The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-07-12

Self Binders.
1t would be interesting to know the
amount Of wheat that IS added to our
supply each year by the use OF self
binders in the place of cradles. The
waste from the cradle would probably
average three pecks or a bushel to the
acre, while the amount left by the bind
er Is usually too small to compute. 1t is
certainly within the mark TO estimate
the saving at two-thirds of bushel per
acre. Estimating our average acreage
in the United States at 36,000.O00 acres,
while we cannot tell what portion of this
was cut with binders. it is safe to put it
at two-thirds, or 24.0OO.00O acres. Esti-
mating the saving at two-thirds of
bushel. we have an increase of 100000
bushels over the amount cradles would
save. These figures are conservative. as
many a Graded field has over a bushel
left on each acre.
The amount of our binder-twine bill is
large. Machine agents generally esti-
mate the amount of Irvine needed per
acre at a smaller figure than facts JUS
tify. When the wheat is tangled and
the straw Is heavy, three pounds of
common Irvine is not an unusual amount
to use. The northwestern wheat does
not usually have a very heavy straw,
and II is probable that two pounds of
Irvine per acre is fair average for the
NnOlc COuHlIN. II Z4uUU,UbU dCIHS are
cut with binders, and the average cost
is twenty-five cents per acre, we have
charge of $6,0O0.000 for Irvine.
Shrinkage An stored Wheat.
The Ohio experiment station made
some careful experiments with stored
wheat. and found that when grain is
threshed dry from the field the loss in
weight by storage is only 2 1-3 per cent.
On, he II
made when the grain had been in bins
three years. Another experiment proved
that condition of weather affects weight
of stored grain. Twenty bags of dry
wheat were put in a bin in January, 1892,
and left through the extraordinary wet
spring and early summer that followed,
being reweighed in July. 1t was found
that the aggregate weight of the twenty
bags was few pounds greater than
when stored. One cannot test corn with
exactness, as it's. condition in the fall
and that of the cob are so variable. A
friend. made a test with one lot, leaving
1t in the crib until late spring, and the
shrinkage from it's weight in the fall
was nearly 20 per cent.-Alva Agee.
Utilizing Straw.
That practical farmer, John NJ stahl,
says: mot infrequently there appears in
eastern agricultural papers an article or
an editorial note scolding western farm
ers for their waste of feed, and urging
them TO utilize completely the hay, straw
and fodder produced on their land
Sometimes this advice creeps into west
ern agricultural papers. 1t is doubtless
rendered with the best intentions, but it
is not good advice. Farming is a prac-
teal business and men engage in IL to
make money. While other things are to
be considered, the chief fact that deter
mines the success or the failure of farm
ing is the amount of money made" So
long as the farmer gives his animals suf-
ficient food fully to satisfy their hunger,
he is, generally speaking. under obliga-
ton to utilize only so much of the rough
feed produced on his farm as he can
profitably. II may be that il would be
more profitable for him to keep more and
better animals and feed to them more of
the slower produced on his land. The
chances are that the western farmer
would make more money by utilizing
more of the rough feed that is so liber-
ally produced in the West; but unless
he can do this profitably he should not,
generally speaking, do it-and it is GER
tain that the large majority of western
farmers would lose money if they util-
lied fully the hay, straw and fodder
that they produce. Conditions are some
what different in the West from what
they are at the East Here feed is
cheaper anu idbbi II ~ iih9 W
better to waste some feed than to en-
ploy more labor. and IL may also be bet
ter to waste some feed than to make
other changes in existing conditions.
However. we cannot escape the fact
that not a little feed is wasted uselessly
and could BE- utilized to advantage. The
error lies not so much in the quantity
fed as in the manner of feeding it.
This is particularly true Of straw. 1t
applies more forcibly to straw than to
hay or corn fodder. There are other i'm
portant uses to which straw may be put
on the farm, but feeding II naturally
comes first"
Preserving Eggs.
We have often given replies TO inquiries
i'm regard to how best to preserve eggs,
and though many methods are given,
yet the following rules will enable one
to keep eggs from three to four months
if followed:
/. The eggs from hens that are not
with males.
2 Keep the eggs on racks, using no
packing material
3. The eggs should be turned half
over three times week
a. Keep them cool, which 1t the most
important of all.
.. Use only fresh eggs, as one stale
egg may injure the others.-Farm and
Freside
A Word 4AbOut Tomatoes.
II is always interesting to note the
| progress of traffic in any line of domestic
produce. The tomato has become per-
| haps the most prominent of any of our
| side crops. In a comparatively short
| time IL has attained staple commercial
| Importance that is surprising, and each
year adds to it's use in fresh condition
| and also in the immense canning in
| dustry which prevails in every section
where it is literally grown. The plant
| has been long known, but some time
| elapsed. however, before it's value in the
| food list was comprehended.
For ornamental garden purposes, it
was grown in England almost 300 years
| ago 1t was first used as a food vege-
| table i'm Italy; afterward France and
| England realized the excellence Of this
/ delicious product
In the old times, In its English home
| garden life, IL was called the love
/ apple" and gray-haired people in this
1 country are not few who can remember
| v hen that was the name the tomato
| !, as known by long before it was added
| to the general bill Of fare. For long
| period it held certain medicinal tradi-
/ tons: i'm 1929 it's reputation was re-
/ corded as an antidOte against heat and
/ thirst in the hot countries where il grew
| naturally In this and the old country II
| was probably first used in a salad way;
| especially as the production was light
| 1t is only within the past forty or
| fifty years that II was given a place here
/ among cooked foods, and it obtained a
/ much later introduction into the kitchens
Of England.-N. Y. Tribune.