WEATHER CHOP BULLETIN
Of the Indiana Weather Service in co-opera-
tion vnththe United States Weather Bureau
for the week ending Saturday, May 21,
1892.
Precipitation greatly In excess, continuous low temperature, and but little sunshine prevailed again during the past
week; these conditions are very distressing to the farmers, whose fields are not
plowed yet or corn planted, as it is getting
very late in the season for the planting of
corn; wheat, rye, oats grass and fruit
continue in fine oondition; wheat has
commenced to head in some sections; in
some fields continuous wet weather
caused it to turn yellow prematurely;
oats, of which but little oould be sown,
has improved and stands well.
SOUTHERN POBTION.
Columbus, Bartholomew Co.—Wehave
had another week of rain, with but one
day that any plowing or planting oould be
done; not nearly one half of the fields are
broken and over half, the oorn yet to be
planted; clover is beginning to blossom;
pasturage is doing well.   Rainfall, 2.55.
Vevay, Switzerland  Co.—The week is
noteworthy for violent atmospheric disturbances; electrio storms,  more or less
severe on all days except on Sunday; the
rainfall was profuse, only 0.73 below the
_atej.-_efjr.tli9 whole month.   Much injury has been done  to hillside crops by
washing j .farmers  suffered great   interruptions in planting corn and the prospect continues unfavorable while the rain
continues; warm, dry -weather and plenty
of sunshine is now badly needed for all
crops.  RainfaU, 3.14.
Seymour, Jackson Oo.—Another seven
days of low temperature, deficient sunshine and excessive rainfall intensify the
unfavorable crop conditions; farmers
are very much disheartened. Some fruit
has been blown ofi by the winds; early
cherries are a failure; late cherries, grapes
and berries will be abundant; the peach
and apple prospect is very promising;
wheat and grasses are In prime oondition;
other crops are very backward and farming operations are seriously retarded: live
stock is in prime order; no noxious in
«ecta.   Rainfall, 2.76.
Worthington, Greene Co. It rained
nearly every day, and farm work has been
at a standstill; a very small area of corn
has been planted, Indeed, comparatively
little land has been ploughed; the rivers
are high and still rising and much of the
low land is under water; wheat is growing
wo rapidly and liable to be blown down.
R&infaU, 1.48.
DeGonia Springs, Warrick Co.—Another
week of wet weather; it rained five days
out of seven, but lighter than last week;
iw.Uttle oorn **8 Planted and not half
the breaking done yet; pastures are excellent and stock is doing well; gardening is
backward.   RainfaU, 1.59.
Troy, Perry Co.—The weather the past
■even days has been very unfavorable;
continuous rains have retarded farm
work; very Uttle corn has been planted;
wheat is heading.
__-_.«Vernon' Posey Co.—The weather
jOnwtions were very unfavorable; plow
hot u. plantinS oI com was stopped and
"BMHtlehas been dove yet; wheat and
in~_ W8re benefitted and fruit is unin-
jni-ed.  RainfaU, 2.40.
New Albany, Floyd Co.-Low tempera-
dI-i-m exceasive rains prevailed; nc
{£"mnR was done; farmers are much dis
doi-***1' *neat> °*toi grass and fruit are
crrm -?*U and bld *•** to makeafuU
cr°P.   RainfaU, 2^2.
wXT1**16-     Jennings-   Co.-Another
ot_o.n .wnhas fi0 dolayed the planting
bjub_.»^f   " -^average crop wW not
Panted; wheat & heading, oats grow
ing nicely; grass and clover are doing
well; fruit has fallen from some apple and
plum trees.   Rainfall, 1.96.
Marengo, Crawford Co.—There Is at
present the least amount of corn planted
for the time of year ever known; the
ground is so wet that it can not be worked
and warm sunshine is needed most; all
vegetation planted is growing well; pasturage is good and stock in good condition.   RainfaU, 3 20.
CENTRAL POBTION.
Irvington, Marion Co.—Wheat, oats,
and g___s are doing weU, but farmers and
gardeners are greatly discouraged on account of almost incessant rains which
almost entirely prevented preparations
or planting corn and vegetables;
much corn ground and gardens are yet
unbroken; fruit is at a standstill in consequence; much of it is dropping from the
trees.   Riinfall, 2 85.
Mauzy, Rush Co.—Very little corn was
planted this week the ground is very wet
and warmer dry weather is needed for
corn; wheat needs cools dry weather as
some is too rank; rye is headed; pasturage
in fine condition.   Rainfall, 3 32
Franklin, Johnson Co.—Wheat continues to grow very fast aud will soon begin
to head; but in many, fields it is thin and
will not make more than half a orop; oats
looks well; although but Uttle was sown;
early potatoes are growing nicely with no
bugs yet ln sight; no corn was planted nor
plowing done during the week on account
of continued rain; warm and dry weather is
needed.   Rainfall, 2-75.
Cambridge City, Wayne Co.—E. ery day
except Monday was cloudy; the continued and excessive rain "prevented corn
planting; aU other crops are in good condition; first bumble bee seen on the 16th.
RiinfaU, 3.59.
CjnnersvUle, Fayette Co.—It continued
wet; most of the corn is not planted yet;
t_at which was plantel earlier is up; warm-
weather is needed for all crops. RainfaU,
2.72.
Farmland, R.ndolph Co.—The weather
ln the week was too wet for farm work;
not a furrow or hill has been planted and
the temperature was too cool to do the
corn good; wheat and grass look well.
Rainfall, 2.77.
Richmond, Wayne Co.—Rain feU on
five out of the seven days; aud the excessive rains during several weeks make
matters serioHS where but Uttle'cora is
planted and much plowing to be done
yet; no injury is done to wheat, rye, and
barley; but the unusually cool wet weather
retards very much their growth; unless
dry and warmer comes soon great damage
may result.   Riinfall, 2 58.
Ashboro, Clay Co.—Another week of
cold rainy weather; no corn planted and
not 75 per cent of breaking done; wheat is
looking weU and needs only fair weather
to mature a good crop; very Uttle oats is
sown this season; young timothy and clover
promise weU.   Riinfall, 210.
NORTHERN PORTION.
Logansport, Cass Co.—The continued
wet weather has stopped all farm work
during the past week; wheat and oats look
yeUow from the excessive rains; farmers
are much discouraged, half of them have
no plowing done; fruit promises an
abundant crop.   Riinfall, 4.57.
Haw Patch, L.Grange Co.—A number
of fields of corn were planted on the lStft
but the rains from the 19th leave the
ground too wet for planting; apple trees
are banks of blossoms, I have never
seen them so full of bloom; plums, cherries, peaches, apricots and pears, have set
more fruit than expected because of the
low temperature.   Rainfall, 0.49.
Point Isabal, Grant Co.—Cloudy, cool
and rainy weather has been very unfavor
able to farm work, not anything toward
corn planting has been done for over two
weeks and but Uttle planting and plowing has been done so far; wheat is injured in places; the prospect for farmers
is becoming alarming.   Riinfall, 1.65.
LaPorte, LaPorte Co.—Another dark
rainy and gloomy week; the sun shone
only part of one day; the temperature
continues low; rainfall, 8 50 inch in the
past three weeks; farmers are greatly discouraged; apple trees are loaded with
blossoms, grape shoots are only a finger
long; the tallest and best wheat is lodging
and much has been injured by the rains.
Rainfall, 1 24.
Marion, Grant Co.—There has been one
day this week, on which rain did not fall
and no clear day at all; cool temperature
continued; unless fair warmer weather
comes soon'the crops will surely be a partial
failure at least.   Rainfall, 1.08.
Angola, Steuben Co.—It rained continuously on three days and it was impossible to plant, and but very little plowing is
done yet; the outlook is very discouraging and probably there will be a poor corn
crop this year; apples are in fuU bloom
and there is a good prospect for a big crop
of apples, peaches and pears; wheat is getting very big.   Rainfall, 0 85.
Dalphl, Carroll Co.—Wheat has been injured by excessive rains, which also entirely prevented the planting of oorn; in
the whole county, there are probably, not
over twenty fields of corn planted, making the prospect extremely gloomy.
RainfaU, 1 70.
Lafayette, Tippecanoe Co.—The contin-.
ued wet condition has retarded preparation for corn planting and is making
spring work very late; pastures are in exceUent condition; fruit is promising.
RainfaU, 2.61
H. A. Huston,
Director Indiana Weather Bureau.
Per C. F. R. Wappenhans,
Local Forecast Official, TJ. S. Weather
Bureau Assistant.
Number of Days Required to Mature
Corn.
PROP. W. C. LATTA.
The excessive rainfall of April and May
will prevent the planting of the bulk of
the corn crop before June lst. It is quite
probable that on low and undrained land
planting oan not be completed before June
10th.
Can the varieties commonly grown in
the State be matured when planted as late
as June 10th? As this question is just
now of great practical moment to farmers
they wUl be interested in the results obtained at the Experiment Station bearing
upon. this point. The varieties were
planted May llth, 17th and 19.h respectively, for the years given in the accompanying table:
NUMBER  OP   DAYS   REQUIRED   TO   MATURE
INDIANA VARIETIES OF CORN.
1889.   1800.    1891.
County       Days Days Days Av.
whence to      to     to    No.
selec'ns        ma-  ma-  ma-    of
Name. obtain'd.      ture. ture. ture. Days
1 Boone Co. White...Boone.        139     121     124     128
2 Munn's Early _    " 105     118     111
3 Kiley's Favorite...    " 138     116     124     128
4 White Prolific Johnson.     138     121     126     128
5 Yellow None Such    " 121      125     123
6 Hartman*s White_Boone. 116      122      119
7 EarlyYellow Dent    " lit     114     112
8 Yellow Dent -.Delaware. 116     116     116
9 Yel'wSpeck'dBent.Monroe. 112     114     113
10 Purdue Yellow....Tippecanoe.l29     102     111      114
The wide range ln the number of days
required to mature a variety of corn shows
strikingly that much wiU depend on the
character of the season—whether cold,
warm, wet, dry, or seasonable.
With average weather conditions, any
of the above named varieties would mature In September as far north as Lafayette, if planted by June lst.
It should also be .borne in mind that
late planted oorn will mature in a shorter
time—say five to ten days less—than the
early planting, owing to the higher temperature as the season advances. The average monthly temperature of the corn-
growing months for the State and for the
vicinity of L.fayette is as follows:
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE— DEGREES F.
No. of
Locality.     Years.   May.   June.   July.   Aug.   Sept.
State    10 Cl-P      71.8°     74.3" * 71.2°     64.6°
Lafayette...    12 60.8°      70.6'J    71.1°     71.2°    64.0°
So far as average temperature is concerned—and this is au important factor in
making the corn crop—September is superior to May. Bat can we be sure of the
entire month of September for making the
corn crop? The records of the S'gnal Office at IndianapoUs show the first kilUng
frosts to have occurred the past 19 years
as follows, at that place:
Year. Date.
1373 _ September 14
1874  " 14
1875  " 29
1876 „  " 21
1877   " 27
1878  " 11
1879  " 25
1830 October 17
1881        •'       20
1882 .r. September 22
1883 December   11
1884 October 15
18S5 _ September 23
1886 October 1»
1887       'J       12
1883 _       •,        3
1889 '.       ••       7
1S90       "      25*
1891 „.      "      16»
♦Record at Lafayette.
If planted June lst the earlier varieties
given in the first table (Nos. 2, 7, 8, 9 and
10) would doubtless mature in Central Indiana by Saptember 20 ;h, and the later varieties would probably be secure from
frost by the last of September. According
to the last table the earlier varieties would
have sixteen chances to escape frost
against two of being frost-bitten, and the
later kinds would have ten chances to
eight of being frosted.
The last paragraph appUes to Central
Indiaua and the south half of the State.
In the north third of the State wherever
the planting is delayed tUl June lst earlier varieties than those named in the
table should be planted. Other facts of
interest relative to varieties of corn culture aud sugar beets were. published in a
recent bulletin of the Experiment Station
which will be sent on application to any
address.
Pardue University, Lafayette, May 21.
Things I Have Found Out.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Did any of the many readers of the
Farmer, ever see such a magnificent
growth of sorrell as the present ciop is?
and can any One devise any way to exterminate it? D-m't all speak at once., bid
any of the readers know that coal oil
is just the thing to put on seed corn to
keep insects, gruo, and moles from eating
after planting? say about a pint to a bushel
of corn, putting in a Uttle at a time after
corn is put in planter or drill.
Does every farmer know that planting
two kinds of corn together improves the
yield and quality? Do all the farmers
know that two stalks of corn to the hiU is
better than three or four?
Does it not occur to every body that a
dry March is almost always foUowed by a
wet summer, and a wet March by a dry
summer?   Think of it.
Does it occur to every body that in
planting potatoes, early potatoes should
be planted as early as the nature of the
ground will admit of to ..insure a good
crop, and late potatoes not before the 20Mi,
of Jnne, I have known good crops planted
on the first of July. And for late potatoes
none are better than the peach bloom, and
the richer the ground the better, a hog
lot, or a straw stack lot is the best.
Greene Co. Old Fogy.