Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-10-06
ODD IDEAS IN FARMS.
Indiana Men Who Raise Skunks anf
Tables for Market.


Auburn QndD Correspondence Chicago Inter Ocean.
Indiana is becoming freakish in its farm
ing Instead of depending on corn, wheat,
rye and the old .stand-bys, some farmers in
Indiana are filling their purses by raising
such products skunks, weasels, rabbits,
frogs. ginseng. leeches, tom cats. noXious
weeds and other things which the old
school farmer has made it point to get
rid of.
Indiana has six large skunk farms, and
the industry is becoming so extensive that
trust was formed three weeks ago
The pelt of the black skunk is worth 81
To-Day In any market, and those of the
striped ones will bring from $50 UP. The
skunk farmers are now raising them by
the thousands. The skunk is d sensible
animal. 1t appreciates good treatment,
and is a respecter of persons The kittens
are pretty little pets, are easily handled
do not demand much care, are cheaply
maintained, and easily placed on a profit
able market.
Near New Harmony, Posey county, they
are raising AngOra cats on farm-basis pro
portions. There are several farmers ana a
genuine tom cat jobbcr, named Herman
Euler He alone has handled over 3oeo
during the last three years. Almost all of
the New Harmony cats find their way into
the stores of John Wanamafer. The Phil
adelphia women are great fanciers of An
goraS, and the New Harmony breed are
sold at from So to $50 each without much
trouble. Cats at $50 apiece make money
faster for the farmer than corn. oats.
wheat or rye. The industry
tablished by the accidental purchase of a
cat at New Harmony by a Philadelphia
man four years ago. 1t proved to be an
exceptional animal, and there was ut once
a great demand for New Harmony cats.
There is only one leech farm in Indiana.
ami it is probably the only one in the
country. 1t is located in Lake county. The
industry is carried on in rnoss-filie1 watts
breeding ipachnS SnlrIpu
Germany some years ago, and all of the
product is thoroughbred. The leeCh mar
ket is nothing compared with what it for
merly was, and when all physicians pre-
scribed an application Of leeches for every
thing from cold feet to raging fever. Still
this one farmer knows exactly where to
place his stock. and because Of his superior
brand is able to have d constant demand.
They are packed in moss and leaves and
shipped in crates containing the number
dc sired. They are given plenty of food ana
will keep in their crates for an indefinite
tire
There are three or four rabbit farms in
Indiana The largest one has Just been es-
tablished near Wabash. and covers sixty
acres. The company is headed by Nathan
Meyer and is known as the wabash Bel
gian Hare Breeding and Importing Com
pany. Ten acres of the sixty have been
converted into breeding ground and
rabbit kennel heated by hot water and
lighted by electricity is one of the features
of the farm. The company has Herman
Wolff, an agent in Belgium now. purchas-
ing new breeders, and he is shipping them
by the thousand. They expect to raise 4
million hares a year. They are fed on hay,
and during the first seven months of their
lives they eat fifty-six pounds of hay,
$50 pounds of green grass Their pelts are
in demand, and the meat of the animal is
edible. Moreover, they sell pets. From
their hair the finest crush hats made.
The skin is worth from ten to twenty
cents at the factory. Hares easily ham
died, are a somewhat more desirable crop
than SEunES and there is little Of
IAN off year"
Other Indiana farmers are looking to
Chinese markets for financial return, and
engaging in the culture of ginseng. The
ginseng was formerly grown in the forests
Of Indiana. but was dug out by the herb
doctors years ago and also by the farmers
obnoxious weed 1t has suddenly
flashed upon the money getting senses Of
some Indiana farmers that the root of this
same weed sells at from So to 500 an
ounce 1t is the panacea for ali ills of the
Chinese. When they in love they
il. when they have the fever it Is what
they gnaw on, when fate seems to hang
over them they use ii as a taiisman to
drive away bad luck. In fact. a celestial
hcme without stick of 'seng' In it would
be as incomplete rs an Indiana home with
out a 'Glod Bless Our Happy Home" sign
decorating the walls. Among the Indiana
men who have entered Upon the work of
oultivating "seng'' an industry is Leon
ard Hibner, who is putting III 100 acres. 1t
takes some time to do this. Il requires 10 =
vliling quotations. these seed are worth
So. He started on the work three years
ago by sowing 5Uo1 seed and setting out
12D0 plants. He will not get the leo acres
in before 1910. 1t takes seven years after
the seed is sown for the plants to mature
When matured however, each root weighs
from 0ne-half to three ounces. At the
pre- sent market rates 16o-acre farm of
.seng'' would be the best gold mine in the.
country.
For many years Indiana farmers thought
peppermint weeds obnoxious and grubbed
them out. Today there are three big pep
permint farms in Indiana. The largest is
owned by Mark Beeger OF Mishawaka. and
is located in st. Joseph county. Another Is
on the Indiana Michigan line, and is owned
by some Poles, and the other is in Lake
county Its numerous, but the
greatest demand comes from the manufac-
tuners of print fabrics. who use 1t to make
the colors solid. The successful pepper
mint farmer can make from $75 to $50 an
acre from his land
The most freakish line Of freak farming
is the new wrinkle the new farmer has in
troduced in fooing and fatten!ng the wa
termelon. Around Poseyville. where they