VOL. LXVI
INDIANAPOLIS, APRIL 8   1911.
NO. 14
GROWING STOCK OR COW PEAS.
Editor, Imllana  Farmer:
We consider tho stock pea one of
ilie most valuable crops we can grow.
We have been growing them for more
than fifteen years and we find them a
valuable crop in many respects. They
vank along with clover, alfalfa and the
•ther leguminous plants as a nitrogen
gatherer. In fact we think they gather more nitrogen from the air than
any other plant. One advantage they
have over clover is that they grow
where it is hard to get a stand of clover. We have never failed to get a crop
of stock peas on any kind of soil. We
still grow all the clover we can, but
the stock pea fits in well in a short rotation or when we fail to get a stand
nf clover. We And that a good stand
"C clover can often be secured by sowing it after stock peas. They leave the
soil in a fine state of cultivation for
succeeding crops. We have always se-
a ured an increase in yield of corn,
wheat and oats when they followed the
pea crop.
As a hay crop they are unexcelled.
The hay is relished by all kinds of
stock. Cattle and horses will eat it in
preference to the best timothy or clover. There is nothing better for milch
■ ows. The hay contains a large per
a ent of protein and has about the same
feeding value as wheat bran. One and
1 ne-half pounds of the hay will equal
• ibout one pound of bran. Horses
should not be fed too much at a time
as it is a very rich food.
We have not found them valuable as
a pasture crop except for hogs. When
ihe peas begin to ripen the hog will
Hirive and grow fat on them, but it
is not safe to pasture them with cattle
and horses.
The stock pea is a warm weather
plant. They will not do well if planted too early in the spring. We always
wait until the soil is thoroughly warm-
rd up. We plant any time from the
fifteenth of May until the first of July
in this latitude. The early planting
will produce a large crop of vines and
lot so much seed, while the later plantings will grow more seed and not so
much hay.
We  prepare  the  soil   by  plowing  in
the spring before planting, and harrow
and drag thoroughly until a well compacted   seed   bed   is   rormed   that   will
hold moisture well.      If there  is sufficient  moisture   to   bring   the   seed   up
tn«e is nttle danger of their suffering
for tho want of moisture, as they take
root deep and stand dry weather well,
^'hen  the  crop  ls intended  for hay
we find   it  a  very   good  plan   to   sow
em broadcast and  harrow  them   in,
"r drill them with a wheat drill at the
ate  of  one  bushel   of  seed   per  acre,
his makes them rather thick and they
' ° not vine so much and the hay is eas-
r handled.     A more economical plan,
cn we have practiced considerably,
s to drill them in rows about twentymo   inches  apart,      For   this   method
b also  use  the  wheat drill,  stopping
"P all of the holes but three.     This enables us to drill three rows at once. We
1UH Dut in eight or ten acres per day in
as they will when broadcasted, and they
can be cultivated once or twice to keep
down weeds and grass if necessary. We
use for this purpose a cultivator with
small plow, keeping the ground level
so it will be smooth to mow over.
It will often pay to raise them for
the seed and turn tho vines under after
they are harvested. We have them
picked by hand and beat out with a
flail. This is a slow method but we
have never been able to find any other
way that was a success. We have
tried threshing them but this method
while much faster breaks the seed up
even and smooth are chosen. All those
showing any signs of scab are rejected.
Wc keep these in a dry cellar at a low
temperature till wanted in spring. In
this way we keep up the standard of
our varieties indefinitely. We have pure
stock of the Blue Victor, a variety procured over 20 years ago. Also a few
of the Neshannock—the great potato, 50 years ago.
Much care should be taken when
planting. We cut tubers so as to have
two or three eyes to the piece.
lf one can afford a planter much
labor  can   be saved  in  planting.      We
resisting scab troubles. The old Neshannock, or "Meshhannock," as it was called 60 years ago, is a good variety. Like
the Concord grape or Crescent strawberry retaining its period of usefulness
indefinitely. We still grow seedlings
each year and get an occasional good
one in this way.
We control blights by using either
Bordeaux mixture or lime sulphur
spray—the latter seems to be best.
Brown rot, a disease that begins in
the foliage and ends in the destruction
of the tuber can be checked by lime
sulphur mixture. Bugs are checked by
Paris green used before the larvae are
batched.     This catches old and young.
Aro potatoes profitable? Wo think
tliey are even at 25 cents per bushel.
We suiil we had 7,000 hills to the acre.
It each hill produced only one pound
tliis would give 116 bushels to the aere
m at 25 cents per bushel, $29 per acre.
Commercial growers get two or three
times this amount. We havo grown
■mall plats tu yield live pounds to tie-
hill under good culture. If farmers
would make it a practice to plow under
some green crops such as vetch, or the
clovers .they would have better results
in potato growing than where manures
arc us
School House in Use Since 1882,  Blackford County.
h,s way.     When drilled in rows it on-
'iikes about one-third of a bushel of
^ed per acre.     The saving of seed is
ten quite an item as they usually cost
A"  or  two  and   one-half   dollars  per
When  planted  this way they
1    ^eld almost as much hay and seed
and wastes a large per cent of them.
After experimenting with a number
of varieties we are limiting our plantings now to one variety, the Whippoorwill. It seems to be the best all purpose pea that we can find. It grows
plenty of vine for hay and the vines are
not so long as some other varieties and
stand up well and are easier to handle.
It also produces a good seed crop when
not planted too early in the spring.
Written for tb. Indiana Farmer:
POTATOES.
How aud When to Plant.—Soil.—Yield.
—Varieties and Whether Profitable.
Well drained sandy loam is best for
potatoes. In such we get best results.
River bottoms where drifts and overflows furnish muck material are fine
but risky ln cropping with potatoes as
the least overflow is ruinous.
Newly cleared land or old sod pastures are well adapted for the potato.
These should be turned under in the
fall to permit rotting of the sod and to
get rid of injurious insects and worms.
If land is thin we use old well rotted
manures—but never use fresh manures.
If commercial fertilizers are used we
see that they abound in potash and nitrogen.
Land intended for potatoes should be
plowed deep and well worked. We do
not grow them on the same ground more
than two years. This insures freedom
from disease such as scab and blight
Our seed is saved each year at digging time. By doing this we get pure
unmixed seed.     Medium    sized tubers,
plant in drills three feet apart and two
feet between hills, putting two pieces
to the hill. This gives us over 7,000
hills to the acre. We have grown them
in hills three feet apart each way; this
saves hand labor as we plow both ways.
We favor planting in mid-season,
rather than too early or too late. This
allows the crop good time to mature
before unseasonable weather sets in.
Different localities of course have different times when this can be done. A
general rule to be observed ls to plant
at such time as will insure sufficient
moisture when the tubers are forming
rapidly.
Different methods of culture are followed. Some advocate level culture,
others prefer hill culture. Location ot
the land will determine which is better. Dry soils should be given level culture and deep planting. We prefer
a slight hilling in our culture. As soon
as sprouts appear above the surface
we use a five tooth harrow and Dreak
the surface. After culture is given
with a five tooth cultivator using a hilling attachment on the side next the potato. The soil should be kept mellow
and free from weeds.
Varieties.—These depend on locality
very much. Soils have much to do
with the quality and productiveness of
a variety. The Carmen's are the commercial growers potato but all three of
the numbers are poor in quality but
great in yield and hardiness, being nearly blight and bug proof. The Blue Victor is the best all round kind we ever
grew. Early Ohio is a standard early
kind,     Irish Cobbler is a better kind in
OLD SCHOOL HOUSE.
Bdltora Indiana Farmer:
I enclose a picture of a school house
where I taught my first term of school
in 1882. This house is located in Harrison Township, Blackford County, ami
is still doing duty as a school house. It
is the only frame school building in the
township.
There has been a great change since
I taught here. At that time there were
no ditches and mud roads. One evening after it had been raining all day I
had to carry all the small children
about 100 yards from the house to high
ground, so they could get home; the
water was boot top deep around the
school house. Now the farms around
there are well drained and a fine stone
road   runs  past  the  house.
Blackford Co. J.  F.  Fensel.
TURKEY BUZZARDS.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Turkey buzzards are considered sucii
valuable birds in Georgia that the state
has a law protecting them. Their
work as scavengers, is worth a great
deal to the southern farmers and cities.
The buzzards keep many diseases from
spreading by devouring the dead bodies;
they purify the air and keep it from
becoming polluted with germs of the
various contagious and infections diseases. Though strong enough to carry
off young lambs, during early spring, it
is a rare occurance that they do this.
Though so many times accused of
spreading hog cholera, I do not think-
that they are guilty of this offense. And
hogs infected with cholera should always be burned, to destroy all germs.
And the farmers should attend to it
immediately to remove all dead bodies.
The buzzard is the farmer's friend in
the destruction of bodies which if allowed to decay would poison the air
we breathe. II.  A.  L.
Dekalb Co.
The annual meeting of the American
Jersey Cattle Club will be held on
Wednesday, May 3d, 1911, at 11 o'clock
a. m., at the Hoffman House, Broadway and 25th St., New York City,