5    **"'<i.Q Uni„      .   K
'A/Or
VOL. LIX.
INDIANAPOLIS, JUNE 25, 1904.
NO 26.
HOW TO CAN   AND   PRESERVE FRUIT.
Some Well Tried Rec'pei-
lst Premium.—Fruit that is to b_
canned should be gathered before it is
overripe, as it will get soft and not keep
well if left too long. It should be canned
as soon after it is gathered as possible. I
prefer to gather it in the morning and
can it in the afternoon.
I prefer granite vessels for canning land
preserving fruit. Tlie wider the vessel
the sooner the fruit will boil, and therefore be clearer than if it is slow to boil.
Can fruit of all kinds in thick syrup; it
will keep more solid and have a better
flavor than it would if canned without
sugar. Fifteen to twenty minutes is
long enough for fruit to boil. Have the
jars thoroughly washed and dried with a
clean white towel. After they are dried
they should be placed near the fire to
get warm beforo the hot fruit is poured
iii them. Use wide-mouthed funnel for
filling     the      jars. Place     lids       on
jars and, if they ar© self-sealers
tighten them at once. If they are
tin cans, or jars with tin lids, let them
stand till the lids are hot before pouring the wax on. This prevents the wax
from cracking or • bursting off.' " It is
well to wrap glass jars in paper, if one
has no dark place to set thiem in.
Peaches, pears, etc., should be placed
in water wlien pared, to keep them from
turning black. The seeds should be removed from peaches with a penknife. In
this way they keep their shape as well.
For making preserves, weigh the fruit
and sugar, using as many pounds of sugar
as fruit. Put just enough water over
sugar to dissolve it, place on the stove,
ond when it boils add the fruit, and let
it all boil till tlie juice thickens. If a
pinch of tartaric acid is iadded to the preserves, they will not sugar.
In making jelly, cook the fruit till it
is tender, strain through a sieve and then
through a flannel cloth. Jelly will ->e
clearer if left to drain over night, and if
not squeezed through tho cloth. Measurj
juice and place on the stovo to boil. Measure as many cups of sugar as there are
of juice, and place in the oven. When
tine juice boils, add the heated sugar, and
Iboil all fifteen to twenty minutes. Pour
in glasses and set in the sun. When it is
cold pour melted parafine wax over the
top, tie up and set away. If one has
no parafine wax handy, sprinkle a teaspoonful of granulated sugar over the top
of jelly to keep it from molding.
If one wants to can fruit in its own
juice, place fruit and sugar alternately in
jars ,and put the lids on, but do not tighten
them. Placo the jars in a wash boiler
that has shingles or folded cloth in the
bottom. Fill in water till the jars are
two-thirds covered. Placo over the
stove and let boil one hour, then tighten
lids and remove the boiler from the stove.
Leave jars in- water till it is cold. All
vessels and jars should be scrupulously
clean, if one wants to be successful in
keeping canned fruit.
Floyd Co. Farmer's Wife.
No. 435, July 9.—Tell how to put out
shade trees, for town or country. Name
lest varieties.
No. 430, July 10.—Show how our country schools can be improved.
I .
Premiums of $1, T5 cents, 50 cents
are given for tbe first, second and third
best articles for the Experience Department each week. Manuscript should be
sent direct to the Indiana Fanner Company and should reach us one week before date of publication.
No. 434, July 2.—Describe the best
swinging gates, etc., for small streams.
Alfalfa ln Iadlana.
Editors iDdlana Farmer:
I send you a photo, taken June 0, 1901,
on Alfalfa White Face Farm, Lebanon,
Ind., showing the first cutting of an alfalfa field of 25 acres; 20 acres of which was
sown in the standing corn, the Last days of
June, 1902, and the seed plowed in, at last
plowing of corn. With my experience
now, I am convinced that the corn field,
if kept well tilled, is the proper place to
sow alfalfa, as the shade of the growing
the earlier heiads begin to shatter a little.
What has been said concerning blue
grass and timothy will also apply to red
top aud orchard grass. These two
grasses are worthy of more attention than
our farmers give them. There are also
many other native grasses growing on our
farms which will boar attention and
propagation. Farmers should study the
wild grasses on their farms, noticing the
soils to which they are adapted, how they
are relished by live stock, the season of
| the year when they make their growth,
the extent of growth, the time of blossoming. In this way the number of forage grasses can be increased and a larger
amount of flood produced for our live
stock.
and much stronger than I havo given it,
nml I did not heed, but I now say by nil
means break your wheat ground early aud
sow early enough so that the wheat can
get a good start before .winter sets in.
Some are afraid of the fly, but I am
more afraid of the cold winter freezing
it out and killing it.
Monroe  Co. S.  A.  Bartlett.
Alfalfa field,  first cutting this year, on    Alfalfa White Face Farm, near Lebanon,
Ind., J. N. Shirley, proprietor.
torn, keeps the foxtail checked, until the
alfalfa gets a start.
If alfalfa is sown in the open field foxtail is its greatest enemy, as this soft,
limber grass is pushed along iu front of
the mower knife, and it is not clipped
close enough to kill. Tellyourreader to
sow 20 pounds of alfalfa seed per acre
in their corn, just before the last shallow
cultivation; put nlbout 150 pounds soil
from an old alfalfa field per acre, on the
land and next year they can cut four
crops of alfalfa. J. N. Shirley.
        . s .
Grow Your Own Se.d.
Editors Indlaaa Farmer:
Every year the farmers throughout the
country spend a large sum of money for
seeds to use on their farms. With a
littlo care on the part of each farnier
much of this money could be saved, and
lit the same time ho would have moro
satisfactory crops from his seedings.
On many farms blue grass seed is needed every year for seeding down bare
places with the lawns and wood pastures.
Hogs frequently root up places in tho pastures that should be reseeded. For this
purpose blue grass is probably the best
grass. At this season of the yoar this
grass is ripening along fences and in the
permanent pastures. An hour's -work
with the scythe will gather enough of
this seed for use next year.
Timothy is another grass that is mueh
used and for which there is ia good market. An acre or so set aside from the
meadow and cut for seed will supply all
of this seed that the farmer will need, at
much less cost than it can be .purchased
from the seed stores, are should be taken
in harvesting.     It should   be cut just as
Besides the true grasses, largo quantities of clover seed are annually used.
Clover seed is comparatively easy to
save, and tne farmer who saves his own
seed will not 'be in danger of paying a big
prioe for seed having lots of weed seeds
in it.
The above suggestions are also applicable to the saving of wheat, oats and corn,
ur any other farm crops, for seed. A
littlo time and trouble at luarvest time will
pay immensely in next year's crop.
M.   L.   Fisher.
Purdue  University.
Break Wheat Ground  Early.
Kdltora Indiana  Farmer:
My last year's wheat crop was sown on
land that was plowed at two different
times. Early in the season just as soon
as we could get the wheat crop oil the
ground we commenced breaking for wheat
again and plowed one day with two teams.
Finding the ground very hard and dry
we concluded to wait a ftw days for rain,
but rain did not come sufficient to finish
breaking until about time the wheat should
bo sown, land then the last breaking was
very cloddy and did not pack, as there
was no rain until late in the fall of any
consequence; so that my wheat sown on
the early breaking was taking root and
growing nicely, and the late plowing
wheat grew slow and did not get routed
sufficient to stand the rough winter. The
point I want to impress is, to plow early,
tho earlier the better as my wheat on the
ground broken early is just about as good
iigain as that on my last breaking, but
it seems that nothing but our own px-
petience gives us this knowledge, ias I
have  read articles  on this  same  subject
Automobillstt Take Warning.
To tho officers and members of Lye Creek
Horso Thief Detective Company, Montgomery Co., Ind.:
Whereas, accidents are of almost daily
occurrence to persons travelling on the
highways of the state caused by automo-
liles, which in many cases result in great
injury to persons and property, and also
Whereas the drivers of said automobiles
in many instances, use no judgement or
precaution to prevent accidents, .and treat
the people's rights with contempt and
indifference, when running said autos on
the highways, thereby making it unsafe
for persons, and especially women and
children to venture to travel on the highways, therefore be it
Itesolved that we band ourselves strongly together for the protection of ourselves
and families, and it civil measures should
fail to afford reasonable protection wo
may feel compelled to resort to.harsher
means; so take warning. And be it
further
Resolved that we respectfully request all
similar organizations of the state and the
Farmers' Institutes, as well, to adopt the
foregoing preamble and resolutions.
The above resolutions were adopted by
unanimous vote.
(Sc uzxtiX Hears.
The locust has become a plague ln
Spain and the minister of agriculture has
been authorized to fight the pest.
An extremely fine quality of grlelen
leather, made in Turkey, is manufactured
from tlie skin of the angel fish.
An English couuty judge recently remarked: "Not a cas6 comes into court
but what there is perjury on one side
or the other."
Man's structure, compared wi.th that of
other animals, indicates that fruits and
esculent vegetables are his natural food.
The man-like apes live exclusively upon
fruits, nuts and  green  leaves.
A bill now before the Ohio Legislature
provides for the payment of a premium
or bounty of ?2 an acre for a period of ten
years to _.ny land owner of the Stato who
will plant and care for forest trees in
compliance with the rules laid down by
the .State Board of Forestry.
Mine. Bernhardt, the French tragedienne, employed a young artist to design some stage dresses for her. She
was delighted with the work, and on
hearing his price, exclaimed: "Moro
more. You have only asked working
pay. What I wish to pay for is your
talent," and she forthwith doubled the
amount.
Travelers say that there is a certain indefinable, unnamable smell peculiar to
Japanese steamships that makes life on
board of them not worth living. It has
Ixien traced to "daiken," a large-leaved
vegetable as dear to the Japanese palate
as cabbage to the Teutonic. It is kind
of white radish, boiled and cut in strips
and served in everything. . "The smell
and flavor are repulsive beyond anything
the East has offered to our senses," says
a  war correspondent.