**>.
Twin* UtujWflty?,
VOL. LIX.
INDIANAPOLIS, JAN. 23, 1904.
NO 4.
Our Institutes—The Koad Drag-.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Much credit should be given Prof. Latta for the painstaking manner in which
he follows up every detail necessary to
make successful the Indiana farmers' institutes. I feel like acknowledging my
indebtedness to the farmers of Indiana
and to the lecturers with whom I was
associated during my recent Good Roads
trip through tbe State. I have come
back to Missouri convinced that we farmers must take more interest in our Missouri institutes. We will also find it to
our profit to study the causes of decreasing yields instead of waiting until the soil
refuses to start a crop of clover.
In certain parts of the State our Indiana neighbors have serious difficulty in
getting a stand of clover. Without clover
there is no profit in raising wheat, because the wheat is placed in the rotation
only for the purpose of getting the clover.
No clover no corn. And when the soil
gets into this condition the grasses will
not occupy the ground.
In my home neighborhood we think
twenty-five 'bushels of wheat an extra
yield; years ago 40 bushels was not uncommon. We, indolently, have decided
that the climate has changed, or say "it
never was much of a wheat country anyhow." In the light of my%ndiana information I am convinced that we need a
little phosphate, and I shall try some cautious experiments on that line.
From the Good Roads standpoint the
trip was very successful. Much interest
in the improvement of earth roads was
fchown at every point I visited. At each
point a number of farmers pledged themselves to give the Missouri method a trial.
Mr. A. A. Cravens, of Hardinsburg, and
_Ur. Chas. Weber, of Palmyra, attended
1he Roads meeting at New Albany in September, anu had made drags and used
them. Mr. Cravens said that his neighbors would stop and ask him what in the
world he had done to the road to make
it so good. Mr. Weber reported that he
had used his drag on a quarter of a mile
_f clay mixed with rocks. It had been
badly cut by hauling heavy logs. After
threo draggings he found that he could
walk dry shod over this road when the
others were still muddy and full of puddles. He said that the drag slips over
the stones it does not move, and fills in
between them, so as to make the road
smooth.
In many" places the Missouri drag will
be tried on the gravel pikes, in air effort
to wipo out the three gutters which on
the slopes carry the water in washing torrents'to the foot of the hill, and on the
level stretches holds it in long puddles
in summer and in strips of glaring, glassy ice in the winter. I think we will
hear glowing reports from those who experiment with tho drag on the gravel
roads. D.  Ward King,
. Maitland, Mo.
shock stand until the sap all gets out of
the stalks before you have it shredded.
The best time to shred is when the fodder is just a little damp, and then the
leaves won't break up as much as tuny <1j
when the fodder is too dry. We can't all
have our fodder shredded when we would
like to have it shredded, but don't shred
jour fodder when it is wet with rain. Let
jour shock stand until the water dries
eff and the leaves are tough, then shred
your fodder and you will have fodder that
is equally as good as any clover hay you
ever fed, and your horses and cattle will
eat it just as well and do just as well on
fodder as they do on clover hay.
Tbe Good Old Maple Sugar Times.
Editors Indiana __j__"-r:
In reading iu tho Farmer the article
written by Hcnrj- Baker on "The true and
false syrup," I was led in memory back
lo the dear old days of childhood when
1 helped in the camp of my father, and
where we made gallons and gallons of molasses as well as the usual amount oJ
sugar and taffy. I remember the cool frosty
mornings, when with our dinner bucket
in one hand and a few live coals taken
from the fire place and placed between
two clapboards in the other we started
across the fields to the camp, whioh was
about two miles from home.     On reaching
Shredding Fodder.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Fodder should be shredded now. In
the first place you miust have good fodder.
To have good shredded fodder you must
cut your corn at the proper time. Don't
cut yonr corn too green; if you do you will
have moldy fodder, and stock don't like
that. Cut and tie your corn when most
of the husks are dry, and the blades begin
to dry at the bottom of the stalks. Don't
cut yonr shock too large, say 100 hills
to the shock, and your fodder will dry out
quicker than if cut larger.      Let    your
Shredding Corn on  Farm  of Jacob   Itiiqiiet,   Arcadia,   Indiana.
The proper way to feed shredded fodder in the barn is to make a rack of
strips, one by two inches and three feet
long. Nail them on pieces 2x4, the length
you want your f3ed rack. Nail Ihem four
inches apart straight up and down, and
have the back of your rack boarded up
tight so the fodder can't fall through
Have a trough 1G inches wide, 10 inehes
high and the length of your rack just beneath and in front of your rack, to catch
the fodder as the cattle work it out of
(he nack into the trough, and they can't
waste any. Don't "feed enough in one
feed to last them all day; just give what
ihey will eat at one feed. Don't think
that they will eat stalks and all, because
it is shredded, but you will have enough
of tho hard part and the pith of the stalks
left fbr the finest bedding you ever put
under your horses and cattle, as it will
absorb all of the liquid manure, and yonr
stock will always have a dry bed, and
.vou will have the best mannre to haul out
on your ground you oan get, and it is always ready to go in the field as soon as
your fodder is fed, and in the best possible way to plow under.
Many of my brother farmers feed their
fodder in the stalks, and throw some fodder over the fence here and there, and
have the cattle trampling it under their
feet, and have corn stalks all over their
farms.
I, for one, will take shredded fodder in
preference to any other roughage that I
ever fed, as stock will eat it as well as any
hay I ever fed, and stock will do as well.
Jacob  Itaqnet.
Hamilton Co.
tho camp We proceeded to "fire up," build-
iug the fire under two large iron kettles,
which were well filled with sap gathered
the day before. Then as the fire burned
and the sap boiled away we added more
continuing thus until noon, when we
would begin the boiling off part b.v putting all the syrup in one kettle, then boiling it down until thick, while tne other
kettle wns filled with fresh sap and boilc<l
down as before; at night we would empty
the syrup into buckets to carry home,
and next day we would put it on the stove
in dinner kett'es, boil down perfectly thick
and ropy, at the same time clearing it
with egg, until one could almost see
through it when canned. As Mr. Baker
says anyone that ever knew or made pure
maple syrup knows it gets crystallized in
the cans, which the manufactured stuff
never docs. I have seen cans of molasses that was crystalled at least one-
third the depth of the can, and oh, what
treat it, was for ua children to have one
of the cans*:to get. the candy out to eat;
with always /this admonition annexed
"now be careful and don't break the
can," and so faithful were we to the
warning, for fear of riot getting another,
we seldom ever broke one .although we
would work faithfully for hours to crack
and loosen that candy before we could get
it out of the can. We often put this
"rock Cindy," as we called it, in bottles
ond put glycerine over it, which we used
for cold nnd coughs.
After we children had been at the camp
a few hours, and the air warmed up and
sap began to run, then father or the hired
hand would come over on the bobsled and
gather up the sap, which they gathered in
buckets and emptied in barrels which
were on the sled, thus saving a great •leal
of hard work. Then at night we wouhi
roll the ban-els off the sled, put out the
lire, empty the syrup, fill the kettles with
sap and cover both kettles and barrels
securely. Then all hands round piled
on the sled and away we went for home,
and a good warm supper and soon after,
a snug, warm bed.
Tired? Of course we were tried, but
in those days we did not stop for that,
for hadn't father promised us at the
end of the season a "stirring off;" and
all those who have been there will know
that to children of that day and age that
was an event not only to be looked forward to, but to be worked for, and right
faithfully we did it. When we had made
What sugar we wanted, which, by the
way, was made of the first making of
molasses, then we made molasses, part
of which wo canned to be used during
summer, fall, and early winter months,
while that for immediate use was put
away in jugs, jars, etc., and not sealed.
Then came the wonderful "stirring off"
which was planned and announced for
days ahead of time, and instead of having just a select few invited, the invitation was given to all, and usually they
all came. Then such a jolly time as we
did have. Several of the older girls ami
boys were selected to look after the taffy, which -was usually made at the camp,
while the rest of the crowd played blind
man's buff and drop the handkerchief, or
coasted down hill on sleds. Fun? Well,
we had no end of fun, not tbe silly, foolish, rough kind of fun young people indulge in nowadays, but real, wholesome
fun, full of health-giving exercise, making our eyes sparkle and our cheeks
bloom as the rose. ^Then when the taffy
was done how we did run to get our share,
and having secured it, how we pulled
and pulled it until our arms ached, sometimes getting it almost white. Then we
ate and ate and ate until, even children
ns we were, we could eat no more; nwt
after having another nice social hour the
guests left for home, sometimes singing
pood old-fashioned hymns. AVe would
th*n gather up the fragments, whicli
sometimes proved to be quite a lot after
having fed suoh a healthy, hungry crowd
of youngsters, and carried it home to be
used later on.
Oh, the old times were the best times,
after all. Trne, the work was hard and
monotonous, but it was sweetened with
love, obedience, and a clear conscience,
for in that time we never did anything
unknown to our parents, but always with
their free, hearty goodwill and consent.
I have often tried to make taffy from
molasses I bought for pure maple, and
from sugar that Was said to be pure maple sugar, but never have I had any taffy
line that stirred off in the old iron kettle",
way back in the 00's, and when thinking of these dear old home ties and associations, I feel like singing the song
dear to every lover of childhood, "Make
me a child again, just for to-night."
I think as Mr. Baker, that people ought
to preserve their maple orchards just as
carefully as they do their apple orchards,
for I know of nothing more delicious to
the taste than pure mlaple molasses and
buckwheat cakes or warm biscuits on a
frosty morning.
Then there are so many, many good
things we can use the sugar and molasses
for, if pnre, such as cough syrups and
other medicines, besides having the satisfaction of knowing just where, how and
v-hat it is made of. Mrs. J. S.