Vol. X.
INDIMAPOUS, MDIANA, MAECH 27, 1875.
No. 12.
Live * Stock,
S. 3Ieredith at Son are preparing for
their forthcoming annual stock sales.
We are assured that the stock to be offered is of a very superior quality ; some
of the animals prize stock of the best
strains of pure blood. We trust that,
at least, a large proportion of these will
be purchased and held for breeding purposes in Indiana. The £tate would be
Vastly richer if pure short-horn blood
was generally diffused through the cattle of our State.
Heavy Berkshire!.
I recently butchered two pure blood
Berkshire hops, tho gross weight of
which was 1,310 pounds. The largest
weighed O'OO pounds and produced 1C5
pounds of lard, without cutting the
shoulders or middlings. Thc hams
weighed 78 pounds each. I believe, if I
had taken the lard from thc shoulders
and sides, that he would have produced
300 pounds of lard.
JOB ROGERS.
Clayton, Ind,
 m   sal.   a	
Self-Sucking Cows.
Editor of Indiana Farmer:
Allow me to say to James J. Goar
that I have had thc same trouble that
he complained of. My first remedy is a
spindle made of iron, from eight to ten
inches in length, fitting in the nostrils
and over the part between the nostrils.
This central part of the spindle, when
the cow attempts to suck, pressing on
the center ofthe nose, has a tendency to
stop her breathing, which will make her
sacking an uphill business. However,
if the cow should lie down to suck, she
may succeed with the spindle on. Second remedy—make a frame fitting the
neck from the shoulder to the horns,
and she cannot suck standing or lying
down. J. H. WISHARD.
Producing Either Sex at Will.
John B. Poyntz says in the year 1863
the theory of Prof. Thurvy, of Geneva,
Switzerland, "The Production of Sex at
Will" was undergoing investigation, and
for testing the matter he selected a lot of
Alderney heifers and a bull. But he
does not give the result as to production
at will—he only gives the marking of
a calf with the letters "U. S." on it, and
is nothing more than what we had in
the case of Jacob.
Many years since I came in possession
of a method of producing heifer calves
which I have never known to fail. For
certain reasons I will not publish it in
a public paper, but any one having any
cariosity on the subject, by addressing
Box 793, Richmond, Ind., with stamps
sufficient to pay for postage and stationary, I will give the modus operandi.
 s    a»    s   	
Fattening Cattle.
In fattening animals time is often a
matter of importance to the feeder.
Sometimes a month gained is equal to 20
per cent, greater weight at a later period.
Cooking food renders its constituents
more soluble and digestible, therefore
more rapidly entering on flesh and fat.
As a condiment and appetizer for fattening animals, molasses has no equal. A
• small quantity of sweet, upon hay, will
cause a larger quantity to be eaten with
a relish. We have often tried molasses
upon poor animals with great satisfaction. A poor horse will show a change
in condition in a few davs. The molasses is not only an excellent condiment,
but an excellent food; and being so soluble and assimilable that it produces an
immediate effect upon the condition of
the animal. Three pints may be fed to
fattening animals per day, but to cows
and breeding stock, it must bc fed sparingly, and not more than a pint per day
to a cow, as too much sweet will prevent
their breeding. _ When necessary to use
straw for fattening stock, the use of molasses diluted with 8 to 10 proportions of
water to wet the straw before steaming,
"will be found to render it very palatable.
and cause it to bc eaten, incorporated
with other fattening food, as readily as
hay. Some noted chemists have supposed all starchy food to be converted
into sugar by the action of the stomach,
before it becomes assimilated as food.
Perhaps this will account for the remarkable effect of sweet food upon animals.
—ISteicarfs Prize Essay.
On the farm of Mr. L. W. Hasselman,
southeast of the city, can be seen an Alderney  cow,  weighing   three  hundred
pounds, which at the age of seventeen
months, dropped a calf, and now gives a
..gallon of milk twice a day.   The calf is
■jdoing as well as could be expected, and
Jhas already the vealable weight of ten
JPOsods.—[Daily Journal.
Kentucky Cattle   Sale   over  Forty
Tears Ago.
i
A friend, who is curious in such matters, has sent us tha following advertisement of a sale of improved cattle, published in the Frankfort (Ky.) Cummon-
irealth, in Oct., 1S38, which will show
the style of the early crosses by imported stock:
ENiiLISH CATTLE   AT AUCTION.
On Thursday, the 29th October, will
be  sold without reserve, 100 head of
choice   CATTLE,   of    the   improved
breed,   consisting   of   breeding   Cows,
Heifers,  Yearlings   and'Calves.     The
principal part of this stock was selected
with great care by Mr. Lewis Sanders,
from the best stock in the State, and
sold by him in October last;   some of
the young calves are by imported bulls,"
and all  the 'cows and heifers are with
calf by imported bulls.
• So fine a stock of cattle has_ not been
offered for sale before.   The important
advantages this breed possesses over the
common breed of the country, are too
well known to requiro a recital in an advertisement ■   intelligent   agriculturists
know their interest well enough to insure their attendance at this sale, which_
will take placo at tho lower end of thc |
town of Lexington, at the White Gate, |
on the Leestown road, at 12 o'clock, on
a credit of CO days for approved negotiable paper.
DANIEL BRADFORD, Auct'r.
•10 prime breeding Cows—four, of
which arewith calf by Capt. Smith's
long-horn imported bull.
9 do. with calf by Tecumseh, an imported bull of the short-horn, mirk
breed.
27 do. with calf by Gen. Sam. Martin,
an imported bull of the Teeswator
breed.
20 two year old heifers, with calf by
imported bulls.
20 bull and cow calves, some of which
are by imported bulls.
JOHN FOWLER, Trustee.
Lexington, Oct. 2d, 1818...
—[From the Ohio Cultivator for 1800,
Indiana Farmer Family.
Onr Foastal'Card CorrsMpondenoa-u
DARK      BRAHMAS.
WINTER FEEDING OF BEEF CATTLE FOR PROFIT.
Carpentersville, I.vd., I
March the 17, 1875.    f
Editor Indiana Farmer.
I have read with pleasure, and I hope
with some degree of profit, the articles
written by Mr. M. B. Wangh of Colfax,
Indiana, and Mr. James Bridges of
Bainbridge, Indiana, on the subject of
feeding cattle, in some of the last num
bers of the Indiana Farmer. I must
say that I am pleased to hear from such
practical men on that exceedingly interesting subject, although my experience of some ten or twelve years differs
somewhat from theirs. I also find by
comparison that these gentlemen differ
somewhat in their opinions. Mr. W.
says that by full feedinga thrifty 1200 or
1300 lbs. bullock, from Nov. 1.5th to
March the lst will weigh from 1400 to
1500 lbs. Now that is a much larger gain
than I have ever heen able to make on
any considerable number of cattle that I
have ever fed. I think a 1200, or even
a 1300 hundred pounds bullock too
small for profitable early feeding. The
better plan is to commence with cattle
that will weigh 1350 to 1400 pounds at
the commencement of feeding, and, if by
careful feeding with plenty of corn and
fodder, or corn and clover hay, the latter
preferable, and with plenty of salt once
a week, by the 25th of January or lst of
February, my cattle have made a gain
of 100 pounds, I think they have done
very well. Much depends upon the
weather when stock are fed out in the
open field or pasture, as most are fed in
this county. If the weather is dry and
warm or dry and moderately cold, cattle
will improve rapidly; while on the other
hand, if the weather is wet, with driving
sleet and snow storms every few days, I
care not how much you feed, your stock
will gain but little if anything. Now
early feeding has its disadvantages as
well advantages. Mr. B. shows very conclusively that to buy cattle at $5 per
hundred and feed for two months carefully and then sell for $6 per hundred
pays and pays well too; but can this always be done? It cannot. Now suppose
Mr. B. goes ahead and buys his cattle at
$5 per hundred and feeds thera for two
months, and finds at the end of that
time, that his cattle are only worth $5
or $5.25 per hundred in the market, he
has to take one of two alternatives, he
has either to sell on the market at a loss
or continue his expensive feeding until
sometime in the future which the state
of the market will have to determine.
If a change for the better in the market
should not come until, perhaps, the lsl
of May, I fear that Mr. B. will have to
change his opinion in regard to feeding
fifty cent corn to cattle.
James T. IIanna.
For tho Indiana Farmer.
PLANT FLOWERS.
Tho average American farmer has s
contempt for flowers; and their culture
by full-grown men he regards as an
unpardonable waste of time. The hard
hands that hold the plough and swing
the axe should not bc softened by dalliance with effeminate flowers. Whittier
need not have gone so far back for his
materials for the following picture:
" I look
Across the lapse of half a century,
And call to mind old  homesteads, where no
flower
Told that the spring haal come, bnt evil weeds,
Nightshade and tough-leaved burdock in .the
place
Of the sweet doorway greeting of the rose
And   honeysuckle,   where   thc   house-wans
seemed
mistering ln sun, without a tree or vine
To east the tremulous shadow of its leaves
Across the eurtainless windows."
During the past summer throughout
this State, and indeed all over the West,
one might have seen many homesteads
that the above extract would have
described to a letter.
Perhaps we do the farmer injustice
when we attribute his neglect of flower
culture to contempt for its effeminancy,
for there are many farmers who would
cultivate flowers, and recognize fully
their great attractiveness in a door-yard,
or in the more pretentious flower-garden;
but floriculture is to them a sealed book,
and they think it difficult to break its
seals. In this they are greatly mistaken.
FJowers are as easily cultivated as vegetables; indeed some vegetables, such as
cauliflowers, celery, or eggplant, require
more skill and patience in their production, than the whole catalogue of hardy
flowers. So let you who recognize in the
picture drawn by the poet your own
homesteads, begin now to fight the
" nightshade and rough-leaved burdock,"
and plant flowers in their stead.
Your children should lave flowers
about them, and learn to lore and cultivate them. Let them lean to cultivate
and the love will soon follow. There is
no occupation so refining, and, when
understood, so full of pleasure as the
work of the flower-garden. Begin, then,
the coming spring, to nake your home
beautiful. You will fine that your wife
and children will second your efforts
with a heartiness that will take from the
little labor attending it even the suggestion of toil.
You will be astonished as thc work
progresses, at the grert interest you take
in what you have herrtofore considered a
very small business, You will curiously
examine your seed-beds, after having
given the planted s<ed proper time for
germination, and wnder which of the
thousand little plaits just starting from
the ground arc flowirs, and which weeds.
And, after this often very difficult question is decided, an« you have transferred
your flowers to tteir final beds, and the
time for their bl'oming is approaching,
you will find yoirself—when no one is
watching you—cosely examining swelling buds, and vhen you have detected
the blush peepii? through the green, and
feel sure that -nother night's dew will
develop thc ful flower, you carefully
draw the foliag< about it to conceal it
from other eyesthan yours. And then,
early the next norning you steal out to
the flower-bed and find thc bursting bud
of the evening beforo—gone. Other eyes
have been as sharp as yours. You turn
disappointed and half angry to the
house, meeting tho call to breakfast at
the door, and take your scat at the table,
when your lost flower looks up at you
from your plate, blushing as it meets
your gaze of recognition.
Your dance across the table meets a
merry smile from your wife, and a triumphant shout from thc little ones about
the table proclaims that your surprise is
as complete as that you fancied you had
so carefully prepared for them, Talk of
your big potatoes and many in the hill)
•:f in your whole farming experience you
have ever achieved a success that has
given you such a thrill of genuine
pleasure as the double surprise of that
bright summer morning that lightened
your burden of toil thc whole of that
memorable day, we will resign our claims
as a judge of human nature.
But we have jumped from the future
into the past tense, and brought your
flower-bed into blooming, even before it
has been made. We have anticipated
your probable experience the coming
summer if you but heed our exhortation
to plant flowers.
1 Next week we will give a list of some
of the most desirable hardy flowers, with
directions for cultivation".
INQUIRIES AND ANSWERS.
Who can furnish a subscriber, yellow
Dent seed corn?
Will I. N. Barker, Thorntown, please
tell us through the Farmer, whether
sugar beets are good food for hogs or
not? and if they are, how used, cooked
or raw? and in what quantities?
W. B. M., Plainfleld.
Can some one tell me where I can get
upland cranberry plants, and what is
the best kind? W.L.Roberts.
Gibson County.
Where can I get some English rabbits ?   Advertise in Farmer.   W. R.
"A. M„" C. Y. C. Alden, of Sunman,
Ripley county, says he will trade you a
gentle Short-Horn for that Alderney
that "kicked" him.
To remove a wart from your mare's
eye, tie a silk cord around it drawn
tight so that jt will cut the wart;
as it cuts, pour in a few drops of "aqua
fortis" and tighten the _ cord when
needed; apply the medicine once or
twice a day; in a few days it will be so
near off that it can_ be clipped with a
knife; apply the medicine till the wound
i'b healed. I have used this remedy successfully. G. W. Eppert.
Has a man a right to kill dogs that
are running over his farm without their
owners? Yes. The statute provides
for registering dogs in the books of the
Township Trustee, for which the owner
must pay a fee of fifty cents which goes
into the dog fund. All dogs not thus
registered are out-laws, and when found
offthe owner's premises, not accompanied by said ownert are without legal
protection and may rightly be killed.
R. Collier.
What will cure a horse of holding his
tongue out of his'mouth? I have a very
nice mare that has this fault. I want a
remedy. Young Granger.
If George W. Kimble, of Greencastle,
will procure Allen's History of Short-
Horns, he can get the Historic Bulls he
enquires for, in lithograph, which will
answer the purpose.       S. Mereditii.
WELli COUNTY.
MARCH 15, 75.
Wheat looks well; stock ls ln good condition,
stock hogs are scarce. The members of our
grange are generally taking the Farmeb.
J. La wry.
HANCOCK COUNTT.
Charlottsville, March 13, 73.
Wheat is badly  winter-kilied; hogs scarce;
no fat cattle; we like the Farmer.
Charles H. Fort
MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
Ladoga.
Farmers are having a hard time feeding in
mud and snow ; feed Is getting scarce; stock of
every kind is going through  the  winter well,
and is very healthy; wheat not killed.  J. M H.
GIBSON  COUNTV.
OWENSVILLE.
Wheat crop looks very badly; peach buds are
still about one-half alive; hogs scarce; pork
brought a good price and people sold close;
iseef cattle plenty and holding for higher
prices. Lvcukol's Forbes.
HAMILTON C0UN1V,
march is, 75.
I will agree witli  Mr. Ileeson  in regard to
hilling and drilling corn.   Wheat looks-bad;
corn plenty; hogs scarce and no price; cattle
looks bad. . S. A. Buscher.
PUTNAM COUNTT.
l'KHK Chapel,March ll, 75.
Wheat looks sickly; stock of all  kinds ln
fine order; potatoes not all frozen ; corn worth
COc per bushel; wheat tl 00 and scarce; oats 60
to 70c per bushel;   peaches all  killed, a fair
prospect for other fruit; o good crop of grangers. K. U. Priest.
HENRY COUNTY.
Mount Summit, March 17, 75.
Wheat looks badly; potatoes and apples badly frozen; peach buds all killed and trees badly Injured; damage to other faults not known;
about the usual amount of stock  hogs and ln
good condition; some old wheat selling at 95 @
Jl 00 per bushel; corn 50 to 55c.;   about  two-
thirds of the bees lived over the winter as far
as heard from.                               P. P. Rif.ner.
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
Grantsburo, March 2, 75.
Wheat is" injured to some extent * corn  is
scarce, a poor crop last year on account ol the
drouth and chinch bugs; the Farmer is a welcome visitor. II. Dotson.
WASHINTON COUNTY.
Salem, March 12, 75.
We have had a very cold  winter; wheat ls
badly frozen out; peaches are mostly killed ;
apples not much injured; snow fell here to the
depth of 12 Inches on the 7th inst.
Taos. Graves.
OWEN COUNTV.
Gosport, March 17, 75.
Wheat looks badly, it ls feared it is all killed;
weather cold and spring very backward; fat
hogs all sold; stock hogs scarce and worth
about tic.; cattle selling low; peaches and most
small fruit killed; corn worth 50c. and generally sold; wheat worth fl 00 and scarce; the
Farmer is a welcome visitor.
W. H. Myers.
GRANT COUNTY.
Wheat looks better than we expected, but
will not be an average crop; cattle and hogs
look well considering the severe winter; feed
plenty; weather nice; Grangers enjoying
themselves well. w. R.
CLINTON COUNTY.
Mortokville, March 15, 75.
Wheat comes out from under the snow
bleached hut well rooted, was well set last fall;
stock ln good condition ; feed plenty; corn
worth 55c.; hay S10 00 per ton; wheat f 1 00 per
bushel; stock hogs scarce; cattle plenty; farm
hands worth S20 00 per month. A. Kirk.
1ACKS0N COUNTY.
March 13,75.
We have had a very cold winter; wheat looks
badly; cattle generally look well; hogs scarce
and dying of cholera; stock hogs worth tV/i to
6%c; fanners are fully awake to their intersts
and will look after them in future.
James Marsh.
CLAY COUNTY.
Prat, March 16,75.
Wheat was a good crop last year; corn (rood,
probably more raised last year than ever before ; corn worth S5 cts.; wheat 90 to 95 cts.; potatoes good but badly frozen, worth 81 25; fat
hogs all sold, none for spring market; stock
hogs scarce, and worth from h% to 6c. Your
postal correspondents seem to think the wheat
Is badly injured by the extreme cold weather,
but I am of the opinion that the cold weather
is not what Injures the wheat, but freezing of
nights and thawing during the day. There Is
a less number of plants thrown out of the
ground this winter than usual. It is true the
tops look badly, hut where the ground was ln
good condition and thewheatdrilled in,I think
the roots will be found alive; the harvest maybe late, but with a favorable season we will
have an average crop. D. Seybold.
RANDOLPH COUNTV.
March 12,75.
The weather Is very flne to-day; corn Is firm
at55c.; oats50; wheat95; stock hogs scarce;
cattle plenty, yet most of them poor grade, not
many Short-Horns. TellW.H. G. of Preble
county, Ohio, that my new idea about young
pigs is my experience, and how this experience
was. One year I selected ten of the finest
brood sows I had and fed very high with corn
when the pigs were young. The result was
that about sixty of the pigs died with the
scours or cholera^ncluding one fine boar,which
was purchased ot Elijah Cook near New Paris,
Ohio. The next season I had some of the same
stock left. The sows and pigs ran on clover
and had no grain until wheat was cut, then ran
on the stubble, then began to feed new corn
next, and made those hoes I spoke of some
time ago. Tell Mr. W. H. G. I have some pigs
yet of that breed, the Poland China.
W. H. Farmer.
CARROLL COUNTY.
Camden, March 15, 75.
The cold term over, yesterday the thermometer stood 70° all day, the 12th inst. a general
thawing commenced, by the 13th the streams
were swollen with ice and water, to banks
full, but little damage done by floating ice so
far as heard from; ground thawing out very
fast, the roads almost impassable to-day; rain
this afternoon with now and then a blast of
snow; wheat and clover all right so far, scarcely any "spew'd out"; peaches killed, other
kinds of fruit may be somewhat injured; a
great many potatoes frozen in the pltts; stock
wintered pretty well, some tew cattle look
"kind o-wlnter killed;" a few days more of
nice warm weather the "Grangers" will commence work in earnest.   More anon.   .
Bachelor, Run.
GENERAL NEWS.
Local Option has been repealed in
Pennsylvania.
The wheat crop in California bids fair
to be a large average crop the present
year.
Most of the European markets show
a rise in breadstuffs of from one to two
shillings.
A fearful tornado passed over Georgia
the 20th inst. doing immense damage to
persons and property.
A number of persons have been buried
alive by the snow slides in Utah and
other western territories.
The Indiana Editorial Excursion
reached New Orleans, Saturday night
and remained till Monday.
Brigham Young has been fined $25,
and sent to prison one day, for contempt
of court. He paid the fine and went to
prison.
It is reported that there is a project
on foot for the annexation of about 440 -
000 square miles of the northern portion
of Mexico to the United States, by purchase.
The ringleaders of the Cheyenne Indians recently captured by the United
States forces, with their families, are to
be sent to the military posts for safekeeping.
Messrs. Moody and Sankey continue
to be greeted with immense crowds at
their Gospel meetings in Great Brittain.
Their audiences frequently reach twenty
thousand.
The Secretary of the Treasury has
decided to return to the old method of
redeeming mutilated currency, under
which a deduction was made proportioned to the parts of notes missing.
A terrible massacre was perpetrated
in a_ Protestant church in Apapulco,
Mexico, January 26th. The congregation were engaged in worship at the time
the assault was made by the ruffians.
Great destruction of property has followed the recent breaking up of ice in
the rivers in many portions of the country. Bridges and houses have been carried away, and in some cases with loss
of life.
The Austin Powder Company's mills,
near Cleveland, were blown to atoms on
Tuesday of last week. The explosion,
though five miles from the city, damaged
property in it to the amount of 825,000 or
$30,000.   Three men were killed.
The President has decided to allow no
expeditions to the Black Hills for
mining purposes till the Indian title is
extinguished. An effort is now being
made for a treaty with them, with a
view of extinguishing their claim.
PURDUE UNIVERSITY.
La Fayette, March 1, '75.
Editor Indiana Farmer.
You will please give place in your valuable paper to the enclosed letter which
fully explains itself, and allow.me to say,
in j'ustice to the parties, that one of the
Rollers of which you spoke so highly
in the Farmer of Dec. 5, 1874, was
placed by Messrs. Loekhart & Bro. in
my hands last fall to be used on the
State Farm in putting out our fall crops;
and after using it I will say that it gave
entire satisfaction both in manner of doing the work and the lightness of draught,
making it easily operated by any good
farm hand and team. I am free to say,
that as far as I have used it, it has
proven the best, and any Roller that
beats it, will have to be a good one.
If the Fanning Mill is as good as the
Roller, I will be much pleased and report its merits through your paper.   As
Superintendent of the  Farm, I return
the thanks of the Board of Trustees, to
the gentlemen for their liberal donation.
The trial of machinery on the Agricultur-.
al Farm, is  a  subject that we have had
under advisement for  some   time.   Let J
farmers and   manufacturers speak out'
through the Farmer.
L. A. Burke. Farm Su->t.
"I.