J
VOL. LIX.
INDIANAPOLIS, JAN. 2, 1904.
NO 1.
■ Agricultural Bills in Congress.
JEdlU-rB Indiana Farmer:
I   Quite a number of bills have been intro-
/dueed in Congress, during the last week,
■'■. of interest to agriculture.
1    Senator "Gallinger, of New Hampshire,
i introduced a bill to create a Public Roads
, . Bureau in the Department of Agriculture.
f'The object of the Bureau    will   be,    of
'course,  to stimulate  and  effect the  construction of good roads.    The bill is quite
"'Comprehensive in nature and provides for
co-operation  between   the  National   Gov-
J eminent and the States or civil subdivis-
U ions thereof.
I      Section 12 of the bill reads in part as
|   follows:
"That one half of the expense of tha
construction shall be paid by the Treas-
". nrer of the United States,  upon the re-
quisition  of the  Director  of  the  Public
', itoads Bureau, and one half of the; expense shall be paid by the State or civil
subdivision thereof    making    application
_   for the cooperation provided  for herein.
|  No money shall  be    advanced    by    the
■' United States in payment of its portion
of the cost of construction, except as tiie
wori_ or actual -onst-notion progresses, and
j   in all cases 20 per centum must be held
; until the completion of the work to the
satisfaction of the Director of said Bu-
leau."
For carrying out this cooperation and
actual construction the bul appropriates
$24,000,000, to be available at the rate of
§8,000,000. This sum is equitably distributed among the various States according
|   to their population.    In  case  any  State
i does not avail itself of the opportunity
ottered and cooperate to the extent of paying its equal share with the Government
each year, the amount set aside for that
i    State is forfeited.
I Representative Hay of Virginia has introduced a bill to complete the Jefferson
Memorial Object Lesson Road, a good
roads proposition which extends from the
city limits of Charlotteville, Virginia, to
the monument erected , iby tho United
States over the tomb of -...omas Jefferson
at Monticello. Considerable work has
been dene on this road through popular
subscription, under the general direction
of the Good Roads Division ot the Department of Agriculture. Mr. Hay's bill
appropriates $40,c— for this road.
A bill has been introduced in the House
by Mr. Warren of Illinois providing for
n pure food bureau in the Department of
Agriculture for preventing the adulteration and misbranding of foods in the District of Columbia and the territories, and
for regulating interstate commerce in food
and food products. This provides also
for the inspection of all foods coming
from foreign countries and Exes a severe
penalty for misbranding or adulterating,
Jt is' not the intention of the bill to prohibit blending or mixing, but provision is
made that such Wending shall be described upon the package so that purchasers will know what they are getting.
Representative Burleson of Texas asked Congress fcr an appropriation of $128,-
000 to be expended under the direction
of the Secretary of Agrioulture in the establishment of grass and demonstration
farms in Texas and for determining by
experimentation the most profitable crops
which can be grown in place of cotton in
the territory now infested by the Mexican
boll weevil, an<3 in making said experiment the Secretary "shall keep in mind
the manifold advantages of diversification."
Representative Sheppard, also of Texas,  has introduced  a  bill  appropriating
$50,000 to enable the secretary to continue experiments in reference to the boll
weevil and also to further investigate the
cotton wilt disease.
Representative Pujo, of Louisiana, has
introduced a bill appropriating §200,000
for the purpose of checking tho ravages
of the cotton weevil in Louisiana.
The annual report of the Secretary of
the Interior, while dwelling with much severity upon the land frauds which have
been investigated by his department calls
special attention to the fundamental defects of certain of these laws and recommends their repeal by Congress. While
the  Desert  Land  Act,  the  commutation
Melllotue, or Sweet Clover.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
I have noticed in a recent number of
your paper an inquiry in regard to sweet
clover as a fertilizer. On page 382, of
Roberts' Fertility of the Land," we have
the analysis of the various clovers. I
give the average analysis of the different
kinds ofi clover below:
To the 1,000 pounds of green fodders:
Alsike .tripolium hybridium), nitrogen,
4.S5 pounds; phosphorus, 1 pound, potash,
2.2 pounds.
Bokahara (melilotus alba, sweet clover)
nitrogen, 0.6 pofunds; phosphorus, 2.4
pounds, potash, 6.7 pounds.
ucre, at tlie Cornell Experiment Station
produced 418 pounds of nitrogen having
a market value of .$02.70. The clover
was two ftset high at the time, but as
sweet clover often grows to be four to
six feet tall it is very probable that thero
would have been much fhore nitrogen per
acre if it had grown longer. The great
drawback to sweet clover is that it is so
coarse that stock nave to learn to eat it,
but yet sheep soon get so they prefer it
to other clovers, with us. As its roots
run into the earth from three to four
feet, the second year, it has great value
as a physical improver of the soil, as tbe
roots let in air to the soil.
For the benefit of those who think sweet
clover a weed I will say that it not a
weed, but a legume or clover, and is so
considered by all botanical experts. It
is a biennial and not an annual nor perennial, which makes it easy to get rid
of. Its bacteria are the same as those of
alfalfa. Land where sweet clover has
grown need not lbe inoculated in order
for alfalfa to grow. Too much sweet clover should not be turned under at one
time, as it may sonr and make the ground
acid, or it may prevent the capillary attraction, and would in that case be a serious injury to the soil. I hope that these
r<. .Hurl..' <n„j .':._vG :ii_-;„t_-c-d the y-ics-
tions of all concerning sweet clover.
Greenfield. Chas. E. Coffin.
Indian  Farmers near Petoskey, Mich.
clause of the Homestead Act and the Tim
ber and Stone Act have always been supposed to further settlement and local farm
development the Secretary states that the
opposite has been their eflect, and that
they have not to any appreciable extent
operated in the interests ofi the settler
and farmer. The Desert Land Act is especially maleficent. While it is supposed
to provide for individual recfamation of
desert land by the farmer, in actual operation, it is simply used by cattlemen and
speculators to increase i_>nj ■ already big
holdings, without any -pretr-i.se at farming or settlement. Cowboys and dummies
instead of farmers "_■ m" the land, by
oath at the land otBct.; rather than by irrigation, receive title from th»j government and then transfer the same to their
employers. Guy E. Mitchell.
Washington, D. C. Dec. 19.
. —.►.,*-.	
Ul .
' Ll.uoi- in tht Army.
Count 'Wi Haeseier, nil 1 lately commander < J the sixteenth army corps in
Germany/ ind one of Emperor William's
military 'ivorites, after twenty-five years
of total abstinence in the army, protests
strongly against the use of liquor iby soldiers.   He says:
"The soldier who abstains altogether is
the best man. He can accomplish more,
can march better and is a better soldier
than the man who drinks even moderately. Mentally and physically he is better.
Strong drink tires and only increases
thirst. For soldiers, water, coffee, and
above all tea.        ^^ ^       .. ,.
Crimson (tripolium incarnatium), nitrogen, 4.3 pounds; phosphorus, 1.1 pounds,
potash, 3.8 pounds.
Red clover (tripolium protense) nitrogen
5.03 pounds; phosphorus, 1.5 pounds; potash, 5.4 pounds.
White clover, nitrogen, 5.9 pounds;
phosphorus 1.8 pounds; potash, 4.64
pounds.
Alfalfa (.nil-erne) nitrogen, 6.00 pounds;
phosphorus,  1.4 pounds, potash, 4.4 lbs.
Yellow clover, nitrogen 4.5 lbs., phosphorus, 1.1 pounds, potash, 3.2 pounds.
The commercial values of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash when bought in commercial fertilizers are as follows: Nitrogen, 15 cents per pound: phosphorus, 7
cents per pound and potash 1^ cents per
pound. Thus we can readily figure, up the
value of the fertilizing constituents of the
various clovers, per 1,000 pounds of green
stuff.   They are as follows:
Alsike 90 cents; bokahara, or sweet
clover, $1.43; crimson clover, 89 cents:
red clover, $1.19; white clover $1.21; yellow clover 84 cents; alfalfa $1.30.
Thus we see that bokahara, or sweet
clover leads the list, having a commercial value of $1.43 per 1,000 pounds. And
added to this shonld be its value as humus, which we cannot compete at market
prices. Of course the phosphorus and
potash were obtained from the gronnd,
and this would lead to the conclusion that
sweet clover had the power to avail itself
of more mineral plant food than other clovers, and thus render more mineral foods
soluble than other clovers. It also has
greater nitrogen-gathering  powers.     One
Indiana Corn Growers' Association.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Program of the annual meeting of tlie
Indiana Corn Growers' Association, State
House, Indianapolis, Tuesday, January 5,
1904.
Corn  Growers'   Session.
9:30.    Call to order by President
Address, Gov. W. T. Durbin.
Corn Breeding, Prof. T. A. Wiancko,
Lafayette.
Use of the score card and improvement
of Indiana corn.
Indiana Corn at the St. Louis World's
Fair,   L.   B.  Clore,   Franklin.
Miscellaneous   Business.
Corn  Feeders'   Session.
1:15 p. m.   Election of Officers.
Object Lesson in Scoring Corn.
Handling Beef Cattle for the Best
Market,  A.  O.  Lockridge,  Greencastle.
Corn Silage and its Benefits to Feeders,.
T. S. Nugen, Lewisville.
Experiments in Cattle Feeding, Prof.
J. H. Skinner, Lafayette.
If you have corn you are proud of,
bring five ears, compare it with others
and know you grow the best.
H. F. McMahan, Pres.
T. A. Coleman, Vice-Pres.
Scott Meiks,  Secretary.
The Points Can be Got Separate.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
I have noticed your editorials for a
year or two upon the practicability of
placing lightning rods upon our buildings,
and cordially approve of your suggestions
as to method of making and placing them
upon buildings. I have used the common
rods upon my home dwelling and barn,
but the rods are getting quite old and
rusty and need replacing by better ones,
and I have seen newer structures needing
such protection. The copper wire, such
as used by interurban lines for their trolleys, would doubtless make good rods if
doubled or trebled, as you have suggested. Now if we can get the points and
fastenings to attach to buildings, I think
it  would  make  them  complete.
Henry  Co. John W.  Griffin.