VOL. LXVI
INDIANAPOLIS, MAY 27, 1911.
NO. 21
YOUNG     PEOPLE'S     CONTESTS.
Edltora Indiana Farmer:
Interest in contests is well nigh universal. In one form or another the
contest finds a prominent place in the
sports and development of people of all
climes, races and degrees of civilization.
When wisely conducte.d, contests are of
very great value in developing those
who take part and, hence, in promoting
the interests which they represent.
It is for both of these reasons—the
helping of the boys and girls and the
promotion of good farming and good
home making, that young people's contests have been organized by the farmers' institute associations in many sections of the country.
These contests usually take the form
of growing or making, exhibiting and
judging of farm and home products.
Up to the present time, the prevalent
form of contest for tfie boys and girls
of Indiana has been, for the boys, the
growing of a fourth, a half or a full
acre of corn, and for the girls, the making of bread, under definite rules adopted by the farmers' institute association.
In those counties where the contest is
most fully developed, the contestants
prepare papers, giving an account of
their work, and have practice in class
judging. The bread, corn and papers
are carefully judged by experts, using
approved forms of score card. The
Judging of their own exhibits by the
boys and girls, is also by the score
card.
As a concrete example will help to
make the several features of the contest clear, the plan, essentially as followed last year in Tippecanoe county,
Indiana, is given below:
1. The township was made the unit,
and each contestant must be a resident.
2. The age limit was ten and not
over eighteen years, May lst, when the
contest began.
3. Each boy agreed to grow one-
fourth acre of corn, and each girl
3a?reed to make twenty-five loaves of
oread within the season, which extended to November 1st.
'• Each boy was required to exhibit
ten ears of corn, his own growing, and
each girl, two loaves of bread, her own
making, at the annual corn and bread
show, held in December.
5- Each contestant was required to
keep a careful record of the work done,
and write a paper giving an account of
same.
•• The boys of each township were
required to husk their corn, working
together, under the direction of the
township vice-president, who measured
each plot and weighed the corn in the
Presence of the boys.
'•   Each contestant was required   to
tend the annual show  to  certify to
**e. residence  and  exhibit,  and  judge
the article exhibited.
ba     The awards   to th©   boys,    were
ed on four things, viz.: the yield of
arketable corn, the exhibit of ten
thrs' the Paper of the exhibitor and
fudging by the contestant
on th  awards t0 the sMs. were based
loav        thln<?3. viz.: the exhibit of two
hibit3 °f bread' the P-Per of the ex-
ant     and the :,ud&in^ hy the contest-
apDrn? j6 3udglnsr ln all cases was by
Xj   tr forms of score card,
fifth'nr1, second' thinJ- fourth and
tOKashi    lunis were awarded in each
"^P. ranging to   value from   ?5
down to 11.
11. The premiums were in the form
of books, selected by a special committee, or expenses in attending the State
Fair, or the Farmers' Short Course at
Purdue University.
In addition to the township premiums,    three    sweepstakes      premiums
girls to enter the contest, suitable
premiums are awarded to the most successful. These premiums are in the
form of money .articles of wearing apparel, jewelry, implements, utensils,
books, excursions, or a trip to the Agricultural College to attend the farmers'
short course of one or two weeks. Those
Road with well kept hedges on either side, all vegetation between closely
mown or pastured thus affording the least possible rotection for destructive insects.—From  U.  S.  Yearbook,   1908.
were pure bred pigs for the boys, and a
gold watch for the girl.
It will be readily seen, from the foregoing, that a contest conducted in the
manner described, and extending
through six or ejght months, will have
a great educational and also a great
practical value.
The careful study and attention
which the boys give to the mechanical
premiums are considered best which
are educational in character or have a
permanent value, as a good book, which
may be properly inscribed, to show
when and how it was won by its pos
sessor. The most convenient, but real
ly least desirable form of premium, is
money. If money is awarded, it is often unwisely spent, and very soon the
winner has really nothing to show for
Roadway with neglected hedges on either side, affording ample protection
for destructive insects during winter.— From U. S. Yearbook, 1908.
preparation and the enrichment of the
soil, the planting and culture of the
crop, and the study of flours, yeast and
methods of bread making by the girls,
cannot fail to be productive of great
good. The results already obtained,
show, in some cases, a marked increase
in the yield of corn and equally marked improvement in the quality and
wholesomeness of the bread.
As an inducement to the boys and
his commendable   effort and   achievement.
In Indiana the aim is to connect the
young people's contest closely with the
school, so that the boys and girls may
have the supervision and assistance of
the teacher. With the farmers' institute association and the woman's auxiliary to plan the contest, and the
County Superintendent of Schools and
his corps of teachers to supervise the
work and maintain interest, really fine
things are being accomplished by th©
boys and girls.
Out of the contest, when wisely conducted, come a new interest in the work
of the school which is vitalized by close
contact with the farm and the home; a
arrowing realization and appreciation,
on the part of both teacher and pupil,
of the opportunities and advantages of
life on the farm and in the country,
and a fine training in reading, thinking
and doing, of immense value in the development of the future farmer and
home maker. W. C. Latta,
Farmers' Institute Specialist, Purdue.
NITROGEN GATHERING   PLANTS.
Kdltors  Indiana  Farmer:
It is not so very long ago that scientists raised a cry of alarm that our supply of nitrogen for plants was rapidly
becoming exhausted and that it would
be but a few years when the
farmer would be in a state of bankruptcy owing to the crop failures,—in
short it was predicted that all the living beings upon the earth would starve
to death.
Fortunately for our peace of mind,
says Karl F. Kellerman In the new-
Year Book of the Department of Agriculture, which will be issued shortly,
in an article entitled "Nitrogen Gathering Plants," the last two decades have
witnessed so many advances in the
knowledge of the natural processes for
the maintenance of available combined
nitrogen, particularly in plants which
gather the nitrogen from the air, as
well as the discovery and development
of practical artificial processes for fixing or combining with other elements
the nitrogen of the air in forms suitable
for use as fertilizers, that the question
of the nitrogen supply for our agricultural land is no longer a bogey with
which to scare the rising generation.
Everyone is now more or less familiar with the ability of clovers, vetches,
peas and other legumes to fix and utilize as food the nitrogen of the air. It
is less generally known that certain
other plants—not legumes—bear bacterial root nodules and have nitrogen-
gathering properties.
The alder, New Jersey tea, silver berry, buffalo berry and sweet fern among
the nonlegumes, and many ordinarily
unnoticed legumes occur throughout
the wide areas in the United States and
with little trouble, continues Mr. Kellerman, could be extended over much
of the unused farming land. This is
one of the simple and inexpensive but
none the less valuable possibilities for
the conservation and enhancement of
the agricultural resources of th© country.
The plants which are of importance
to us In the present epoch are the legumes which can be included in cropping systems; the legumes and root-
noduled nonlegumes which can not be
used In modern intensive agriculture,
but upon which the potential fertility of
land now unused may perhaps depend.
Ther© are also a few species of bacteria
and a few species of fungi and algao
that have the power to fix atmospheric
or gaseous nitrogen and make It available for plant food. These bacteria
•ire undoubtedly important both in supplying nitrogenous food in intensive
systems of agriculture and in aiding
the nitrogen gathering legumes .and
nonlegumes to maintain or increase the
fertility of virgin soils. G. E. M.