VOL. LIX.
INDIANAPOLIS, MARCH 12, 1904.
NO 11.
The National Aid Road BUI.
Editors Indiana Fanner:
The National Grange Legislative Committee has issued a circular to the granges
saying that on February 2, a conference
was held between Congressman Currier,
Congressman Brownlow, and Senator
±_atimer, who had also introduced bills
upon the subject, wmch conference resulted in an agreemen upon the matter,
and the preparation of a bill which all
are to support. Tins bill lias been introduced in the house by Congressman
Currier, and also in the senate by a member of that body. It is highly complimentary to the members of the Grange
tnat the bill thus agreed upon is practically the lirange bill.
It carries an appropriation of twenty-
four million dollars, available in 1905,
1900, and 1907, to be distributed among
the several states and territories in proportion to population where a similar
amount for a similar purpose is appropriated.
Letters and petitions to congresman and
senators should be forwarded at once urging the passage of this bill, which, as we
have said, is practically the Grange bill.
Action should be prompt, vigorous, and
specific, and followed up with subsequent
nppeals if circumstances seem to make it
necessary. Do not delay, for this is a
matter of importance.    Signed
Aaron Jones,
E. B. Norris,
N. J. Bachelder,
Legislative Committee National Grange.
 - . . m
Killing- the Moles.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
In the last copy of the Farmer, some
one asks how to get rid of moles. When
I lived in a country town, I had a very
nice lawn, on which I was duly proud,
However, the moles got into it and nearly destroyed it before I learned how to
destroy them. The method is very simple.
Take some shelled corn, and a v*ry little strychnin*1, in the form of crystals,
With a pen knife, raise the germs of the
grains of corn, and insert a very small
rmount of strychnine. Then press the
germ back into place, thus inclosir.? -
little strychnine in each grain. After
« sufficient quantity of the corn has been
prepared, take a sharpened stick about
as large as the little finger, and make
■a hole through the earth, and into the
moles' tunnel. Drop a grain of the
poisoned corn into the tunnel, and draw
the dirt over the hole you have madj?.
When you have dropped a grain of this
corn into each mole's run way. there arc
no more moles. Twenty-five cents worth
of corn and strychnine ought to be enongh
te destroy all the moles on 80 acres.
I gave this receipt in your paper some
time last summer or fall, but the editor
seems to have forgotten it, for he mentions traps, dogs ,etc, remedies which I
think are not to be compared with the
foregoin-g. Before dropping in the poisoned corn, the moles are very annoying.
After dropping in the corn, there are
no moles. A farmer's face would make
a good study fbr the pictures "before
and   after"   he  has   tried  it.
I lived at the place mentioned above
several years, and there never appeared another mole, though it is net
llk<*l.v that they would be kept away permanently by any method, not repeated.
However, the killing of all the moles
°n « good sized tract of ground, ought to
immunize" it for a long time.
Chicago, nj. X. X. X.
for
Queries As to the Saloon.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Would say to C. M. that it is possible
to j_ill the saloon, but would that annihilate the beverage? We may dam a
river but the water will break through in
a thousand little rills.
1. We may make it illegal to sell whiskey but will that stop grain from fermenting?
2. Will that keep a million private
stills from springing into existence? The
law of fermentation is God made, and as
oiu as time; you can no more annihilate
it than you can annihilate sin?
3. Can a law be enacted, in a free
country, restraining a man from distilling for private use?
4. Whose business it is what I do
with my grain so long as I do not sell
whiskey from it? We may make it illegal to sell intoxicants, but I doubt il!
it lessens the magnitude of the curse. I
know that the present saloon laws are
bad, but the enforcement of them is
worse.
5. They repealed the Army Canteen
law, but did it lessen drunkenness in the
army? No. Why knock out the canteen
when on all sides are plenty of saloons
kept by individuals? Why knock out the
saloon when your fields and bins are
teeming with the raw product? Would it
not be better to legalize it, under proper
restrictions, than to allow it to become as
free as common maple syrup? Did God
ever take away the forbidden fruit? No,
it is here in the form of liquor, and the
earth-old injuction is still before us—
"The day that you eat of that fruit you
shall die." Is it not, after all, the individual that must rise above the tempa-
tion? Is it not, after all, the moral law
that must triumph? C. W. E.
Sheridan.
To query 1, the answer is, no, of course
not, and w|_ never knew any one who
claimed that it did.
2. Probably not.
3. Yes. . Such a law could be made.
4. The public would not interfere witli
you, but your neighbors if you' began
treating their sons.
5: Yes. We think it did, and it relieved the Government of the odium of
having a hand in the accursed business.
Sugar Production  of the World.
T"_.t<Jrs Indiana Fanner:
The increaso in production is wonderful. The world increased from 1,150,000
tons in 1S10 to 10,87G,00O tons in 1902,
two-thirds of this being beet sugar. Cuba
leads the world on cane sugar, producing
840,000 tons. Germany leads on beet sugar, producing annually 2,300,000 tons.
The United States is small potatoes and
few in the hill on a sugar comparison,
production being 310,000 tons of cane and
103,000 of beet. Maple has shrunk from
25,000 to 5,000 tons since 1S90, and sorgum almost the same proportion. When
the United States consumes 65 pounds
per capita, sh© only produces 20 pounds
of each 100 pounds consumed. The per
capita consumption has doubled within 30
years. We do not produce one-twentieth
of the sugar, yet the United States is one
twentieth of the world's population. Germany's production equals the consumption of the United States on sugar, this
while Germany can use Go pounds per
capita she could then spare one-third of
her production, while the United States
must purchase from foreign countries
four-fifths of what she consumes.
Jeffersonrille. W. A.
The Moles.
Editors Indiana Fanner:
In a late issue of the Farmer your
correspondent from Cicero asks what we
are going to do with the moles. I am
almost sure that this extreme winter has
thinned tluem out very much. During
most of the time from December 20 to
February 10, the ground was frozen solid
from 8 to 20 inches deep, and twice during that timo we had heavy rains on
solid frozen ground so that every possible air hole was filled and closed with
water which froze very suddenly, making a glove of! ice. I remember hearing my father say -±0 or 50 years ago
that just such conditions as we have had
tnis winter would kill off the moles
and if that did not occur they would
become so plentiful that we would have
a hard time trying to raise corn.
For three years they have increased
very fast, and during the latter part of
summer and fall every clover field,
meadow and bluegrass pasture was <j.in-
pletely riddled by them. Grub wo-ms
were unusually plenty, and perhaps mules
do sonue good by eating grubs. Trapping
has been suggested. That is well enough
and easy to catch a few that come to
your lawn or garden, but quite another
thing in 40 or 50 acres of corn where
they work mostly after night, and seldom go twice in the same runs.
Fayette Co. Jonas Seholl.
The Land of Unbounded  Possibilities.
Editors Indiana Fanner:
After an eight months investigation of
tho industries of tb*? United States, Max
Goldberger, royal councilor of Germany,
heads an article as the above. He rec-
cons the world's population at 1,700,000,-
Oo0, of which the United States with her
latoachievementsisone-twentieth and that
we own 25 psr cent of the world's productive lands and that the United States
is producing 75 per cent of the corn, 25
per cent of the wheat and oats of the
world's total crop. Of iron 30 per cent
and that of tb- very best pig iron 39 per
cent of steel 42 per dent of copper nearly 55 per cent, producing in 1900, 270,-
000 tons or 1,000 tons more than the
world's total product was in 1S90, it being then 29(5,455 tons. Of lead 250,000
tons in 1900 being 29 per cent of the
world's output for the yiear. Quicksilver
33 per cent, of gold 31 per cent, of silver
33 per cent. If Sir. Goldberger's estimates are correct upon these 11 products,
tne United States with hter 5 per cent of
the world's population and one-fourth of
the world's productive land, it is producing 30 per cent of the world's crops
and minerals as an average. Whereas
wp did not 15 years ago probably average
more than 20 per cent upon these same
products. ■ Wm.  Adams.
Clinton County Corn Exhibit.
A new contribution to the Indiana exhibit to be made at the St. Louis exposition this summer in the shape of a
"sign" to mark the Clinton county corn
exhibit has just been received at the
world's fair headquarters in this city and
the marker will be one of the unique
features  of  the jagricnltural   display.
The "sign" is the handiwork of A.
W. Peters, of Mnlberry, and shows the
results of much labor and skill in its
preparation. The "sign" is in the
shape of a neatly framed mat on which
is displayed every variety of grasses,
seeds and grains grown in Indiana.
Each variety of such products, all
raised   in   Clinton   connty,     from     large
kernels of corn down to tlifi smallest
seeds has been utilized by Mr. Peters.
The smaller grasses and seeds have
been used to make the background of
the mat. On the plastic surface of the
mat the seeds were distributed so
evenly that at a distance the background looks almost line a huge sheet
of sandpaper. On closer view the real
nature of the board appears.
The mat explains itself, as in raised
letters it announces that it is part of
the "Clinton County Exhibit of Seeds
and Grasses." These letters are made
of kernels of corn, rye and wheat. The
letters are in different color's, varying
from the yellow of the ripe wheat and
corn to the blood color of red corn. The
colors in the letters are very effective,
blending as they do gradually form the
distinct yellow to the equally strong red.
Altogether the mat is very attractive and
Clinton county will have its agricultural
exhibit marked in a more conspicuous
manner than any other county that has
been heard from so far.
Oat Experiments.
Some interesting Alabama oat experiments are noted by the Department of
Agriculture showing a largely increased
yield through the use of nitrate of soda.
_.ue average results of three experiments
show that fall oats receiving one hundred
pounds of nitrate of soda per acre yielded
1_.75 bushels more than the check tests.
With nitrate at three cents a pound and
oats 50 cents a bushel, the net profit per
acre for the nitrate area was over four
dollars, for the grain alone, while the
increased yield of straw was a third of a
ton.
On spring sown oats the use of nitrate
of soda and cotton seed meal as fertilizers was either without effect or actually
detrimental.
Seed of lied Rust Proof oats scalded
for ten minutes in water at 133 degrees
F. produced a crop free from smut, while
oats unscnlded contained three per cent of
smutted heads. The scalded seed also
produced 1 bushel of grain more per aere.
Two new beans recently discovered by
the Department of Agriculture are likely
to prove of value to this country. One
is what is known as the Broad Bean of
Europe. This bean has been grown in
the United States and can be found listed
in sonue of our seed catalogues, but the
agricultural explorers of the Department
state that Americans fail with the bean
in two particulars. First, they allow it
to ripen, whereas it should be picked
when about half or two-thirds grown, and
second, tbey do not know how to cook it.
David Fairchild says that as hie has eaten
it in Europe it is one of the most delicious of vegetables. Tlie other bean is
grown extensively in Greece. It is a
tiny variety, only about the size of rice,
and taking not longer than that vegetable
to  cook. It is exceedingly  toothsome.
Small quantities of both these beans.have
been secured by the Department and will
be tested this year, but the Department
has none now for distribution.
It is about as good a time as any to semi
for a copy of the Agricultural Department farmers' bulletin No. 181 and read
what L. C. Corbrtt has to say on orchard
and small fruit pruning.
California will install an olive oil factory in the California space in the agricultural building at the World's flair. The
proqess of extracting the oil will be
shown in detail.