VOL. XXX.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., OCT. 5, 1895.
NO. 40.
WEATHER. CROP BULLETIN.
United States Weather Bureau, Department of Agriculture. Orop Bulletin of
the Indiana Weather Service in Co-operation With the Agricultural Experiment Station at Purdue University for
the Week Ending Monday, Sept. SO, 1895.
Central Station at Indianapolis, Ind.
Cool, fair weather predominated with
good rains only in localities of the northern portion on one day. Light frosts visited on two mornings in localities hut
there was not anything to be injured except perhaps a few tender plants, a few
late tomatoes or sweet potatoes. Corn is
all safe from frost and most of it is cut
and in shock, in some localities all is secured and hulling has begun; the tops
make good fodder as hay is so scarce. In
general the yield is very good in some localities it is the greatest crop for years.
A fair crop of tobacco is all housed in
good condition. A good crop of millet
and buckwheat is being harvested and
a fair amount of sorgum is being rendered. Potatoes are not a good yield except in few counties of the northern portion, where the crop is heavy. Turnips,
pnmpkins and melons are an extraordinary crop. A fair crop of sweet potatoes
are being dug. Apples and cider are in
such abundance that there is no market
for them and in some localities there are
not barrels enough to hold the cider
Most of the wheat is all sown ; the early
sown wheat, rye and barley are coming
up nicely, but there are tlys in the wheat
in localities and it must be resown. Farmers in general are satisfied with this year's
harvest.
SOUTHERN PORTION.
Cool, fair weather prevailed and no rain
fell in most localities. Corn cutting progresses rapidly, most is in shock and
most all is safe from frost. Although a
fair crop it is not as large as in the northern portion. A fair crop of tobacco is secured in Ohio, Switzerland and Spencer
counties. It is too dry for turnips but
still the crop is fair. Millet and buckwheat are harvested, in general a fair
crop, in Ripley and Jennings counties the
buckwheat crop is light. Potatoes are a
light crop; in Washington, Spencer and
Warrick counties good crops are gathered. A good crop of sweet potatoes are
ready to be dug in Bartholomew and
Washington counties. Clover hulling
still continues in some counties with a fair
yield. Melons are a good crop and the
pumpkin orop in Posey county is
splendid. I'asturage is getting dry; in
l.artholomew and Oreene counties it is
still green and good. Apples and cider
are so abundant that there is no sale for
them, in Jefferson county there are not
barrels enough to hold the cider. Wheat
. seeding is delayed in many counties, the
ground is so dry that what has been sown
il* rs not germinate well and needs rain.
The early sown wheat is coming up nicely,
hut in some tields the fly is in it and ithas
I*, bo resown. Stock is in fair condition
in some localities it has to be fed and
water has to be hauled as wells and
springs are dry.
CENTRAL  PORTION.
Cool, fair and dry weather continued;
light local rains fell only on one day.
Most corn is cut and in shock and all the
rest is safe from the frost; the crop in
general is very good; the ear is well filled
and the tops make good fodder; milling
has begun in Boone county. Local frosts
occurred in several localities, but did little or no injury. Potatoes in general
yield well, in Marion county the crop is
light. Sweet potatoes promise a fair crop;
in Randolph county the crop is light.
Cabbage and turnips are in good condition. Melons are abundant; in Fayette
county the crop is the largest for years.
Plenty of apples and much cider everywhere and they are hard to sell: in Franklin county there are not barrels enough to
hold the  cider.   Tomatoes   are plentiful
and large loads are going to the factory;
in Wayne county they are all still exposed to injury by frost. Pasturage is
short, but green. Wheat is nearly all
sown. Wheat, rye and barley are coming
up nicely and looks well; in Madison
and Franklin counties seeding is delayed
and in Franklin county some early sown
wheat injured by fly, has to be resown.
Live stock is in good condition and feed
cattle is in demand. Stock water is
scarce in Union and Franklin counties.
NORTHERN PORTION.
Good rains fell on one day in most localities and cool, fair weather prevailed;
frosts occurred on several mornings, they
were light and only injured perhaps a
few sweet potatoes, tomatoes and other
tender vines. The corn is nearly all in
and milling has commenced in some localities; the crop is large everywhere.
Millet and buckwheat are good crops; in
Starke county the buckwheat crop is
heavy. Turnips and cabbage are good
crops and melons and pumpkins are big
crops; in Carroll county extraordinary.
Field tomatoes matured fast and are
abundant. Cider and sorgum making
continues. Pasturage is green but still
short. Potatoes in general yield a good
crop; in Cass and Laporte counties the
crop is a failure; in Kosciusko, Lake,
Huntington, Allen and St. Joseph counties
the crop is large. Rye is coming on fine
in Miami; the largest crop has been sown
ever since Indiana became cultivated, also in St. Joseph county the average sown
to rye is very large. Wheat is nearly all
sown and coming up; fly injured early
sown wheat and it has to be resown in
Cass and Whitley counties. Wells and
springs are dry and stock water is scarce
in Warren, Kosciusko and Porter counties.
H. A. Huston,
Director Indiana Weather Service.
Per C. F. R. Wappenhans,  .
Weather Bureau, Assistant Director.
Written for the Indiana Farmer.
Clean Up the Rubbish.
by w. 8. BI.ATCHLKY.
During the months of October and November the progressive farmer should see
toit that the fence rows and borders of his
cultivated tields,as well as the more open
woods, roadsides and pastures adjoining
such fields are cleaned of all rubbish.
Piles of weeds, chips, pieces of rails, old
stumps, loose bark, chunks and logs
should all be burned. Every one of such
objects large enough to shelter an insect
is almost certain to have one or more beneath it.
Kvery insect of the 311,000 or more
kinds inhabiting the I'nited States lives
over winter in some form. Not a single
species will spring into life spontaneously next season, but of the myriads then
existing each will have passed the winter as egg, larvse, pupa* or perfect insect.
Very few of these forms can survive the
cold season wholly exposed, but must
either be in the ground or sheltered by
some form of rubbish above it. The eggs,
larva* and pupa* will usually be found as
close as possible to the place where the
food plant of the season before existed-
Cultivated tields are usually to bare of
rubbish to furnish the required shelter,
and so the insects flock to the borders
where such rubbish is too often allowed
to accumulate. There the eggs are laid
or else the perfect insect finds for itself a
comfortable winter's home.
The wire fences so rapidly coming into
use furnish fewer lurking places for winter than did the old Virginia rail fences.
The farmer should cultivate as closely to
them as possible, and the remaining
space should have nothing on it but
grass. If this has grown rank and fallen
over it should, if possible, be burned.
With a little attention this can be done
without injury to the posts.    From  these
all shreds and pieces of loose bark should
be removed.
That many insects live over winter in
such places as I have mentioned, any
farmer's son can readily ascertain
for himself by a little examination. For two winters I kept a
careful record of all the kinds
found in the perfect or winged state between December lst and March lst. As I
was then teaching in the city of Terre
Haute I did not have as much time to
look for them as T would have liked, yet
I found M kinds of true bugs (Hemisptera)
and nearly 300 kinds of beetles, besides
numerous grasshoppers, roaches, bees-
and other forms.
Among them were some of our most in
jurious insects, as the chinch bug, squash
bug, Colorado potato beetle, cucumber
beetle, etc. The chinch bug survives the
winter only in the mature form, living
beneath chunks and the bottom rails of
fences; within crevices in logs and rails;
beneath piles of weeds and between the
root leaves and stems of sedges and
grasses. Another favorite home for it
and many other insects is between and
beneath the thick velvety leaves of the
common mullein. This plant is biennial
and dripping from the seed in summer,
forms by autumn a thick and beautiful
rosette of leaves close to the ground—
which furnishes shelter and protection
to many an insect during the long winter
months. On one occasion in January I
found snugly ensconced beneath and between the leaves of a single mullein,
four cutworms, seven chinch bugs, and
three tarnished plant bugs, besides a
number of others less injurious—enough
to have produced 10,000 like themselves
the next season. Moral—keep the farm
and roadside clean of mullein and similar
plants.
All loose bark should be pulled from
fruit trees, and dead snags adjoining cultivated land. Many insects injurious to
fruit trees, as well as others, hybernate
beneath such bark. If wheat stubble
could be burned in late autumn or early
spring myriads of Hessian flies, wheat
saw-fly borers, and other destructive
forms would be destroyed.
The average farmer has become so accustomed to the annual depredations of
insects that unless they are more than
usually destructive—he pays little attention to them. Yet could Ave rid our farms
of the injurious forms, our crops of grain
and fruit on an average, year in and year
out, would be increased fully one-third.
Of course it is impossible to wholly get
rid of the destructive species, yet each
farmer can, by lessening the number of
their winter abiding places, do much towards diminishing their ravages the succeeding summer. Again by cleaning np
all rubbish his farm will have a better
appearance—will bring more dollars on
thc market, and his family and stock will
be more healthful, for on the farm as
elsewhere, on earth is the old motto
true "cleanliness is akin to godliness."
The Chinch Bug Pest.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Central Indiana had plenty of chinch
bugs this year. They, more than the
drouth, ruined our wheat and millet and
damaged corn. We feel as though we can
tight drouth if it were not for the pests it
permits to live.
Since this bug was much worse than
ever in this section we were anxious to
know more about it and its habits and
how to baffle it. I noticed lately in the
1. S. Department of Agricultural report
for '87, some 37 pages with cuts, giving a
careful field study of the chinch bug.
It rears two broods a year and hyber-
nates in the mature state under leaves
trash, fallen weeds, grass, etc. One female lays about 500 eggs, all warranted to
hatch. These eggs are never laid in the
trash, but on wheat plants and in mellow
ground, on the roots of  wheat and other
grasses. When the eggs hatch the young
generally climb above ground and suck
the stalk and appear like minute moving
specks. They flourish during dry weather. An occasional shower does not injure them. They were found in drift by
thousands after a dashing flood and were
lively, though they had been submerged
no doubt many times. They were found
frozen in ice and when thawed out would
be as lively as ever. But a temperature
of 15° below zero killed many that were
not pretty well protected. So it is not
cold and is not rain that kills them, but a
damp, muggy spell of weather develops a
fungus disease which wipes out whole
crops of the pests, far cleaner and more
deeply than any asiatic cholera on the
human race.
On account of this fatality we never
have enough bugs the first dry year to do
harm to crops. But if two dry years come
in succession, look out for chinch bugs.
According to the best authority they
are a very .-tangerous enemy now, ready
to hide as soon as sharp weather comes
and if next spring and early summer are
dry they will be here in countless millions and ruin our wheat again. If we
have a rough winter or a blustery March
it does not materially reduce them; but
one muggy week in April or May will
protect us from all danger for that year.
One is safe in sowing oats instead of
wheat, as this crop does not come on until they are fixed on the wheat. They
will usually stay on the wheat until it is
dead and then it is too late for serious
damage to the oats. They can be fought
off of corn in two ways successfully:
One practical way is to plow a ditch and
drag a V shaped trough in it, often
enough to keep a dusty bank to roll them
back. We tried it this summer but not
being acquainted with their habits did
not carry it out thoroughly enough. I
noticed when they left my millet and
tried to cross the road that a buggy track
in the dust stopped them. They would
blacken the bottom of it, and if a rig
passed every two or three hours it held
them back. A small boy could drive a
horse and drag the ditch, say four times a
day, making a tine dust and killing those
in the bottom.
Another very satisfactory remedy, and
not costing more than 60 cents an acre for
material, is the kerosene emulsion. One
man with a knapsack sprayer can kill
them on the first five or lo rows of corn
next the wheat field, and will not need to
go over the whole field. The emulsion is
very deadly to them and not harmful to
corn.
They will be likely to do some damage
to wheat and rye this fall as the corn
dries up. But a few sharp frosts will
tuck them away for winter.
They never fly to avoid danger. They
do fly freely in the spring to reach food.
But seldom take the wing any more after
wheat is found. They migrate in the
summer almost wholly on foot. Though
occasionally, as the first brood matures
in July, they fly some. As a rule however, this summer flying is not practiced.
Some sow millet in corn at the last plowing as a protection, and grassy, neglected
corn has many times escaped serious
damage from the pests.
Carmel. E. II. Collins.
Terrible prairie fires are raging south
of Perry, O. T., and great damage has
been done. Thousands of acres have been
burned over, and much hav and other
crops destroyed. Several people had narrow escapes.
George Strally and Claudius Dicks, of
Roane oounty, West Virginia, bought $5,-
000 worth of cattle from different parts of
the county, to be paid for on their return
from the Baltimore market. They sold
the ,-attlc in Baltimore and fled. Several
farmers we swindled.