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THE
PRAIRIE FARMER
A Weekly Journal for
THE FARM, ORCHARD, AND FIRESIDE.
ESTABLISHED IN 1841.
ENTIRE SERIES: VOL. 56--NO. 3.
CHICAGO, SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 1884.
PRICE, $2.00 PER YEAR,
IN ADVANCE.
[Transcriber's Note: The Table of Contents was originally located on
page 40 of the periodical. It has been moved here for ease of use.]
THE CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER.
AGRICULTURE--The Corn Root Worm, Page 33; Biographical Sketch of Patrick
Barry, 33; Compiled Correspondence, 33; Illinois Tile-Makers Convention
Report, 34; Farmers Advice, 35; Cisterns on the farm, 35; Field and
Furrow Items, 35.
LIVE STOCK--Iowa Wool-Men, Page 36; Polled Cattle-Breeders, 36; Merino
Sheep-Breeders, 36; Cattle Diseases, 36; The Horse and His Treatment
36-37; Cost of Pork on 1883 Corn, 37.
VETERINARY--Grease, So-Called, Page 37; Foul in the Foot, 37; Founder,
37; Question Answered, 37.
THE DAIRY--Curing Cheese, Page 37; Items, 37.
HORTICULTURE--Southern Ills. Hort. Society, Page 38; Notes on Current
Topics, 38; Pear Blight, 38; Treatment of Tree Wound, 38; The Tomato
Pack of 1883, 38; Sweating Apples, 39; Prunings Items, 39.
FLORICULTURE--Smilax and its Uses, Page 39.
EDITORIAL--Will You? Page 40; Items, 40; The Wealth of the Nation, 40;
Contagious Animal Disease, 40, 41; Iowa State Fair, 41; Still Another
Fat Stock Show, 41; Questions Answered, 41; Letter from Champaign, 41;
Wayside Notes, 41.
POULTRY NOTES--Chicken Chat, Page 42; Business Still Running, 42.
THE APIARY--The Best Hive, Page 42.
SCIENTIFIC--Some Gossip About Darwin, Page 43.
HOUSEHOLD--"Going up Head" (poetry), Page 44; Too Fat to Marry, 44;
Ornaments for Homes, 44.
YOUNG FOLKS--Chat About a Bear, Page 45; A Fairy Story, by Little
Johnnie, 45.
LITERATURE--For Those Who Fail (poetry), Page 46; A Singular
Philosopher, 46.
HUMOROUS--The Donkey's Dream, Page 47; Tom Typo 47; Courtship of a
Vassar Girl, 47; Items, 47.
NEWS OF THE WEEK--Page 48.
MARKETS--Page 48.
THE CORN-ROOT WORM.
EDITOR PRAIRIE FARMER--I write you in regard to the corn question. I
would like to know if angle-worms damage corn.
Eight years ago I came to the conclusion that I could raise double the
number of bushels of corn that I was then raising. I then commenced
experimenting on a small scale. I succeeded very well for the first
three or four years. I got so that I could raise over ninety bushels per
acre. In one year I got a few pounds over 100 bushels per acre. Three
years ago my crop began to fail, and has continued to fail up to the
present year, with the same treatment. Last year it was so bad that I
concluded to examine the roots of the corn plants. I found both
angle-worms and grubs in the roots. This year I went into a thorough
examination and found nothing there but angle-worms, with a wonderful
increase. They were right at the end of the stalk where the roots were
thick, but the worms thicker.
The corn at first seems to do very well, but long before the grain gets
ripe the leaves begin to get dry and the stalks commence falling. The
consequence is that over one-half the corn is loose on the cob and the
ears very short. I am entirely headed in the corn line. Is it the
angle-worms? If so, what is the remedy? I plant my corn every year on
the same ground. I allow no weeds to grow in my cornfield. Farmers can
not afford to raise weeds. I remove all weeds and put corn in their
places.
I have plowed my land for the next year's crop of corn and put on twenty
loads of manure to the acre and plowed it under. I have no faith in
planting the ground next year unless I can destroy the worms that I call
angle-worms. I have consulted several of my brother farmers, and they
say that the angle-worms never destroy a crop of corn.
I thought last year that my seed corn was poor and run out, so I went to
Chicago and got Sibley's "Pride of the North," but that was no better.
If you will kindly inform me how to remedy this looseness of the kernel
I will agree to show you how 100 bushels of corn can be raised on one
acre every good corn year.
HORACE HOPKINS.
DESPLAINES, ILL., Jan. 2.
* * * * *
We sent this communication to Professor Forbes, State Entomologist and
received the following reply:
EDITOR PRAIRIE FARMER--There can be hardly a shadow of a doubt that the
injury which your correspondent so graphically describes is due to the
corn root-worm (Diabrotica longicornis), a full account of which will be
found in my report for 1882, published last November.
The clue to his whole difficulty lies in the sentence, "I plant my corn
every year on the same ground." As the beetles from which the root-worms
descend lay their eggs in corn fields in autumn, and as these eggs do
not hatch until after corn planting in the following spring, a simple
change of crops for a single year, inevitably starves the entire
generation to death in the ground.
I inclose a slip, giving a brief account of this most grievous pest; but
the article in my last report already referred to will be found more
satisfactory.
S. A. FORBES.
NORMAL, ILL., January 3.
P.S.--You will probably remember that I published a paper on this insect
in THE PRAIRIE FARMER for December 30, 1882.
* * * * *
The following is the description referred to:
_From the "Crop Report" for 1882._
"The corn-root worm, in the form in which it affects the roots of corn,
is a slender white grub, not thicker than a pin, from one fourth to
three-eighths of an inch in length, with a small brown head, and six
very short legs. It commences its attack in May or June, usually at some
distance from the stalk, towards which it eats its way beneath the
epidermis, killing the root as fast as it proceeds. Late in July or
early in August it transforms in the ground near the base of the hill,
changing into a white pupa, about fifteen-hundredths of an inch long and
two-thirds that width, looking somewhat like an adult beetle, but with
the wings and wing-covers rudimentary, and with the legs closely drawn
up against the body. A few days later it emerges as a perfect insect,
about one-fifth of an inch in length, varying in color from pale
greenish-brown to bright grass-green, and usually without spots or
markings of any kind. The beetle climbs up the stalk, living on fallen
pollen and upon the silk at the tip of the ear until the latter dies,
when a few of the beetles creep down between the husks, and feed upon
the corn itself, while others resort for food to the pollen of such
weeds in the field as are at that time in blossom. In September and
October the eggs are laid in the ground upon or about the roots of the
corn, and most of the beetles soon after disappear from the field. They
may ordinarily be found upon the late blooming plants, feeding as usual
upon the pollen of the flowers, and also to some extent upon molds and
other fungi, and upon decaying vegetation. There can be no further doubt
that the insect is single-brooded, that it hibernates in the egg as a
rule, and that this does not hatch until after the ground has been
plowed and planted to corn in the spring probably in May or June.
"Although the adult beetles, when numerous, do some harm by eating the
silk before the kernels are fertilized by the pollen, and also destroy
occasionally a few kernels in the tip of the ear, yet the principal
injury is done by the larva in its attack upon the roots. The extent of
this injury depends not only upon the number of the worms, but also upon
the soil and weather and the general condition of the crop, being worst
on high land and in dry weather. Under specially unfavorable
circumstances the loss due to the insect may amount to from one-fourth
to one-half or even three-fourths of the crop; but when the conditions
are generally favorable, it rarely amounts to more than ten or twenty
per cent, and frequently even to less. Although the roots penetrated by
the larvæ die and decay, thrifty corn will throw out new ones to replace
those lost. The hold of the stalk upon the ground is often so weakened
that a slight wind is sufficient to prostrate the corn. Under these
circumstances it will often throw out new roots from the joints above
the ground, thus rallying to a certain extent against serious injury.
"As the result of numerous observations and comparisons, it is clearly
to be seen that little or no mischief is done except in fields that have
been in corn during the year or two preceding, and a frequent change of
crops is therefore a complete preventive. Beyond this, the life history
of the insect gives us little hope of fighting it effectually except at
too great expense, as the eggs and worms are scattered and hidden in the
ground, and the perfect beetle is widely dispersed throughout the
field."
* * * * *
California has about eighty thousand tons of wheat to ship to Europe.
Besides this a large amount is already stowed in ships.
* * * * *
PATRICK BARRY.
[Illustration: Patrick Barry]
Our portrait this week is of Patrick Barry, Esq., the noted nurseryman
and horticulturist of Rochester, N. Y. Mr. Barry was born near Belfast,
Ireland, in 1816. His father was a small farmer, but he gave the boy a
good education, and at eighteen he was appointed to teach in one of the
national schools. At the age of twenty he resigned this position, and
came to America, where he began clerking in the Linnæan nurseries, at
Flushing, L. I. During his stay of four years here he mastered the
principles of the nursery business. In 1840 he moved to Rochester, and
forming a partnership with Mr. Ellwanger, started the famous Mount Hope
Nurseries. They began on a tract of but seven acres. In 1852 he issued
the "Fruit Garden," which is to this day a standard work among
horticulturists. Previous to this he had written largely for the
agricultural and horticultural press. In 1852 he also began editing the
Horticulturist, then owned by Mr. James Vick. Mr. Barry's second great
work, and the one involving most time and labor was the Catalogue of the
American Pomological Society.
Mr. Barry has long been President of the Western New York Horticultural
Society. He is also a member of the Board of Control of the New York
Experiment Station. He has served several terms in the city council of
Rochester and in the Board of Supervisors of the country. Mr. Barry is
an active business man and besides his great labor in conducting the
nursery affairs, he discharges the duties of President of many corporate
enterprises in which he has large financial interests. Mr. Barry was
happily married in 1847, and the amiable sharer of his hardships and his
successes is still living.
COMPILED CORRESPONDENCE.
HANCOCK CO., Dec. 31.--Weather very disagreeable; snow six inches deep,
and from rain and sleet and thaw and freeze, has formed a hard crust, so
as to make bad traveling--in the roads icy and slippery. To-day cloudy,
damp and cool. A few days ago the mercury reached 8 degrees below zero,
the lowest of the season. It is very hard on stock, and many of the
cattle are without shelter, as usual. Accept New Year greetings for all
THE PRAIRIE FARMER family. L. T.
* * * * *
MILLS CO., MO., Jan. 8.--Since the first of January we have had hard
winter weather. An old weather prophet says we are to have just such
weather for forty days. I sincerely hope not. On Friday night, January
4th and 5th, all the thermometers commonly used by farmers went clear
down out of sight. As they only mark about 30 degrees below zero it was
uncertain how cold it really was. Unsheltered stock suffered terribly. A
few farmers were caught without wood, and suffered from the storm in
securing a supply. We have had five days of snow so that there is a
heavy coat all over. A. J. L.
* * * * *
ST. LOUIS, MO., January 13.--Advices from Mobile say the late cold snap
caused immense damage in that section. The loss to the orange groves is
estimated at nearly a $1,000,000, and the value of vegetables killed in
Mobile county alone will reach the same sum. Great damage was also done
to orange groves in Florida, but many orange growers profited by the
Signal Service warning and built fires in their groves, and thus saved
their trees. News from the Michigan peach belt is that the fruits are
uninjured.
* * * * *
Strawberries are sold in New York city at fifteen cents each.
* * * * *
[Illustration]
AGRICULTURAL
Farmers, Write for Your Paper.
Illinois Tile-Makers.
The Illinois State Tile-Makers' Convention at Springfield, last week,
was more largely attended than in any previous year since the
association was formed. Nearly one hundred joined the association.
The convention was welcomed to the city by Governor Hamilton in an
appropriate address in which he expressed his deep sympathy with and
interest in all the manufacturing enterprises that are giving employment
to the people and adding wealth to the State. He announced himself as in
favor of protection and encouragement to the manufacturing interests. He
thought the tile men were greatly adding to the wealth and
productiveness of Illinois, and that they were also indirectly improving
the health of the people.
The President's address was brief but full of information and good
sense. He pointed out at length the improvements in tile kilns, and in
various appliances, which have been made in recent years, and declared
that valuable as these all are, they can not make up for the lack of
skill and experience. He believed the increased interest in terra cotta,
and in useful ornamental and out tiling points to the great source of
supply as the timber of the country decreases in quantity. The
drain-tile manufacture was simply the beginning of an era of skillful
clay working, which would not only add greatly to the fertility of the
soil, but to the means of the beauty and endurance in numerous forms of
building. Of the statistics of the business, he said the latest
information is that there are in the State 600 factories, built at an
average cost of $3,000 each, employing about 5,400 men seven months each
year, who receive about $250,000 and their board. The total annual
capacity of these factories he estimates at 56,100 miles annually. He
estimates the amount invested in the industry, including the value of
tile already laid, at $5,000,000, and the increased value of land
drained at $10,000,000.
The Secretary's report gave the general condition of the society. In
1879 it was composed of forty-five members; in 1880, of thirty-five; in
1881, of twenty-eight; in 1882, fifty-three; in 1883, of eighty-three,
and in 1884, of eighty-six. The first meetings of the association were
necessarily crude, the programme having been prepared after the
association met. Now, however, they were in working harness, and met
with a regularly prepared programme. The proceedings of the meetings and
a summary of the papers read and discussed, are now published in the
report of the State Board of Agriculture.
The treasurer, John McCabe, Esq., of Rushville, made his report of which
the following is the summary:
Amount on hand at last report $29 35
Received from members last year 82 00
-------
$111 35
Paid out last year 87 50
-------
Balance in the treasury $ 23 85
These reports were followed by an essay by Mr. C. G. Elliott, which is
of so much merit that we give it in full deferring a further report of
proceedings until next week.
MISTAKES IN DRAINAGE.
To speak of our successes rather than our mistakes, is far more
agreeable to ourselves and also to others. We all take pride in giving
our experience in any work when we have been successful, but our errors
and mistakes we often carefully hide from public gaze. The transactions
of our industrial conventions are largely made up of the successful
parts of the experiences of members. Our tile manufacturers fail to
speak of their losses in correcting mistakes the number of kilns they
have rebuilt, the number of tile they weekly commit to the waste pile,
the percentage of good and poor tile in each kiln, and many other things
that your humble servant will probably never suspect until he attempts
to manufacture tile.
A similar statement may be made with reference to drainage mistakes. How
many dry weather drains do we hear mentioned in our conventions, or see
described in our newspapers. By such drains, I mean those which in
favorable seasons so operate as to permit the land to produce a heavy
crop--one worth publishing--while in wet years, merely a total loss
results. Cases of such drainage can be numbered by the score. How many
miles of drain tile have been taken up and relaid during the past year
because of some mistake in plan, size of tile, or execution of the work?
Much might be said of drainage mistakes in a general way, but it is
proposed in this paper to treat the subject in a specific and practical
manner. It may be encouraging to remember that it is only by comparing
success with mistakes that we make progress in any valuable science or
art. Great skill and success rest upon a foundation of corrected
mistakes.
MISTAKE NO. 1--LACK OF INFORMATION ON DRAINAGE.
We might more properly call this the cause of many mistakes. "Knowledge
is power," says the old adage, and we might add that knowledge in
drainage is success. This knowledge may be obtained in three ways:
First, from reliable books; second, by inquiring of others who have had
experience; third, by our own experience. The first is of prime
importance to the beginner, for in books are found statements of the
general principles and philosophy of drainage, together with the best
methods and practice known. The second is often unreliable, for the
reason that the error of one is often copied by another and becomes wide
spread before it is detected. The third, though valuable is costly, and
discouraging to the learner. Gleanings from all of these sources will,
perhaps, give the most complete satisfaction.
Tile drainage began to be practiced in my own neighborhood about seven
years ago. Those who were about to begin knew nothing about drainage,
except from hearsay knowledge that had crept into the community. Not a
single book upon the subject was consulted or even inquired for. Even
now they are as rare in farmers libraries as the classic poets. Farmer
A. wished to drain and consulted farmer B., who had put in some tile the
year before. Did he think it paid? Yes. What kind of tile did he use and
how was the work done? So A. planned and did his work in accordance with
information obtained from B. Neighbor C. followed A., and so the work
spread. It is now found that mistakes were made in the beginning which
were handed from one to the other, until now, no alternative remains but
to remove the whole work, and no little trouble and expense. This case
is but one out of many which might be stated illustrating the lack of
information at the beginning of drainage work. My observation upon this
point has been that those have availed themselves of information given
in books and papers upon drainage matters made fewer mistakes and did
better work than those who relied upon the general wave of progress to
push them along in the footsteps of their nearest neighbor. The theory,
as well as the art, of drainage should be studied, and all knowledge
adapted to the peculiarities of each case.
MISTAKE NO. 2--NOT PLANNING FOR FUTURE DRAINAGE.
A mistake often made by the novice is, that at first, drains are located
without reference to the future drainage of other parts of the farm.
Drains are put in as experiments, very much as we would plant a new
variety of fruit or grain, expecting that probably the chances are
against their success. Subsequently, when plans for more extended
drainage are made, the drains already in operation were found to poorly
serve the desired purpose.
In order to guard against this mistake, have faith in drainage. Put it
down on the whitest page of your memorandum, and with your best pen and
ink, that drainage will pay, and the fewer mistakes made about it the
better it will pay. Put it down that the time will come when you will
drain all of your wet land, and make your plans accordingly. Many times
have I heard this objection to locating a drain so as to benefit a
certain field, "O no; I'll never drain that field. It's all right as it
is. If I can only get this wet over here dry I shall be satisfied." In
two years this same farmer was planning how he could drain the rejected
field, and regretting that he had not made provision for it from the
beginning. I have in mind several miles of tile that will be taken up
during the coming season and relaid with reference to the drainage of
all land having a natural slope in that direction.
MISTAKE NO. 3--NOT BEGINNING AT THE RIGHT PLACE.
Many of the drains first put in are at the head of the water shed
instead of at the lower part or outlet. They discharge improperly and
fail to fit into a more thorough system, where plans for better drainage
are laid out.
To avoid this error, begin at the outlet and work with reference to
ultimately draining the whole section naturally sloping toward this
outlet. If a surface ditch is necessary, make it. If tile can be used,
lay them, even if only a fraction of the entire work is done each year.
Drain laterally toward the main as it is carried upward. The outlay at
first, rod for rod, will be greater, but the final cost will be less,
and yearly profits greater.
I have in mind several cases of unsatisfactory drainage growing out of a
desire to avoid difficulty and expense in making a sufficient outlet.
Among them may be named the following: Putting a drain across one side
of a pond because sufficient depth can not be had to admit of its being
run through the center. Placing drains each side of a slough, parallel
to its center line, leaving the center undrained. Draining cultivated
fields and allowing the water to discharge upon land occupying a lower
level. All of these are make-shifts for the purpose of avoiding the
expense of a good outlet.
There is in this connection a difficulty which can not be overlooked,
one which is beyond the control of the individual farmer, and that is,
when the drainage section is owned by two or more parties. The
adjustment of such cases has occupied the attention of our legislators,
and some progress has been made in framing laws to meet the case, yet
many difficulties remain unprovided for. If all parties agree to accept
such awards and assessments as a commission may make, then the matter of
drainage outlets can be satisfactorily adjusted, but if any party is
disposed to resist, the desired drainage can be practically defeated. I
may, at present, be justified in saying that where only a few neighbors
are concerned, it is a mistake to attempt to use the law at all. Arrange
the matter by mutual agreement or by leaving it to disinterested men to
decide.
MISTAKE NO. 4--TOO SMALL TILE.
No mistake has become apparent sooner than this. The following
observations will account for this, and also aid in correcting it. The
whole area of land which naturally discharges toward the drain is not
always taken into account. It is generally thought that land lying at
some distance from the drain, though sloping toward it, does not affect
the capacity required for the drain, whereas in times of heavy rains,
when drains are taxed to their utmost, water flows from those more
distant parts over the surface to the ground acted upon by the tile
drain. We must then provide for the drainage not only of land contiguous
to the drains but for an additional amount of water coming from
adjoining slopes.
Another popular error is that the diameter of the tile is the measure of
its capacity, whereas the grade upon which it is laid is as important as
the size of the tile. The extreme porosity of many of our soils, and the
lack of thorough lateral drainage is another thing by reason of which
main drains become over-taxed, simply because drainage water is not held
in check by close soils, or distributed by lateral drains, but is
brought in large quantities over the surface to the drain line, and must
be taken away in a short time or injury is done to the land. In making
mains or sub-mains it is better to err in making them too large than too
small.
MISTAKE NO. 5--NOT LATERAL ENOUGH.
We expect too much from a single line of tile. We often see a line of
tile put through a fifteen or twenty acre field with the expectation
that the field will be drained, and thanks to our tractable soil, and
the magic influence of tile, a great work is done for the field. It is,
however, the dry weather drains previously alluded to. Put in the
lateral drains so that the whole flat will come under the direct
influence of tile, and you will have a garden spot instead of a field
periodically flooded. Your sleep will not then be disturbed by fears
that the morning will reveal your tiled field covered with water, and
your corn crop on the verge of ruin. We often see a single line laid
through a pond containing from one half to three acres. Ponds with such
drainage always get flooded. Put in an abundance of laterals and the
difficulty is overcome.
I am glad to say that the tendency now among farmers who have practiced
random drainage is toward more thorough work in this direction. The loss
of an occasional crop soon demonstrates in favor of more thorough work.
MISTAKE NO. 6--INATTENTION TO DETAILS.
Farmers have been too much under the rule of professional ditchers.
Having no well defined ideas of good drainage work, they have left the
matter largely to the judgment, or rather the cupidity of the ditcher
and the layer. There are many first-class, conscientious workmen, but it
is to be regretted that the average ditcher does work far below the
standard of excellence. If by some magic means the conditions of many of
the drains in our State could be spread out before us in open view, it
would be a wonder to this convention that tile drainage has wrought out
such favorable results as it has. We would see tile laid on the siphon
plan, good and poor joints, faulty connections, ditches crooked enough
to baffle the sagacious mole should he attempt to follow the line.
Patience would scarcely hold out to enumerate the exasperating defects
of much of our drainage work. Nothing can overcome the egotism and
self-confidence of the average ditcher except the constant supervision
of the employer. Such work is so soon covered, and errors placed beyond
immediate detection that nothing else will suffice. To guard against
such mistakes, know what work you want and how you want it done, and
then look after it yourself or employ some one in whom you have
confidence to superintend it. When any mistake is guarded against, from
beginning to end, the work will not be too well done. The cut-and-cover,
hurry-scurry methods of doing things, common on some Western farms, will
not do in drainage work. Carefulness in regard to every detail is the
only safe rule to adopt.
MISTAKE NO. 7--FAILURE TO MAKE OPEN DITCHES FOR WATER COURSES.
The farmers of Illinois have, in many sections, been avoiding the main
question in the drainage of our rich prairies, and that is the
improvement of the natural water courses so that they will carry off the
drainage water of sections for which they afford outlets. Every feasible
plan and device has been used to circumvent the forces of nature and
relieve valuable farm lands from surplus water. In the flat sections of
our State nothing will serve this purpose but the deepening of our large
sloughs by constructing capacious open ditches. Our land can not be
properly drained without them. They must be of ample depth and width,
and well made in every respect. No problem connected with the drainage
interests of our State should, at present, receive more careful
attention than this. Nature, has, in most cases, marked out the line for
work, and says, "let man enlarge and complete for his undivided use
according to his strength and skill." When such work is done, the demand
for tile to supplement the drainage thus made possible will be
unprecedented. The drainage of our roads will be facilitated, and the
greatest difficulty thus far encountered in the drainage of our flat
prairies will be overcome. Much has been attempted in this direction in
some portions of the State, but many open ditches are too shallow, too
small, and too carelessly made to serve the desired purpose.
In pointing out some of the mistakes made in drainage, I am well aware
that there are differences of opinion as to what may be properly
considered a mistake. The aim of drainage is to fit the wet land of the
entire farm for the successful cultivation of all the field crops at the
least expense consistent with thoroughness. Now, if experiments must be
tried by tiling here and there, and afterward take the tile up and
remold the whole work, there is a loss which, were it not for the large
profit resulting from the use of tile, would be disastrous.
Should a Board of Public Works build several bridges of insufficient
capacity in order to find out the necessary dimensions and strength of
one which will serve their purpose, we should at once regard them
incompetent and wasteful. I know of tile which have been taken up at
three different times, larger tile being used each time. This farmer
discards the use of lateral drains and rests his success upon single
lines of large tile. He will probably be disappointed in this and,
perhaps, finally hit upon the correct method. Would it not have been the
part of wisdom to have obtained some reliable information upon that
matter at first from books, from inquiring of others of longer
experience, from a competent engineer, or from all of these sources?
Anything which needlessly adds to the expense, or detracts from the
efficiency of the work, should be regarded as a mistake.
As a summary of what has been said regarding mistakes and how to avoid
them, I append here a few
DRAINAGE MAXIMS.
1. Become informed upon the theory and best methods known and used.
2. Do not literally copy the methods of others, but carefully adapt them
to your own case.
3. Provide good outlets and large mains.
4. Have faith in good tile and thorough work.
5. Study economy and efficiency in locating drains.
6. In difficult cases, or where you have doubt about the success of your
plans, submit the case to a good engineer before expending money or
labor.
7. Employ good help by the day, and work it under a competent
superintendent, rather than job out the work by the rod.
8. Drain as you would plant fruit trees--for the future as well as the
present.
I have been prosy and practical enough and now have used my allotted
time and space. It may not be wholly out of place to further tax your
time and patience, and ask you to lift your eyes from taking a critical
view of defective drains, muddy ditches, and unattractive detail work,
and look at the result of careful and thorough labor. As the years come
and go with their changing seasons, your drained fields are ever your
friends, always cheering you with a bountiful harvest, always answering
to every industrious touch you may bestow upon them. "No excellence
without labor," says the scholar to the discouraged student. "No
excellence without labor," says the soil to the farmer, as he drains and
plows and digs, and so we all learn that success in dealing with nature
is brought about by thorough and honest work.
Our enthusiasm scarcely knows bounds when we see that by our drainage
work the apparently obstinate soil is made to reflect the sunlight from
a covering of golden grain; when gardens and orchards bloom and yield
fruit where once the willows dipped their drooping branches in the slimy
fluid below, and frogs regaled the passer-by with their festive songs.
Roses now twine over the rural cottage and send their fragrance into the
wholesome air, where once the beaver reared his rude dwelling, and
disease lurked in every breath, ready to seize his unsuspecting victim.
Think you that these changes can be wrought without earnest and careful
effort? I have but little sympathy with the glittering generalities and
highly colored pictures of success in industrial pursuits, held before
the public gaze by unpractical but well meaning public teachers. We need
the dissemination of ideas of thoroughness and the knowledge necessary
to put those ideas into practical use in order that the farmers of
Illinois may make the fewest possible mistakes in drainage.
FARMERS ADVICE.
Farmers get plenty of advice. Were we able to work as easy and as well
as the advice generally given to us would seem to indicate we could how
easy and independent our occupation would become. In no other line of
business is advice so freely given, and so much blame attached because
the advice is not followed.
The great trouble is that nearly everybody imagines they know how to
farm. Although these same people may never have been practical farmers,
they yet seem to think that anybody can farm, and, of course, they know
as much about it as any one, and can tell at least how it ought to be
done.
Theoretical farming is always very fine--more so than any other calling.
Very few believe in theory in other branches in business. As a rule, to
be successful in other occupations, a long training is necessary; step
by step must one go until each detail is learned. And it is only by
industry, experience, and hard work that these are fully mastered.
Advice is offered sparingly, because it is known that experience is the
only true guide. But in farming theories are supposed to take the place
of experience, and men who have very little, if any, practical knowledge
can tell us how to farm. The fact is there is hardly a business or
occupation that practically requires more study and experience than
farming. A practical farmer, who makes his farm and farm work a study,
learns something every day, and unless he is willing to learn not only
by his own experience, but by that of others, he will soon discover that
he is falling behind.
Such a man is able to discriminate between the practical experience of
one and the theory of the other. If new plans or new methods are
presented, he can, in some degree, judge whether they are in any way
practical, and if they are, he is willing to give them a trial. He knows
that what might prove just the right thing to plant in one section of
country, under certain conditions, and in some soils would, under a
different climate and soil, result far from satisfactory. The large per
cent of this kind of real practical knowledge can only be gained by
experience.
Whenever we meet a man who will not learn, we can not help but conclude
that he will never make a successful farmer. We want to learn, too, not
only by our successes, but by our failures. If we try a new plan and
fail, we want to be able to know why we failed--just as much as to know
why we succeeded.
One great trouble with us in learning is that we are too apt to keep in
mind our successes and forget the failures. This is the great fault of
theoretical farming. If by a combination of favorable conditions success
is obtained, it is given out as a fact--no exception being given or
allowed for the very favorable conditions under which the method was
tried. Such things may rightly be compared to the many specifics given
to cure the various ills of life. A remedy is tried which, under
favorable conditions, effects a cure, and forthwith the cure is given
out as a specific. Others, with the same complaint but under different
conditions, try the same remedy and fail to receive the least benefit.
No mention is made of these failures, and, of course, others are induced
to give the remedy a trial. For this reason it is always interesting to
hear of failures as well as successes, provided the real cause can be
stated.
MILLER CO., MO.
N. J. SHEPHERD.
CISTERNS ON THE FARM.
There is hardly any one thing on a well-regulated farm so much needed as
a cistern near the kitchen door, so the farmer's wife will have to go
but a little distance for water, and no man knows how much is used in a
farmer's kitchen, unless he carries it for his wife for six months or a
year, and if he has to carry it a hundred yards or so from the spring,
he will wonder what in the world his wife does with so much water.
The cistern should be a large one and hold not less than 200 barrels,
and well built, that is, walled up with brick and scientifically
plastered. All of the pipes from the roof should lead into one hopper,
and one pipe leading from the bottom of the hopper (under ground is the
best) into the cistern. In the bottom of the hopper should be fitted a
piece of woven wire, which can be readily taken out and put in again;
the meshes of the wire should not be larger than one-eighth of an inch.
This piece of woven wire should never be in its place except when water
is running into the cistern, when it will serve as a strainer to keep
leaves or trash of any kind from running into the cistern. A waste-water
pipe should be attached to the down pipe (all of the down pipes should
lead into one) which leads into the hopper, to waste all the water that
comes from the roof until the water is perfectly clear and free from
leaves or trash of any kind; then the waste-water pipe should be taken
off and a pipe of proper length slipped onto the down pipe conducting
the water, pure and clean, into the hopper. But before letting the water
into the hopper, the piece of woven wire should be put in its place in
the bottom of the hopper, and after the rain is over it should be taken
out and hung up in a dry place until wanted again, and the waste-water
pipe put on. If the piece of woven wire is left in the hopper the meshes
will get filled up, and the hopper will fill with leaves and trash of
all kinds and run over, and no water get into the cistern--and if it
does it will not be pure. By this arrangement only pure water will run
into the cistern; but even then it ought to be cleaned out very fall or
early in the spring. Farmers will find a cistern in their house lots or
inside the barn a great convenience--but the one near the kitchen is of
the greatest importance because the men will not carry water if they can
help it, and the farmer's wife, if she has any spunk, will insist upon
the water being carried for her or raise the roof off the house, and I
don't blame her--the hair on the top of my head is very thin--and
scarce.
HIKE'S POINT, KY.
E. F. C.
FIELD AND FURROW.
Mass. Ploughman: Farm accounts, even when kept in the most simple form,
not only afford great satisfaction, but they do much to aid the farmer
in his efforts to success. If at the end of the season he is able to
strike the balance, and thus learn the cost of his principal crops, he
is in a position to correctly judge what crops will promise the most
profit another year.
The Farm Economist has this to say in regard to marketing corn. While it
is contrary to general opinion, it is nevertheless true, as facts and
figures are capable of proving: "Farmers in discussing their declining
markets should remember that every bushel of corn sold in the form of
whisky cuts off the sale of ten bushels in the form of meat. It might be
well to consider this in discussing how the market for farm products can
be improved." This same paper further remarks, "Where's the sense in a
farmer growling because he is not represented in the government when he
won't go to a convention and see that he is represented. Quit your
growling and do your duty. One good vote in the primaries or in the
convention is worth 1,757,362 growls afterward."
The Wisconsin Tobacco Reporter states that the new phase to the Sumatra
question has brought out considerable discussion among dealers in the
Edgerton market and that the prevailing impression appears to be that
even if the recent decision be upheld, under the jugglery by which
Sumatra is run into the country, prices for 1883 Wisconsin leaf will not
be materially affected, as it can not entirely supplant its use and
there will be a good demand for all our product. The editor adds: The
scarecrow argument will doubtless be used by some buyers in bearing the
market, but we are inclined to look upon it more as a bugaboo than many
others, whatever the effect may be on future crops. We know of no good
reason why 1883 Wisconsin should sell for lower prices than have ruled
thus far this season and the report from Eastern markets seem to warrant
this view.
A. B. Allen, in N. Y. Tribune: My cistern is about five feet in diameter
and five feet deep. After cleaning it out in spring, I put about one
bushel of sand in the bottom, and then let the rain-water come in. This
keeps the water sweet and clear for a whole year. I have tried charcoal
and various things for this purpose, but find pure clear sand best of
all. It must not have other soil mixed with it, or any vegetable matter.
The kind I use is white, and very like such as is found at the sea
shore. Of course the roof end of the pipe should have wire gauze
fastened over it so that no foul stuff can be carried down, and the
eaves-troughs must be kept clean, the roof and chimneys also, and never
be painted, or the latter even whitewashed. The sand is an excellent
absorber of even the finest of foul stuff, and this is the reason, in
addition to its own purity, of its keeping the water so free from
generating the smell of ammonia.
Peoria Transcript: During some of the comparatively idle days of winter,
the farmer may combine pleasure with profit by hitching up, taking his
family, and driving to some one of his successful farm neighbors for a
friendly visit. Such an act may be looked upon by the man-of-toil as a
poor excuse to get out of doing a day's work, but we venture that he who
tries the experiment once will be very apt to repeat it as often as time
or opportunity will justify. In our neighborhood, and we presume the
same condition of affairs exists in nearly every locality, there are
farmers who have lived within a mile or two of each other for years, who
hardly know their neighbors from a stranger when they meet upon the
public highway or at town meeting, and as for going to the house,
nothing short of death in the family or some event of great importance
will ever bring them into the friendly relations which should exist
between neighboring farmers.
A New Jersey correspondent of the Rural New Yorker writes: My clear
water carp pond covers an area of about three-fourths of an acre, and is
located about eighty feet below springs in the hillside, which furnish a
never-failing supply of pure, clear water. The normal temperature of
these springs, where they empty into the pond, varies but little
according to season, but maintains an average of fifty degrees, Fah.
Several times through the summer I found the water in the pond indicated
an average of 80 degrees, Fah. The pond is so constructed that the water
is constantly drawn from the bottom, thus keeping the surface at this
high temperature. About one-half the pond is covered with mud to the
depth of two feet or more--an essential in all carp ponds for
hibernating. A limited supply of pure German carp fingerlings to place
in the pond was sent me by Prof. S. F. Baird, United States Commissioner
of Fish and Fisheries, Washington, D. C., and placed therein on April
6th last. No food was given besides that which grew in the pond. I saw
them at rare intervals during the summer, and was agreeably surprised,
when I drew the pond November 16th last past, to find that they had
grown to be sixteen inches in length, and a pair weighed eight pounds.
* * * * *
THE MONARCH LIGHTNING SAWING MACHINE.
On our 268th page appears the advertisement of the New Improved Monarch
Lightning Sawing Machine, manufactured by the Monarch Mfg. Co., 163
Randolph. St., Chicago. The result of long experience in the manufacture
of implements for cutting up wood is the superior and valuable machine
which is advertised in our paper.
Such of our readers who live in a timbered district, and who need such a
machine, should send for their large illustrated free catalogue. This
company is the largest and most successful corporation in this city
engaged in manufacturing one man power drag saws. The Monarch Lightning
Sawing Machine has been sold all over the Western States, and always
gives satisfaction. It is a first-class firm, thoroughly reliable, and
their machine is of superior excellence.--Farm, Field and Fireside,
January, 1884.
See their advertisement on another page of this issue.
* * * * *
FARM MACHINERY, Etc.
[Illustration: DEDERICK'S HAY PRESSES.]
DEDERICK'S HAY PRESSES.
are sent any where on trial to operate against all other presses, the
customer keeping the one that suits best.
Order on trial, address for circular and location of Western and
Southern Storehouses and Agents.
TAKE NOTICE.--As parties infringing our patents falsely claim premiums
and superiority over Dederick's Reversible Perpetual Press. Now,
therefore, I offer and guarantee as follows:
FIRST. That baling Hay with One Horse, Dederick's Press will bale to the
solidity required to load a grain car, twice as fast as the presses in
question, and with greater ease to both horse and man at that.
SECOND. That Dederick's Press operated by One Horse will bale faster and
more compact than the presses in question operated by Two Horses, and
with greater ease to both man and beast.
THIRD. That there is not a single point or feature of the two presses
wherein Dederick's is not the superior and most desirable.
Dederick Press will be sent any where on this guarantee, on trial at
Dederick's risk and cost.
P. K. DEDERICK & CO., ALBANY, N. Y.
* * * * *
GREAT SAVING FOR FARMERS.
THE
Lightning
Hay Knife!
(WEYMOUTH'S PATENT.)
[Illustration]
Awarded "FIRST ORDER OF Merit" at Melbourne Exhibition, 1880.
Was awarded the FIRST PREMIUM at the International Exhibition in
Philadelphia, 1876, and accepted by the Judges as SUPERIOR TO ANY OTHER
KNIFE IN USE.
It is the BEST KNIFE in the _world_ to cut _fine feed_ from bale, to
cut down _mow_ or _stack_, to cut _corn-stalks_ for feed, to cut _peat_,
or for ditching in marshes, and has no equal for cutting ensilage from
the silo. TRY IT.
IT WILL PAY YOU.
Manufactured only by
HIRAM HOLT & CO., East Wilton, Me., U.S.A.
_For sale by Hardware Merchants and the trade generally_
* * * * *
THE CHICAGO DOUBLE HAY AND STRAW PRESS
[Illustration]
Guaranteed to load more Hay or Straw in a box car than any other, and
bale at a less cost per ton. Send for circular and price list.
Manufactured by the Chicago Hay Press Co., Nos. 3354 to 3358 State St.,
Chicago. Take cable car to factory. Mention this paper.
* * * * *
Sawing Made Easy
Monarch Lightning Sawing Machine!
Sent on 30 Days test Trial.
A Great Saving of Labor & Money.
[Illustration]
A boy 16 years old can saw logs FAST and EASY. MILES MURRAY, Portage,
Mich. writes, "Am much pleased with the MONARCH LIGHTNING SAWING
MACHINE. I sawed off a 30-inch log in 2 minutes." For sawing logs into
suitable lengths for family stove-wood, and all sorts of log-cutting, it
is peerless and unrivaled. Illustrated Catalogue, FREE. AGENTS WANTED.
Mention this paper. Address MONARCH MANUFACTURING CO., 163 N. Randolph
St., Chicago, Ill.
* * * * *
CHICAGO SCALE CO.
2 TON WAGON SCALE, $40. 3 TON, $50.
4 Ton $60, Beam Box Included.
240 lb. FARMER'S SCALE, $5.
The "Little Detective," 1/4 oz. to 25 lb. $3.
300 OTHER SIZES. Reduced PRICE LIST FREE.
FORGES, TOOLS, &c.
BEST FORGE MADE FOR LIGHT WORK, $10,
40 lb. Anvil and Kit of Tools. $10.
Farmers save time and money doing odd jobs.
Blowers, Anvils, Vices & Other Articles
AT LOWEST PRICES, WHOLESALE & RETAIL.
* * * * *
[Illustration]
THE PROFIT FARM BOILER
is simple, perfect, and cheap; the BEST FEED COOKER; the only dumping
boiler; empties its kettle in a minute. OVER 5,000 IN USE; Cook your
corn and potatoes, and save one-half the cost of pork. Send for circular.
D. R. SPERRY & CO., Batavia, Illinois.
* * * * *
CHAMPION BALING PRESSES.
[Illustration]
A Ton per Hour. Run by two men and one team. Loads 10 to 15 tons in car.
Send for descriptive circular with prices, to GEHRT & CO., 216, 218
and 220 Maine St., Quincy, Ill.
* * * * *
REMEMBER _that $2.00 pays for_ THE PRAIRIE FARMER _from this date to
January 1, 1884; $2.00 pays for it from this date to January 1, 1885.
For $2.00 you get it for one year and a copy of_ THE PRAIRIE FARMER
COUNTY MAP OF THE UNITED STATES, FREE! _This is the most liberal offer
ever made by any first-class weekly agricultural paper in this country._
* * * * *
[Illustration]
LIVE STOCK DEPARTMENT.
Stockmen, Write for Your Paper.
Iowa Wool Men.