VOL. LXIV
INDIANAPOLIS, APRIL 3, 1909.
NO. 13
"The Sunny South."
Editors Indiana Farmer:
We have enjoyed reading tbe Farmer
ihis winter more than usual, as we are
sailed from our native "Hoosierdom."
While we have been reading reports from
others, we thought that perhaps our
friends would like to hear from this section.
We are located south of the Blue Ridge
mountains, in what is known as the celebrated Piedmont Valley. The mountains
on a clear day may be seen to the northeast, lying in smoky folds, from which
characteristic they derive their name. The
land is rolling and very beautiful to the eye.
The soil mostly is red as brick-dust and
about as fertile, having a great deal of
mica in its composition, which causes it to
wash in the rainy season.
Cotton is "king" here as is the case all
through the South. Having only the one
money crop and that .1 poor one last year,
made the financial depression last year
fill with crushing weight on the country.
The price of cotton has been unreasonably
low for a few years and great hardship
has beeu the result. However it is our
■ pinion, that in the long run it will be a
blessing to the South. It will induce tlse
rarmers to raise hay crops and grass their
lands, which means the raising of cattle
and sheep. This will result in increasing the fertility of the land. The way it
is now ,a stalk of anything will not grow
il you fail to give it its dose of "guano."
I was "brought up" on a farm, and naturally when off of duty, take a great interest
in agriculture. They tell me clover does
well here when they sow it, but it seems
that the people have not waked up to its
value as a factor in producing fertility. I
sis ked a prominent farmer why he did not
sow clover and bring his soil up and be
able to produce other crops besides cotton.
"O, he said, '"the negro does not like to
work in anything but cotton," and so they
iion*t sow clover.
It looks very comical to a Hoosier to see
ihem plowing with a single mule, driven
with a rope and a scanty harness of only
'ags joined to the hames, and perhaps a
single strap over the mule's back.
The amount of land a man owns is
.'s.dged by the number of mules it takes to
;ill it. If it takes four mules, it is a
lour mule farm," etc.
To prevent the land washing, the hill-
sisles are terraced, and it is a common thing
'" see the cotton rows circling around a
' il). It reminds one of the accounts rented in history of the ancient Greek the-
"tera on a large scale. While it looks
"• "ry unhandy, yet it has been a great im-
Rovement over the old way in preventing
hashes.
We find the people open hearted and
kind—frank to speak their minds, yet
Mite and obliging. We have had no dif-
*" ulty in adjusting ourselves to the cus-
'' ms of the country. While everything
vo(tn8 to revolve around a different center
fr"ro "up North," yet it is natural to fall
'" with the ways and customs of the country.
•Vnother feature we noticed    this    year
a' the absence of all campaign demon-
''itions.       We could not tell by the out-
■lrd signs that there was a great national
' "test going on.        The nominating bal-
liere is the same as an election, so af-
''  'he nominations are made everything
sr'tles down to the usual quietude.
«'■ have had a mild winter.     It hardly
"•"rns that we have any winter.   No snow
'ew frosts have occurred to this date.
The rainfall is 72 inches per annum.
Some gardening has been done, and
formers are working the land for cotton
planting.
We may write more in the future about
the "Sunny South," so perhaps we had
better close, by saying that we are enjoying it here, and on the whole like the country very well. W. L. Thompson.
Pickens, Co.. S. C.
Speltz or Emmer.
Editors Indiana  Fanner:
The seed firms are exploiting a new kind
of grain that according to their representation   will revolutionize   grain   growing.
i nd grasses, do it intelligently and decide
for ourselves. Only a few years ago
the seedsmen told us fairy stories about a
wonderful grain or forage crop .asking
fabulous prices for the seed. It proved
to be nothing but Japanese millet, which
is a good crop but seed can be obtained
as cheaply as any other kind of grain seed.
It is part of their business to attract the
attention by some startling advertisement,
but we do best not to swallow the bait,
hook and all. It is much like the gold
mine promoter's scheme. It is a gold mine
all right for the promoter. These wonderful plant novelties yield big returns no
doubt for the man who sells the seed.      I
Farm Residence of Lews McNutt, Clay County.
Here are some of the things they say
about it. ''It Aas a thousand good points
and not one bad one. It neither rusts,
blights uor lodges, and yields 50 per cent
more than any other grain. Worn out
land will grow good speltz. It's the greatest drouth and storm resister on earth.
Grows good crops on poor and stony la 11.Is.
forest regions and open prairies." Now
here is what experience has shown me regarding it. It looks and grows very much
like barley. A look at the kernels will
show any person that it is not so heavy
as barley, containing more hull, so that
when you get a yield of several bushels
more to the aere you have not so many
pounds of feeding value as you would
have of barley. There are six or seven
rounds difference in weight to the bushel.
Il resists irouth very well, so also does
barley; as for its growing a good crop on
poor soil it will not do it, unless that soil
is well manured. We can't get out of
soil what isn't in it. Plant life will not
glow without feeding any more than animal life; neither do we farmers as a rule
"gather grapes of thorns nor figs of this-
ties." It seems to be the seedsman who
reaps the big crop from speltz. As a
rule it will not yield as heavily ns barley.
The only way to determine the relative
merits of the two grains accurately is to
saw them side by side on a field all prepared alike, and watch results. I think
from my own experience we will, most of
us, stick to barley.
The feeding value is no more than that
of barley, in many cases much less. I
think it is well to experiment with small
quantities of these newly introduced grains
shall stick to barley yet a while.       I find
it better in most ways than the much advertised speltz. C. J. W.
Barton, Vt
Care for the Water Supply.
One subject which the Farm Commissi., n sippointed by President Kosevelt in-
vestigatesl very thoroughly was the question of the water supply for firms. That
the question of a sanitary water supply,
both for drinking and for purposes of
cleanliness, is important there is no
doubt, and the improvement in the health
of communities which has followed the
introduction of abundant supplies of pure
water bear, testimony to the importance
of every precaution iu this direction.
The water supplies of farms comes
from weils, springs, and cisterns. A recent inspection of the water siupplies of
some 300 dairy farms in Maryland and
Virginia showed that wells are used oftener 011 these farms than either of the
other two, the proportions being ab5ut 5
wells to 3 springs and 1 cistern.
In selecting a water supply every precaution should be taken to prevent the
contents ot a cesspool from soaking into
the soil, for even if the cesspool is at a
distance from the well or springs the
ground between may eventually become
saturated and fail to act as a filter. The
ciude methods of sewage disposal still
quite commonly in vogue in the country
are a continual menace to the water supply.
Comparatively few farmers seem to
realize the importance of convenience in
the    matter of water supplies, even from
a purely economic point of view. Less
thau one-fifth of the dairy farms recently
inspected have windmills, rams, or other
means of bringing the water into the
house or dairy. Vear after year on
many farms water is pumped by hand sir
brought up the hill from the spring in
I tickets at the expenditure of a great
amount of labor in the aggregate. Where
it is at all feasible the water shonld be
pumped into a tank aud conducted at
least into the dairy and kitchen by pipe.
Even where the water has to be pumped
by hand it is desirable to have a tank,
for this insures abundance for purposes
of cleanliness. But of course if feasible,
resort should be had to some mechanical
device—a windmill, engine, or ram—for
forcing water up to a tank to furnish a
convenient snpply for the house, barn
and dairy, in each of which there should
be at least one spigot.
Sorgum  for Feed.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
We note that L. H. asks advice in Indiana Farmer, concerning the sowing, cutting and curing of sorgum for hay. The
editor sa.vs: "June or early in July is the
usual time. Cut by September 15. Well
that's all right as far as it goes, but itis
like 5 cents worth of candy among a
ds.zen boys, 'it don't go far enough.' "
We are "sorgum for feed" advocates
and give it a "boost" at every opportunity.
It is one hay crop that one can tell if he
needs or not; or in plainer language, you
needn't sow until you see whether your
clover or timothy, gives you promise of
all the ha.v you need.
I note upon looking at my daily diary
that we sowed our sorgum June 2, and
cut it September 10. We could have
sowed a week earlier or a week later, and
cut a week later or a week earlier, and
I think had just as good, and as much
hay; it is one crop that a man doesn't
have to be very particular about.
Ws^ worry but little about the planting
of the sorgum (except to set aside a patch
for it) hut wait until our corn is all planted, and the rush is over: then we take a
icok at our clover and timothy prospect, as
to about how much sorgum we will need;
get out the teams break the ground, work
il down iu good shape, get out the broadcast seeder we sow clover seed with and
sow about V/_ bushels cane seed per acre,
and follow with a spike harrow.
Last season was a bad one but it will
have to be worse, if we don't get a good
crop of sorgum hay.
We cut September 10th, with a mower,
ansl let it lie where it fell for three or
four days; we often let it lie a week if
weather is cool. Next we raked with a
sulky rake into windrows, then proceeded
to shock as one would timothy.
After it cures in the shock
awhile, it is advisable to double
the shocks stack one on top of the other,
and in this condition they will keep in
good shape all winter.
We hani ours in just as we need
it through the winter, when the ground is
in     condition. Sorgum   seed     usually
costs from .fl.75 to $2.25 per bushel. It
is often advertised in the columns of the
Indiana Farmer. Abraham Bros.
Morgan Co.
Edward Payson Weston, the great pedestrian who was doing stunts in this
country forty years ago started from New
York March 15th, his seventieth birthday,
ti> walk to ,San Francisco in 100 days.
Will he make it?