The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram., 1909-02-02

III
in Europe by Purdue University pro-
fessor.
Christie's Lecture.
Prof. Christie followed Mr.. Jessup
| with lecture on corn. He said in
part:
Upon coming to town this morning
l found the things we'll organized and
my fears, because of the weather that
| at rest. I assure you l have the great
est confidence that the school will be
a success. 1t will be your problem in
the future as to how to handle the peo-
pie who desire to attend.
Three years ago I came to Indiana
from Iowa where they do things on a
large scale. Just such proposition as
this, which l advanced at Purdue, was
met with opposition by the professors
who declared that Indiana people were
not desiring such things. That they
were less after the sensational than in
Iowa. In these three years l have
found more enthusiasm in Indiana
than was ever displayed in Iowa. .
Indiana Enthusiastic.
*In this time thousands of farmers
have been addressed by me. We have
run corn trains, held institutes and the
like, and interest everywhere is very
great. There are now 5000 boys Or
ganized into clubs studying the bet
terment of the corn crops and other
farming conditions. I find that the
fathers of these same boys are study
ing just a little harder in order to keep
ahead of the boys. I am hopeful and
l tell you that I see great things in
store for you in the future.
A Remarkable Growth.
"Since the establishment Of the
farmers short courses at Purdue the
department has grown each year
from the point Of membership and also
from the standpoint of subjects stud
led First it was corn, and now the
course includes dairy work. live stock
horticulture, domestic science, etc.
Seven years ago the school started
with twelve pupils, and now numbers
nearly thousand showing the inter-
est felt on the part Of the farmers of
the state. At Purdue we are advanc-
ing the standard requirements because
the demand of the farmers to attend
became greater than the possibilities
for teaching the work thoroughly. At
no time has Wayne county sent more
than twelve men to the school, yet
when q short course is established in
your community we find that there are
approximately three hundred enrolled.
And again the desire for advancement
is self evident.
"Stay-at-Home" Drawback.
"It's the man who stays at home that
is holding you gentlemen back in that
Wayne county does not lead with the
production of corn but keeps the aver
age down to approximately forty BUSH
els to the acre. I have heard some OBJ
lection to the payment of 81 for dues.
1t Is not too much. If the school was
free, you could not accommodate the
crowd But it is we'll that we keep
these people away who can not get a
dollars worth from this school. We
are giving twenty-four lessons and at
less cost than cents to the person
owning a season ticket. BY your at
tendance it is shown that you are con-
fident that you will be benefited by the
lectures. and the scoring and the judg-
ing of the corn and stock.
A Business Matter.
want you to realize one small
thing. We have failed to realize the
cost of producing one acre of corn. 1t
is business consideration you owe
yourselves to find out. Taking as an
average, from information received
from five hundred farmers of the state
few years ago. have found the fol-
lowing to represent the cost of pro-
ducing corn, but I consider it rather
low. This information is: Cost of
blowing $1.39: of seed. Is cents: of
narrowing. 6S cents; of fertilizers. 80
cents: of planting. 81 cents: Of cultiya-
ton. $1.S2: Of harvesting, S141: of
rental, $4.79. This makes a total of
$11.43. With the average yield for the
state at SO bushels. and the above as
an average cost, farmers are not maxi
ing fair daily wages. Those who raise
sixty, seventy to ninety bushels an
acre are making handsome returns
from the investment.
To Increase Yield.
Therefore our object this week will
be to study how we can increase the
yield. First, we will have to get q
better variety. Some farmers are
growing varieties which are useless
or valueless because they are not
grown on the right kind OF soil. Take