VOL. XXVII.
INDLAJNAPOLIS, IND., SEPT. 10,1892.
NO. 37
WEATHER CBO-   BULLETIN
United States Department of Agriculture
Weather Bureau. Weather Orop Bulletin
ofthe Indiana Weather Service, in co-operation with the Agricultural Experiment
Station at Purdue University, ending Tuesday Sept. C, 1892.
Tiie preoipltatlon continued to'be very
Insufficient and badly distributed as no
rain fell over many fields and bnt little
elsewhere; the temperature was cool on
most days, especially during the nights,
cool enough, in some localities, for the
formation of very light and harmless
hoar-frosts; there was plenty of sunshine;
early planted corn is ripening fast and a
few days will see it safe from frosts, but
late planted corn, potatoes, tomatoes and
other crops need rain very mnch; the soil
has become too dry, aud in localities plowing and seeding had to be suspended.
SOUTHERN PORTION.
Worthington, Greene Co.—The late
planted oorn and pasturage have been
seriously a fleeted by the protracted drouth;
early planted corn is maturing well; some
wheat has been sown, but plowing is about
at a standstill because of the hard condition of the ground.   Rainfall, 0.02.
Princeton, Qlbson Co.—The weather
dnrlng the week was not beneficial; most
of the wheat ground is plowed and in
___ggod_condltion; com is drying very fast
and -within a short time it will be out of
danger of frost; rain is needed jast now;
the apple crop Is inferior.
New Albany, Floyd Co —No rain has
fallen the past week, and the temperature
was below the normal; farmers are progressing rapidly with their faU p.owing;
corn is maturing rapidly;' the crops will
be below the average; y,iater apples are
scarce, and qnality poor, Chicago parties
buying in tne orchards at two dollars per
barrel.
Mt. Vernon, Posey Co.—Farmers need
more rain, plowing continues.vigorously;
stock in gocd condition; water and musk
melons very good and an abundance shipped North.   Rainfall, 0 27.
DcGonia Springs, Warrick Co.—The last
week has been too cool and dry for corn;
August 31 temperature 50° at 6 a. m., a
great many will not put out as much
wheat as last year; tobacco is ripe and being cut, it is the best for several years;
clover teed is only tolerable good yield.
Rainfall, 0.53.
Tioy, Perry Co.—The past week nights
cool, day3 moderately warm; the ground
too dry for plowing; river very low.
Marengo, Crawford Co.—In portions of
the connty the drouth has affected the corn
crop injuriously, but at MareDgo and Immediate; vicinity there has been rain
enongh; the ground ls and has been In
fine order for plowing for wheat; some
are abont dune plowing; some have not
begun.** Riinfall, 0 37.
CENTRAL PORTION.
Franklin, Johnson Co.—But littie rain
f-11 here last week and the ground Is getting dry; the weather has been very favorable for farm work and mnch plowing and
pulverizing has been done and wheat sowing has commenced; early planted oorn is
ripening well and the husk is getting dry,
while late com is s till growing, and there
will be a light crop only even if it escapes
the frost; thashing of clover ls going on
lively and the yield is good. Rainfall, 010.
Indianapolis, Marlon Co.—Cool temperature, especially nights, snd but very little
rain, were not very favorable to com; the
enrly planted is ripening fast but that
planted late needs rain; notjmuch plowing
was done, the soil being so very dry. Rain
fall, 0.04.
Cambridge City, Wayne Co.—The rains'
during the week were quite beneficial as'
pasturage was beginning to be short for
the want of it; corn is in good condition;
tomatoes are ripening well and will make
a good crop; theprice of hogs has fallen;
if corn were ripe, frost would be acceptable to destroy rag weeds and hay fever.
RainfaU, 0 59.
Farmland, Rindolph Co.—The rain was
beneficial to corn and seeding but the temperature was too cool to help maturing
corn; the mornings have been rather cool
for the last few days with a very light
frost on the morning of September 2d; it
did no harm and could only be seen In
most favored places.   R.infall, 0 60.
Ashboro, Clay Co.—The temperature
has been below normal, checking the
growth of the corn and retarding ripening; average sunshine prevailed and
there fell no rain; rain ls much needed
thronghout the connty, especially In the
northern and central portions; the
drouth is seriously interfering with plow,
ing for wheat and if it continues much
longer, will affect the acreage to be sown;
at any rate, not so large an acreage will be
sown as last year; no seeding has been
done yet, although some ground is be log
plowed; the dry weather Is hastening the
ripening of oorn, but diminishing the
yield; on uplands the crop must be light;
threshing still continues; pasturage is
failing.   No rain.
NORTHERN PORTION.
Hatch's Mills,. Is .Porte   Co Nice rain
September 4_b; wheat and oats threshing
nearly Ul done; wheat sowing j ast fairly
commenced and farmer's busy plowing
and dragging; corn will be benefited in
some fields by the rain and In other fislds
it is too near dried up; potato crop in
jured by the drouth; tobacoo worms have
nearly ruined the tomatoes; also the cab
bages are in many places eaten up with
worms.   Rainfall, 100.
Angola, Steuben Co.—The week has
bean cool and somewhat cloudy, not so
beneficial to crops; corn is coming along
slowly, the last rain wUl help it wonderfully on late planted; plowing for wheat
is progressing slowly.
Michigan City, I. .Porte Co.—The dry
weather has not only delayed the progress
for fall sowing, but will cut down the average unless we have more rain soon; the
frost of the first or second did but little or
no damage, the temperature 88° on the
29 th and 48° on the 2d.   Riinfall, 0 24.
Marion, Grant Co.—No rain and a cool
temperature were not beneficial to com;
on Thursday morning the temperature
was as low as 42°.   No rain.
Warsaw, Kosciusko Co.—The weather
was favorable to farm work, but the want
of rain and cool temperature were injurious to all crop.; the continuous drouth
has io j ared corn, potatoes, and tomatoes.
No rain.
L ifayette, Tippecanoe Co.—The weather
during the week was almost too dry for
corn, pasturage and plowing, the crops
have not been seriously In j ared but more
rain wonld have been beneficial.—RainfaU, 012.
H. A. Huston,
Director Indiana Weather Service.
Per C. F. R. Wappknhass,
Local Forecast Official,   Assistant Director. TJ. S.  Weather Bareau.
Southwestern Nebraska.
Editor! Indiana Farmer: —
I read a description of Red WlUow
oounty, Nebraska, written by Wm. Coleman, and I just said to myself, "I don't
believe _half of It istiue." WeU, I spent
sometime there Investigating, and I found
it was true, every word. In fact the
oountry is better than described. There
Is some rough land, but the per cent ip
quite small. There are thousands of acres
ofthe most "beautiful farm lands stretch
ing far away until lost to view in the distance; sloping just enongh for good drainage, withont a pond or slough, and no
rocks, gravel or sand in the soil. I looked,
and looked, until my eyes got tired, and
noetd to the fine laying lands. Ihave
traveled from the Atlantic to the Pacific
Ocean, and from Minnesota to the Golf,
and I never saw finer farm lands than
those In R_d Willow county, Nebiaska.
In fact some are jnst a little the finest laying of any I ever saw, and I have seen a
great deal of fiae land. The only fault 1
find with Mr. Coleman's description of the
country is that he simply failed to do it
justice. He was so conscientious about it
that he prefered to under, rather than
over, draw, and I honor him for it. Those
wanting reliable information nf that
country can get it by addressing him at
McCook, Neb , box 15, and enclose stamp
for reply. He Is a plain, honest old
f inner, and has fai in ed there eleven years.
There is no doubt as to the f srtUity of the
soU. It seems to me I never saw shocks
stand so thick on the ground as they do
there, especially fill wheat. But the corn
Is what took my eye. I saw fields of sixty
to eighty acres that were clean and only
cultivated twice. The stalks were fine
and large, and on many stalks there were
two ears. I have raised sixty to seventy-
five bushels per acre, but I never saw
finer corn grow than is growing there
now. -The poorest oorn I saw there, wUl,
I think yield at least forty bnshels per
acre. A look at these fields of corn, with
a rich dark green color, would be an antl
tidote for the sore eyes. No wonder their
hogs are fit. I farmed a good many years
in Iowa and Illinois, and I never saw
better crops any place than they are In
Red WlUow county, Nebraska. There is
not much timothy sown. I saw some that
was 4K feet high, clover 2>^. The tame
grasses will do weU. Alfalf _ has been cut
once and nearly ready again. I saw rye
that measured six feet four inches high.
Vegetables are the fiaest I ever saw.
saw apples and peaches on the trees. It Is
a fine plaoe for stock, and I doubt If there
is any better east or west. People look
healthy and I am convinced it is a pleasant place to live. The country is still new
and land is cheap. Some quarters, fairly
improved, five or six mUes from McCook,
can be had for flO per aore, one-third to
one-half cash, balance time. Some that is
somewhat rough, or little improvements
can be had for $5 or f6 per acre. One grain
and stock farm of 1000 acres, all fenced,
with buildings, timber and water, for §12
per acre. Many renters can own a home
of their own there and be much better ofl.
Land is advancing in price and the sooner
bonght the better. In going to a new
country where aU is strange, where there
are no fences and but f .w Unes broken out
from one corner to another, the most Important point, and the most essential in
selecUng a home, Is to gst some reliable
person to show the Unes and corners. I
found Mr. Coleman just the right man
He Is, probably, as weU acquainted with
the Unes and corners as any man in the
oounty, and thoroughly reliable.
Minneapolis, Minn. j. Smith.
Farm Yard Mannre for Wheat.
BY JOHN M. STAHI,.
The most extensive and valuable experiments to determine the best festilizer for
wheat have been conducted by Liwes and
Gilbert, those able, disinterested Investigators to whom agriculture owes so much.
These experiments covered a period of
more than thirty years and demonstrated
the great excellence of bam yard manure
asa_er___z.rforwheat. The experiments
demonstrated that wheat requires afer-
tiUzer rich in nitrogen rather than in phos
phoric acid or the mineral elements. This
was, at firat a surprising result, for
wheat is by no means rich in nitrogen; it
does not require much of this element from
the soil as do clover and com, for example.
Bat its capacity to gather nitrogen from
the soil is so very small that it must have
a soil very lich, Indeed, in this element
for it to reach its best estate.
Daring many consecutive years Lawes
and Gilbert manured a large plot of land
with ammonium salts only. The crop cf
wheat from this plot was every year considerably larger (the average annual increase for the entire period was eight
bushels per acre) than the crop from an
adjacent and similar plot not manured.
Experiments made the same years proved
that the application of soluble mineral
manures alone to wheat produced Uttle or
no useful eflect. A complex mineral manure that put in the soil each year more
phosphoric acid, potash, Ume, magnesia
and sulphuric acid than were removed by
the crop, gave an annual increase of only
about three bushels per acre over ad.i scent
and similar land that received no fertilizer. The remarkable point is that the
yield was nearly seventeen bushels per
acre less than the yield obtained by the
use of farm yard-manure. In other words,
fann yard manure producsd seventeen
bushels per acre more than liberal applications of mineral manures alone and twelve
bnshels per acre more than ammonium
salts alone.
En passant, the experiments of Lawes
and Gilbert, and others, proved that red
clover is one of the very best fertilizers for
wheat. Over considerable areas in this
country It wo"uld be the most economical
fertUizer for wheat were it not that farm
yard manure is iaevitably produced In the
course .of the firming pursued, and therefore on its account but a small charge can
rightly be made against the crop to which
itis applied. But red clover should be
used to supplement the farm yard manure.
It is, perhaps, needless to say that the
farm yard manure used by Lawes and
Gilbert was in the most effective condition. Hence, it was well rotted and fined.
Such should be the condition of all turn
yard manure applied to wheat. Farm
yard manure holds plant f ocd locked up
in compounds, from which it can be released and made available to plants only
by decomposition. The wheat plant has
most need t f the food from the manure In
the fall immediately after it begins growth
that it may make a strong, stocky growth
and a good root development with which
to oppose the rigors of winter; and in the
early spring that it may recover from the
effects of the severe ordeal through which
It has jast passed. If the farmyard manure is not weU rotted and fined, it wUl
not furnish plant food freely thus early I j
the growth of the wheat, and wlU have
much less value. Further, it will interfere more or less seriously with that thorough compacting by the seed-bed which
is cf so much importance In wheat growing.
Farm yard manure for wheat shonld be
appUed to the suifice of the plowed
ground before is done any of the work of •
fining and compacting the seed-bed.
Wheat is one of the shallowest feeding of
our farm crops, henoe fertilizers for it
should be kept near the surface. If the
manure Is applied as jast recommended,
the work of preparing the seed-bed wiU
fine It (which will hasten its decomposition, make it possible to distribute it better
through the soil, and prevent its intei faring with the compacting of the seed-bed)
and wUl thoroughly Incorporate it with
the upper part of the soil where it will be
conserved for the use ef the wheat and
where the roots of the wheat can reach it
when Its suppUes are most needed.
Quincy, 111.