VOL. LIX.
INDIANAPOLIS, NOVEMBER 19, 1904.
HOW TO BREAK A COLT.
Begin Early.
lst Premium.—The worst possible thin?
you could do in breaking a colt is to lose
yov.r temper and go to whipping, for it
will teach the colt to fear jou. Always
be kind and gentle, but firm. When two
or three weeks old tie the colt to the mart;
it will follow the mare willingly enough
and it will be a light task to break it to
lead. Then teach it to stand tied, away
from the mare. After it has been taught
to stand and lead, the next thing is to
teach it to back. This should be done by
taking hold of the halter strap with the
right hand, and pressing in on the colt's
breast. If it does not back at the first
attempt, do not lose your temper, for it
does not understand. When it does back,if
it is only a step, it should he rewarded
witli an. apple or a lump of salt. The colt
will soon learn what is wanted, and will
back readily.
When about two years old, put on lb-
harness and lead around, so he will not
be afraid of the harness. Then hitch him
to the wagon with a good, steady horse.
It he does* not go straight, it is because
he does not know what you want. In
that case, stop them, and talk to the colt.
Pat him, but do not whip him.
The next thing to do is to break him to
drive, first by putting on the harness
alone and driving him around to accustom him to the harness and the touch of
tiie lines. Then hitch to the buggy, and,
as a rule, the colt will go all right. After
he has been thoroughly broken to drive,
put on- the saddle and lead around a bit,
then get on and ride. In this way you will
have a much better horse than if you had
turned him out on pasture, as soon as he
was old enough to wean, and left him there
uatil about three years old.
Randolph Co. A Farmer Boy.
taincd in an average crop of wheat grown
on the sanle land. And there still remains in the roots, stubble, and leaves
of clover, more than enough nitrogen than
can be used by the wheat crop, which will
follow.
The thing for the farmer to do is to
have a fine growth of clover. This he
can easily get by using the proper
amounts of potash and phosphoric acid.
Irt the clover, as in all tlie root crops,
potash is the most needed element; therefore, potash fertilizers are found to foe
the best for them.
In a rotation, by growing a clover crop,
the farmer should ensure a rank growth
of clover by supplying plenty of potash.
Thus, he will get tiie expensive nitrogen-,
which is furnished by the clover at a
small cost.
Premiums of $1, 75 cents, 50 cents
are given for the first, second and thhd
best articles for the Experience Department each week. Manuscript should b*
sent direct to th_ Indiana Farmer Company and should reach us one week ba-
fore date of publication.
No. 455, Nor. 26.—What is the effect
°f working the ground when it is too
wet? How do you tell when it is dry
enough?
No. 456, Dec. 3.—How should poultry
!>e treated in winter so as to have early
hatches  in  spring?
No. 457, Dec. 10.—What are the needs
°f country schools, and how can they be
secured?
The 'Wheat-Clover Rotation.
Kilitora Indiana Fanner:
At this time ofi the. year about the
first work of the season is sowing seed
for the clover crop in- the rotation. The
growth of clover improves the soil in a
splendid way for the coming crop. When
clover is sowed among the young wheat,
the roots strike deep and the plant collects
and feeds on nitrogen. Thus, the clover
stores up a supply of this useful and expensive element of plant food in tbo
Rub-soil for the growth of wheat or
corn,    which  follows.
The large amount of nitrogen which
the clover contains is one of its most
Prominent features it being twice as
much as that found in the grain crops.
It is found that the two average clover
crops of the one year contain about four
times as much nitrogen as would be con-
position when they first appeared; it was
with opposition that they gained a standing. A prominent member of congress
from tbo Indianapolis district said of t'ae
telegraph that it was the greatest humbug of the age to say that you could sen.l
a message by lightning. It has killed
a good miany people, so has the binder,
thresher, corn shredder and bicycle, but
they are here yet, and science and mechanical invention have and are contriving means to lessen their danger, and the
law also has come to the people's aid.
Now if every man knew what is right
and then did it we should not need law.
but there are many who do not know
what is right and miany more that do not
heed or practice it, that have a 'reasonable knowledge of right.
Now what we need is a reasonable law
<_J«:mj attfl &n&xvzx.
I .ease tell mo how and when to flfnt Catalpa
fcj-jMl :iml oblige. J.  W.
Cass   Co.
Tlie seeds should be gathered now, and
put away in a cool, dry place, to be
planted in "nursery rows, next May. Next
spriug"ii,,you'write us we will give directions for cultivation, etc.
.Ill    111:111   _').        _____
_-e__j_'"te__".n the next issue of the Fanner
_-heu aj|;<J[,h_jyf.In tio fall prurming of fruit trees,'
__j! al-O. of 'grape vines, md if It ls welt for grape
vines to toe ^uneU iu tlie fall and! in which
niontta. B.   I.
Pru^.jOjjy time after the leaves have
fallen. ,.[,M1'lf is safe to prune during mild
spells in, jwjui^cr, if you paint the cut end
of the limb wj.h gum shellac. The gum
should be dissolved in alcohol, and applied with a paint brush. Some of the
best orchadists prefer pruning very early
in spring,' as soon as the severity of winter is over. Have a sharp pruning
knife and make a clean, smooth cut. We
prefer to prune grape vines in February
or early March. Sylvester Johnson, our
best amateur grape grower, prunes early
in the winter, or late in the fall; but
he lays the vines on the grouud and covers them lightly with leaves. By this
method he grows the teoderest varieties
successfully. _ ..
Bear Kiver, near Petpskcy Mich.
An average corn and timothy crop wiil
use and take from the soil some 300
pounds of nitrogen. If the farmer would
buy 300 pounds of nitrogen to put back
into the soil as a fertilizer, it will cost
him some $45. But he can save most
of his expense by growing a good clover
crop, which will supply, as we have seen,
plenty of nitrogen for the corn crop.
In growing clover, an excess of phosphoric acid will have a tendency to uu-
iluly stimulate tlie crop and force it to
early maturity, which means poorer
growth. Therefore, if fertilizer has
been used on the wheat at the full planting, the farmer will find it desirable to
apply potash as a top-dressing iu the
spi-'ng, say,' from 100 to 200 pounds of
muriate of potash per acre. The object
is to maintain a proper balance of plant
food necessary for the different crops in
the rotation. V. J. Lance.
The Automobile.
Kditors Indiana Farmer:
I see that quite a number of your correspondents have discussed the automobile on the public roads. Some of them
have done it in a reasonable, seirsible
way, others have not talked so rationally. In my opinion the automobile has
come to stay, the same as the cotton gin,
the railroad, telegraph, binder, corn
shredder,  etc.,  etc.        They  all  had  op-
to regulate the rupning of lautoniobilo-s
on the public highways, something like
the law that regulates the traction engine, and I feel certain that the next legislature will give aid in the matter.
Now let us keep in the bounds of reason in what we ask for. Some of the
suggestions made by your correspondents
are equivalent to barring the automobile
from the rood, wliich will never be doue.
Some one suggested a special road for
them. This is impracticable. I know
of a 10-acre farm in Marion couuty that
has a 00-foot wagon road, a railroad and
an interurban through it and there is
hardly room for another road besides telegraph aud telephone poles. I know
that private interest must yield to public
good, but if we take all private interest
for public good where will tlie public
good come in. Let us be la little patient, and I hope that those who tear
along the public roads in automobiles wUl
stop long enough to consider others'
rights ami pleasures as well as their own.
It you would stop your automobile as
you approach a vehicle and step out by
the side of it most teams will pass with
little trouble, but we need some legislation, for there are some persons that have
no regard for the rights of others, neither
in the rights of property nor the destruction of life.                                     I. N. C.
Marion Co.
7.. C, BoonviUe. The age limits at the
Deaf and Dumb asylum of this State arc-
eight and twenty. That is a deaf mute
can enter the institution after eight years
of age, and can remain until twenty, :f
desired.
A subscriber asks for a rule for measuring ear corn ia the wagon bos or crib.
A good safe rule is to multiply the length,
breadth and hight together in feet and
decimals of a foot and divide the product by two. This is for dry, sound corn:
E. g. 10x4x2 equals 80 .and divided by 2
equals 40 bushels.
gostat GovvzspmiAcnce.
Lake Co., Nov. 30.—Corn husking and shredding
in full progress, with yield rather below the average; fall wheat and rye looking fine; fall seeding
of timothy looking fair; weather and roads are
very nice; all live stoek looking good; horsea demand a high price; in fact all live stock are high;
our fruit crop was nothing to speak of.
G.   F.   D.
Edgar Co., 111. Nov. 11.—Election passed off as
quietly as has the campaign, but with a change
of weather; our beautiful Indian summer weather
h.is given place to cold north-easterly winds and
mins; swiue disease has poemlngly worn itself
out; about one-third in this vicinity have died;
prices low—cattle very low; corn 40c; potatoes
00c per bu.; turkeys 12c; chicks 9c; butter 17c;
eggs 20c;  corn yields  well. E.  C.
I_aPorte Co., Nov. 11.—Wheat looking well, although rain Is much needed; corn has mostly
lilrened up good, and some husking is being done:
but many are now shredding and running it up.
into the barns; late, potatoes of first quality;
but no sal<?; not much frost aud only two freezes,,
the Gth and 10th of Nov.; the weather Is fine.
Mrs.  B.A.Davis.
Tipton Co., Nov. 10.—The farmers are very busy
husking and shredding their corn; not much coro
cut on account of it being down so badly; the
quality is fair but would be greatly damaged if
left out late. B. G.
Dearborn Co., Nov. 10.—Corn is l_*ing cribbed
in good condition; some are selling, price 45c;
fly is injurin the early sown wheat; wheat sown
tho first of Oct. looking well; stock of all kinds
doing well; more lambs being fed this winter
than usual. W. P. B.
Wayne Co., Nov. 12.— Wheat not looking as well
as it did a mouth ago today; fly in early sown
wheat; cribbing corn In full blast ln standing
corn; a few commenced husking their shock corn;
apples all picked, keeping well; four weeks of nice
weather; no rain to Bpeak of. H. O. B.
Warrick Co., Nov. 12.—Still dry, no rain for
the past six weeks; many are out of water;
wheat is beginning to show the effect of drouth;
corn husking Is going on rapidly and corn Is good
in yield and quality; the hunting season Is open
again and the city man is again roaming over our
fields; lhe "Battle of Ballots" Is over and the
immediate future for the farmer Is secure.
n. p. n.
Farmors at Elwood ave combining to
prevent tlio hilling of quail on their respective farms.