VOL. XXIII.
:.<»"
-PTOIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, AUG. 4,1888.
NO. 31
Wrllte*B for the Indiana Farmer.
California Notes.
bv J. r. mendenham,.
In reading Mr. Conner's "Resources  of
•he North-West," I was surprised  at  my
oitn ignorance.   It has been a good while
lince my old school days, and I had  forgotten that Minnesota was  aa large as Indiana with over  five  states  as  large  as
Massachusetts added, or, as large as Indian and Ohio, with about all  of Khode Island and Delaware  thrown , in  for good
aeasure.   First settlements  were  made
« years after those made in Indiana, and
admitted into the Union  42 years  later.
With 120,000,000 busbels of  grain  in  one
eason, 2,600,000 head of stock  on  hand
he great state  of  Minnesota is  worth
•.Making about.
It is well to have a good  family atlas at
hand, and read up on the States now and
then. In looking up my  geography  lesson I find that California is as large as the
peat states of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois,
Kith over half of  Kentucky  added,  and
would extend from  northern  Illinois  to
ie city of Montgomery,  Alabama,  with
over 800 miles of sea coast.   California  is
another state worth thinking about.   Set-
Jed in 1709, and admitted  into the Union
Ln 1850, she now has a population of 1,500,-
['■». With an area of 155,980 square miles,
IsomtbDoks  say  188,911  square  miles—
'■Jonf/our times as large as  the  state  of
Sw York)—and  one" hundred" million
■ficres, she can produce enough of every
■Mng for an empire.
A great portion of the state is mountainous, bnt these mountains are valuable, for
'•% have produced over $800,000,000 in
-old and silver, and are likely to produce
»good supply for all time to come. They
«re also valuable for bee pasturage. There
w to day not less than 25,000 hives of bees
'& Los Angeles county, and as each hive
'111 produce 200 pounds of honey in a
rear, the income from this source is con-
eta-able, and comes almost entirely from
le mountains. The best honey I ever
^-better than white clover honey—
smefrom th,e mountains a few miles
Mrth of this city.
The five gallon tin cans used to ship re-
•■wd petroleum from the East to the Fa-
'-■fic states are bought up for about five
*"tseach, thoroughly cleaned, and filled
'J'1'extracted honey, each  can  holding
'bout
sixty pounds.   These are shipped to
*h9 Eastern states and to England in large
'••■-.titles, the amount reaching hundreds
J thousands of pounds.   Pure honey  is
*»ys shipped, as there is no inducement
"•tever to mix it with any thing else.
"■f said the honor of introducing  the
■^ bees into Los Angeles county belongs
'^■Childs, the banker,  now  living
South Main street.   IJe bought a few
"■MM in 1855 in San Francisco,  paying
Kood sum of $100 in gold per colony,
..J!   ed taem ^ his nursery on  Main
**«.  l?6*1.*"1-* present  residence.^ They
1 8»ve him
5-,     —— large quantities St fine
>yr honey which he sold readily for one
SuPerp0Tlnd-
We Was in  tne 8°°d  old d»ys  when
Wlon.
Dating oil sold for three  dollars per
The price now of the best refined
«re **centspergallon,andhbney Is from
-Hhe *r>° C6nts per P°und- The foot hills
W esoal» San Jaointo and SIerra
tari,. ra*-ges,are carpeted with a hundred
Seer? °f WUd flowers> and he"> ^e bee-
"-*y hi™ and thrives. "Here the little
it-Lt6 S^era nectar all tho dry, from
l^iesn lng flower-" Tne bee-keeper
Hi thewr°Viai0n for long" °°ld winters»
I'^year w8ather honey every day in
'•Urn' Boney ta taken from the hives
^Kath ttheyear-   In Water the
|!**>iontr nectarfrom the orange and
'"^'•n hf'the Wild  acacla> and the Au
furnishes an amber colored honey of fair
quality. Early in June the white or silver sago comes into bloom, and this valuable plant is found all over the foot hills
and mountains. No flower in the world
produces a whiter, cleaner, sweeter nectar
than the silver sage. Many of the flowers
blooming in autumn produce a delicious
nectar, equal and superior to the fineBt
white clover and basawood honey of the
Eastern States.
A very curious and interesting object
is the Snow Plant of the Sierras. We could
hardly call it beautiful, yet it is quite elegant, and could it be grown in our gardens
would attract great attention. A friend
of ours brought an entire plant down from
the mountains a few days ago—the first
one we had ever seen.
The Snow plant, Sarcodes Sanguined, is
a parasite that grows on the roots ot trees,
usually those of pine, and three or four
inches below the surface. The whole
plant is sucjculent, and all above the soil,
—leaf, stem and flower,—is of light blood
red color, (sometime shading to dark purple. The portion below the soil is of a
pale pink, fading to white when deep in
the ground. The usual hight of the plant
is from 10 to 20 inches, some specimens
reaching two feet. It loves the mountains,
and I believe is never found at a less elevation than 4,000 feet above the sea, almost
up to the snow limit. I have heard of
plants being grown from seed, but it is
next thing to impossible to grow them in
ordinary garden soil, or in low elevations.
There is but ene species, and no known
varieties. The plant grows compact, and
in leaf and flower, and general form, resembles a red hyacinth.
Among the valuable trees of California,
I desire to mention the Pepper tree as one
of the most desirable. It is the favorite
shade tree of Southern California. In San
Francisco and further north the Pepper
grows as a shrub, and is sometimes used
for screens and hedges, but here in Los
Angeles I have seen trees 40 and 50 feet
high, with large spreading tops, cov ering
a space 60 or 70 feet across. It will bear
any amount of cutting, and in this climate
will live and grow without water except
what falls in rain during the winter
months. S9ed planted at the beginning
of the raiuy season will produce plants
three feet high by June, and large, handsome trees at the end of three years. The
Pepper tree ia a native of Mexico and Central America, It is evergreen, and remarkably graceful, having the habit some
what of a weeping willow. The blossoms
resemble the elderberry, but are much
smaller, and are folio wed by clusters of
green berries of the size and appearance of
small currants, which change to a beautiful pink as they ripen.
The Eucalyptus or blue gum, is another
valuable tree of the Pacific Coast. Small
plants from seed the first year will" often
grow 8 or 10 feet high, and at tho end of
the second year will reach 20 to 30 feet.
They are handsome trees, having the
habit of the Lombardy Poplar, and are
valuable for wood. Tbey are evergreen,
and make a fine con'.-ast with the Pepper
and Cypress.
Los Angeles, Cal., July 27.
■T^acl.
blue
earn.   Later the alfilerilla
WEATHER CBOP BULLETIN
Of the Indiana Weather Service ln Cooperation with the Signal Service.*^
lNDiANAror.1-" . uly 28.
Moderately warm ten oe'n; ire and
much sunshine prevailed daring the past
week; no rain fell over the southern portion and little only at a few localities in
the central and northern portions. Corn
is not suffering for rain as yet, and its
present condition is most excellent and
promising, but rain  would be of  great
Si>ge comes into bloom, and this benefit to its further growth.
The general conditions of the weather
during the week, were excellent for harvesting, and hay, wheat and oats are cut,
and the threshing of the latter is nearly
ended; general satisfaction is expressed
with the yield, both as to quantity and
quality.
Vevay—The reports from all parts of
the county continue encouraging. The
threshing machines are busy day and
night, and the yield of wheat exceeds all
expectations in regard to quantity and
quality. The yield of hay is below the
average. Early planted tobacco is further
advanced for the season than in former
years. The most precarious of all is the
onion crop, which may be attributed to
the deficiency of rain soon after planting.
The fruit crop, with the exception of apples, will be unusually heavy. The wheat
crop is the best that has been harvested
here for many years. It is selling at 72
cents.
Seymour—The weather during the past
week has been favorable to the growth of
corn and potatoes, and the prospect is good
for an excellent crop of both. Wheat
threshing and the oats harvest are ended.
The yield of both is much better than expected, and above the average. Farmers
are greatly encouraged.   Traces of rain
Worthington—The grass crop is being
harvested rapidly and the weather is very
fine for making hay. The farmers are
getting in oats and threshing wheat.
Wheat is turning out very well, but the
quality is not good. Corn, although splendid, is needing rain now; so do potatoes.
Trace of rain.
Sunman—The past week has been very
favorable for finishing the cutting of hay
and oats, but it has been too dry for corn
and potatoes, which are needing rain very
much. There are some complaints of
chinch bugs.
Columbus—Wheat is all threshed. Itis
in good condition and the yield is much
better than was expected before the harvest. Some claim as high as forty bushels
per acre, while some fields were not worth
cutting. The pasture is dried up. The
corn prospect is good.   Rainfall .29 inch.
Crawfordsville—Wheat is being threshed. The yield is from 10 to 20 bushels per
acre. The corn crop never promised a better yield than now.   Rainfall, .10 inches.
Franklin—The ground is getting very
dry; wheat threshing is well advanced;
the grain is good from some fieids, but
from others it is shriveled; corn is in good
condition and still has a good color, no
rain.
Rockville—Wheat is a short crop and of
poor quality; corn is very good; early potatoes are a short crop; fruit of all kinds
is very good,surpassing any crop for years;
no rain.
Mauzy—A goodrain ismuch needed and
would do much good to corn and grass;
rainfall, .08 inch.
Farmland—The weather has been splendid for corn the past few days; the oats
crop is about all cut, and is apparently
above the average; corn is splendid; rainfall .08 inch.
Degonia Springs—Wheat is coming out
better than expected; corn is not suffering, but it needs rain to make it shoot.
Delphi—Corn would be better for a good
rain. Oats are turning out better than
anticipated. Wheat is not over four bushels per acre on the average of acreage sown,
and in quality it is generally poor. Rainfall, .15 inch.
Mt. Vernon—Wheat threshing is progressing all over the county with great
energy. The large corn crop is growing
nicely and is not suffering yet for want of
rain.   No rain.
Lafayette—The oats harvest is finished.
Chinch bugs are abundant, but no great
damage by them is reported.
Princeton—It is very dry and dusty.
' Wheat is  turning out  splendidly.   Corn
looks fine but needs rain. Pastures are
bare and drying up. The grape crop is
immense.
Logansport—The wheat threshed during
last week has developed a better yield than
was anticipated, from 15 to 23 bushels per
acre, but there is a shortage in weight.
Oats will give an unusual yield. Potatoes
and other vegetables promise well. Rainfall, .20 inch.
Angola—There were many showers the
past week. Corn is blocked out for a large
crop. Oats are nearly ripe and very good.
Wheat is now threshed, and the yield is
good. The fruit crop is generally healthy,
but will not be as large as expected. Rainfall, 1.22 inch.
II. A. Huston,
Director Indiana Weather Service'.
Per C. F. R. Wappeniians,
Signal Service Ass't-
Qreen Crops  and Improvement.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
In a recent article on the treatment of
farm lands the author recommended as
most valuable, the seeding of all Holds of
small grain tosomegreen crop,immediately after the removal of the grain crop. Ho
claimed that it was immeasurably moro
beneficial to the land than to let it grow up
in weeds or to leave it bare after the midsummer plowing—to say nothing about
the amount of forage, from millet, sorghum or fodder-corn, that could be secured bafore time to prepare the ground
for fall grain again.
It was said by this writer to be especially desirable when such fields were intended to remain over for corn for the following spring.
Although it wai pretended these statements were based on scientific experiments
I scarcely think the universal adoption of
the plan would result in a confirmation of
their claims, exespt where land was to be
left for the next spring's croppings. If it
is conceded, however, that such a system
is beneficial, there seems no comparison
in my mind between clover for such purpose and any other of the plants named.
Clover will not make such a large return
in forage, but it will jield a considerable
cutting of nice hay for cattle, or if desired
will produce a moderate seed crop, while
it has the advantage of saving the breaking
of the ground required for the other crops
mentioned, after tho removal of the fostering crop, which protects the former. If it
is desired to pasture the young clover the
stock of the farm here find the tenderest
grazing to be __ad,which may in a measure
compensate for the serious eftect of flies at
this season of the year.
To all convereant with the advantages of
clover as a mechanical fertilizer its vitalizing power in restoring the lost energies
of the soil, i3 the strongest argument for
seeding all small grain crops with it in the
spring. If attended to with judgment in
February we will seldom fail of a good
catch and a fair harvost the following August.
Rotation of crops is the only true system
of farming, yet, if desired, by the yearly
seeding of clover, the eame fields can be
cropped in wheat from year to year—failing indeed after a succession of a number
of years, but mainly then, in the matter of
quality. By no other management can
nature be cheated in violating the cardinal
principles of a proper rotation of crops.
New Harmony. E. F. Owen.
A Gentleman who has Ecen tho groat
Exposition at Cincinnati has thc folio "ring
to say of it: Magnificent as the Cincinnati
Expositions were when comparatively
local interests wore concerned, they have
been left in the shade by this one to whoso
wheel the whole United States as a body
has responded withashoulder.andtheono
who can say in after years that he did
not visit it, will be looked upon as having
missed his opportunity.