VOL. XXIV.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., FEBRUARY 9,1889.
NO. 6
3?ifty Years Ago, and Now.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Please insert the accompanying copy of
a deed, for reasons which will appear
latex:
Tnis indenture made this day of	
In the year of onr Lard, one thousand
eight hundred  and tnirty-nine,  between
A. B of county,,and State of  Indiana,
of the  first part, and C. D.  of oounty
and State of Indiana, of the second part;
witnesaeth that the said  party ol thu first
part, in consideration of  the sum ot	
dollar-,, lawful money of the United State,
to him of the first part in hand paid by
him of the second part, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged; hath granted,
bargained, sold, aliened, enfoeffed, released, conveyed, warranted, and confirmed and delivered, and by these presents doth grant, bargain, sell, alien, en-
foe ff, release, convey, warrant and confirm and deliver unto the said party of
the second part, his heirs, assigns, administrators or executors, for ever; all
that tract or parcel of land lying and be-
ng (here is the description) togeiher with
all the privileges, rents, profits, tenements, and remainders and hereditaments
and appurtenances thereunto belonging,
or in anywise appertaining thereunto;
and all the estate, right, title, claim, and
interest whatsoever, of the said party of
the first part, either in law or equity, of,
in, and to, the said above described premises, with the said hereditaments, enfoeff-
ments, and appurtenances, to have and to
hold the premises above menti nsd and
described; to the said party of the second
part, his heirs and assigns forever. And
the said A. B. of the ft.-at part doth, for
hlmsel', his heirs, executors, ass'gns and
administrators, covenant, grant, and
agree to, and with, the said O. D of the
tne second part, his** heirs, executors, administrators and assigns; that he, the said
A, B. the party of the first part, is lawfully seiz 3d, in fee, of the aforesaid granted
premises; that ne is the true and lawful
owner of said premises, and hath good
right, full power, and lawful authority, to
sell and convey the same, in manner and
form aforesaid.
And further, that he, the said party of
the first part, for himself, his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, will warrant and forever defend the aforesaid
premises, with their appurtenances and
every part thereof, unto the said party of
the second part, his heirs, assigns, executors and administrators forever; against
aU lawful claims and demands o! any person, and all persons whomsoever.
Then follows comparatively, equally as
long and superfluous, the acknowledgement,' first, of the husband, and then oi
the wife—the latter "beiDg examined sep
arate and apart from her said husband,the
full contents being made known and ex
plained to her—that she did, of her own
voluntary, free will and accord, and as her
act and deed, seal, sign, and deliver, said
deed of conveyance, without any coercion
or compulsion from her said husband,and
that she hereby relinquishes all her right,
title, and claim forever, to, and in, the
above described premises.
Now "A. B.
CONVEYS AND WARRANTS,
to C. D." and his wife jcius him, both acknowledge together, and that's all there
is of it.   Qiite an improvement isn't it?
Now, please insert the present law regulating weights and measures. Approved
March 9.h, 1885.
Section 1 It is enacted by the general
assembly of the State cf Indiana that GO
pounds of wheat (avoirdupois weight)
shall be given and taken for a standard
bushel; of shelled.corD,50 pounds; of corn
on the cob, 68 pounds; of buckwheat 58
pounds; of oats, 32 pounds; of beans, (iO
pounds; of potatoes, 60 pounds; of clover
8fOdi 60 pounds; of hemp seed, 44 pounds;
of blue (trass seed, 14 pounds; of castor
beans, 46 pounds; of dried peaches, 33
pounds; of dried apples 25 pounds; of
onions48pounds; of sorghum molasses,
11 pounds to the gallon; of mineral coal
mined without and sold within the State,
80 pounds; of coal,mined within the State,
80ponnds; of timothy seed, 45 pounds; of
rye, 56 ponnds; of barley, 48 pounds; of
corn meal 50 pounds; 2,000 pounds of hay
shall be taken and given for a ton; of cranberries, 33 pounds; of millet seed, 50
pounds, of orchard grass seed, 14 pounds;
of malt rye, 35 pounds; middlings, fine,
■Ml pounds; middlings, coarse, 30 pounds;
osage orange, 33 pounds; parsnips, 55
pounds; popcorn, 70 pounds; 55 pounds
oi sweet potatoes shall constitute a bushel.
The weight of beef or pork in each barrel
shall be 200 pounds; the weight ol flour in
each barrel shall be 106 pounds.
Section 2. All the different kinds of
grain, seeds and articles specified in this
act, shall hereafter be given and taken at
the several weights affixed to each standard bushel,and ai such shall be considered
a legal tender to fulfill any contract made
for the delivery of either of the kinds of
grain, seeds or articles specified in this
act,
"With the exception of csage, sorghum,
molasses and some minor things; this law
is just what it was fifty years ago, and is
for many reasons, fir more objactionable
than the old form of deeds! It is a standing evidence of our stupidity! And, today, there is probably not a man in the
State of Indiana, who can remember how
many pounds of the various commercial
commodities we daily buy and sell, make
a bushel! Why not simplify this whole
thing, by wiping out forever the "bushel"
and buy and sell by the pound? Is there
a single reason for retaining it?
In a former article in the Farmer, and
for special and other  reasons than given
now, I advocated its elimination from all
commercial quotations, and have written
above, trusting it may assist in hastening
the time when our ^Legislature shall abat
don such  relics cf ignorance.   It is true
that common sense in business is gradual
ly getting away from the above cumber
ous  and  injudicious law; and custom is
displacing it by many of the above articles
being bought and soldby weight—irresrier.-
tive of a "standard bushel"—which is only
another name for a standard of nonsense.
Liberty, lad.             W. W. Sullivan.
 .   m  .	
Latter from Florida.
Editor* Indiana Farmer:
There is nothing peculiar in a trip from
Indiana to Florida, except the impression
upon a mind that takes in the views.
After leaving Indiana, the shadow of n'ght
veiled all that is to be seen until near
Nashville, Tenn., and what was to be seen
at that point was greatly obscured, not
only by the heavy clouds, but increased
by the smoke of the city. Soon again we
were on the way, and few were the scenes
that we passed in that country that are
attractive to a Northern eye. The continuous show of lime rock where cuts were
made for railroads; some places where
fences were made of the same material,
but generally badly racked or down; very
few farm buildings in s'ght, the majority
of tbem in a bad state of desuetude.
Barns in particular, where there was any,
were small and dilapidated. About the
only change noticed between Alabama
aid Tennessee was the forests whioh
changed from scrub cedar to scrub pine,
and the llme'rocks to the red banks In the
cats. Nearly every man seen at work
was a negro. Once in a while a piece of
ground could be seen where clover had
been sown, and it appeared to be growing
nicely. Very little bay to be seen, and
what there is, put up in small high stacks,
propped up with rails. In Alabama the
last picking of cotton was beiDg gathered,
audit looked small. But little stock is
seen and that is ln bad condition unless
horses and mules should be excepted, still
many of them are small and poor.
Beforo reaching Montgimery night
again was closing on the scene. I stayed
a few hours at Pensacola, starting from
there at 5 a. m., daylight coming while
crossing the bay eaat of that town. It
looked a little like going to sea In a car.
Having a slow train gave much time lor
observation where there was but little td
be seen. The most attractive sight to me
being the Spanish moss with which the
trees were festooned near the sfeams we
crossed. We soon struck a high sandy
ridge,about midway between theState
line on the north and the gulf on the
south. If very sandy land, with very
scrubby oak and not very large pine is in
dlcationof poor land we  certainly have
it here for quite a distance on this road.
At every station much freight was put ofl,
mostly consisting of sacked corn, oats and
bran, with some bacon and salt. True
there was some other freight, but lt was
but little in comparison with that mentioned. Very little improvement of any
kind is to be seen ;a few sawmills being the
most. Arrived at this point after eight
hours, a ride of ten miles an hour. This
town is on one of the highest points within the State, claimed to be nearly 300 feet
above sea lavel. There are homes enough
for over 2,000 inhabitants, but there are
only about one-half that number of permanent residents; the others are occupied
in winter by people from the North. It
matters not whether it is from New York
or Dokota; it Is all North here.
The State Chautauqua Is located here,
having many improvements, among them
a tabernacle, seating from 2,500 to 3,000
people. The assembly meets this season,
February 8, for a six weeks' session.
They look for a large meeting. The program was to have been out in December,
but was postponed to January 15.
The State Normal College is located here.
It is now occupying buildings belonging
to the assembly. They hope to build this
year. There are other school facilities,
making this rather a desirable point for
education.
One of the attractions of this section is
its very soft and apparently pure water
from its numercus springs. These waters
are proving very beneficial to all who are
suflering with any kidney trouble. The
high sandy soil, pine woods, and nearness
to the gulf (18 miles) with ita excellent
water glye the impression that this is a
healthy place. In proof that it is, many
came here a few years ago, as I did, to
stay a few months, that now calculate to
make this their future home.
This is a new town, mostly being built
the last three or four years. The conntry,
too, is new,esti mated three to five per cent
improved in thia (Walton) county. While
the soil on this high land looks poorer
than poverty, it has grown very fine
vegetables and trees, and with proper fertilization will grow anything suitable for
the climate. I have not been in the country yet, but they claim good soil on either
side of the railroad.
This county ha* a new court house and
jail, is out of debt, and has prohibition
under theState option law; still great
quantitias of liquor are shipped to the
town, both in known and concealed packages, showing that local option is "too
local and too optional" to be eflectual.
This, too, when this town gave 139 votes
for the dry—none for the wet.
Farmer.
D Funiak Springs, Fla.
 s    s»    s	
Needed Legislation.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
You ask for an expression of the views
of your readers through the Farmer, relating to laws that should be enaoted for
the benefit of tha masses. I will start the
ball rolling by giving a small list that I
now happen to think of. First, give us
an election law that will make it impos-
siple for a person to sell or buy votes; or,
as nearly so as can be done. And to do
this will require of our law makers all the
brains and ingenuity that they can command.
The Australian law maybe good enough
for Australia but would not answer for
the American Yankee buyer and seller.
To examine our present law one would
think we already have quite a good one
if it was only enforced, nevertheless it
has proven to be a grand failure. In many
instances we hear of maDy persons who
were hired a week before the election, not
to vote for so and so, but merely to stay at
home and not go to the polls. Many persons here that are worth from two to ten
' thousand dollars make It a regular busi
ness to sell themselves "and their sons if
they are so nnfortunate as to havo them.
Of course such men's votes are worth mors
money than those of poor men without
property. This is C9rtainly the most low-
down, disgraceful and shameful outrage
the American people have to submit to,
and demands a law that is plain, strong
and easily enforced.
There should also be a change in the
State constitution, makiDg all terms of
office four years. Also making a person
ineligible to hold office more than lour
years ln twelve.
There should also be a fea and salary
bill passed greatly reducing the salaries
of county officers, and make the offices
salaried offices, and all fees to go to the
county treasury.
One other law that will demand nearly
as much attention as the election law, Is
one that will compel persons to list all of
their property for taxation. If this were
dono there would be no occasion to increase the State levy for an increase of
funds.
There should also be a good deg law
passed that will cause all owners of dogs
to pay tax on the same.
There shonld also be an appropriation
made of a reasonable amount for defraying the expenses of Farmers' Institutes,
and place Indiana where .Bhe rightfully
belongs as an agricultural State, one of
tho foremast in the Union.
Also a law to reduce the rate of interest
to about six per cent. This would be of
great advantage to the masses and would
cause more internal improvements, thereby giving more employment to more
laborers, which would ba better for all
farmers, carpenters and all classes of
laborers.
L9t us hear from others on this sub j sot,
through the Farmer.
Anderson. Wilson Cory.
Potato Boxes,
Editors Indiana Farmer:
I will give a description of a box, in
which to handle potatoes which I think
saves more work in potato digging than
anything I have ever tried. Tne ends of
the boxes are poplar plank, eight inches
wide, sixteen inches long. Lay down on
side and bore two holes a few inches apart
one and a fourth inches from top. Cut
out the wood between holes so as to make
hand holes. Nail four slats 22'A inches
long on each side, and eight on bottom,
K iuch apart, that the air may dry the
potatoes. Eich box will hold a bushel
level, so they may be set one on top of the
other. I_9tthem dry out quick. When
you dig a load, drive through your patch
and Btring them along tho row thick
enough to put potatoes ln. Assort them
as you dig them. Thro w the little ones to
one sido for the hogs, and the good ones
intended for family use or to sell, throw
in boxes. When you go to haul in your
load just place your boxes one on top of
the other, and you will have no trouble
in unloading. Have a plank at callar
dosr on which to slide boxes; have a man
to take them as they come.
These are nice for your apples. You
can keep each sort to itself, and can always get just the kind you, want. You
can also see at any timo just the quantity
you have on hand, Use or Bell the varieties that will not keep long. A box each
of potatoes, apples and onions may be
brought to the kitchen for use as you like,
and will occupy but little room if placed
one on top of the other. These boxes may
also be used to carry feed in. I have
only mentioneda fewof the uses to which
they may be put, and hope you will try
them and let me know how you like them.
William Higbee.
The snow and wind storm in Nebraska
on the ith wfcs very severe.