y.
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VOL. XV.
INDIAJSTAPOLIS, INDIANA, SATURDAY, JUNE 26, 1880.
NO. 26
FOR SAXE.
FOR SALE—Tested Italian Queens, Nuclei   and
Colonies.   Address S E. O-NEEL.Dupout.lnd.
FOR 8 ALE—A large 6-ton mited Stttes Platform
Scale, less than half price.  Apply to "SCALES"
this office.
FOR  SALE-Fcrty
Prices reasonable,
fork, Indians.
extra fine Jersey Red pigs.
J. A. MERRICK, Mlddte-
FOR SALE-Iryou will pee my Jersey ball calves,
yoo will buy, anil Improve the cream quality of
yonr stock.   R. S. DORSEY, Indianapolis, I„d.
FOR SALE-Chester Whites, my entire
herd, winners of 1*7.670 ln cash prizes.    Choice
pigs fl* each.   K. R. MOODY, M. D.
show
prizes. Choice
Eminence, Ky.
baa-
gh	
V1SY, Lafayette, Indiana.
Early Grey Buckwheat.   1 bu. and
two bu. |2: on cars:m can safely sowjt
FOR SALE-
bafi-.jfl25; ...     . -   -
through July on wheat stubble. Address A. C. HAR-
FOR BALE—A second-hand breast-strap bus-gy
harness. In fair condltioa, cheap, at FREIBERG A Tl-IDLERS Harness Shop, No. 12 North
Delaware Btreet, Indianapolis.
TPOR BALE—Cheap—One yard of P. Rocks (6 hens
r and 1 cockerel, Drake and Conger's strain); one
fine pair of Emoden geese, one pair each of Golden
Sebright and Black Rose Combed Bantams. Address II. C. OREEN, Indianapolis, Ind.
FOR SALE—Cheap, a good secondhand 11/fht carriage, with front seat adjustable. Call at SHAW
A BACKUS'Carriage Shop. No. 36 East Maryland
street, Inulanapolls. This buggy Is w ell adapted to
farme.s' use.*elng light, strong and convenient.
FOR *"ALE—Two young Jersey bulls and two bull
calves ol the very best butter family in the
State. Dams make from 12 to 1 _ lbs. of butter In 7
days, also 4 young graded Jersey cows. Would trade
some ol the above stock for a good work horse. T. J.
JOHNSON, Greencastle, Ind.
-Very  low, by
o cows, heif.rs,
registered  and  good animals.
FOR SALE . .    .      __
Short horn cows, heif. rs, calves and bulls.
the herd or singly,
       All
Imported Cbaudas,
22350, stands at the head. Eggs of Brown or White
"     " * 175,
  -       __...    of
Leghorn chickens for sale at 75c per dozen.   Address
JACOB TAYLOR jS SON, Spiceland, Ind.
FOR SALE-Good farm cheap; 175 acres In Payette county, Indiana; ISO anresin cultivation.
Good buildings and all in good repairs; 1.4 ralies
from railroad statlou; M mile from pike. Easy payments endlong time. Eor further Information call
at the farm, or address M. DAUBENSPECK, Ben-
tonvlUe, Fayette Co., Ind.
FOR SALE—50,000 apple, and as many more of
other kinds of fruit, shade and ornamental
trees,etc. lam determined to sell low. I will contract to furnish, or furnish, plant and Insure orchards, lawns and street trees, evergreeus, etc., at
prices surprisingly low. Write for what you want.
Stock at DanviJle Nurserv, DaDVille, Indiana, ar,d
Spring Val.ey Nursery. Dublin, Ind. T. C. BARNUM, ptc prietor, 134 North Pennsylvania street, Indianapolis, ludiana.
banded. I am not in iavor of horns, dirt,
grease and a little wool on a little sheep. I
have been for many years advocating the
propriety of keeping and breeding thoroughbred stock of all kinds. But in the article
alluded to I proposed to farmers too
parsimonious to purchase thorough-
breds,both male and female, a way by
which they conld propagate thoroughbreds from common stock by purchasing a thoroughbred ram and breeding
him to common ewes. In this way they
would breed half-breeds, then by changing
the sire lor a thoroughbred of the same
breed, not related to the half-breeds, and
so continue until the old leaven of the female ancestry of the flock is bred out. The
heading of the article, "In-and-in Breeding," seems to be very poorly understood
by many. Although I am a most ardent
advocate of thoroughbred stock of all kinds,
I never advocated the breeding of a female
of any stock to her sire, brother, or any
near relative, for that would be breeding
in-and-in with a vengeance, and which haB
reduced some of the finest flocks*,herds,and
studs, in this country, to poor diminutive,
unhealthy, worthlnss stock. Indeed Europeans are not entirely free from the mistake.
Talk to me about ycu.* 40 years experience. You must, to become an experienced breeder, first study the physiology
of the organs of reproduction, the power of
ativism, and the relative forces in the
structure of animals to be coupled, which
it is safe to say you have not studied.
Allow me to say in conclusion that our
average ludiana farmer is not a dupe, lor
he prefers sheep weighing 150 to 200 pounds,
with a clean fleece weighing eight to 12
pounds of wool, to a breed weighing from
50 to 100 pounds with a fleece weighing
three to four pounds of clean wool.
John N. Navin.
 . ?■
I do not know that Indiana Chief has
enough "Royal" blood in him for me to
secure Mr. M's ?200, if not we will not
quarrel about it, as he can be bought fof
less, as I do not c.emand such fabulous
prices. I give the pedigree, and Mr. M.
can look it over and see if it will suit him.
Indiana Chief was sired by Governor Hendricks, he (Hendricks) by Palmer, and out
of an imported ewe bred by Lady Goodwin
of England. See American Cotswold Record, Vol. 1, No. 160. Indiana Chitf s dam
is "Imported Desdemona." she was bred
by Sir Russell Swanwick, of England, and
imported by Wm. M. Miller, Claremont,
Out., Canada, for the Peytona Importing
and Breeding Co. of Shelby county, Ky.
"Imported Desdemona" with Swanwick
Pride, Duchess oi Gloucester, Signet Queen
and Lady Oxford, won first, second and'
third prizes at Bath and West of England
fairs, in 1870; also, same year, first, second
and third at the Rr>yal. The yearling buck
referred to was sired by my English imported buck R >yalist. R,,yalist sheared 14
pounds of wool on the same day that Chief
was sheared, the growth of the fleece being
the samo. He was five years old last
March and weighed to-day 280 pounds. If
Mr. M. doubts my veracity, I refer him to
the cashiers of the First National and the
National Branch Bank of Madison, Ind.
William Baker.
North Madison, June 14.
FOR SALE—I offer at private sale, from my large
herd, twenty fine choice Short-horn cattle,
granting the purchaser the privilege of selecting.
Among them are cows, heifers and bulls that will do
to show In any ring. The bulls and heifers are from
"Marquis of Sugar Grove," a very fine deep red
bull, got by the Imported Second Marquis of Worcester, he by the Tnlrd Duke of Hillhurst 30975, most
all are red, and all straight pedigrees ru^ nlng to imported cows.   Will sell singly or in *--
fmrchasers.   A lew Cots
deth's imported   buck,
Wayne county, Ind.
Will sell singly _
A lew Cotswold lam3s from Mr. Mer
large lots to suit
from Mr. Mer-
MARLATT,  Milton,
MlSCM.l.AKfKOUS.
JONAS SCHOLL, Lyons Station, Ind., breeder of
pure Italian bees and queens.
DOCTORS—Send your address for Mankln ot Human Body.   Address W. NICELY, M. D., Cincinnati, Ohio.
X ONDON PURPLE—The celebrated potato bug
_1_J   destroyer for sale at Allen's Drugstore, oppo
site Postoffice.
BERRY STANDS and all kinds t f Pa, king Boxes
made to order and for sale cheap, at MYERS A
O > ERMIRES Boi Factory, 88 Deloss street, Indianapolis, Ind.
. ^ WATCHES, 4 oz. silver cases for |18. Every
IO watch Jeweled and warranted two years.
.. . n ordering state name of express office. Watches
sent C. O D. with prlvlledge of examining be'ore advancing any money. N. A. STEVENS, Jeweller,
Brandon, Wisconsin.
SAVE *V OUR SHINGLE ROOFS by having them
painted with (HEXEYLINE) FIRE PROOF
PAINT. We apply it (Boiling Hot) to shingle roofs.
It brings curled sningles down smooth. It prevents
rot. It will make _ our shingles last three times as
long. We guarantee it to do Just what we say. W.
H. LESTER A CO., 241 Matsachnsetts avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana.
LOANS.
MONEY to loan on Improved Farms at 7 per cent.
Interest.   M. E. VINTON, IndianapoUs, Ind.
Sstatlh
Mr. Thos. C. Hammond, Greencastle,
has sold his fine Short-hom bull, "Charley
Foster," to Mr. C. Rummel, Coesse, Whitley county, Indiana, for $100.
 ♦ :	
Mr. A. K. Hyndman, of whose fine sheep
and other stock we spoke a few weeks
ago,residesat Ennis, Gibson county, instead
of Daviess county as we then stated.
SALE OF SHOKT-HOBK CATTLE.
We have received the catalogue of Shorthorn cattle, the property of Hon. D. S.
King, Jas. H. Terrell and others, to be oi-
lered at public sale at Wilmington, Clinton
county, O., on Wednesday, July 21. As
the announcement of the proprietors these
cattle are of good colors, excellent quality
and ofthe most popular families. The list
includes pedigrees of 47 cows and heifers
and 16 bulls. For copies of the catalogue
address either Mr. King or*Mr. Terrell at
Wilmington.
Good Clip.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
We clipped from 22 Cotswold sheep 290
pounds of good elean wool, and received
|101 16 for the same. The flock consists of
six yearling ewes and 15 two and three-
year-olds, and one yearling buck. The av
erage per sheep was 13 1-5 pourds.
Wilson Hunt <fc Sons.
Darlington, Ind.
Weights of Fleccas.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
I notice in the Farmer a criticism on the
weight of fleeces of Cotswold sheep. I don't
wish to get into any controversy with any
person. A gentleman sent to me for a
sample of "Canadian Boy's" wool, and said
he had'just lost a very fine buck and would
be obliged to purchase another. I answered
but I never heard anything from him until
I saw his criticism in the Farmer. He
says he questions statements of any fleece
of 14 pounds of a year's growth, and says
in proof of this he will give $200 for a
thoroughbred English Cotswold buck that
will shear 16 pounds of wool of one year's
growth. He would not lose anything for
the buck would be cheap enough. He
asked me the exact time he had been
sheared last. I could not give that for the
sheep came from England to America, September, 1879, bnt I.have written to England to learn just the exact time when last
sheared. When I get that information I
will publish it for the information of the
skeptics on heavy fleeces. Again he says
in his correspondence, that when the sample of-wool came, the encouraging information came also that the buck was two
year's old. Now, anybody that makes
sheep a study, will learn that after the first
fleece is taken off thty are called a yearling, and then remains so until they are
sheared the second time, when they are
called two years old, and so on. If your
correspondent will take the pains to examine my advertisement in tbe Farmer
he will see that before the sheep was
sheared he stood as a yearling, but after he
was sheared I advertised as a two-year-old.
In reference to the sample of wool he says
"it is a fair one,and was just 12 inches long
when stretched out, but unfortunately the
specimen was cut square off at the outer
end that he might not know the exact
length of time it had been growing." Now
this looks as though I wanted to deceive
him. I have not deceived any oneyet that
I know of, and will not begin now. I have
mailed him another sample of wool, this
time, washed. Cal. F. Darnell.
Short-Horn Sales.
In thia issue we call the attention of our
readers to the Kentucky Summer Series of
Short-horn sales, beginning with 90 head
from tbe celebrated herd of T. Corwin Anderson, of Side View, aid closing seven
days after with Snyder &, Pogue, at Paris,
Kentucky. Breeders and expectant purchasers may confidently look for a higher
bred lot of cattle this year than ever before;
because, while Kentucky breeders generally have certainly advanced in breeding, yet
such has been the depression for three
years back that until this season they have
had no inducements whatever to offer this
higher class of cattle. The sales will all be
positive, without reserve, and as everything is on the "boom," purchasers should
take hold, as Short-horns in sympathy
with everything else will certainly be
higher in 1881. •■
large, and has remained so. Tlie leg is
about as large as two legs, and a kind of
knot at thej',int on front side. A. G.
Your friend's horse has a disease Called
lymphatitis. It was curable when first
noticed, but like all neglected diseases tbe
chances now for a cure are not very flittering. Try what can be done by painting
with tincture of iodine, applied once or
twice per day for a week or two.
Bad Milk.
J-dltora Indiana Farmer:
We have a cow th'at gives bad milk some
of the time. The milk when clabbered is
very stiff, and all the whey rises to the top
under cream and a dark scum on the
cream. Ann Moon.
Give your cow the following: Ground
ginger, four ounces; blood-root, flour of
sulphur, pulverized nitre, black antimony
and sulphate of iron of each two ounces.
Mix and give in wet mill or chop feed, one
teaspoonful three times per day. Take and
scald your milk bucket and pans belore
using, let cool, and place pans in a cellar
or dairy in which no smell can be discovered. '
" Glanders.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
I got the receipt you sent me for glanders filled out and am ubing preparation.
Since the first ten days my mare has almost  quit running at the nose; the discharge now only may be seen perhaps once
or twice per day, but little, and no smell
whatever.   Glands appear considerably enlarged, and long and soft.   Mare is lively
and has as good an appetite as usual, and
appears to hold her own in flesh.   Eyes
look strong; no ulcers in nose, and looks
as healthy as my other horses.   The symp- |
toms were so  singular in the beginning
that I could not decide what it was myself.
Now do you think it glanders, and tf so,
is it in fair way for the better?   If glanders  would   it be  catching now to other
stock?   It is now about 25 days since she
began to ail, and I quit working her.
F. J. S.
You had better not work your mare.
You must use the medicine until the
glands disappear. It was certainly a first
or second stage of glanders.
NEBRASKA. !
Nance Co., June 20. Crops in this country look well. The weather has been dry
through the spring; have had plenty of
rain lately. R. J.
NORTH CAROLINA.
Davidson Co.,June 10 —Farmers are cutting wheat; yield good; acreage laige. Otts
and corn coming out since tbe late rains.
Cotton never looked better. Peaches and
apples scattering, killed by frost. Corn 65
cents per bushel. R. G. M.
OHIO.
Richland Co., June 14.—Wheat is in
splendid condition and almost ready for
the reaper. Was very much pleased with
John Goodfellow's letter from Missouri.
Please send more of such from our Western
States. We love to hear of your prosperity.
Here land ranges from ?60 to $100 per acre.
We look eagerly every week for the
Farmer; cou'd not do without It; long
may it live. What is John Goodfellow's
address? P. T. Rhoads.
possession and recording of such patents
are not absolutely necessary to make one's
title perfect. .The title may be all right,
although the patent or deed may bo lost or
destroyed before recording. The record of
such instruments only enables the owner
to exhibit the evidence of his title; and it
is important for this reason that such patents be recorded, and if the owner of any
such land finds that his patent is not recorded he should have the same put on
record at once; and if he has no such pat-
I ent and none is on record, the sum of two
dollars is a very reasonable charge for furnishing the same to him.
^cfcrinarjie
Postal Card Correspondence.
This department la edited by Dr. John N. Navin
Veterinary Surgeon, anthor ot Navin's Explanatory I Potato bugs are plenty.
Stock Doctor.
Rules to be observed by those 'expecting correct
answers:
1. State tbe rate of pulse.
2. The breathing.
3. The standing attitude.
4. Appearance ol hair.
5. If cough, and secretion from nose, whether
glands between the Jaws can be felt, and how near
the bone.
6. II breathing ls rapid, accompanied by rattle or
rnshlng sound, no time must be lost ln blistering
throat, and using tincture of aconite root and tincture of belladonna 20 drops on tongue alternately
every two hours, for tlrce ls too short for an answer
7. Parties desiring answers by mail must enclose a
stamp.
Sheep and Wool.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
In the article of "H. B. H." in the Farmer lately, he does me great injustice in putting me down as in favor of crossing breeds,
and as against thoroughbreds of any stock.
In the article you refer to, the authorship
of which I acknowledge under my signature, I have disturbed you to such an extent,  that  you  must  have  read it left-
A Sixteen Pound Fleece.
Editors Indiana Farmer.
I see in your issue of the 12th inst., that
Mr. B. F. Magee questions the weight of
any fleece of wool over 14 pounds taken
from any thoroughbred long-wool sheep of
any breed.of one year's growth; and in proof
of hia sincerity he proposes to give $200 for
a thoroughbred English Cotswold buck that
will shear 16 pounds of wool of a year's
growth at the second shearing. My buck,
"Indiana Chief," two years old on the 10th
day of last March, weighing to-day 242
pounds, did shear on the Sth day of May
last 16 pounds of wool, being a growth of
11 months and 25 days. He was sheared
last year on the 10th day of May. The
shearing was done by Mr. Andrew Barger
both times, who will testify to the time of
shearing. I have the fleece which will answer for itself, I will say more: I have a
one-year-old buck that wassheared in July
last, then suckling his dam, that I sheared
on the same day I sheared Chief, from
which I sheared 14 pounds. This fleece
was a few days less then 10 months growth.
•    rWDIANA.
Fulton Co., June 14.—It looks gloomy
here. Wheat is badly damaged by the fly;
some fields are % taken. Oats are doing
well. Corn is small for this time of year
If it continues to rain a week more it will
make the crops short. Grass is doing well.
Health generally
good. E. D. B.
Scott Co., June 17.—Until within the last
few days the farmers of this county have
been greatly encouraged by the prospects
of good crops, but since that time the rains
have somewhat discouraged them, making
it very difficult to harvest their wheat.
Wheat is falling down badly and is not as
good as anticipated. Corn in good condition.   Potato bugs plenty. R. N. I_.
Dearborn  Co.,  June  14.—The barley
QUEKY   AND   ANSWER.
L. L. O., Cleveland, Tenn., desires the
address of anyone having Diamond wheat
or Nevada rye to spare. Send address to
this office.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
To whom does a person apply to enlist in
the United States Secret Service?
Milroy, June 13. Don Juan.
The government is not calling for volunteers in the secret service, at present, that
I we are aware of. You can get definite in-
I formation however, by addressing Hon.
Geo. "W. McCrary, Secretary of _yVar.
Tile Laying Ditcher.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Any one wishing information about a
ditching machine that makes the ditch,
lays the tile and covers it at the same time,
can get it by writing to E. F. Felt.
Madison Co.
Ohio Parmer's Insurance Company.
R. S. A., Bunker Hill, Miami county,
and others who inquire in regard to this
company will find a full answer to their
queries in an editorial and a letter from the
general secretary of the company, elsewhere in this number.
Goats Wanted.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Please inform me where I can get a pair
of goats to run with my stock, and what I
will have to pay for them. J. S.
Delphi.
Those who have goats for sale should let
the fact be known through our advertising
columns.
Sowing Clover.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
If I harrow wheat stubble after harvest,
without breaking it up and sow clover and
harrow or brush the seed in, will it catch,
or do as well as any other waj?       J. M.
You may get a catch in the way you propose, if your ground is mellow, but it will
not do as j well asf if well broken up. If
your soil is clay and hard you stand a good
crop is in excellent condition and nearly all  chance of losing your seed and your time
Blister It.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
We have a horse five yeais old that has a
slight cough, little rattling in the throat;
discharges some matter from the nostrils.of
a whitish color; looks well; eats hearty;
works all the time. No swelling of the
throat or .glands. W. H. J.
Blister your horse's throat with a fly
blister, made as heretofore frequently
mentioned in these columns.
Heaves.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Can the heaves in horses be cured, and
how? The horse breathes hard, and I can
hear a noise in her body. Sub.
If your horse has a noise or rattle in his
throat the sooner the throat is blistered
the better. Use Spanish fly, one ounce to
a pint of spirits of turpentine. Rub in
with the hand* constantly until the hide is
an inch thick, and a sack forms below at
the breast. Drop half a drachm of tincture
of aconite root and the same of tincture of
belladonna,two hours apart, alternately,on
the tongue.
Catarrh Fever.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
I have a mare tbat has, been ailing for
about 10 days, and to-day Is almost past
going. She is running at the nose and
coughs occasionally; breathing sluggish
and burdensome; appetite not regular.
While drinking, water passes out through
the nose.   Pulse 55 per minute.
A. C. D.
Your mare has catarrh fever. Blister the
throat and take tincture of aconite, tincture
of belladonna and drop half a drachm of
each alternately on the tongue every two
hours. Her chance of life will be meagre
by the time you get the Farmer.
Bad Case.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
A farmer here requested me to find out
what ails bis horse. Three years ago .the
horse began swelling on left hind leg, from
knee down to hoof, and sometimes higher
than the knee. It went along ulowly until
about one year ago, when it began to get
in shock. Some pieces of wheat ready to
cut, and of good quality, but materially
injured by the fly. It is not a heavy crop
in this part of the county. The prospect
for a heavy crop of grass ard agood crop
of oats is promising. Apples and peaches
generally a good crop on high ground, but
quite light in the valleys. R. C.
Hendricks Co., June 16.—We are having
a great deal of rain, plows all stopped and
corn getting very weedy. Wheat nearly
ready to cut. Mesdows look well. Oats
fair, except on flit' lands where it is
drowned out some. Strawberries nearly
gone. Ruspberries ripening. Cherries
taken by the birds. Currants and gooseberries destroyed by the worms. Pastures
good and stock doing well. Weather hot
last week but cooler now. W. H. M.
Carlisle, June 17.—Our town presents
very much the appearance of a deserted
village, very few men and boys are to be
seen on our streets; they are nearly all at
work in the wheat fields, at wages ranging
from ?2 to $2 50 per day. About 75 per
cent, of all the cultivated land within the
radius of six miles of this place was sown
in wheat last fall; 20 per cent, greater than
last year. Leading farmers estimate the
average of the crop at 25 bushels per acre.
The quality of the grain is good. Several
steam-power threshers will be at work In
this vicinity next week. W. H.
Johnson Co., June 14.—I see a statement
in the Farmer that corn down in Texas is
in silk, while we in Indiana are flooded
with rain, and hundreds oi acres in this
county have never been plowed. It is only
those who have upland and well-drainsd
farms that are barely able to subdue the
weeds. At present writing the rain is falling and the farmers are becoming somewhat despondent. We think we never
saw vegetation more vigoious. The forests are dark with foliage. Wheat that is
sown on clover sod and strong ground is
bidly down. Oats and meadows are splen-
J,J    Fruit prospect good. J. M.
in attempting to sow without plowing.
Apple Blight.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
If among the many readers of the
Farmer there are any that know the cause
of the blight on apple trees, and have a
remedy, they will confer a great favor on
one at least, if they let it be known through
the Farmer. .        J. L.
B^teham, Sullivan Co.
P. Barry, the veteran fruit grower of
Rochester, N. Y., inhis Fruit Garden, says
that no remedy is known for this disease,
except to cut away and destroy the memento of your losses.
Grub in the Head.
A  reader  of  the Farmer in Western'
Texas inquires for a remedy for the "nose
worm" in sheep.   "Grub in the Head" is
probably what is intended.   The books on
sheep and their diseases do not use the
other term.   The grubs are found in the I
nasal and other cavities of the head, where
the eggs from which they come have been I
deposited  by  the Sheep  gad-fly.   Those
larvse, or grubs are hatched out in July or
August  and  remain in the head  of the
sheep until next spring, when they drop
on the ground, into which they burrow
and await their formation into gad-flies.
They are not supposed to cause the death
of sheep, or tobe very injurious to them,
though sometimes quite annoying.   Some
farmers smear the noses of their sheep
with tar, to prevent the gad-fly from laying
its eggs there.   No certain remedy against
the grub is known.
did.
Legal Qnerles.
Answered by Vinson Carter, Irtdlanapolls.
Canal Land Title.
S. M., Huntington county, inquires in
regard to the title to canal lands, and sends
a circular, from a legal firm, offering to secure correct! titles for the occupants of such
lands.
We have no means of knowing as to
whether the firm, whose circular you send,
are able to furnish the original patents to
canal land* or not, but we will say. that the
Letter from One of the Farmer's
Force, Rusticating in Kansas.
"Frank, do you want lo take a vacation?"
"Would a duck swim?" was our reply.
''Rack out!" said the boss.
And here I am on the broad plains of
Kansas,   30  miles  from timber.    Am
having a howling good time, and taking
in the ozone, at a rate that would bankrupt the stock of atmosphere carried by
any Indiana county.
The first impression one gains of the
couutry by a journey west from Kansas
City over the K. P. railroad is not favorable.   Tbe road winds up the valley of
the Kansas river, and nothing is to be
seen but tlie distaut limestone hills, or
the marsh-like river bottoms, which are
not at all inviting.   I left the railroad at
Abilene, the county seat of Dickinson
county, and one of the most promising
towns   of   the  Stat?.    It  wits   formerly the terminus of tbe Texas cattle
drive and noted for its lawlessness.   The
festive cow boy came up with tbe vast
herds of cattle and spent the earnings of
months in a few hours among the many
saloons and gambling houses tbat everywhere abounded.   The cheerful sound of
the "navy six" was borne on the evening
air, and they had  a dead man every
morning for breakfast.   But a'l this has
changed, the "bull-whacker" has fled
before the snort of the locomotive, that
mighty civilizer ofthe Western country,
and his deeds live only in the memory
of tbat truthful chronicler, the "oldest
inhabitant," who proudly   boasts   that
he came from "back East"  ten years
ago.
The objective point of my pilgrimage
was the dividing line of Dickinson and
Clay counties, midway between the Republican and Smoky Hill rivers, to reach
which necessitated a journey across the
country, giving a much better opportunity of seeing it than any amount of
traveling on tbe cars would do.   The
first thing that strikes the Hoosier unfavorably is the entire absence of timber-
and fences;   then  the residences  look
more like the play-houses of children
than the habitations of men.   Lumber
is scarce and high, and close economy is
practiced in their construction.   All outbuildings are made of light board or pole
frame-work,   covered  and  sided   with
straw or prairie hay securely tied down
to prevent the wind from blowing it ofl,
for the wind blows constantly, and  the
proverbial ''great^guns,"  the old sailor
tells us about are in  nowise to be compared to the Kansas zephyrs.   A person
addicted to the use of the weed lias to
carry   bis   mouth close-reefed, or   the
quid will be blown clear of his teeth
every time.   Iu spite of these little inconveniences the country is tilling up
rapidly.   Four years  ago  tbis  section
was one uubroken expanse of prairie,
now it is dotted with farm houses ami
waving witb golden grain, which is just
now b ii>g cut.    The extremely dry season—for they had no rain from November until the latter part of May—has cut
the wheat crop short, but yet tbe yield
will be from 15 to 20 bushels per acre.
The acreage of corn is very large and tbe
crop is in fine condition, and the ease
with which it is cultivated is one of the
surprises to the new comer, one mail
and team putting in and tending 50 to
75  acres  witb   ea?e,   while  tbe  same
amount or more of wheat can be raised
with equal facility.   Tbe wheat harvest
is done almost entirely with "a header,"
which cuts a twelve foot Bwathe and is
pushed by fwur horses.   Tiie grain is elevated from the side  of tbe macbiue
into a wagon that is driven along parallel with it,while cutting, and when full is
driven to the stack and unloaded with a
fork, which is the only handling the
grain receives in the entire operation of
harvesting.   This work which is considered so laborious and exhausting with
us, is here lightly   and easily doue by
four men who cut and stack .30 acres per
day.   The population is very cosmopolitan, all parts of the United States, Canada, and other countries having representatives among them.   They all profess to be well satit-fied with their new
homes, and are making many permanent  and  valuable    improvements rn
their lands.   Though tbe country has
been so recently settled, school-houses
and churches are numerous and tbey all
enjoy comforts and privileges that were
unknown to the  pioneers of Indiana.
But here as everywhere else independence  and a competency can only   be
fained by hard work and rigid economy,
'hose who already own homes and are
reasonably well fixed in tbe older States
will do well, to remain where they are,
means but poor men, or those of small
and  large    families,   can   gain   such
homes here by a few years of industry
as they can never hope for where tbey
are.   I have accumulated further information regarding Kansas which is to be
regreted, were it uot f< r tbe fact, that I
am too lazy to bother you further -'•v-
it this time. Prank Pati
* _E__2/:>____.