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Patrons 4 Husknirg.
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE
CONSTITUTION OF THE NATIONAL GRANGE.
These  Amendments are not opperative   until
adopted by three-fourths of the State Granges.
No. 1. That the Preamble to the Constitution be amended by striking out the
paragraph under the heading "organization," in relation to State Granges, and
substituting the following:
STATE GRANGE.
Fifth degree. Pomona—(Faith). Composed of the Masters of Subordinate
Granges and their wives who are Matrons,
provided that when the number of Subordinate Granges in any State becomes so
great as to render it necessary, the State
Grange ma}', in such manner as it may determine, reduce its representatives, by providing for the election of a certain proportion of those entitled to membership in
the State Grange from each county; and
the members so chosen shall constitute the
State Grange.
No. 2. Sec. 2. There may be established
District or County Granges in the fifth degree, not to exceed one in each county,
composed of Masters and Past-Masters of
Subordinate Granges, and their wives,
who are Matrons, and such fourth degree
members (not to exceed three from each
Subordinate Grange), as may be elected
thereto by the Subordinate Granges, under
such regulations as may be established by
State Granges. Such District or County
Granges shall have charge of the educa-
tionat and business interests of the Order
in their respective districts; and shall encourage, strengthen and aid the Subordinate Granges represented therein. Dispen-
sationsfor such District or County Granges
shall issue from the State Grange, and under such regulations as the State Grange
may adopt.
No. 3. That the Preamble of the Constitution be amended under the heading
"organization" in relation to the National
Grange, so as to read: "Sixth degree."
Flora—(Hope). Composed—1. Of the
founders of the Order, viz: Wm. Saunders, 0. H. Kelley, J.R. Thompson, A. B.
Grosh, W. M. Ireland, John Trimble, Jr.,
F. M. McDowell. 2. The Past-Masters of
the National Grange and their wives, who
have taken the degree of Flora. 3. The
Officers and members of the Executive
Committee of the National Grange. 4.
Masters of State Granges and their wives,
who have taken the fifth degree. 5. One
additional representative from each State
for each fifty thousand members, or fractional part thereof, in excess of thirty
thousand, said representatives to be alternately a brother and sister for every alternate fifty thousand; must be fifth degree
members, and will be entitled to the sixth
degree.
No. 4. That Sec. 2, Art. 1, of the Constitution be amended by inserting after the
word "annually," where it occurs in the
second line of said section, the following:
"at the regular meeting in December, and
installed at the regular meeting in January, or as soon thereafter as practicable.""
No. 5. That Art. 1, Sec. 4, "of the Constitution, be amended by striking out the
word "three" where it occurs in the second
line of said section, and inserting the word
"five," and also by striking out the words
"one of whom shall be elected each year."
No. 6. That Art. 2, Sec. lt of the Constitution be amended by inserting the
words "at least" between the words "meet"
and "once" where those words occur in the
first line of said section.
No. 7. That Art. 2, Sec. 3, of the Constitution be amended by striking out the
word "February" where it occurs in the
second line of said section and substitute
therefor the word November," and also by
striking out the word "first" where it occurs in the same line, and substitute therefor the word "third."
No. 8. That Art. 3, of the Constitution
be amended by striking out the word
"shall" where it occurs in the first line of
said article, and substituting therefor the
word "may."
No. 9. That Art. 5, of the Constitution
be amended so as to read:  "Engaged in
Agricultural pursuits, and having no interest in conflict with our purposes"—instead of "interested in Agricultural pursuits."
, No. 10. That Art. 5, ofthe Constitution
|be amended by striking out the words "fe-
jmale" and eighteen years "male," where
they occur in the second and third lines of
said article.
No. 11. That Art, C, ofthe Constitution
be amended so as to read as follows: The
minimum fee for membership in a Subordinate Grange shall be—for men five dollars, and for women two dollars, for the
four degrees.
No. 12. That Art. 7, of the Constitution
be amended as follows: Strike out the
words "or passed to higher degrees," where
they occur in the close of Sec. 2, and add
the following to said section : "During the
quarter, aud pay to the Secretary of the
State Grange one dollar for each man, and
fifty cents for each woman, initiated during the quarter ; also a quarterly due of
six cents for each member ; said report to
be approved and forwarded at the first
No. 20. That Sec. 8 Art. 9, of the Constitution be amended by striking out the
words '"(either first, second, third or
fourth)," where they occur in said section,
and inserting the words "on the same person."
No. 21. That the following be inserted
and numbered
ARTICLE XIII.
The Master of the National Grange and
the members of the Executive Committee
shall be empowered to suspend from office
any officer of the National Grange who
may prove inefficient or derelict in thc discharge of his duty, subject to appeal to
the next session thereafter of the National Grange.
ARTICLE XIV.—AMENDMENTS.
This Constitution can   be   altered  or
will show him an exceedingly level farm,
that has been successfully drained, and
that too, without the assistance of a
"skillful engineer" .to tell me which way
the water runs.
It may be necessary, in some instances,
in cutting very long open drains, one or
two miles long, where you may wish to
turn the water away from its natural
course, to employ an engineer; but he
would be a novice and tyro indeed, who
would employ one to locate and grade his
tile drains for him. Any man who owns
lands that require under-draining, who
cannot tell, by walking over it when there
is sufficient surface water, which way to
run his drains, and how deep they will
bear digging, hud better sell out aud adopt
some one of the professions, for he has not
FARM ITEMS.
BUFF COCHIN FOWLS.
session of the Grange in each quarter."
Strike out the whole of Sec. 3 and of Sec.
4, and substitute therefor the following,
to-wit: "The Secretary of the State Grange
shall pay to the Treasurer of the State
Grange, all moneys coming into his hands,
at least once every ten days, taking his receipt therefor ; and shall report quarterly
to the Secretary of the National Grange,
the membership in the State." Change
the numbers of succeeding sections so as
to make them conform to these changes.
No. 13. That Art. 7, Sec. 5, of the Constitution, be amended by.striking out the
words "in New York, where they occur in
said section, and leaving the name of the
place blank.
No.. 14. That Art, 7, Sec. 5. of the Constitution be amended by striking out the
word "ten" where it occurs in the last line
on page 8, and inserting in lieu thereof the
word "five."
No. 15. That Art. 7. Sec. 6 of the Constitution be amended by striking out the
word "signed" where it occursm the third
line of said section, and substitute therefor the word "approved."
No. 16. That the whole of article 8 be
transferred from the Constitution to the
By-Laws, and incorporated therein.
No. 17. That Art. 9, Sec. 3, be amended
as follows: Insert the words "or Charters"
between the words "dispensation" and
"shall be," where those words occur in the
first line of Section 3, of said article.
No. 18. That Sec. 4, Art. 9. of the Constitution be amended by striking out the
word "ten," where it occurs in the fifth
line of said section, and inserting the word
"twenty."
No. 19. Strike out Sections 6, 7 and 9 of
said Article 9, and substitute in lieu of
said section the followingsections: "Where
State Granges.are organized, dispensations
for the organization of the Subordinate
Granges heretofore issued, shall be replaced by Charter for the National Grange
without further fee; and, thereafter, all
applications for Charters for subordinate
granges shall pass through the office of the
Master of the State Grange, and "must be
approved by him before they are issued by
the National Grange. When so issued,
the Charter shall pass through the office
of the Secretary of the State Grange, and
receive the signature and official seal of
that office." '
amended by a two-thirds vote of the National Grange at any annual meeting, and
when such alteration or amendment, shall
have been ratified by three-fourths of the
State Granges, and the same reported to
the Secretary of the National Grange, it
shall be of full force.
 . > •	
[For the Indiana Farmer.
EXPERIENCE AND  COMMON
SENSE vs. THEORY.
In the Farmer of February 8th, your
correspondent, Delos Wood, of North
Madison, spoke of having attended a meeting of a farmers' club, which was addressed
by an "educated gentleman," who claimed
to be a "'theoretical farmer." During his
address, he spoke of tile draining, and
said that it was necessary to employ a
skillful civil engineer to layout the drains,
in order that they might run in the proper
direction, and have the necessary amount
of fall; as an ordinary farmer was not
competent to do it, and that there should
be a continuous fall, or else the tile would
become filled with sediment and render
the drain useless, in the event of a single
rod being left level. He is also reported
as having said, that tiles would sink after
being laid, and in order to prevent it, recommended the use of the very largest size,
four and one-half inch for the latterals,
and a correspondingly larger size for the
main drains. Your correspondent, after
thus reporting this "theoretical farmer,"
asks if ne is correct; to answer which, by
the light of my experience, is the object of
this communication. And first, I wish to
remark, that a theoretical farmer is not a
practical one._ Farming is a. science, and
not a theory, in its first or primary signification. Consequently the suggestions ofa
theoretical farmer cannot be very ben-
ficial to the practical one. Now I do not
claim to be a proficient in the knowledge
of tile draining, but will say, if the gentleman from whom your correspondent
quotes, will come to my farm, adjoining
the beautiful little village of Clayton, on
the Indianapolis & Vandalia Railroad, just
twenty miles west of our State Capital, I
enough sense to make a successful farmer.
Theory says, drains will become stopped
up with sediment, where they are put in
level for any given distance. Now, as
above stated, my farm is a very level one,
consequently I have drains, from twenty to
thirty rods of which, from the mouth, are
perfectly level, drains that have been in
use for eight years, and are just as good today as they ever were. As to the proper
size of tile to be used, I have to say, that
I have drains from 150 to 250 rods long, in
the lower ends of which I used four to
five inch tile, and from that on down to
two and one-half inch in the heads and
latterals, and I prefer those sizes to any
other, even at the same price. I have
spent over thirty dollars per acre on some
of my land in underdraining it; which,
before it was done, was regarded as almost
worthless, by reason of its swampy condition, and I therefore think that I speak
advisedly, when I say that the following is
essential to success in tile draining. First,
have your ditch dug as deep as you can get
an outlet for it. Second, have the bottom
made as smooth and level as possible, in
order that the tile may lie straight. If
there is no water in the ground by which
to govern the matter, use a long straight
edge and spirit level, I "recon" a common
farmer can do that. Third, fit the tile
close at the joints, if there be any fragments adhering to the ends of the tile remove them. Give yourself no concern
about the water getting in, excepting in
the most adhesive clay, in which case, I
would recommend that some coarse gravel
be put over the joints. Never use straw.
Care should be taken in laying the tiles to
thoroughly settle them, so that in covering
them up they will not become displaced.
As to tile sinking after it has been laid, I
think our "theoretical farmer" is most
egregiously mistaken. If the drains are
dug the proper depth, say from two to four
feet, and the tile properly put in, they will
never sink, at least mine has not.
John Worrell,
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We are glad to chronicle favorable reports of the wheat crop from almost all
parts of the State. In a few counties it is
represented as badly winter-killed. Wheat
put in with the drill* is said to be in a far
better condition than that sown broadcast. Fruit still promises an abundant erop.
Sowing Hungarian.—Will some one
state through the columns ofthe Farmer
when it is the best time to sow Hungarian,
and what kind of soil would be most suitable for it. Can it be grown on black
swamp land ?
By answering the above, you will confer
a favor on
A Reader of the Farmer.
Franklin, March 4, 1874.
Statistics.—The executive committee
of the National Grange of the Patrons of
Husbandry are maturing a plan for the
formation of a statistical bureau, in connection with the national grange, for the
collection and dissemination of information in regard to the condition ofthe crops
throughout the country. The new bureau
will be located at Washington, D. C,
under the charge of D. W. Aiken, secretary of the state grange of South Carolina.
This information will bo for the exclusive benefit of the Patrons of Husbandry.
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Worn Out Lands.—A correspondent
of the Agricultural Department, writes
from Russell, Ky.: In 18G9, I purchased
a farm on the Cumberland river. It had
been cultivated in corn, without rest, for
for from fifty to seventy years, and was
badly worn. It did not, in 18(39, produce
over twenty bushels per acre. A portion
of it was not planted as it was thought
that it.would not pay expenses of cultivation. A 35 acre field, one-half of which
was not considered worth planting, I
turned over, plowing 7 inches deep. In
the spring sowed oats and clover, pastured
my clover too short and had no sod to turn
under. Last winter turned up eight inches
deep; in the spring cross-plowed with
large bull tongue, running eight or nine
inches deep. Planted in corn, 1st to 4th of
May, three feet by four; thinned to two
stalks in a hill. Did not plow as often as I
would have done, on account of the rains
in June, but plowed three times, last plowing with bull tongue, as deep as I could.
As the result, I am now gathering from
one-half of the field sixty-five bushels per
acre, from the other half have gathered
something over fifty bushels. An adjoining farm of 200 acres, all in corn, has not
raised as much as my thirty-five acres. So
much for clover apd.deep plowing. I am
confident that within a few years I can
make my farm produce seventy-five to
eighty bushels per acre, with no other fertilizer than clover and deep plowing.
Break deep, and plow deep, and that when
your corn is young.
Sowing CLOVER.—The cultivation of
clover as a hay and manurial crop is but
slightly appreciated as compared with its
importance to our agriculture. For hay,
it is one of the most profitable, and as a
renovator of our soils, we have nothing
that has been well tested that will at all
compare with it. As the time for sowing
this crop is approaching, it may not be improper to urge upon our readers the importance of securing seed and sowing a
liberal crop of this important plant. There
is but little doubt that our agriculture
will improve in proprotion to the extension
of this crop. The following sensible directions in regard to sowing clover seed we
take from an address delivered before the
Canadian Dairymen's Association, at a late
meeting, by Mr. Norman Spurr : A great
variety of rules prevail in sowing the seed
of clover. Some farmers think three quarts
sufficient for an acre, while others use ten
quarts. From such a very great variety of
rules it certainly must be evideut to all
that some of them are entirely out of the
way—either wasting seed or losing the use
of their land by not putting on seed enough
for a full crop. I recommend four quarts
to the acre of the large kind of clover,
which, evenly sown, puts sixty-seven seeds
on every square foot. That must make it
thick enough, if it is taken care of, and if
it is to be neglected it is enough to throw
away for nothing. It should always be left
on the surface or rolled in, and on winter
grain sown ten days before plowing time in
the spring. The large kind never kills by ,
sowing early, heaving its sprout and freez- p.
ing. Clover seed one inch deep is almost >
sure to die, and timothy is lost at less than
half that depth. Every field that can be ^
plowed is suitable to sow the seed on, for,,
with good care it pays many times its orig-*j
inal cost.
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