VOL. LVIH.
INDIANAPOLIS, DEC. 5. 1903.
NO. 49
Collection of Indiana Display of
Farm Products.
There are few people in the State wha>
appreciate the magnitude of the worl;
now being done by the committee on Agriculture, Horticulture nnd Live Stock of
the Indiana World's Fair commission under
the direction of Chairman \V. W. Stevens
of Salem.
The display in this department will be
one of the most important made at the
coming St. Louis exposition. Indiana is
still largely an agricultural State and
probably always will be. The showing
Indiana makes at the exposition therefore
will depend to a great extent on its display
of farm products. At the same time the
collection of this exhibit involves more
hard work and the expenditure of more
time and money than in almost any other
department because of the great extent of
the field to be covered.
There are 92 counties in the State and
it is Mr. Stevens' idea to have each county
represented in the display. This means
that specimens of the grains, cereals,
vegetables, fruit and garden "truck"
as well as live stock are to be collected
from over the entire State. Indiana is
noted for its fruit, expecially for its apples and the products of the orchards, require close inspection. The smaller fruits,
berries and nuts must also be collected.
Then too tbe live stock display alone is
enough to keep several men busy. To
an ordinary observer, the task of collecting an exhibit in Mr. Stevens' department,
which well really represents the varied
resources of the State as extensive as Indiana, would seem impossible of achievement. Mr. Stevens, however, has already systematized the work and made an
excellent start on the herculean task.
The work has been subdivided and placed
in the hands of sub committees composeal
of experts in their particular lines. A
special corn show is to be made and Clore
& Overstreet of Franklin have been plaeeai
in  charge. The live stock exhibit  will
be collected according to the classifications
made by the exposition managers in the
entry lists. A sub committee is looking
after the collection of sheep, there being
one member for each variety of sheep wbo
is looking after the collection of his breed.
The name sytsem is being followed out
in collecting the display of horses, cattle,
swine and poultry. A dairy exhibit is
to be made and Professor H. E. Van Norman of Purdue university is in charge.
He has already taken up the work actively
and as a first step has established a daii-y
school to which the dairymen send sample**
of their bntter and cheese every month and
their products are judged and marked.
Directions are given remedying the defects
which are pointed out. Likewise the
collection of grains and grasses is beiDg
looked after by experts and the horticultural exhibit is being collected by a subcommittee composed of Secretary Flick of
the State Board of Agriculture, Sylvester
Johnson and J. C. Grosman. They have
already collected over two car loads of
fruit which is now in- cold storage here
and whieh will be nsed to make the display
until fresh fruit can be secured in the
spring. In every county an agent has been
selected to oversee the collection of exhibits from the farms and they are all doing
good work.
The general charge of all the work is
vested in Chairman Stevens however and
he has his hands full looking.after all his
agents. He hns received the most encouraging reports from them however an-l
is satisfied that when the exposition opens
tlic display of Indiana farm products and
st.as-k will be equal to that of any other
state and superior to a great majority.
Government Wants Information in Regard
to Wells and Springs.
The problem of pure water supplies, not
only for large cities but also Hor small
country villages ami settlements, is constantly Increasing in importance. It now
demands the serious attention of engineers
and scientists throughout the country. Except in thinly-settled regions, surface
streams and lakes seldom furnish pure
water, and at a great number of localities
A Hoosier Boy Writes From Louisiana.
Edltora   Iadlana   Former:
This is a low. I« va-1 caauntry near tlia- (Julf
aaf  Mexico,  anal  it  is a   graat   rira*  tanning
aiisiriat   wata*r**cl lay  canals  from the river.
1 na* |aa*aa]i]e lure at* moslly from tin- Naartli-
arn .-stata's, anal French, or ('nol.**, as 111. y
call   themselves.     They   are   an   indolent
.lass of people and far behind the times.
Tht people from th.. North are doing well
here, and  most of them own good  farms
worth ?40 to $50 pa-r aa-re, part of which
they got by homesteading only a few years
ngaa.    There is undoubtedly-the best i-hance
ha-i— for any one i have seen, and I have
ing tlia> outlay tlia*y are making, Indiana,
without oni'-fanirlh the MCpenee. will have
a  Rner building.
"Of amuse viewed merely from the
standpoint aaf graiish-nr tad magnificence
this is impossilala', but I nia'an in tlia> ga*n-
a ial architectural beauty aaf tin- structures
and the convenience of arrangement Indiana's building excels anything on the
grounds. I was careful to visit the other
State lnaihlings to caainpare them with our
building, anal I would not give the grest
Indiana pavilion for any other State building aan the grounals.
"The Indiana building is the only structure of its kind am tha* gn.imals. The moment you enter tin- builaling the whole interior sa-enis to laa- open taa yoe.r gaze. The
arrangement of the great central stairway
with the reading room and music room
opening off the landing allows n view of
both the first anal MCOad BOOTS. From the
lending it is possible to see all over the
builaling.
"My guide, without knowing I was from
Indiana, dwelt at la-ngth on the beauties
of the building and said that the Hoosiers
had this time given the other States some-
ln 5 to think of. This means that Indiana will be famous before the exposition
opens. Travelers who go to the building
naiw will want to return to see the house
when it is completed and furnished. They
will take their friends, too, and this means
that our building is to be advertised by
people from other States."
alependence is now placed on wells anal
springs. Thasa- are also la-cginning to be
nsa-al with conspicuous success for tha- irrigation aaf rice and other products at ma-iy
points in the .south, where they have been
the predominating factor in the development of certain large areas.
In order to call attention to the importance of pure water flor public suppli.-s
and the value of the wells and springs for
irrigation and other purposes, the United
States Geological Survey has undertaken
to collect information concerning them from
all possible sources and to publish r -ports
from time to time for free distribution t-a
the public. On account of the great --x-
pense. it is impossible to visit all localities,
and an attempt is being made to obtain the
information in part by oorreasponitence. If
par-ns who know of deep wells, wheth'-r
flowing or non-flowing, or of shallow wells
or springs which for some particular reason are of special interest, will write to the
(ieolosrical Survey at Washington describ-
ing tbem-the information will be greatly-
appreciated. In the published reports
credit will be given to those furnishing
important information.
■Correction .as to Prize For Corn.
Rdltors.   Indiana   Farroasr:
In the Farmer of November 7, on page
ten, first column, you say: "Roy Jones, a
Pike county boy, under 13 years, grew -40
bushels of corn on two-thirds of an acre,
and toa.k first prize at the corn show at
Petersburg. October 22. It should have
| been Roy Johnson, who took the first premium.      Please correct.
W. H. K.
traveled through a good many Slates. The
waL-.'s faar a working man are va*ry good,
anal tie-re is a aall for men here all the
time. Th.Taa is ailsaa a Kaa.,,1 chance for
most any Kind of business ha-ra*. for they
ate all turning their attentiotr to rice cul-
ture ami what fa'w nia-n an- in business are
.inst robbing ihe farmers.
It is generally snpp.as.-d by tha- Northern
people that the negro is treated v ry baal
lay the southern people, but if they will
come smith once th.-y will find that they
are treated much taolter than they deeerve,
for if they they were not held down they
WObM be Walking aava-r the whites, just as
th.-y are BOW in some places. I think the
s.aoner tha*ra* is a maava- made to senal the
negro back here from the North the better
it will be, for it certainly taka's a Southern
man to handle them. Hoosier Boy.
Box 7, Iowa, La.
"Best of the Lot."
"Indiana will without doubt have tha-
linest State buiMing of'all the States represented at the St. I.aanis exposition next
year." This was the declaration made by
J. B. Whitehead, manager of the American Press Association, who has just returned from the exposition city. While
there Mr. Whitehead visited the cxpositiam
grounds, as do all visitors to the city, and
he was careful to examine all the buildings and to compare them with the Indiana
club hoaise. His verdict is based on his
investigation  of the  matter.
"Some of the States, notably the Pastern commonwealths, have gone to great
expense in erecting their huildings," continued Mr. Whitehead, "but notwithstand-
Farm Fertility and Legume Crops.
We have often referred to the importance of rotation of grain with the legume
Cropa for keeping up fertility. Clover,
COWpeag. saay beans, etc.. are the legumes
most useal in the central Wa*st-*rn States,
thain^h alfalfa is becoming more popular,
as  it  iatt  better known.
Prof. Hopkins, of the Illinois agricultural college, has for a fa-w years given
Orach atti*nliaaii taa this subject, and in his
observations and investigations on the sub-
ja*. t. says of some farms in Illinois, one
will see the great valne of leguminous
crops, increasing the yield of crops, anal
a-lds:
"Right upon this oil we have, by the nse
of bguminous crops, made an increas*- <if
from forty to seventy-five bushels of corn,
which is. of course, a very great advance.
In addition to that, by the addition of bone
meal, the yield has gone up from forty-
eight to eighty-seven. This is only th - second yiehl we have from the use of bone
meal.
"Convince the farmer that the cheapest
method of securing nitrogen is by growing
legumes. In many cases clover is the
.nost satisfactory. Seeding an aere of
clover will cost not to exceed $1, anal this
«ill result in the adding of 100 pounds of
nitrogen to the acre. This nitrogen has a
r-iammercial value of 15 cents per ponnd.
Show the farmer that he is getting a fortune by the very aet of the labor of putting it in* the soil. The fact that a fanner
ean sow elover seed in his oats for $1 an
ncre, sometimes 75 cents, and occasionally
fr.ly 50 cents, ought to convince any one
familiar with agricultural conditions that
it is a profitable practia-e. It is difficult
to get farmers to do this, but they are lae-
coming educated and before long will see
the value of such practice. Clover seed
oaa alsa. be sowed in corn, when it is laid
by at about the same cost. The clover
seed can be put in with a five-hoe drill.
This is a substitute for the last cultivation. It takes the place of the cultivator
and cost nothing bnt the seed and will usually produce from 75 to 100 pounds of nitrogen."