Part 1

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THE PRAIRIE FARMER

A Weekly Journal for

THE FARM, ORCHARD AND FIRESIDE.

ESTABLISHED IN 1841. ENTIRE SERIES VOL 56--No 12.

CHICAGO, SATURDAY, MARCH 22, 1884.

PRICE $2.00 PER YEAR IN ADVANCE.

[Transcriber's Note: The Table of Contents was originally located on page 184 of the periodical. It has been moved here for ease of use.]

THE CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER.

AGRICULTURE--Drainage and Good Husbandry Page 177; Plan for a Flood Gate, 178; Great Corn Crops, 178; A Charming Letter, 178; Prairie Roads, 178; Experiments with Indian Corn, 178; Specialty Farming, 178.

HORTICULTURE--Sand Mulching of Orchard Trees, Page 182; Pear Blight, 182; The Black Walnut, 182. Notes on Current Topics, 182; Prunings, 182-183.

FLORICULTURE--Some New Plants, Page 183.

OUR BOOK TABLE--Page 183.

ENTOMOLOGICAL--Insects in Illinois, Page 179.

SILK CULTURE--Osage for Silk-Worms, Page 187.

SCIENTIFIC AND USEFUL--Items, Page 187.

LITERATURE--The Gentleman Farmer (Poetry), Page 190; Frank Dobb's Wives, 190-191.

FIELD AND FURROW--Items, 179.

HUMOROUS--Items, Page 191.

POULTRY NOTES--Chicken Chat, Page 186.

THE APIARY--Spring Care of Bees, Page 186; Extracted Honey, 186; Southern Wisconsin Bee-Keepers' Association, 186.

EDITORIAL--Items, Page 184; Lumber and Shingles, 184; Foot-and-Mouth Disease, 184; Premiums on Corn, 184-185; The First Unfortunate Result, 185; Questions Answered, 185; Wayside Notes, 185.

YOUNG FOLKS--Little Dilly Dolly (Poetry) Page 189; Uncle Jim's Yarn, 189; Puddin Tame's Fun, 189; The Alphabet, 189; What a Child Can Do, 189.

LIVE STOCK--Items, Page 180; Polled Aberdeen Cattle, 180; Grass for Hogs, 180; A Stock Farm and Ranch, 180; Western Wool-Growers, 180; The Cattle Diseases near Effingham, 180-181.

THE DAIRY--Camembert Cheese, Page 181; Few Words and More Butter, 181.

COMPILED CORRESPONDENCE--Page 181.

VETERINARY--Symptoms of Foot-and-Mouth Disease, Page 181; Shyness and Timidity, 181; Glanders, 181.

HOUSEHOLD--How He Ventilated the Cellar, Page 188; An Old Roman Wedding, 188; Mr. Smith's Stovepipe, 188; Progress, 188; A Family Jar, 188; Mouce Trap and other Sweetemetes, 188; A Sonnet on a Ronnet, 188; Pleasantries, 188.

NEWS OF THE WEEK--Page 192.

MARKETS--Page 192.

Drainage and Good Husbandry.

BY C. G. ELLIOTT, DRAINAGE ENGINEER.

I.

The practical advantage of drainage as it appears to the casual observer, is in the increased production of valuable crops. Ordinary land is improved, and worthless land so far reclaimed as to yield a profit to its owner, where once it was a source of loss and a blemish upon an otherwise fair district. The land-buyer who looks for a future rise in his purchase, recognizes the value of drainage, being careful to invest his capital in land which has natural drainage, or is capable of being drained artificially with no great expense, if it is suitable for use as an agricultural domain. The physician, though perhaps unwilling, is obliged to admit drainage as an important agency in the reduction of malignant diseases and much general ill-health among dwellers in both country and village. Our State Board of Health recognizes the influence of land drainage upon the healthfulness of districts where it is practiced. The Secretary of this Board gives it as his opinion that even good road drainage would diminish the number of preventable diseases 25 per cent.

Such are now some of the impressions as to the value of drainage among those who judge from acknowledged effects. That a great change has been brought about by this practice is apparent to the most superficial observer, if he compares pre-drainage with the present.

A FEW FACTS.

The Indiana Bureau of Statistics made an investigation about two years ago of the influence of tile drainage upon production and health in that State. Two periods of five years were selected, one before drainage was begun, and the other after most of the farms had been drained, the area examined being one township in Johnson county.

As near as could be determined, the average yearly yield of wheat for a period of five consecutive years before drainage was nine and a half bushels per acre. The same land and tillage after drainage in a period of five consecutive years produced an average of nineteen and one-fourth bushels per acre. Comparing the corn crops in the same way for the same time, it was found that the average yearly yield before drainage was thirty-one and three-fourths bushels per acre, and after drainage seventy-four and one-fourth bushels per acre.

In order to determine the influence of drainage upon health, physicians, who had, during the same two periods of five years each, answered all calls in cases of disease, were asked to report from their books all cases of malarial fever. It was found from this data that, for the first period of five years before drainage, there had been 1,480 cases of malarial disease. During the next five years under a pretty good system of drainage, there were but 490 cases of such disease. These facts show that drainage not only brings material prosperity to the individual, but promotes the general healthfulness of the climate of that district, in which all are interested and all enjoy.

It is a matter of note that the Campagne about Rome, which in ancient days was the healthful home of a dense population, is now afflicted with the most deadly fevers. It is claimed by high authorities that this is due to the destruction and choking of the drains which in excavating are found everywhere, but always filled and useless.

It will be readily seen that this subject has at least two important bearings upon our prosperity, and though in considering and perfecting general farm drainage, the effect upon health may be manifested without effort being put forth in that direction, yet it should always be kept in mind and receive that consideration which it deserves.

DRAINAGE AND FANCY FARMING.

It is thought by many who have not yet tested the value of tile drainage, that it is one of those luxuries often indulged in by so-called fancy farmers. By such farmers is meant those who farm for pleasure rather than for profit; those who raise wheat which costs them $1 per bushel, but which is worth only eighty cents on the market; those who raise beef at a cost of ten cents per lb. and sell it for six cents per lb.; in short, they are men (and there are many of them) who receive their income from some other source, and cultivate a farm for recreation. That drainage properly belongs to this class of farmers is a mistaken notion, as hundreds of thrifty, money-making farmers in the West would prove, could they now give their experience. In the example previously given, drainage increased the production of wheat and corn fully 100 per cent, which was a township report for five years. In order to emphasize these statements, we will insert a few practical examples communicated to the Drainage Journal during last year.

Geo. P. Robertson: "One ten-acre field failed to produce anything except a few small ears. I drained it, and have cropped it for eight years successively, and have paid time and again for husking 100 bushels of corn per acre."

"Mr. Losee, Norwich, Canada, says that as a matter of actual test, his underdrained land yields one-third larger crops than his undrained fields, although the same treatment in other respects is applied, and the land is of the same character throughout. The average wheat yield of his undrained land is twenty bushels per acre, while the drained fields yielded an average of thirty bushels. As the cost of draining on his farm is estimated at $20 per acre, this preparation of the soil pays for itself in two years."

Horton Ferguson, Indiana: "The swamp contained twenty-seven acres, and was regarded by all neighbors as utterly worthless except for hunting grounds. Mr. Ferguson, who has great faith in underdraining, determined to undertake to reclaim the land, confident if successfully done, it would be a paying investment. Last year he tile drained and grubbed it, paying customary rates for all the labor and tile, and this year put it in corn, with the following result:

Dr. Cr. Tile used for 27 acres $544 87 Paid for ditching 88 00 Expense for clearing and grubbing 275 00 ------- Total expense $907 87 -------- By 2,530 bushels of corn at 50 cents $1,265 00

The land proved to be remarkably rich, having produced, as shown, ninety bushels to the acre, and Mr. F. assures us that several acres exceeded 100 bushels to the acre. It will thus be observed that he realized the first year of cultivation enough to pay the entire expense of reclaiming and had $357.13 left to pay on the crop expense. Next season, if favorable, he expects a still better yield."

Every farmer knows that, in these times of easy transportation, profits do not depend so much upon the price his product brings in the market as upon the quantity he has to dispose of. In other words, abundant crops are the farmer's source of income. There is evidence enough at hand to justify the statement that of all improvements put upon farms containing wet land valued at $40 per acre and upwards, drainage pays the largest profit for the outlay. Just what this profit will be will depend upon the soil drained, the necessary cost required to improve it, and the use and management of it after it is drained. All of these things vary so that each case must be considered by itself. Drainage is simply a necessary part of good husbandry which merits the careful consideration of all thinking farmers.

Plan for a Flood Gate.

To maintain a fence across a water course, is one of the trials and tribulations of the farmer. After a heavy rain, generally fences in such places are either badly damaged or entirely washed away. Having been troubled this way for years, I have hit upon the following plan, which, after two years' trial I find to be a success.

A stick of timber, three or four inches in diameter, is placed where the gate is needed, and fastened down with stakes, driven slanting, on each side, the tops of the stakes lapping over the piece so as to hold it securely, and driven well down, so as not to catch the drift, but allowing the piece to turn freely; inch and half holes are bored in the piece and uprights are fitted in them; the material of which the gate is made is fastened to these uprights. A light post is driven on the lower side and the gate fastened to it.

This will keep the gate in place in any ordinary flood, but when a Noah comes along, it turns down on the bottom of creek, and waters and drifts pass over it. When the water subsides all that is necessary to do is to turn the gate back to its upright position. If the gate is not needed during the winter, it is better to lay it down and let it remain in that position until spring, for if it is fastened with the post in an upright position, it will be broken with the spring floods. A. E. B. CARTHAGE, ILL.

Great Corn Crops.

It having been mentioned in the Iowa State Register some weeks ago that Mr. Hezekiah Fagan, of Polk county, in that State, had once grown one hundred and fifty-eight bushels of corn per acre, a son of Mr. Fagan writes the following regarding the kinds of corn, the ground, and the manner of cultivation:

"Father's farm joined Brown's Park on the north and run a mile north; the corn was raised where the old orchard now is; it was part prairie and part brush land, and was about the third crop. The ground was plowed in the spring, harrowed and marked out with a single shovel both ways, the rows being four feet apart each way. The corn was dropped by hand and covered with a hoe, and left without harrowing until large enough to plow, and was plowed twice with single shovel, and once with the two horse stirring plow and hilled up as high as possible, and hoed enough to keep clean. The seed was from corn father brought from Rockville, Ind., with him when he moved to Des Moines, in the spring of 1848, and was of the large, yellow variety which matured then and matures now with anything like a good season, and I verily believe that with as good ground and as good treatment and as much care in having every hill standing, and from three to four stalks in every hill, that the amount might be raised again, if it was over 150 bushels per acre, and I must say that I have never seen a large variety of corn that suited me so well, that would yield so much, or mature so well, and if any Iowa farmer will come and look at my crib of corn of this year's raising, and if he will say he can show a better average ear raised on similar ground, with similar treatment, I would like to speak for a few bushels for seed at almost any price, and I will not except the much-puffed Leaming variety."

The young man adds that his advice to Iowa farmers is, "to raise big horses, big cattle, big hogs, big corn, and big grass, and if the profits are not big, too, they had better make up their minds farming isn't their forte, and go at something else."

Being desirous of knowing something of his big corn yield we wrote to Mr. Clarkson, of the Register, for further information, and received the following reply:

DEAR SIR: Yours of the 7th inst., relative to the Fagan corn received. The corn raised by Hezekiah Fagan was thirty years ago, and he received the premium for it at the Iowa State Fair in 1854. The only facts I have relative to it are in the published proceedings of the State Agricultural Society. It states that he raised in Polk county, Iowa, on five acres, at the rate of 139-1/2 bushels per acre, shelled corn. The whole, shelled, measured 697-1/2 bushels, but weighed, it made 151 bushels and fifty-three pounds per acre.

At the same fair, J. W. Inskip exhibited, with all of the necessary proofs, 136 bushels per acre.

I think there was no mistake in these matters, as great care was taken to have statement correct; it is to this crop which his son refers in a late number of the Register. Yours truly, C. F. CLARKSON. DES MOINES, IOWA.

A Charming Letter.

At the head of the agricultural department in THE PRAIRIE FARMER I notice a standing invitation, viz.: "Farmers, write for your paper." All right! Now, if you will just move up a little I'll take a seat in your Communicative Association.

We, that is my wife and myself, eagerly read and discuss the interesting articles with which THE PRAIRIE FARMER is replete every week, and many are the practical hints that we have found therein.

It is not strange that, in the heart of a new country with vast undeveloped resources and unlimited possibilities, a young farmer who has his fortune yet to make, should be particularly enthusiastic. Tired of the atmosphere of the school-room, fagged out by ten years of study and teaching, and plainly seeing the improbability of being able to lay by enough for a rainy day or old age in this noble, but as a rule, unremunerative calling, my mind involuntarily reverted back to my early life on the old homestead in Illinois, to substantials implied in that word, and to its pleasant memories.

My mind was made up. With my portion of the old homestead in my pocket, I turned the key in the school-house door, grateful for the experience and lessons of patience gained inside of it, a friend of education, and with a heart full of sympathy for the teachers of our public schools. I came to "the land of the Dakotas" once more to break the "stubborn glebe" and enjoy the sweets of farm life. Next June I shall have had three years' experience in my new undertaking. I have succeeded fairly well. At some future time I may communicate something about raising wheat and vegetables in Dakota, to the readers of "our paper."

This winter is proving to be rather long and stormy, but with plenty of fuel, good books and papers, time has not hung heavily on my hands. Indeed, I consider these long Northern winters a decided advantage to those who regard the cultivation of the mind as important as the cultivation of the fields. I am afraid the majority of farmers do not lay enough stress upon mental culture. In this age of cheap books there can be no excuse for being without them. Systematic reading leads to the best results in mental culture just as systematic farming leads to the best results in agriculture. At the beginning of the winter I select some standard work as my principal reading matter and stick to it until I have it completed, reading for an interlude, good weekly newspapers, and one or two of the standard magazines, with which I always like to be supplied. This breaks up all monotony, and makes reading thoroughly enjoyable and instructive. This winter I am reading the works of Goethe, the great German author.

March, the last winter month, has come, and although the wind is still howling and snow flying, before the first of April we expect to see the railroads thronged with emigrant cars bringing new settlers, more thrift and more capital. Thousands of new homes will be established on the fertile prairies next summer.

Will you please regard this as a kind of an introduction into your "association?"

If we find that we are mutually agreeable perhaps we shall find occasion to meet again.

KASPER VON ESCHENBACH, PRAIRIE PARK FARM, BATH, D. T.

Prairie Roads.

The article on prairie roads in THE PRAIRIE FARMER of March 1st, 1884, by A. G. H., of Champaign county, was good, and I would like to see more on the same subject. If we get any better roads, we must keep the ball rolling.

The great objection to the Ross plan, or any plan of road-tiling here, is this. When tile is laid in the roadway the teams will travel right over it, and the black soil gets packed and puddled until it is as impervious to water as clay, and the water can't get into the tile. And on the clay hillsides, if the tile is covered with clay, the water can't get into it. This has been well tested here, for we have been road-tiling for six years.

The question seems to be to get the water into the tile. The answer is simple enough. We must provide sink holes for it. We must fill the ditch over the tile with sand, gravel, or anything that will let the water in, a yard in length, say, once every rod. Then I think the Ross plan would be perfect.

As to the cost, well, $750 per mile seems large, but to take an average of the roads in our county one-half that sum would answer, for it is only the worst places would need the full Ross plan.

In a good many places, one string of tile with gravel sinks would do, and others with the laterals to drain all to one side, thus saving the cost of one string of tile, or more than one-third of the whole cost.

Now, if we get the commissioners to commence the work, we must vote for men who are in favor of road-tiling as commissioners. There is where the battle must be fought. Buckle on the armor comrades and see that the work is done.

W. H. S., MCLEAN CO., ILL.

Experiments With Indian Corn.

On May 16, 135 kinds of corn were planted in the garden, with the intention of promoting the cross fertilization of the varieties in order to study the effects. The seed used was some of it selected on account of its purity; other seed was from named varieties, still other seed from varieties purposely hybridized, or presumed from their appearance or location on the ear to be hybridized; and seed which possessed peculiarities in appearance. The types represented were the three kinds of pop-corns, the flint pop, the pearl pop, and the rice pop; the flints in eight-rowed and twelve-rowed varieties, and soft or Tuscarora's; the sweets in two or more types of ear, the one corresponding to the flint, another to the dent corn ear; and the dents also in two or more types, the eight-rowed with broad kernel, and another, the many rowed, with deep kernel. We also had a pod or husk corn.

Through a study of the crop from these various seeds, we are enabled to make some general conclusions, which probably are sufficient to generalize from, but which certainly apply to the case in hand.

The seed of the preceding year gives uniformity of ear; that is, a dent corn seed may produce an eight-rowed flint, or an eighteen-rowed dent, but each ear will be perfect of its kind, and will be free from kernels of other type than its own. The flint corn kernel may produce several varieties of flint corn ear, or dent corn ear, but there will be no variety in the kernel upon the ear; a dent corn seed may furnish a sweet corn ear, and dent corn ears, but not mixed upon the cob. A pop-corn kernel may produce a sweet corn ear, of sweet corn type, a sweet corn ear of pop-corn type, or a pop-corn ear of the various types, without admixture of kernels upon the ears.

On the other hand, hybridization of the current year produces changes in the kernel, so that one ear of corn may bear kernels of various colors, and of various types, the tendency, however, being for the shape of the kernel to be governed by the type of the maize ear upon which it is found.

The appearance of various types upon an ear allow of some curious generalizations. Thus, the rice pop kernel form does not appear upon ears of other character, nor does the pearl pop kernel form appear upon the rice pop ear. The flint pop does not seem to appear upon either the rice or the pearl pop type, so far as form is concerned, but its structure, however, influences. Sweet corn, however, appears upon the three types of pop-corn indiscriminately, but, on the other hand, the pop-corns do not appear upon the flint corn ears. While flint corn appears abundantly on sweet corn ears, on the other hand, sweet corn does not appear upon the flint corns. Dent corn kernels will appear upon the sweet corn whose type of ear is that of the dent ear, but not upon sweet corn whose type is that of the flint ear. The dent corn, again, does not appear upon the flint ear, but in some isolated instances the flint corn kernel may appear upon the dent ear.

The appearance of kernels of one variety upon ears of another variety, for each of the types, is of frequent and constant occurrence, except in the case of red ears. The red ears have a constancy of color which is truly remarkable: where sweet corn appears upon red pop and red dent ears the sweet corn partakes of the red color.

The practical value of these deductions consists in the guide they afford toward the improvement of the varieties of corn that we grow. For instance: by planting in adjoining hills, or, better still, the mixed seed of two varieties of corn, one of which is distinguished for its length of ear and smallness of cob, and the other for the large size of its kernel, we should anticipate, in many instances, the transfer of the large kernel to the small ear and of the small kernel to the large ear. By selecting from the crop those ears which have length and the large kernel, we should anticipate, by a series of selections, the attaining of a new variety, in which the large kernel and length of cob would be persistent. The same remarks hold true with the dent corns. But in the matter of selections the true principle would seem to be to plant but one kernel of the desired type from an ear of the desired type, and to keep the plant from this kernel free from the influence of plants of another type, and securing the crop through self-fertilization. After the first year of this procedure, by the selection of two or more kernels of the same type from different plants, cross fertilization should be used, the crop being gradually purified by selection.