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VOL. XXXI.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., MAY 16, 1896.
NO. 20
EXPERIENCE DEPARTMENT.
Do Ton Prefer Mutual Insurance or
Stock Companies, and why?
lst premium. As a farmer I prefer mutual or co operative insurance for the following reasons: First,it is less expensive;
second,it is safer insurance; third, ite
equity; fourth, it retains all the money
paid out for insurance at home, and when
paid out by the insured it goes directly to
the one sustaining a loss. As some of the
reasons for the above facts I would mention the following: There are no high
salaried officers to pay; no agents to pay;
no concentrate! risks where a general
conflagration may bankrupt the com-
| piny. Then the insured receives the
benefit therefrom by simply paying his
proportion of the actual cost of insurance
snd the money being retained at home
will be used to build up and improve our
own section of the country.
Boone Co. A. S. Campbell.
2d Premium.—Theoretically mutual insurance is preferable. Whetheror not experience confirms this view is another
question. The principle of co-operation
implied is -discounted by ,the lack .of
i fixed and competent direction and man-
igement. Directors and officers are con-
I itantly changing with little regard.to ex-
I perience and competency.' .Tjie. simplest
llojm--.lmntu»-r»UfesUi»U-«Bb<>« isperhap^
1 safe/it is operated over a small territory^
ita minimum of expense and seeks no
accumulations for investment or fraud.
Tbis kind of insurance in practice seems
it no discount as .compared with stock
insurance.* It lacks, however, the principle of perpetuity which - stock companies
| possess to a considerable degree. The latter Have the advantage in operating on a
I large scale and in seeking accumulations
tor investment. They are organized as a
rule by persons of business aptitude and
experience. They organize to secure investment for their own capital and not
infrequently to provide portions for
themselves or others. They have great
interests at stake financially and otherwise. This practically insures good direction and management and perpetuity.
Versus this: They name officers and fix
salaries; a multitude of subordinates and
agents are employed—the business is
operated over a vast territory;, there are
numerous rents and incidentals all tending to great expense and consequent excessive premiums. All said it waa perhaps wiser to risk old line stock insurance. It is hoped mutual insurance
will yet prove the better in practice
J as well as in seeming. X. Y.
Clark Co.
We have a Farmers' Mutual Insurance
I Co. in Steuben county that was organized
I In 1878, and has increased each year until
I we now have about two million dollars'
I worth of property insured. We have one
I Erector in each township. He is the au-
I tocrized agent in his township to take ap-
I Plications tor insurance. When the company has a loss they borrow the money
I tod pay it, and make assessments once a
pear to cover all losses and expenses. We
1 find this much better than to make assessments after each loss. I prefer mutual in-
I'-rance because it is cheaper and our
l**oney stays at home and we pay a small
Ijmonnt each year instead of paying all in
jWvance, as in stock companies. Each
l*~*mber Sets a notice of the losses for the
I ?~ar and he knows when* he pays his as-
I'M-mentthatit goes to pay his neigh-
lllrn8 l0S8'  ■*'costa about *-° centson 6ftoh
I'-ooinsnred, a year.     John Harpham.
!5t"uben Co.
- REVIEW.     '
Ibiu P0S01-0 °~~e doubts for a moment
l~osi<_i'>at -m-tttal stock companies com-
I    « of farmers of any one county are
absolutely safe. The only question is
that of cost* and efficiency. These will
depend on the local talent and the plan
adopted. Counties do not hesitate to
grapple with larger problems such as
building costly courthouses and bridges,
etc., for lack of business talent.
There is nothing very complicated in a
plan of local mutual Insurance. One
danger lies in friendly personal influence
taking property too high or assessing
loss too high. One must also expect
greater extremes as the amount of risks
is smaller. We may pay 40 cents one
year and 11 cents another and sometimes
no assessment at all. We like one "agent"
better than on, for each township, and our
home company often borrows money or
makes an assessment overrun a little to
avoid too frequent collections.
Our policy covers barns and contents
instead of naming each thing contained.
Also we may add, say 1,000 bushels of
wheat in granary at threshing time and
when we sell can have it removed so as
to carry the risk only while needed. It
is so often that stock companies send
agents who seem to quibble and cut out
several things by technicalities and then
after delay offer to pay with a heavy discount for cash. Our company will adjust
a claim, in a week and deposit your full
amount due in spot cash to be of immediate use for rebuilding.
I have before me the Rosendale company's '21st. statement,, Fo__jd-__JDu.<rJ-s!_e
_jk&fss--._jsili .niLt,*, *r^t-$—*i~*t.~,tz--f~?"&-m ^TI~_&r--^-"r-". -i;r
c-fanfyyWls.-' Amount in force Dec. 31,
'95, $1,409,852; losses and expenses '95,
$4,093^8. They claim "to insure against
fire and lightening at less than one half
the usual rates charged by stock companies." Our Hamilton County. Mutual
has cost 23 7-11 cents on the JlOOyearly for
the past 11 years. Madison county (I don't
have report for '95) cost 13% cents per
$100 average for eight years, or $4 05 on
$1,000 for three years. "The usual premium of stock companies for farm risks is
one per cent or $10 on the thousand for
three years.
I once wished to change my insurance
on personal property on account of moving and it required weeks of correspondence to get every little condition described and satisfied. Now I would jump
on my wheel and visit our actuary and
arrange everything as I want it and be
home to dinner.
An enormous amount of money is
drained out of this State to agents and
Eastern companies every year.' Why not
do our own business" and keep our money
at home as well as to send away and pay.
big prices to fat offices abroad for a less
satisfactory service.
'       E. H. Collins.
No. 13, May 23. How do you cultivate
potatoes? "
,No. 14, May 30. Growing millet, sowing, etc. .
No. 15, June 6.   Cutting and curing hay.
Early Vegetables in Florida.
The vegetable crops of this country
were materially damaged by heavy rains
on the 28th. They began on the night of
the 27th and continued until noon of the
28th. A considerable amount of the
crops were in ponds,and were completely
submerged. Those on higher lands are
beaten down and the sand washed upon
it. A frost on the night of the 25th, in a
few instances did great damage. However, ' from favorable locations, shipments are made daily. While tomatoes
in some fields are fruiting, in others they
are just replanting and transplanting.
I see you propose to plant your Colony
in Florida. I feel that standing room in
this wonderful climate would be thousands of dollars to me; in fact has been,
and I am anxious to visit the location selected ; and would be under obligations
if you will send circulars to my address,
Pwensville,.Indiana. T.S.P.
Palmetto, Fla, March 2.
Cost of Growing Oorn—The Corn Shredder.
Edi-toes Indian.. Fabhkb:
I send you the result of keeping an account of the cost of producing a field of
corn, containing 14 acres.
, I kept an account of time in breaking,
pulverizing, planting, cultivating, harvesting, etc., and charged for the same snch
costs as the labor could be hired for in
this locality and board themselves. I
could give an itemized account, but will
not take the space.
The land, 14 acres, was valued at $40 per
acre and a charge of 8 per cent interest
was made on the investment. Cost of
corn In crib per bushel was 19 cents of 620
bushels to lhe field.
The fodder was estimated at 21 tons or
about one and one-half tons per acre, and
cost in the mow $3 41 per ton. The corn
being husked by a "corn husker." This
Is the cost should I have hired everything
done. The fodder cost in cash, not including any of my own labor or labor
swapped for or boarding hands, etc., $193
per ton.
The total cost of corn in crib and fodder
in mow, including the 8 per cent Interest
was $192 20. The value of the corn at 25
cents per bushel and the fodder at $4 per
ton was $239, leaving a profit on the 14
acres of $46 80, saying nothing about loss
of soil fertility, or barn-yard manure applied to the field. The fodder to be worth
:ftC~R"»C-^*w^tte';v'iO?.a^ouldJli-we_t-iJha
worth $7 38 per ton. This would increase
the profit somewhat.
One'thing about the account showed
the difference between* estimating and
knowing. When the corn' was being
husked'it was estimated by good farmers
at GO bushels per acre. But.when the
corn and land both were measured it was
found to yield only a fraction over 44
bushels per acre.
Now about the corn husker: I have,
with three others, been operating a machine for four years and am of the opinion they are not the machine we want,
although they do the work well enough.
They are too slow and the principle of
the machine so far debars, them from being a speedy machine, making our corn
fodder too expensive. And besides the
danger of operating the machine is entirely too great.: AVe cannot afford to
have such an army of men crippled for
life for the sake of having our corn fodder worked up. The plan of feeding the
machine has little to do with the danger,
as most of the injuries are received by
unchoking the machine, and whether one
uses a stalk or wooden device made for
the purpose, which is much better to un-
choke the machine, the operator will find
himself getting careless at times, and
then is when the accident is most liable
to occur, coming too sudden to give any
warning. Although we have run four
years without an accident of any kind,
the next 15 minutes' run may bring the
loss of a hand. They must be changed
some way for safety and speed or discarded entirely.       Chas. It, Hawkins,
Franklin Co. 	
POSTAL 0AED 00BBESP0NDEN0E.
Mulching Potatoes.
Editors Indiana Farmkr:
I saw an inquiry about mulching in
the Farmer some time since. It is practiced here a great deal on potatoes. Our
winds dry the surface rapidly and cause
rapid evaporation where the ground is
bare. Where there is a slight mulch of
straw, dead weeds, or any similar covering, the evaporation is slow." We usually
plant : early . varieties and leave the
ground bare until the potatoes begin "to
break through the soil; then we cover
the ground six or eight inches deep with
old straw and let them alone until digging time. If it isa dry season they will
yield twice as many potatoes as where
they are not mulched. D, M. A.
Rome, Kans.
LaPorte Co., May 8.—Nice growing
weather,though rather warm for May;
82 and 86 degrees nearly every day; no
rain this week and roads getting dusty;
not many pears but lots of apples,
peaches, plums and cherries, and they are
now as large as good white beans; early
potatoes are up and look well and no
"bugs" yet, but plenty of insects on the
fruit trees. Some are learning to spray
their fruit, with good results too. Wish we
could have a law like that of Michigan,
compelling all to spray.
Mrs. B. A. Davis.
Kosciusko Co,, May 18.—I was sur-^
prised to receive 200 golden vineless sweet
potato plants, very nice ones too, and I
set them out to-day. Many thanks to the
Huntington Seed Co. and the Farmer
Co., for the favor. I shall ever remember
all concerned. The weather is quite
warm and the wheat is in the boot; rye is
heading out; some corn planted; fruit
trees all very full. G. B.
-V
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Harrison Co., May 4.—Four inches of
rain fell here last Friday night which
ended a long drouth; no. corn has been
planted yet on account of the cut worms.
We got through plowing while the dry
weather lasted; since the rain the ground
is in fine order to work; stock is in good
fix;,lots efJjiogs_.,ar'_*/ bftlng fed. foi" thp
June market; wheat is looking well considering the dry weather. WheatOlcents,
hogs $2 75, chickens 5*4 cents, eggs 5 cents -
butter 8 cents;.barley was all^frozen out.
■-,     '. .        ■--,       .ii   B.W. ■■
Clare Co. May 8.—The prospects for a   '
cropof wheat are the poorest, known  in   «.
this section for 40 years; it is now beginning to head and the best I have seen  is
not over one foot in height; it is very thin
on the ground as the severe drouth of the
last six weeks  has prevented stooling.    -
This is where fertilizers have been used)
and wheat where it has not been used can
hardly be seen; a great deal  of.it will
never be harvested; about 40 per cent of a
crop. J. D. K.
Complimentary.
Editobs India*a Fabmeb:
I am a reader of the Farmer, and don't
see how any successful farmer can do
without it. G. M. K.
Adams Co.
Editobs Indiana Fabmeb:
Another old subscriber, H. S. Blatchley
In Putnam county, writes us: "The
Farmer grows better all the time, and is
worth more to one than all the rest of
the agricultural papers I ever read."
Editobs Indiana Fabhkb:
It is hard to make people believe the
value of the Farmer. I could not do
without the Indiana Farmer. I do not
care for the political papers.
Clinton Co. Thos. L. Mills.
Editors Indiana Fabhkb:
I have been a subscriber of your paper
for more than two years, and do not want
to  miss  a  single  number.   I can't get
along without it. J. W. J.
Manager Spring Water Stock Farm.
Hope.
•Editors Indiana Fabhkb:
I am fond of the Farmer and can't see
how I could do without it, although I?am
75 years old. My wife was 75 yesterday
and we had a family reunion and had
quite an enjoyable time.
Tipton Co. Simeoi-t Clem.
There are now 1,062,700 miles of telegraph lines in existence, more than half
of them, 545,600 miles, being in America.
Europe has 380,700 miles, Asia 67,400, Australia 47,500, and Africa 21,500. The United
States leads the list of countries with 403,-
900 miles, with Russia second.