VOL. LIX.
INDIANAPOLIS, FEB. 27, 1904.
NO 9.
County Days at tho St. Loula World's Fair.
Bditora Indiana Farmer:
A very large per cent of the good people of Indiana are making arrangements
to -visit the World's Fair at St. Louis
some time the coming summer. In this
connection I have a suggestion to offer,
which is for eaeh county in the State to
set apart a day for its special celebration.
Hundreds and thousands of people have
emigrated from our State the past 25
years and located in. the West. In fact
there are v ery few of us who haven't relatives and friends located in some of the
Western States. They are nearly all in
easy reach of St. Louis.
Now if those who are expecting to visit
the Worlds' Fair in the several counties
would get together and fix upon a county
day, and then invite all farmer residents
to meet them on said day, it could be
made the occasion of a very pleasant reunion.
I know the Farmer could be of great
assistance to all its Indiana readers if it
would lend a helping hand in this matter.
For the special day set apart for any of
these meetings the Indiana Building
would be turned over to the visitors and
every possible means in the ..power of the
Indiana Commission would be provided to
make the occasion pleasant for all. Under this arrangement the very cheapest
railroad and hotel rates possible could be
secured. If we caa serve you in this matter command us. W. W. Stevens.
Chairman* Committee on Agriculture^
Salem, Ind.
Good Roads and Big Trees in Congress.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
The whirlwind of proposed good roads
legislation continues. In the last ten
days five new good roads bills have been
introduced in* Congress, oae by Representative, somewhat modifying his original
bill, another by Senator Latimer of South
Carolina, another by Senator Gallinger of
New Hampshire and another one by Representative Currier of New xlampshire.
Each of these bills appropriates $24,000,-
000 and provides for a Bureau of Public
Highways, the terms of the bills being
slightly different. Representative Maddox of Georgia has brought forward a
unique measure to distribute the "surplus"
in the Treasury, not exeeediag $25,000,-
000, among the various states and territories on a basis of population for the improvement of their postal roads. The
money is to be turned over to the state
authorities but they are required to make
annual reports to Congress.
This may be popularly endorsed as a
good means of disposing of any surplus,
but the lack of authority given by the
bill to the federal government to supervise such road construction is believed
to be a fatal defect. Some of the states
would undoubtedly make good use of the
money turned over to them, while some
others might not.
The Public Lands Committee has reported favorably a bill to preserve two forests of: the giant red wood trees (Sequoia
Gigantea) of California, by purchase from
the present owners who are contemplating
cutting them for lumber. These trees
are the largest and most majestic in the
world, and are one of the few remaiaing
flora of the pre-glaeial period. Some
of the largest of them are over thirty feet
in diameter and much older than the
Christian era. John Muir, the gentle
naturalist describes them as follows:
"tinder the most favorable conditions
these giants live five thousand years or
more though few. of even the largest trees
are more than half as old. I never saw
a big tree that had died a natural death;
barring accidents, they seem to be immortal, beiug exempt from all the diseases
that afflict and kill other trees. Unless
destroyed by man, they live on indefinitely until burned, smashed by lightning, or
cast down by storms ,or by the giving
way of ground on which they stand. The
age of one that was felled in the Calaveras grove for the sake of having its stump
for a dancing floor was about one thousand
three hundred years, and its diameter,
measured across the stump, 2-4 feet inside
the bark.
Another that was cut down in the King's
River forest was about the same size but
nearly a thousand years older (two thousand two hundred years), though not a
very   old  looking  tree. It  was   felled
to procure a section for exhibition, and
thus au opportunity was given to count its
annual rings of growth. The colossal
scarred monument in the King's River for-
where we have good land, the best of
markets. We were about to say also a
fine climate, but we are not far enongh
away from the zero weather and the Wizards of the past two or three weeks to
boast much about our climate. We wished many times during those icy days that
it wns permitted ns to spend our winters
somewhere ra.__r the latitude you are enquiring about.
There is no doubt but that the stock
you name would do well in central Mississippi, and that you might prosper there;
but before you sell out to move, go and
see for yourself. Don't take the testimony ofi others, who may be more interested in selling land there than in your
welfare.
Teachers' Institutes are Valuable as Well
as Farmers'.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
In  reply  to  the question  are  teachers'
institutes a benefit and  are they consid-
Agricultural Building, World's Fair, St. Louis.
est is burned half through, and I spent a
day in makiug an estimate of its age,
clearing away the charred surface with
an ax and carefully counting the annual
rings with the aid of a pocket lens. The
wood rings in the section I laid bare were
so involved and contorted in some places
that I was not able to determine its age
exactly, but I counted over 4,000 rings,
which shows that this tree was in its
prime, swaying in the Sierra winds, when
Christ walked on earth. No other tree
in the world so far as I know has looked
down on so many centuries as the Sequoia,
or opens such impressive and suggestive
views into history."
G. E. M.
How About Central Mississippi.
Editors Indiana Ffermcr:
Could you or any of the readers of the
Indiana Farmer tell me about farming in
the middle part of Mississippi, say in
Madison county? Would sheep, hogs and
cattle raising do well there and would
there be a market for such products?
Please let us know through your valuable
paper. Michael Miller.
Lake Co.
—We are not acquainted with the section you refer to, but from the location of
Madison county, between two large rivers, Big Black river, on the west, and
Pearl river on the east, wc infer tbat it
mnst have considerable bottom Iand. It
has one rail road running from north to
south, and another runs through the southwest corner, so the market facilities are
liKely to be fairly good at least. Jackson,
the capital of the State, is only a few
miles from the south end of the county,
and Vicksburg, on the Mississippi river,
is but 30 miles distant, by rail road, so
there' is a near market for all farm products.
But what is the matter with Indiana?
ered a benefit by the citizens of the county? Now in answering the first question:
We want to ask, would any farmer stop
to asK the question, are farmers' institutes a benefit? The man that would say
they aro not a benefit is the man who
does not attend, or if he does go to town
that day his time is spent in looking after
his delinquent taxes or finding the best
• saloon in town. Show me the men in
your county who attend and take part in
the work of a farmers' institute and I
will show you men who keep their homes
in shape; their wives do not put pillows
and old pants in the windows, the broken ones are replaced by new ones. So
it is all over the farm. When they meet
they do not talk about their neighbors,
but about the many good things we heard
at the farmers meeting, and the best way
to manage the work on tho farm. Tools
are all in the sheds, and stock all in the
barns on bad days, and take and read
good farm papers like the Indiana
Farmer.
In answer to the second question: In
the teachers institute they meet and exchange ideas," always telling the best way
to accomplish the most good for the children; the old teachers giving the younger
ones their experience of many years, and
talking of the miny gocd books and what
they have gathered from them. Are they
not better ablo to teach? Our answer
would be, yes. Are they considered a
benefit by the citizens of the country? As
with the fanners' institute, any one who
has attended and put a hand to the wheel
will with me say they are a good thing.
White Co. T. Jf. I.
to, at Remington, Jan. 21-22, which I believe express the sentiment of the farmers
of the entire State. J. II. Biddle.
Remington.
—AVe copy one of the resolutions in full:
"Resolved   that   whereas   the   internal
commerce and  travel  of  our  country  is
now and probably always will be Carried
on by means of horses attached to wheeled vehicles and for this purpose farmers
have constructed public highways costing
thousand of dollars and occupying thousands of acres of tlieir fertile land, but
by the high  speed   and   careless use   ot
automobiles run by careless and malignent
persons,   traffic  on our  highways  is  impeded and life and property endangered,
Be it therefore resolved that we instruct
our  representatives  in   tlie   next  general
assembly of the State ot Indiana to enact
a law regulating the speed of automobiles,
compelling  those  operating  them  to  use
the  same precaution in passing vehicles
propelled   by   horses   that   those   running
steam engines now have to use under existing laws."
The remaining resolutions recommended the passage of a law permitting people engaged in mercantile pursuits to organize and operate merchant's mutual insurance companies; favoring the post-
check currency bill; urging a law to permit the organization of a State farmers
mutual Cyclone insurance company.
Speed of Automobiles Must be Limited.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
I enclose a copy of the resolutions passed at our Independent Farmer's Institu-
AGRICULTURE BUILDING.
The Agriculture Building will stand on
a hill just west of Skinker road and about
half a mile south of the Administration
Building. Its dimensions will be 500 by
1,000 feet. The long facade will be broken up into bays accentuated by piers, the
latter 100 feet from center to center. The
ornamentation is to be concentrated in
the main entrances, of whicli there will
be five; oue in the center of each of the
shorter fronts, one in the center of the
front on the Skinker road and two placed
at equal distances ou the front toward
Arrowhead Lake—the western front. The
openings in these entrances will be 52
tcct wide and 74 feed high. A massive
arch flanked by heavy pylons that rise
only a short distance above the cornice
make up this entrance composition.
The lighting of the building has received special attention from the architect,
and it will probably be the best lighted
structure of the Fair. The roof will be
carried on nine bays of trusses, those in
the center having a span of 100 feet. The
building will have little ornamentation
and although the largest structure on the
grounds will cost less than some of the
buildings in the main architectural picture of the Fair. The contract price is
$529,940. The contractors are Caldwell
& Drake, who also have the contract for
the erection of the Horticultural Building.
William Jennings Bryan has ptifchased
the old homestead in which he was born
at Salem, III. It is a plain, two-story
house, and its heavier timbers were hewn
by Colonel Bryan's father a half-century
ago. Colonel Bryan's purchase is prompted altogether *,b.v sentiment, as he has
told his frienJ^ that he never considered
changing, his. residence from Nebraska.
      . ■. —
"   ' -      *
Manufacturers of the United States almost monopolize the Liberian trade in
firearms', and keep large stocks of their
goods in the country.
 . ■.
Americans have between fifteen and
twenty million dollars invested in Korea.
Five millions are in very rich gold mines.