VOL. LIX.
INDIANAPOLIS, AUGUST 13, 1904.
NO 33-
%% ptxlzut* §£jra*tmrnt,
WHAT FARM CROP IS SUREST TO PRODUCE
A PROFIT?
Corn it the Great Profit Crop.
lst Premium.—Mixed farming is surest
to pay; but the editor has not put ia that
way. What crop brings you the most
money, after deducting expenses? Suppose we take one hundred acres. Put 25
in wheat, 25 in clover, 25 in corn, the
three leading crops of Indiana.
In a period of 10 yelars, I figure that
corn has averaged 45 bushels, wheat 15,
and hay one and a half tons per acre.
Taking tho price of to-day, I will figure
wheat 'at $1, com at 50 cents, hay $12
per ton. At this rate, your wheat woulJ
give you $15 per acre, corn $22.50, hay
per ton. At this rate, our wheat would
bring $375; 25 acres of corn, $5G2.50, and
25 acres of hay $450. Now, if we can
get at the cost of raising these products,
we will have the matter settled to some
extent. We have 75 acres in these products, and that leaves us 25 acres for pasture and other products, hut you can arrange the acres to suit your convenience.
I named 25 acres, as one man ought to
break, plant wa\ cultivate 25 acres of
corn, land also prepare and seed 25 acres
ofl wheat in the fall. The sowing of
the grass seed is a small job. I am
supposing this man to own the farm, and
to do his own work as far as possible.
My average crop is based on a period of
ten years. Wheat may be higher or
or lower, so may corn and grass, and we
seldom have a heavy wheat and corn crop
the same year. Corn needs hot weather,
wheat colder; that is the success of wheat
in the northwest states as much as the
soil.
My observation is that there are fewer
failures in the corn crop than the wheat
crop. We can mitigate or modify- the
effcets of drouth on corn, by proper cultivating, ibut after our wheat and grass
are sown we cart do little to relieve it
from drouth.
In running a farm for 40 years, I found
that I could plant and cultivate 25 acres
of corn, and especially with our improved
farm machinery of to-day. If you want
to be economical, you can gather it without any outlay of money, at the season
of the year when yon have nothing else
to crowd you. So 25 afcres of corn
can be planted, cultivated and gathered,
with but little outlay of money.
Also ycu can get your corn to market
cheaper than your wheat or hay, feeding
it at home. You may feed your hay,
too, but it takes more labor to feed om-
and a half tons of hay than 50 bushels of
corn. You cannot feed your wheat at
$1 per bushel. I fed some once, when
it was 40 cents, to pigs at a good profit.
So you put the corn into your hogs, aud
get the manure besides, and now you
ought to be able to hand 150 bushels of
com at a load. Ten hogs will have
eaten 150 bushels of corn. Or, it you
feed it to horses, cattle or 3heep, you
can walk it to market cheap. You may
also walk yonr hay to market, but not
your wheat.
Clover or timothy does not cost much
to sow, but the seed costs more than
seed corn and one man cannot handle 25
acres of hay. You must hire extri
help, nnd that at high wages and board.
It must be cut at a definite time and
must take the risk of rain. If you sell
it, it is bulky, the loading is expensive,
you run the risk of damage in handling,
and it is generally tho best price when
you are needed in your fields.
Wheat costs more money outlay than
any grain or grass crop of the farm. The
seed will cost $1.50 per acre to start
with. Then harvesting is high priced
labor, and the threshing ia costly. You
cannot handle the crop by yourself. You
must liire, ami at high wages, and against
you get it to market you have paid out
a heavy per cent in cash. Yet we mus<t
sow wheat for rotation, for it is the cheapest way to get our land to clover.
Another thing to be taken into consideration as to the profit of a crop, is
the tools and machinery used in  putting
best, while at other times the late sown
is the only whmt that pays a profit. 1
remember a few years ago observing
tho corn crop of adjoining farmers.
Farmer A was always among the first to
plant liis crop of corn, on clover sod,
with all the barnyard manure on it that
could be found, and where hogs had been
fed the season before. lie was known
as a successful farmer, and improved the
farm  from  year  to  year. Farmer  B
was one of those easy, good-natured fellows, who was always behind with his
crop, and ir_ fact did not enter into the
spirit of farming at all, but just did things
in a haphazard way, and seldom had    a
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poultry and many other ways, according
to the surroundings and taste of the producer. The bulk of manure from the
corn crop to be returned to the ground
aids wonderfully .in helping to maintain
tho fertility of the soil. Corn then is
our main dependence, but nevertheless we
do not depend upon it alone. Do not
depend upon any one crop alone, for, if
you do, you will have seasons of great
discouragements. Bear in mind that a
diversity of products is always best.
Hancock Co. C. C.
mi_W^__\^Sssii^_im^^^A
An Indian Basket Maker, near Petoskey, Mich., on the G. It. & I. R. R.
in the crop, cultivating and harvesting it.
1. or hay we must have the mower, tedder,
rake, loader, fork and carrier. For
wheat we must have the plow, drill, binder and thresher, or else hire some of
them. For corn the breaking plow,
harrow, planter and cultivator.
I consider corn the great money crop
in this State, or any place in the corn
belt. It is the great fattening or finishing feed for all our livestock, and
we need not fear an overstock of
corn. The world raises wheat and grass,
but the United States raises tho corn. A
surplus is raised in only a few States, and
fortunate is the man that owns good
corn land. We cannot extend the area,
and can only increase the crop by better
farming. In the next ten years we ought
to double the crop, in bushels per acre,
and I believe we will do it, and yet not
overstock the market. Tho whole world
is eating corn; if not direct, they aro
eating it in beef, pork and mutton. I
will say to the farmer, keep your corn
land iu good condition; it will be a gold
mine to you in the future, and to your
children, grandchildren' and great-grandchildren. I. N. C.
Marion Co.
Corn The Main Reliance-
2d Premium.—To know what to do,
and how to do it ls th» secret of success.
I have often heard it said that the growing of a crop was an experiment each
year. We cannot tell whether it is better to plant early or late. Some seasons
the  early   sown  wheat  is  decidedly   the
good crop of anything. But this particular season just suited late planting, on
account of late rains and late frost, whil^
the early planting suffered on account of
hot, dry weather, when in full tassel, and
Farmer A had a great many "nubbins,-'
while farmer B had a splendid crop of
large cars. So that "farming is largely
an experiment each year." Also, much
depends upon the soils. Some soils will
grow nothing but corn and gnass, wink-
others will grow but little grain of any
kind.
But to come to the question, "what farm
crop is the surest to produce a profit?"
We must say, corn, and the reasons are
many. Do farmers, as la rule, sow
wheat, oats, clover and other small
grasses, for profit, or for a change of the
ground? Do you supopse that the farmer
who sows wheat this flail, after harvesting such crops as he did this year and
last year, will expect crop enough to give
him a profit on the three crops grown 'n
tho three years of 1903, 1004 and 1005.
Some one will say clover, as it is the
only food crop to the ground, and all
other crops are "robber" crops. But do
we not plant clover in order that the
ground may bring better corn? It is true
that we get more, out of the corn crop
if tho ground has been in clover, but,
after making due allowance for the increased fertility, we must depend upon the
corn.
There are more ways of marketing the
corn crop than are possible with other
crops. You can get a return in grain,
pork, beef,    mutton,    milk,    butter, eggs,
A Good Word for Clover.
3d Premium.—The crop that puts tho
most money in a man's pocket, regardless
of its tax upon the ground, is not always
the one that returns the largest profit. It is
lhe one that leaves tho ground, after a
series of years, in as good if not better
condition than it was at the start. A
great many times a grower cannot estimate the profit in dollars and cents, but
has to account for it in some other way.
I think, when all things are considereil,
clover will lbe found to be the surest to
produce a profit. Many times the grower
iloes not realize the profit of the former
crop until afterwards. It has been said
that oue docs not know the value of a
thing until bo loses it, which I think
can be applied to farm crops as well as
anything. Clover makes the ground
richer, if it is taken care of correctly, as
well as returning a good crop of pasture,
or hay, and perhaps seed. It will not
make a good crop every year, but with
good treatment will produce a good crop
as near every year as anything will. And
it is a decided profit to the farmer. Where
clover is used in the rotation, and let
stand one or two years, the farm land
will become richer than it formerly was,
while where it is not used the soil gradually becomes poorer each year. The
other crops produce a profit at the expense of the ground. C. B.
Howard Co.
Premiums of $1, 75 cents, 50 cents
are given for the first, second and third
best articles for the Experience Department each week. Manuscript should be
sent direct to the Indiana Farmer Company and should reach us one week before date of publication.
No. 441, Aug. 20.—How do you produce
"marbled" pork? How do you cure the
joints and  sides?
No. 442, Aug. 27.—Give experience in
removing stumps. What is the best
way?
No. 443, Sept 3.—Discuss the value of
bees, aside from honey making. How
keep your bees over winter.
No. 444, Sept. 10— Tell how the State
fair benefits the farmer.
Meeting of Horae  Thief Detective Association.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
There will be a basket picnic and rally
of the members of the National Horse
Thief Detectivo Association held at tlie
Lebanon fair grounds, on Tuesday of the
fair, Aug 1G. All members are invited to
attend. There will be some good speaking and a good time generally.
By order of Committee.
J. M. Knox, Sec'y.
There are words in the Chinese language whieh have as many as forty different meanings.
Tlie only school for women gardeners
in London is at the Royal botanic gardens, Regent's Park.