarily well furnished
farm, it would pay to build a "home"
for the tools.
Make it large enough for storing
them all, so distributed that any one ot
them can be found without climbing
over or removing the others. All polished steel surfaces, put away for tin-
season, should have a coat of oil or varnish; and wooden surfaces are much
improved liy a coat of paint. There
is always some moisture in warm air;
and, as the implements, indoors, are a
little cooler than the outer air. they
will incline to condense this moisture;
producing a coating of dew. Varnish
or oil will keep this dew off the edges
of the implements, and so protect them
from  rusting.
One caution, especially, I will presume to offer. A mere shelter is not
enough. The shelter should be a building with a floor; not a shed. It is almost as important to keep out the
damp currents and the snow driven in
by them as it is to shelter them from
the rain. So "side up" the house and
shut out all water.
The shed is too convenient a place
for fowls. I have seen binders literally plastered over by the droppings of
roosting chickens. This is not only
very unsightly but it is harmful, and
not good for the birds themselves. I
once know of a hen that roosted in an
old shop where a scythe blade had been
put away. She closed her toes aliout
the edge of the blade in such a manner as to sever an artery in one of her
toes. She lingered on the roost until
she slowly bled to death. Chickens
and tools do not belong in the same
room.
So much for the general care of unused implements, during the period
when they are not in use.
They should lie cared for quite as
well when used every day.      No spade,
shovel, hoe, plow or cultivator should
lie set away over night with dirt sticking to its surface. If it cannot be
scraped off with a paddle, wash it off.
Put it away clean. Keep hatchets,
axes, saws, chisels, grasshooks, plows,
—all edge-tools—sharp. Time and
strength should not be wasted in using
a dull tool. Nor should we have to
spend half a day in gathering up our
tools when we are ready t.i use them.
.Some men have several places to
stow implements. This is really a good
plan; for it is not an easy matter to
provide convenient  places for all tools
who till the soil have charge of the
source of Supply and the rest have to
go accordingly. Do we want more to
do with? Then the farmer must produce more. To do that he must have
more knowledge and skill in his work.
As long as the land was virgin it would
produce with any kind of husbanding.
Much of the farming is hardly on a
permanent basis yet; witness the abandoned farms in the east, the decreasing
land values in the state of New York in
the face of increasing markets.
As long as the farmer can only make
the soil produce one-third of what it is
Winners  in  the  dairy  class,  Indiana State Fair, 1910.
in one room. The binder is an u'n-
wieldly affair; and a small room may
be devoted especially to it. Ahout lt
can be stored many other matters, like
plows, that are not to be used till the
next spring. So may the spraying
outfit constitute a central object in the
planning of another building; and with
it can be stored the ladders and general spraying paraphernalia.
It is .a good  education for the children   to   require   them   to   put   things
away in order after they are used.
Walter S. Smith.
THREE FAMILIES-. TO EACH FARM.
Editors  Indiana  Farmer:
Three families to each farm is the
case in the United States today. One
on the farm and two in town, but all
are dependent on the farm. Two generations ago nearly everybody lived on
the land and it was the look-out of
each family how they worked the land.
Now with two-thirds of the people in
town, it not only concerns the men on
the farm whether the crop is good or
not but also the man in town who is
dependent on the produce of the land
for his living. Whether the crop be
poor or good really affects the city man
more than it does the farmer who can
keep out enough for himself. If there
is no surplus it is not hard to see who
will suffer most.
As Industry develops we get more
and more dependent on each other.
The farmer, however, remains the most
independent, and again the way he
carries on his work is of the most vital
importance to us all. The soil is the
source of everything that calls forth
the   efforts   of  Industry.      The   people
capable, so long must our manufacturing, transportation, ineri handising and
banking remain at approximately one-
third of what it conld be, and largely
for lack of special training for his work
on the part of the farmer. Who is
most interested in the man who tills
the soil being trained for his work?
Without a doubt it should be the man
in the city. He is the one who should
be most insistent on agriculture being
taught in the public schools, and that
the agricultural colleges be given liberal support. The railroads are doing
a great deal in encouraging the teaching of agriculture. Many have placed
trains at the services of the agricultural colleges that they might equip it
with apparatus, appliances and instructors and thus carry the teachings of
better farming to a great many people
in a short time. Bankers are also active in encouraging the spread of better
farming.
There are no more northwestern
states to open up so that the only way
to make any material increase in production is by making each acre, now
under cultivation, produce more. Three
families to the farm and all dependent
on it for a living—which is the most
interested in good farming, the family
on  the farm or the  two in town ?
North Dakota. W. C. Palmer.
SECURING BEES FROM BEE TREES
Editors  Indiana Farmer:
Each summer there are hundreds of
swarms which leave their owners to
mourn their loss, and take to the
woods, to select a new abode in some
hollow tree, We lose some every year,
and sq, do all beekeepers in general. To
those who wisli to make a start with
bees cheaply, there is no better way
than to seek for bee trees at the proper
time, locate them and make the necessary transfer.
There is probably no better time of
the year in which to trace bees, and locate their home in the woods than during the month of October. At this
season the early frosts have usually
killed all flowers and the source of
homy is suddenly cut off. The weather
being yet warm and balmy, and the
bees restless and active, they naturally
roam far and near in quest of sweets,
which they sometimes find in over ripe
fruits, cracked grapes and at cider
mills. It i.s during this period we may
easily detect their abode.
When about to go on a bee hunting
expedition one should provide himself
with a few necessary articles, namely
—a few matches, a little wax, some liq-
qid honey, a small hatchet, and a small
pasteboard box which is bee tight. Select a bright day with the thermometer
registering 55 degrees or more, and at
your approach to the edge of the woods
at noon time, the first thing in order
will be to get out your matches and
wax and make a little tire, and to your
great surprise and ast.mishment in a
very little while you will see some bees
hovering around attracted by the odor
of the burning wax. Pour a small
quantity of honey in your shallow box.
take your seat ekise by, and watch the
proceedings. After loading up with
their pilfered sweets the bees take wing
circling a few times about the spot, and
then making a direct line for their
home, only to unload and come back
for more, bringing with them many
more bees from the same tree. After
you see a good line of bees flying, close
the box, imprisoning some, and walk a
few hundred yards to the right or left,
and get another line working. Follow
up the last line to a point where they
intersect and you will discover your
tree. Take your hatchet and make a
few marks in the tree so you will recognize it in the future, when it will be
proper and convenient to secure your
tree and take it home.
It is quite an easy matter to secure
a swarm lodged in the branches of a
tree and hive it, but it is a more difficult problem to secure an established
colony located in the hollow of a tree.
So we will have to wait until winter
when we can cut down the tree and
haul it home on a sleigh. It is necessary to close the hole with a piece of
mosquito netting, to keep the bees from
flying out when the tree is being
chopped down. Once the tree is lying
on the ground the exact location of the
swarm may be determined by sounding
the tree trunk with the ax. Saw the
log a foot or two above and below the
cavity and haul to your home. Place
the log gum in the same position as it
was when in the tree form, that is perpendicularly, with the same end upward. You now have your bees securely in your posesslon, but in a poor
form to expect good results. If you
wish to transfer them to movable
frame hive you will be compelled to
wait another few months. The time of
fruit blooming is the most favorable
in which to perform this manipulation.
Then the log may be split open, the
bees and combs taken out, and transferred  to a movable  frame hive.
Meadow View Apiary.