Gardek
vol. -m-xm
DEC 111908
INDIANAPOLIS  DEC.   12, 1908.
NO. 50
—
Agricultural   Chemistry.
Editors  Indiana  Farmer:
Nitrogen.—Nitrogen is one of the most
important elements. It is necessary to
plant aud animal life. It is present in the
soil in small amounts; when added in the
form of commercial fertilizer it is the
most expensive of all the elements. And
when once in the soil gets away very
.easily. Nitrogen in the free state is a
#ok>rless, ordorless, and -—
tasteless gas. It forms
four-fifths of the atmosphere the other fifth being
•xygen. The nitrogen is
very inactive so it is hard
to get it into combination
■with other elements. Plants
tan only use it when in
•ertaiu combinations and
when it is gotten into a
combination it holds on so
feebly that it takes very
Sttle to cause it to let go.
Advantage is taken of this
in making explosives as
gunpowder dynamite, nitroglycerine etc. The nitrogen lets go and thus sets
the other elements free so
they fcrmi grtses, and as
such occupy a much larger
space than as solids, and
so something must give way
when they go off and in a
gnn it is the bullet that
goes. Nitrogen is also found
ia the form of salts as sodium nitrate which is found
extensively in South America, aud called Chili Saltpeter. Thousands of tons
tf it are shipped to Europe
and the United States. The
nitrogen in it is sold at the
tate   of 20   cents a    pound
The best and cheapest
source of nitrogen is the
air. If the nitrogen it contains over an acre were
valued at 15c a pound
its value would be eleven =====::
million dollars. The problem is how to
get it from the air and into the soil. This
•an be accomplished by growing the
leguminous plants which will be fully ex-
I lai lies 1 in a future article. When straw
•r any organic matter burns the nitrogen
escapes into the air. The most valuable
foods are those that are rich in nitrogen as
beef, cheese, eggs etc. Success in farming
depends a good deal on the skill the farmer uses in keeping a proper supply of nitrogen in the soil. Nor mnst the supply
be too large, or it causes too large a
stem and leaf growth and but a small protection of grain. An abundant supply is
indicated by a deep rich green color of
the leaves by a large stalk growth and if
the other elements are present in the proper amounts a good yield of seed should result. A lack of nitrogen in the soil is indicated by a pale green color of the leaves.
W. C. Pamer.
The paupers number about 3,000 divided according to the causes of their dependence, epileptics, insane, feebleminded,
aged and afflicted.
Home No. 1 for insane.
Home No. 2 for feebleminded.
Home No. 3 for aged afflicted men.
Home No. 4 for aged afflicted women.
The epileptics to be transferred to the
new village home at New Castle.        The
he raised on 15 acres of common upland.
Mr. Bager wished to seeour dogs at work,
so Saturday night we hied ourselves to Cypress Creek bottoms, expecting to soon
load ourselves down with the festive coon
and opossum, but the first thing the dogs
struck the scent of a bob-cat and from
that time until eleven o'clock we toiled
from one point of the woods to another
when we succeeded in calling off the dogs
Indiana Cattle Breeders, inspecting steers at Experiment Station, Purdue University Nov. 20, 1908.
plan is not only economical but sane, charitable, commendable. This great army
of permanent poor should receive the same
attention as other unfortunates in similar
state institutions. Subscriber.
Greenfield.
NEEDED LEGISLATION.
The attention of the legislators may
very properly be called to the Poor House
Reform Bill, as indorsed by the Indiana
State Federation of Clubs, at their annual
convention, October 27-29, 1908, Indianapolis.
Ti abolish tbe county system, divide the
state into four sections, erect thereon state
•harif} homes, one in the center of each.
ANOTHER ARKANSAS LETTER.
Editors Insliana   Fanner:
We left Waldron, Indiana, some weeks
ago, and arrived here Saturday, November
14th. We found our old friends, Dave
Bager and family, (with whom we are
staying)  in  excellent  health.
There is a great deal of prejudice
against this country; all it needs to make
it a fine farming country is some good
"hustling" and the addition of some thousands to the population to get these vast
tracts of unimproved land under cultivation. The first day of our stay here we
tramped over miles of as fine soil as I
ever saw—so loose and loamy one could
easily kick it up with the toe of his shoe;
and while we saw some low land that is
wet during the wet season, all of it seems
readily susceptible to improvement and
cultivation and can be bought at a surprisingly low price. This is a great potato
country both sweet and Irish
varieties doing well. A Mr. Kamp
has three thousand bushels of sweet po-
taloes put up for sale this winter whioh
and returned home tired and sleepy.
The weather is fine and every body in
good health; crops are about all gathered
and fall grain (what little is sown here),
all in the ground. We had an opportunity
Saturday while in Beebe to take the census
cf the surrounding country, as every body
seemed to be in town. Land is so cheap
and plentiful every swale and low place in
the field nllowed to grow up in bushes, but
the Yankee is changing these things and
Beebe is now putting in cement walks, and
good brick buildings are going up and
everything has a prosperous appearance.
We will move from here to Red river
bottoms in a day or two where there are
plenty of deer and turkey and good trapping.
Henry Wilson.
Clyde Wilson.
Beebe, Ark. John Jones.
Chester Clark, of Tippecanoe Connty,
had his right hand cut off in a corn shredder at Battle Ground, on the 14th. He
was operating the shredder with a safety
device upon it, but had climbed on top of
Ihe machine to throw in some loose corn,
and his hand was caught in the cogs.
We sincerely hope that this may be the
last accident of this kind we will have to
record.
Lye Hominy.
Editors Indiana  Farmer:
I have been making lye hominy. Shall 1
tell you young housekeepers how I went
at   it;   older   ones   need not   read    this.
Corn is such    fine    quality this    year    it
makes splendid   hominy and   meal.    I selected   six   large  smooth  ears  that  made
nearly a gallon of shelled corn.    I put the
corn in an iron stove pot and covered well
=   with hot water, and added
a rounding tablespoonful of
can lye, or potash, and let it
boil a few   minutes.     This
was last evening.     Then I
removed the   kettle to    the
back part of the range, saw
the corn was    well covered
with the   lye   at   bed-time.
This morning the hulls were
so well loosened that only a
few minutes    boiling     was
required    to  remove   them.
The   outer     covering   dissolves and   makes   the   lye
thick;    then it    is time    to
pour off this water and add
fresh hot water   from    the
teakettle,   which  should  be
kept   full   for  the  purpose,
t then    let   the   corn   cook
slowly    awhile,    and    then
poured off the water again
and put more in.    I repeated   this   process at   least a
half   dozen   times while    I
was doing up the morning
work.    This      removes      a
good deal of the lye and the
corn    gets   tender    at    the
same time.    A Uttle before
nine o'clock   this morning I
was thru   with the   boiling
process.      Then    I      spent
about five minutes washing
and rubbing the grains; this
removes the hearts and the
small   black ends   on   each
grain.    These come   to  the
top    of    the    water    while
washing,    and    if you    are
:^======I=   quick you    can pour    them
off before they settle. Washing in several
waters brings back a good deal of the
the original whiteness. Now I will soak
the hominy today and tonight in
plenty of water and change the water several times. By tomorrow it will be ready
for use. You need not be afraid to use
the lye. I use it because it is handy, lt
takes a little time to prepare the lye with
v. ood ashes. No matter which you use
there is no difference in the taste of the
hominy. And the boiling and the changing of the water, and the soaking removes
pll the lye. If you use lye from ashes be
sure it is good and strong, or your hominy
will be a failure..
By this method it is little trouble to
make enough hjminy to last an ordinary
ljamily a week or two and it gives a
change iu the bill of fare. And I find the
hominy we buy is uot as good as the
home-made article.
The best way we think to prepare it for
the table is to fry it first in fresh meat
frying; then add a cup of cream and milk
together, or cream alone is better, and a
little flour for thickening with salt and
pepper to suit taste. P. M. W.
Three ballon ascensions have been made
in this city recently; all were successful,
but none was very extended, (50 miles lining the longest distance made.