VOL LIV.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SEPT 23. 1899.
NO. 38
f^oxticxxXtuxZi
R. J. B,, Daviess Co., wants a plan for a
temporary storage bouse for apples, during
the winter.   Who haa a good one?
A FEW OF THE B£SI PLUMS.
The following lg taken from Frees Bulletin,
No. 199, of the Ohio Agricultural Experiment
Station:
Grand Duke.—A Tery fine, large, lato variety; dark blue In color and Tery attractive
ln appearance. A elow grower and ought to
be grafted on eome other vigorous hardy variety.
Lombard.—An old standby. Reliable and
Taluable, although a little inclined to rot.
Medium size: coppery red; fair quality. Inclined to overbear and need close pruning.
Bradshaw.—Tree a fine grower and prolific,
but rather long in coming into bearing.
Fruit large, purple and of good quality. Tbe
earliest of the large sorts and one of the best
for all purposes.
Wolf.—One of the best of American varieties, but inclined to overbear. The trees begin bearing early and need close pruning to
thin the fruit.
Ooe's Golden Drop.—A large, late ripening,
yellow variety. Tree a slow grower and
ehould be top worked on some free growing
tort.
Weaver.—One of the best of the midseaeon
American sorts. Rather dull in color but excellent, in culinary purposes.
Imperial Gage.—A greenish yellow plum of
the beet quality. Especially desirable for the
home garden.
Missouri Green Gage.—A greenish yellow
plum, similar to Green Gage, but a little
larger. Of the very choicest quality. Season
medium to late.
Reine Olaude de Bavay.—Greenish yellow:
late ln ripening, of the best quality and Tery
prolific. One of the best either for home
use or market.
Reed.—A wonderfully prolific American
Tarlety. Fruit of medium size, bright scarlet; very beautiful and with Tery much of the
Damson flavor when cooked. Very ornamental in foliage, flower and fruit.
Lincoln.—Fruit, large to Tery large, coppery red and of good quality. Valuable for
home uie or market, but slow In growth and
ehould be worked on eome other Tarlety.
Red June.—One of the hardiest and best of
the Japanese sorts. Especially Taluable because of earliness.
Abundance.—Tree upright In growth and
prolific; fruit medium to large and of excellent quality.   Desirable.
Moore's Arctic—Rather too small for market but the fact that it is hardier tbanmost
other varieties of itg class makes it Taluable.
Wild Goose.—On account of earliness,
Prollfteness and extreme hardiness this must
be ranked as a Taluable Tarlety.
This list is less than half the number given
■n the bulletin.
Cultivation of Strawberries.
*Mtom IxniANj, man.
In your issue of Sept. 2rd, wag a Taluable
letter from the pen of G. Cowing of Muncie.
■*ho is good authority on the strawberry. The
best yield I haTe eTer been able to obtain was
125 gallons on ^ of an acre, the Parker Earl
yielding that amount the past season, on new
Pound, without any kind of fertilizer, but
»ith the Tery best of cultivation. I sold $12
*orth of plants from the plot and 113 gallons
of berries, at an average of 6 centg a quart.
After 20 yeara of careful study and with good
•elections lt Is seldom we get more than 75
bushels per acre. Try to get the beat and
»en dlecard all imperfect berriea In picking.
Give good measure in clean boxes and crates,
*od haTe a good man to handle them, and
they will find ready sale at above the average
price.
I set o}4 feet apart and 30 inches apart in
rows for the matted row system, as I get the
most and best berries this way. I have now
14 varieties In cultivation. Tbe Parker Earl
ia firet and Warfield second in yield, and fine
berries on my ground, which ls Whlteoak,
sugar, and poplar. Land with a deep loam
subsoil running to block eand on the surface.
It never gets hard nor bakes In the sun, but Is
always loose. I mulch with half-rotted straw
stack manure, heavily between rows, early ln
winter, and the berries all smooth and clean-
One who don't like to work almoet continuously should not go Into email fruit culture,
My experience and observation has been that
to keep one acre of any kind of small fruit ln
good order and fruitful condition is about
equal to cultivating 10 acres of corn, as lt ls
necessary to keep a good sharp hoe, and be
eure to use it early and often. With a small
farm or plot of ground one can make good
living wages in vegetables and small fruits,
where they could not with corn or whoat. Every farmer needs one acre sot apart for garden
and all kinds of small fruits, and It will be
the beBt acre on the farm at tbe end of the
year. Try it, brother farmers, and satisfy
yourselves, and I am sure your wlveB and
daughters will rise up and call you blessed.
Crawf ordeville. F. S. Q.
—At the rate of 125'gallons on one-eighth
of an acre you would grow 1,000 gallons on an
acre, worth at 6 cents a quart {240; or deducting cost of picking, $180. Thia would pay
right well, but, aa you eay, there ls a good
deal of work in growing good berries, and a
lazy man would better try some other business.
What you say about having a good garden
of fruits and vegetables la exactly so. We
take great satisfaction in our garden, which
ia not eo good aa it might be, but keeps us
supplied with all the small fruits and vegetables we can uee throughout tbe season, and
much to spare besides. At this time we have
melons, plums, apples, sugar corn.llma beans,
and potatoeg daily, from our orchard and
garden; and since the opening of spring have
had something fresh and palatable all along.
Our readers will testify that we frequently
urge them to do likewise, and we are glad to
know that more of them are doing so from
year to year.
 *m*	
Echoes Indiana Fakub.
What time in the fall should strawberries be
planted. R- J- B.
Washington.
Aa early as plants can be got, if you are prepared to Irrigate them. This fall has been
too dry for getting them and the summer was
too dry for making, so that plant setting will
have to be deferred till next spring ln moet
sections.
Drying Sweet Corn Seed.
Several y>3ars ago, when the canning industry was carried on ln this neighborhood, I
cured com for seed. I had eome frames
about 5x10 feet, made of 2x4 timber, and
covered them with poultry wire netting
on one side (the timber waa eet edgewise). To
eecure the wire more firmly to the framesi
also to increase their storing capacity, I
nailed a two-inch strip of board on the edge
of the frames over the wire. I then set four
posts ln the ground, so the corners of one of
the frames would rest upon them. The posta
were topped with inverted old tin pans to
keep vermin from climbing to the racks,
which were strengthened by one or more crossbars to keep the wire from sagging when
loaded.
I gathered my seed corn when the husks
were getting dry and the grains shriveling,
and husked lt and spread it on the netting of
the rack, sometimes two or or three layers
deep, taking some pains to make the upper
ears lie loosely over the lower ones. Then I
put bits of board acroea the corners to keep
the next rack from fitting closely down on
the first one, filled this in the samo way, and
ao oontlnued, putting as many as 12 or 15,
one above tbo other, covering all when filled,
with a board roof. I left all ln thla shapo until late NoTember, when I removed the bits of
boards from the corners by lifting the racks
apart slightly with a bar, while I took out tho
pieces of board. Then tho racks rested closely one upon the other, so ae to exclude the
snows of winter, and tho corn was well
housed until I was ready to shell lt. I found
that tho corn dried much better placed thus
in the open air than I could to make lt dry
within a building, no matter how loosely I
stored it, Tbe above plan can be ueed on a
small ecale, but I should say, alwaye dry ln
the open air.—Cor. Rural New Yorker.
Pears for tbe Family Garden.
The importance and value of fruit ln the
diet ration ls well known, and by all competent authorities it is given a high place, and
tbe people of this country recognize Ite fitness
as food by the large amounts bought and sold
in our market, and used by the wealty and
well-to-do families. Notwithstanding the
large amounts of fruits consumed in thie
country, a great part of the population have
but a small supply of lt, and those most lacking it, next to the poorer claeees of the cities,
are the greater portion of farmers families
and the residents of email Tillages, the Tery
onee beet situated to have it in abundance.
The inadequacy of ite eupply Ie proverbal.
As this class ie not within reach o the general markets, its supply muet come by Its own
efforts. Outside of the Immediate rango of
communities engaged in commercial fruitgrowing, the paucity of fruit ln rural communities is surprising to city dwellers, who
always have a sufficiency at hand.
Although the tree dealer traverses the country by ita highways and byways, and the press
is continually supplying Information on fruit
growing, etill the Insufficient supply for a
large portion of country dwellers continues
to prevail. Many farms can claim only tbe
meager fruit supply of a few currants, If fortunately they are eaved from the worms, perhaps a few blackcap raspberries, and possibly
some apples for a few weeks or a few montha,
and of many others the supply is still lese;and
the same ls true of many villiage rsaidencea
with a quarter of an acre to two acres of land.
With the great variety of fruits adapted to the
varied portions of this country, there ie no
reason why the tables of the oountry dwellers
should not have an abundant supply of fruit
the year round; strawberries, cherries, currants, gooseberries, raspberries, blackberries,
plume, pears and apples, can be raised almoet
everywhere, and the peach and other more
tender fruits ln largo proportions of the country. With a proper selection of pears and apples and the summer fruits, a regular and uninterrupted supply may be had tbe year round.
Pear treea come into bearing and givo their
crops with more regularity than apples, and
an abundant aupply of thla fruit ehould not
be lacking to country dwellers, or to and who
have sufficient space.—From Vicks Magazine.
Perfect Apples ln California.
Apple buyera have made their appearance
In Lompoc, says the Record, and are anilous
to secure contracts for thepcreent output,which
will not fall ehort of fifty carloads of as choice
fruit as eTer went from tho Btate. We can
state with truth and safety that not a single
apple in all thia vast quantity ia affected with
the codlin moth, for there la nono ln all thla
region. This year's crop ls going to be very
fine, and those who are not to hasty ln contracting will get the worth of their product.—
California Fruit Grower.
Midwinter   Hints   for  Flower-Growere.
Examine the outdoor rosebuds occasionally
to see that tho wind has not removed the
covering.
The planta stored for the winter ln the cellar have now been ln eomo time. Ferbape
they need a Uttle water or other attention.
Whero plants aro kept about tho wlndowe,
cold drafts from tho sides of tho sash should
be carefully guarded agalnet during severe
weather.
Frequent cleansing of the leaves of foliage
plants, by using tepid water ani a eponge,
lends to their attractiveness, and is eeeentlal
to tho health of the plants.
Juet at this time, when work with the flowers is very light, ie a good timo to coneider
what will be tho best to plant ln tho garden ln
tho spring. When tho proper time comes,
everything must be ln readiness, so that no
valuable time will bo Ioet.
Cinders form a good material for covering
the floors and paths of the conservatory.
To clean old flower-pots on which green
moss and a sort of whito mold has grown,
scrub them vigorously with eand and water.
This will make tbe pots look bright and new,
Uee porous vessels only to pot plants ln.
They will do better in such than in tin cans.
—Woman's Home Companion.
Reclaiming Run Down Farms.
U. S. Secretary of agriculture, Hon. James
Wilson Inclines to the opinion that the abandoned farms in New England hare haTe been
deprlTed of phosphates, potaeh, nitrogenous
matter and other eeeentlal ingredients of production by unscientific farming, and tbat by
careful culture tho fertility of the eoil can be
restored. A soil physicist will be dispatched
to make a careful anaylsis of tbe soil to determine exactly what lt lacks. The secretary
thinks thatthe planting of grasses, legumes,
clover, etc., will restore tho nitrogen and that
phosphates can be had by the Introduction of
domestic animals. Potaeh muet be purchased.
The secretary ie Tery sanguine in hie belief
that science can reclaim theso onco fertile,
but long abandoned, farms.
Permanent Agricultural Exposition.
Work has been begun on a permanent agricultural exposition building in Chicago, at
tho main entrance to tho Union stockyards.
It ls to cost about $100,000. The building will
be a modern, fireproof structure, built of
stone, eteel and brick, three stories high,
seventy-five feet wide and 200 feet long. On
the firet floor there will be numerous rooms,
whero manufactures may placo on exhibition
euih of their products as they choose. On the
third floor there will also be a number of exhibition rooms and an auditorium with a seating capacity of 700, which is to be ueed for
holding public meetings, conventions, meet-
lnge of the State Grange and other agricultural organizations. One of tho principal
features will bo a model beet-sugar manufacturing plant, showing the process of manufacture from the time the beet starts growing.
Another feature will be a miniature coal
mine ln full operation. Soveral governors of
western states haTe made application for
space and will arrange for the placing of their
products ln tho building. From New York,
Boston and Philadelphia come requests for
spaco from many manufacturers. There is to
be no charge for admission, and the building
will be open eTcry week day, except legal
holidays, throughout theyear,
 -««*. _—
Unexpected Reply.
The teacher of a juvenile Sunday achool
class waa picturing to the minda of her little
puplla the beauties of heaven, and concluded
by asking: "Now, who can tell what kind of
little boye go to heaven?" "I can," answered
one small boy. "Very well," said the teacher,
"you may tell me." "Dead onee," was the
prompt, but unexpected reply.