The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-04-03


that came to stay and still live to vex you as
they did your fathers. Rag weed, however, In
johnson county, was of later growth. Ii was
not seen on the uplands, at least, till some time
in the '40s.
The wheat crop came in time 1t was corn
bread, and nothing but corn bread, at the first
But the superior excellence OF the Indiana
wheat is proven by the fact that wheat In bread
long ago practically drove corn bread from the
Indiana tables. In Kentucky corn bread still
holds its place The Kentuckians were corn
bread eaters of necessity IN the beginning, the
same were the Indianians. The "dodger"
is king yet on the Kentucky tables, while the
loaf has taken its place on the Indiana.
Why? Some say it is because of the greater
excellence of the Kentucky corn. Don't you
believe it. 1t is because of the greater excel
lence of the Indiana wheat. Don't you know
that we live in the wheat belt of the world? III
we do not eat the best OF bread, it is our own
fault Let US be honest whenever we see a
poor loaf and lay the blame to bad farming,
bad milling or bad cooking-anythlng rather
than to bad lands.
/ have told you that in the beginning wheat
did not do well, and l repeat it, 1t is a delicate
grain and could not make Roadway in the new,
raw, wet shaded fields. But that condition did
not last long, In few years farmers found
their wheat crops yielding bountifully In spite
of coarse cultivatiOn-cOarse cultivation una
yoidable because of rough land and the want OF
proper farming implements. You SOW wheat
the same as your fathers did, only you have
better implements, cleaner ground and are thus
enabled to do nicer work. You make better
Job of il, because you have better facilities.
The great change is in the manner Of taking
care of the crop. In the beginning the sickle
or reap hook was the only machine used for
cutting the grain, and il is a long stride, TO be
sure between the sickle and the latest i'm
proved reaper and twine-binder-a long one,
indeed. / am not very old, but have seen the
last of the sicklemen at work III the wheat
fields IN johnson county, and there was less
difference, L verify believe, In their mode OF
harvesting and that practiced in the wheat and
barley fields of Boaz, near Bethlehem, 5000
years ago, than between their mode and yours.
How wonderful the improvements in this re-
spect the past fifty years! The cradle followed
the sickle. The author of the History of Posey
County saws the cradle was introduced in that
county in 1910. In Dearborn county says its
historian, it was introduced about 1880, and
think il came to johnson county about the
same time. 1t was considered a great improve
ment over the sickle, and so ii was, and 1t held
its ground for twenty years or more. 1t must
have been early in the SOS when the first reap
ers came, and about the same time when the
first thrashing machine made its appearance.
Before that all the wheat was failed or tramped
out, and good deal of it cleaned with a sheet.
The wheat fan was great improvement over
the sheet.
1t is the fashion, and always has been, sup
pose, for the present to decry the past; for the
children to speak slightingly OF the fathers and
of their methods. No doubt many modern cul-
tivators of the soil entertain very poor opin-
ion OF the pioneer farmers OF Indiana, as farm
More than once have L heard the sons and
grandsons of pioneer farmers apologizing. as 1t
were, for the limited knowledge and poor ways
of their ancestors Why, | once heard man
even speak contemptuously of his fathers lack
of knowledge of what he termed the science
of farming" after he himself had run through
L., h uhor nf
farm made valuable by his fathers labor.
Gentlemen, the pioneer farmers of Indiana
need no apology. They merit the highest
praise. The truth is, taken a whole they
were, as tested by the standards of their age,
and tried by their surroundings, good farmers.
Indiana was settled by as good a class of farm
ers as ever took possession of new land.
They were of the best of their day. Other new
states have, since their age, made more rapid
progress than Indiana did, but the fact was due
to other causes than TO the quality of the first
men. The physical surroundings have been
far more advantageous. At the beginning Of
this century the Virginia farmer was the model
farmer of America. Kentucky was settled
mainly by Nirgnians. and the Virginia Ken
lucky farmer who came to Indiana brought
with him the experience acquired In the new
country of Kentucky, and by that much he
was better farmer than the Virginia farmer,
here in the Indiana woods. tell you, the pio-
neer farmers of Indiana are worthy of our
grateful remembrance. My father was one OF
them and he farmed as wisely from the level Of
his day as the best farmer in the county from
the level of this. Indeed 1t Is no disparage-
ment of the farmers of Shiloh" to say that his
farming was as good as the best of theirs. He
had to contend with difficulties of which they
know nothing, practically. And my father was
no better than yours and yours, and so on to
the end of the row.
Oh, if it had not been for their poverty, and
the swamps and the forests, and the sickness,
and the want of roads and markets, and of a
long catalogue of facilities in general, what
farms they would have made and what farmers
they would have beenl MOI Do not apologize
for the pioneer farmers of Indiana. The art of
cultivating the soil has made wonderful prog
ress in Indiana during the past fifty years. You
have inherited the knowledge the pioneer farm
ers possessed and you have lived well up
toward the close OF the most remarkable CEN
fury in the worlds history. 1t has been cen
fury of crowned thought Never has there
been century in which the thought of man
has been pushed so far toward its verge in
search of new plans and ways. The old imple-
ments have long since been thrown aside to rot
in the fence-cOrners. The old plows, fails,
thrashing-hoors, tanning mills, hax-breaks,
swinging boards, wooden pitchforks, sickles,
cradles, brush harrows. Where are they? Gone
into the limbo of the past. They are among
the things that will soon be forgotten. But
they are closely allied with things which never
should be forgotten. | mean the energy, de-
termination thrift and invincible courage of
your fathers. 1t was the labor of their hands
that made possible the grand opportunities Of
the present. All honor to the pioneer farmers