Jasper County Democrat, Volume 5, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 August 1902 — Page 9

SUPPLEMENT

HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE I TS THE RAPID DEVELOPMENT IN THE STATE OF INDIANA.

!t we should go hack to the beginning >f the cultivation of the soil in Indiana, re would perhaps have to go to the times eber: the mound builders roamed over the »untry, for we have evidence that they joueeaed agricultural Implements and Jarmed quite extensively. All the Indian :r!bee found in Indiana also did somehint in the way of raising crops, especially of maize and melons. Particularly was this the ease with the Miami*. The Inst white settlers were French-Can-uilans. and they cultivated fields In the dcinity of Vincennes, raising wheat.

THE PIONEER HAND PUNTER.

•orn. oats and flax. They also gave coniderable attention to cultivating the vine tni! had several orchards. The real history of agriculture in Indl;na. however, is only 10? years old. When he territorial government was formed. >n the Fourth of July. 1800. there were ess than 3.000 people in the territory. It s true that the census of 1809 gives Indl.na territory a population of a little more han 5,000, but that included what !b now liinois. Michigan and Wisconsin, as well is what is now the state of Indiana- The shite population in ISOO was all at Vln:ennes. with a few small settlements on he Ohio. At that time southern Indiana vas an unbroken forest. The first settlers •lanted their homes close ulong the banks .f the Ghiou Here and there between the Ills which border that stream were found ovely little valleys Those vallevs and he hillsides offered the only chance there vas for fa-"lng purposes. The soli was ich. having been fattened for centuries >y th« annual fall of the leaves from the ■lint forejt trees. To produce a magnificent crop ail that as needed was to plow the ground and .iw tne but there was much of the ceviest kind of ittbor necessary -oefora u r ground could be plowed. The great - s had to be cut away, or deadened ad the underbrush cleaned out. Few • a pt the present generation would un-erta'-.e th? task that confronted the ear- .. settlers of Indiana. At that time there ’•_i not market for the timber to pay • cutting it Some of it could be used •• firewood, eome tor making rails. » for th? erection of the rude cabins rd small stables and corn cribs. AH the -«« Ird to be rolled Into heaps and The usual process was to “make a deading." This was done by “circling” trees, tat is cutting the bark, a few feet from ’* gpound. By thus preventing the flow f Sap the trees were killed. Then the rdergrowth was cut out. and the farmer !> wed between these deaden-d trees, jttmg them down as he had leisure, and tiling them Into heaps Then for years a plowed betwe’n the stumps'. Here and iere was a f irmer who early began to rub on l the stumps, but as a rule they ere left for many years The soil was virgin and rich and readily lelded to cultivation. As the Indian ties to the lands were extinguished the •ttlers pushed Into the interior. The setera. as a rule, were poor In this world's nidi, bringing with th»m little but a ■w domestic animals and a small amount r household furniture of the rudest sort, hey purchased their farms from the gov•nment, making a small payment In cash, nd expecting to earn from the soil, Or ie chase, the means for making all fuire payments. As a the farms were

m«n, seldom exceeding one hundred and xty acres, and most of them did not exted eighty acres. The woods were full f wild game, and the streams were •owded with fish. Thus the supply of lest for the wants of the pioneer was bundant and easily obtained. The first thing to do was to select the irm and choose a site for the cabin, and .stly begin the work of making a clearg Tho implements for husbandry were ! the rudest sort. Among the first plows »sd in the state was the "bull plow." he stoeK of these plows wns generally *de by the fanner bimee’f The handles ers made from bushes, ’be '-rooked roots imishlng the hand-hold. The beams ere hewn by nir.-l from tarp oak. The teldboanls wars made from blocks of oed about twenty inches square and tree Inches .hick. The inner, or straight Is. of ’he moldboard was fastsned to is handles and tho outer tarface was allowed out tn an irregular troughlr.g '.aoe The win* ox the share extended <h on the moldboard. A loop of iro:» ade the point. It required a good team, strong man. good ground and a day’s ird work to plow an acre with such a ow. On tho hillsides tho farmer plowed so i to throw ’he furrow down the hill, and i do thl* xae plow had to be draggel ITT to the starting point aft*.' each irrow. Th* harrow was V-shaned with looden 'eeib. all made by the farmer •naelf Tho wheat was harvested with r. ckle, with I which Ad expert cutter •”14 net over about three-fourths of an rre a day. ft was thrashed by beating lih a Cell or by tramping out by horse*. ~e methods rs pitsting and sowing wars •o of 'Jjo ;>rtm!Wve kind The oc.m ‘ •eund W ’laid off" both ways; the Ife. or one of the children, would drop i .• oora at tho Intersections and the farmer would follow and cover it with a hoe. IV! email grain was sowed "broadcast," b.< far mar carrying hie grain in a sack Irwung around hie neck. ft was almost impoeelblo to Obtain After a few years there vm t our- j

Jasper County Democrat.

plus of population In the towns or “settlements” and then bands of slcklers were formed to assist In harvest work. Usually these bands consisted of from five to ten persons Ont man would follow another across a field, cutting each about half an acre a day The bands would begin their work In the southern part of the state, where the grain?ripened first, and reap fields northward until they would" reach the verge of civilisation. The best reapers would receive 87\» cents per day, or a bushel of wheat. It was not until 1840 that the grain cradle came into general use In the state. With that new implement, which was regarded as a

wonder in those days, a good cradler and two binders could havest and shock about two acres a day. About IMO a new plow was intrduced. It was called the “Peacock," after the name of the inventor. This created a revolution in the work of the farm, enabling the farmer to plow about three acres a day, with much less labor than formerly. Previous to 1840 all the grain was threshed either with a flail or tramped

out by horses. Two men could flail and winnow about twelve bushels a day, and two men and a boy, with horses, could tramp out and winnow about twenty bushels a day. To winnow the grain, or separate it from the chaff, the grain was poured on a bed sheet, while two men would vibrate the sheet so as to create a current of air. which would blow the chaff to one side, while tha heavier grain would fall in a pile at their feet. The first threshing machine was Introduced Into the southern part of the

state In 1839 With four herses and eight or nine men two hundred bushels of grain could be threshed In a day. The t wheat had to be cleaned afterward. It required three men two days to clean what would be threshed In one. This was thought to be a wonderful improvement over the old method and tt was. but when compared with the steam threshers and separators of the present day, it was very crude. In the early days the scythe was the only implement for mowing the meadows.

A strong man oould cut from one to two acres a May, working, as they then did, from sna-up to sun-down. A hand rake wm used. for raking the hay preparatory to sticking it, when a wooden fork cams into play. In these happy days for the farmer a mowing machine, with one man. cuts ten acres a day and with • steel-toothed horse rake another pre- ,

THRESHING FLAX.

THE GRAIN CRADLE REAPER.

wwvw* trtto jeaar or itaaey ua haad Inws MRk cowa were sold flor M and the bwt them did not produce aaore than three ponuds es buttor a week. TTcrass ware only ralgefl fcr harm pnrpuakg. and tha bread was wary indtttawt Tho hoga wwa as tho ’"nnor-oaor* variety. They Ms «r MB. long od body and long mexee • mm Ehom ,

RENSSELAER, JASPER COUNTY, INDIANA, SATURDAY, AUGUST 30, 1902.

pares it for the stack, and a steel fork operated by a man and a horse stacks it. The first hay press in use was made of a long wooden screw, about a foot in dlametar, with about ten or twelve feet of thread. A stick of timber twentysix Inches square with a hole through the center served as a nut with threads cut to receive the screw. The nut was framed Into the top of two great posts, twenty-six by eighteen inches in size, and twenty-one feet long, standing four and a half feet apart. Six of these poets would be planted in the ground*,. A space about eleven feet high would be left to receive the hay. To the top of the great wooden screw a sweep was fastened, thirty feet long, and bent downward. To •his horses were hitched. This was a very slow way of baling hay but it served its purpose. Previous to 1840, when new and improved implements were introduced, tt took one man twenty-four days to plow, seed and harvest ten acres of wheat, and forty-four days to plow, plant, cultivate and gather ten acres of corn. For several yea is after the first settlement of the territory only zuch grain as was needed for the subsistence of the farmer and his family, end for feed for his live stock was raised, as there was no market for any surplus. The corn was pounded or ground in a mortar, into coarse meal, or made into hominy. To the mortar and pestle succeeded hand mills. As the farmer would get more land cleared he would raise more corn and feed it to hogs, they furnishing their own transportation to market. The breed was rough, and the hogs, when fattened for market, would weigh only about two hundred pounds gross, and prior to IM3 the price never reached 2 cents a pound. There were but two hog markets in those days —Lawrenceburg and Louisville. In the winter the hogs would be driven to those places. During the summer and autumn months the hogs would be permitted to run at large, feeding on the mast, which was abundant. Then they would be gathered up and for a few weeks fed on

corn to get them ready for market. Running at large they became very wild, and it frequently required days to get them into the pens or fields for fattening. As the state filled with settlers the difficulty of getting the surplus product to market Increased. Practically there were no roads, and what passed for roads were often almost impassable. The only markets were Cincinnati, Louisville and New Orleans. To reach the latter place flat boats were used. The farmers would combine and build one or more flat boats, load them with grain or baled hay and then float them to New Orleans. When the cargo was disposed of the boats woula be sold, and those who had taken them down the river would find their way home cn foot or by steamboat. The wheat, and some of the cem. would be hauled to Lawrenceburg or Louisville to be ground. Much of this grain was thus hauled for a distance of seventy-five or one hundred miles over roads which were merely cut through the forests without any effort at grading, and in some seasons were almost impassable. For many years all central Indiana depended upon the mills at Lawrenceburg for Its market for surplus wheat. Over the roads then existing a good team could not haul more than twenty-flve or thirty bushels of wheat. Prior to 1840 the price obtained ranged from 30 to 50 cents a bushel for wheat, and from 10 to 12 cents for com. and usually the pay was received tn salt, iron and dyestuffs, at many fold the value of such articles now. But few cattle were raised, only enough to furnish milk and butter for —e family and a yoke or two of steers for farm work. A few sheep of mongrel breeds were kept to supply wool for clothing. The wool was carded by hand, made into yarn on the hand-spinning wheel and

and usually were so thin they could readily jump between the rails of a fence. After some years small water mills began to make their appearance along the streams. They were only intended to grind for home consumption, and when the farmer wanted a little flour or meal he would fill a sack with grain, and, throwing it over the back of his horse, travel often several miles to mill, where, perhaps, he would have to wait half a day for his “turn." The first flour mill

THE PIONEER HAND FLAIL FOR THRESHING GRAIN.

of any size built in the state was at Lawrenceburg, Ind., in 1839. It ground flour for the New Orleans market, and, as has been said, was the market for all the wheat of central and southeastern Indiana. But a better day was coming for Indiana farmers. New methods of transportation were introduced and the area of farming extended. Prior to the introduction of canals and railroads hogs were the best paying product to the farmer. But when easy means of reaching a market were Introduced wheat and the other cereals became profitable and the labor of the farmer was greatly diversified and a rotation of crops followed. The railroads were followed by the establishment of manufactories and a home market was built up. This increase In foreign and domestic markets brought the Introduction of better breeds of live stock and better varieties of grain. Before the introduction of railroads but few cattle were raised. At first only enough for farm use. Later a few beef cattle were raised, but they were of indifferent breeds. weighing, when ready for market. froiA seven hundred to

THE PASSING OF THE FORESTS

Ths present generation can hare but little idea of what Indiana was when the first white settlers began to invade the territory, now but a century ago. Then it possessed the most magnificent forests on the American continent. This is not speaking wildly, but is sustained by the record. The southern half of the state was unbroken forest, every acre being covered with magnificent trees. There were oa» and elm, popuar and beech, ash and maple, hickory and walnut. Even as lata as 1880 Indiana had 4,835,181 acres of forest land. Since then the work of destroying the forests has gone on .rapidly, and it is doubtful if there are now mors than 1,000,000 acres. Originally the forests in Southern Indiana were so dense that during the summer the sun seldom pierced the shade. It has been said by those who have made a study of such matters that Indiana originally possessed nearly every variety of forest tree known in American. It now contains one hundred and nine species, representing fifty three genera, and twenty-five families. There are twenty-four varieties of the oak family. In e arly days poplars were numerous, that towered nearly or quite two hundred feet high, and so immense in size that one of them would have produced lumber enough for a fair-sized house. So distributed were the trees of Indiana, that alongside of one of the giant populars would be found the tapering ash. the sturdy oak, the magnificent elm. and the beautiful sugar maple. From a series of measurements made by Dr. Robert Ridgway of the Smithsonian Institute, the following table has be?n drawn, which will give some idea of the extent and size of the forest trees of Indiana: Table of Hights. Number of species reaching 100 feet 42 Number of species reaching 105 feet 38 Number of species reaching 110 feet 36 Number of species reaching 115 feet 24 Number of species reaching 120 feet 27 Number of species reaching 125 feet 24 Number of species reaching 130 feet 21 Number of species reaching 135 feet 20 Number of species reaching 140 feet 15 Number of species reaching 145 feet 14 Number of species reaching 150 feet 13 Number of species reaching 155 feet 11 Number of species reaching 160 feet 8 Number of species reaching 165 feet 6 Number of species reaching 170 feet 4 Number of species reaching 175 feet 8 Number of species reaching 180 feet 2 Number of species reaching 190 feet 1 The talest of the forms is the yellow popular, but it has a good second in one of the oaks. In the southwestern counties may be found tne “bald cypress.” It is a large tree from eighty to ono hundred feet high, with a trunk from six to thirteen feet In diameter. Orginally the forests of Indiana had wealth enough to have purchased an empire. For many years the forests furnished almost the entire living pt the people. They abounded in game of all kinds, and the pioneer there found meat for his family, while the peltries purchased all his supplies. Prior to 1883 little or no products of the farms in Indiana found a way to market, except what the forests furnished in the way of peltrlea There was no money, and all values were fixed in skins. Thus, a pound of powder would be rated at so many mink skins; a bushel of salt at so many raccoon skins. Those great forests had to be cleared away before the gruond could be prepared for cultivation, and for many years, at certain seasons of the year. In every direction could be seen the smoke or the ilgnt of burning log heaps, wherein trees of almost incalculable value were reduced to agues, while hundreds of valuable walnuts were made into fence rails, or punoheons for floors. It Is Impossible to oalculsts ths amount of wealth thus destroyed. At first there was but a limited market for ths Umber A little of It could be sold fine building purposes, but only a limited amount wu thus used duriug wM fin* quarter of a century rhfa came a time when notne of this s-agnUtosot ttmbor had a marketable value. Th* first manufacturing entor-

nine hundred pounds, and they were counted extra fine if they were brought, at five years old, to weigh 1,000 pounds. The price was about 1% cents per pound. About 1825 a better breed of cattle was introduced, but they were looked upon as being entirely too fancy for the average farmer. The first short horn cattle of pure breed were brought into the state in 1825 by Edward Talbot, a progressive farmer of Jefferson county. Three years later John Owens of Monroe coun-

ty also Imported some of the same breed. For some years the introduction of this bfeed was looked upon with suspicion by the farmers of the state, but in 1835, at the Marlon county fair, a display was made of these cattle and they began to attract attention. Thirty years after their introduction there were only thirty-five breeders of short horns in Indiana and they were confined to nineteen of the ninety-two counties of the state, and only 137 head were recorded. The introduction of other Improved breeds have been of much later date. It took much longer time to “root out' the old “razor-back” mast-fed hog. The farmers seemed to cling to these animals as If loath to give them up for Improved breeds. It was in vain to reason to them that the same amount of corn that would put 200 pounds on a "razor-back" would put from five hundred to six hundred on one of the Improved breeds, but finally the "razor-back” disappeared and all the improved breeds came in their place. Today no state in the union can show better live stock than are raised on our Indiana fa:ms. but nearly all the improvements have come since the close of the great civil war.

cooperage. For both those purposes the. forests of Indiana furnished aboundant supplies of the best material. Thousands of giant poplars fell to furnish the lighter parte of the steamboats, and acre atter acre was denuded of its oaks for the framework of the boats. Pork packing and whisky-making were among the earlier industries, and for use in that connection barrels were needed, snd hoop-poles, staves and heading for msny years employed a large capital. At first the hoop-poles and the timber for the staves and heading were shipped out the state, to be made into barrels at some other point, and men barrel-mak-ing became one of Indiana’s profitable industries. Then came the era of railroad building, when ties and bridge timber cemmanded a good price, and many thousands of acres of forest went down before the woodman’s ax. Then came the manufacture of vehicles and furniture, followed by the making of plow handles, ax handles and other wooden ware. It was not until the forests of Indiana w?re more than half gone that the people began to realize what a wealth they had wasted. Single walnut trees were worth more than a hundred dollars, yet they had fed the log heap or fenced the (,<rm. Sugar maples, each worth a small fortune, magnificent beech and stately ash had been cut up for fuel. It was waste everywhere. With the passing of the for ests the game disappeared, and there was no longer peltries to be had, or meat for the table without cost except for a little powder and led. With it also went the wealth of mast on. which thousands of hags had been annually fattened. Notwithstanding the Immense amount of valuable timber that has been wasted or recklessly destroyed, still the timber of Indiana has brought great wealth into the state. Up to 1880 nearly all the manufacturing industries in Indiana were engaged in manufacturing wood in some way, and the state furnished nearly if not all the timber. There are still hundreds of woodworking industries yet in the state receiving much of their raw material from the forests cf Indiana. Indiana now ranks as one of the great agricultural states of the union, and all Hoosiers are proud of the thrlfty-looking farms seen tn every part of the state, yet forty years ago as a rule, an Indiana farm, especially in the southern half of the state, was an unsightly looking thing, owing to the hundreds of stumps seen everywhere. When reapers and mowers, machine planters and drills, began coming into use they necessitated the removal of the unsightly stumps. This spirit of Improvement came with the close of the civil war.- During that war Indiana won such a name .for herself, owing to the bravery and steadfastness of the troops she sent to the field, and the remarkable energy displayed In filling all calls for troops, that when the war ended home-seekers from the East came In a steadily Increasing stream. The man whose farm' was clear of stumps and of weeds in the fence corners and whose fences were in good repair easily found a purchaser for his farm at a good price. This stimulated others and as the farms In a neighborhood Improved the shiftless former became uneasy and sold out to * move farther west, letting his farm pass into better hands.

INDIANA FAIR RACES.

Large Increase in Purses for the Golden Jubilee. With purses amounting to $14,600. or $6,000 more than last year, it la expected that the races at the golden jubilee of the Indiana state fair will bring a fine array of fast horses to the track at Indlanapolw the week of Sept. 15. No purse is for less than SSOO. some are for S9OO and fir (he free-for-all pace SI,OOO is offered. There will be three races each day of the fair, and before the horses start a concert by Eousa’s band will be given at the grand stand of the race track. The races and purses for each are as follows: The 2:30 trot, $500; paoe, $900; 2:25 pace, $500; 8:11 trot, $800; 2:17 pace, $600; 2;13 pac*. $700; 2rifi trot, $800; free-for-all pace, $1,000: 2:U trot, $800; 2:81 pace, S7OO, free-for-all — .

STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE

History of the Organization From 1851 to 1902. i ACT UNDER WHICH IT WAS ORGANIZED, GIVING NAMES OF FIRST MEMBERS. Figures Showing the Splendid Progress of Agriculture in Indiana by Decades Since 1850. THE STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE AS AN EDUCATING INFLUENCE IN ADVANCING AGRICULTURE TO THE DIGNITY OF fLEARNED PROFESSION. State Fairs and Their Influence in Carrying Forward the Great Interests of Agriculture. *

Since Lucius Quintus Cinclnnatus, the grand old Roman consul, dictator and warrior abandoned office, honors and emoluments to cultivate his farm with his own hands, there has been conferred upon agriculture a certain kind and degree of dignity that attaches to no other calling, employment or profession, whatever. Indeed, Cincinnatus conferred upon the plow more honor than Cyrus, Alexander, Caesar or Napoleon, or any other great captain ever bestowed upon the sword. Since the time when it was said “the farmer feedeth all” the plow, like the bow upon the brow of the cloud, has symbolized “seed time and harvest” and the farm has been a land of promise, and the harvest home song has voiced a sweeter and a more Inspiring melody than when the “sons of God and the morning stars” sang together their adoring hymn of nature. Indulging in a little sentiment it may be said that agriculture has in it many of the elements of poetry. It boasts of the “Old Oaken Bucket” as Woodworth immortalized it when he sang: "How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood. When fond recollection presents them to view! The orchard, the meadow, the deep-tan-gled wild wood, And every loved spot which my infancy knew; The wide-spreading pond, and the mill which stood by it, The bridge and the rock where the cataract fell; Uue cot of my father, the dairy house nigh it. And e'en the rude bucket which hung in the well." The farm Is the home of flocks and herds, birds and bees, fruits and flowers. It Is the land "Where peaceful rivers soft and slow, Amid the verdent landscape flow.” And Shakspeare. who knew, for England never had a more devoted lover of rural beauty and rural haunts, says: “And this our life, exempt from public haunt, Finds tongues in trees, books In running brooks. Sermons in stones and good in everything.” And this finds a living witness in the inspirations of Riley’s the justly famed "Hoosier poet,” who, remembering the clover fields, says: "Some sing of the lily and daisy and rose. And the pansies and pinks that the summertime throws In the green grassy lap of the medder that lays Blinkin’ up at the skies through sunshiny days; But what is the lily, and all of the rest Of the flowers, to a man with a heart In his breast That was dipped brlmmin’ full of the honey and dew Of the sweet clover blossoms his babyhood knew?” The fields of clover In full bloom are pictures of beauty that only nature can paint delectation of farmers, their wives and their children, all the more beautiful and lovable when touched by poetical genius. And there are thousands of the farm boys of Indiana who will think more of the "Old Swimmln’ Hole” as they listen to Riley’s description of the place where the boys played pickerel to perfection: “Oh! the old swlmmln-hole! In the long lazy days When the hum-drum of school made so many run-a-ways, How pleasant was the journey down the old dusty lane. Where the tracks 'of our bare feet was all printed so plain You could tell by the dent of the heel and . the sole They was lots o' fun on hands at the old swlmmln-hole.” But perhaps Riley’s best rural poem, the one that has made the barnyard and tha autumn cornfield things of beautv and joys forever, and has won for its author national renown, bears the title, "When the Frost Is On the Pumpkin." It is a farm picture painted to life: "When the frost is on the pumpkin and the fodder *a in shock. And you hear the kyonck and gobble of the atruttin’ turkey cock. And the clackin’ of tho gulneys, and the cluckin’ of the hens, And the rooster’s hallylooyer M-be Untoe* W JJw tonco; .

(By J. B. Maynard.)

O it’s then's the times a ifeller is a-feelln* at his best. With the risin’ sun to greet him from a night of peaceful rest. As he leaves the house bareheaded, and goes out to feed the jstock, When the frost is on the pumpkin and the fodder's in the Riley responds to the Shakspearean Idea that there is “goad in everything.” and that poetry has an abiding home amidst the scenic beauties and attractions of tho farms, its verdent and flowery fields, Hit rocks and rills. Its brooks and its vine-embowered hom<jnf It .lonr -sUtfc btfbme proverbial philosophy that the farm, the country, agricultural pursuits are more favorable for virtue, chastity, integrity and all the enobling virtues which we attribute' to our Christian civilization; than our cities, the Congested centers oi[ ouf population, can boast with all the advantages which schools and churches anti art confers, to say nothing of the restraining power of courts, the police, work houses, flower missions, salvati- n armies, “Door of Hope,” “Friendly Inn.?’ charity organizations and “resuce retrktes. In the coutry a moral atmosphere prevails at all seasons of the yenr which resists more es- • fectually “the pestilence that walketh In darkness” and ' the destruction that pasteth at noonday” thar cities can claim, and if we could summon its witnesses distinguished men of affairs! tn all the walks of life, such would be the overwhelming testimony. To maintain and perpetuate this enviable distinction agrictulture is admittedly a potent factor. The State Board of Agriculture. The act of the! legislature creating the state board of agriculture was passed Feb. 14. 1851, and provided, among other things, as follows: “Sec. 2. That It shall be the duty of tho several county or district societies which may be formed under the provisions of the preceding section during the continuance of this act, annually to offer and award premiums for tha Improvement of soils, tillage, crop manures, improvements stock, articles of domestic industry, and such 'other articles, productions and improvements as they may deem proper, and may perform all other acts as they may deem best calculated to promote agricultural and household manufacturing interest of the district and of the state; and it shall also be their duty so to regulate the amount of premiums and the different grades of the same, as that it shall be competent for small as well as large farmers to have an opportunity to compete therefor, and in making their awards, special reference shall be had to the profits which may accrue or ba likely to accrue from the improved mode of raising the crop or of improving the soil, or stock, or of the fabrication of th* articles thus offered, with the intention that the premium shall be given to the most economical mode of Improvement; and all persons offering to compete for premiums on improved modes of tillage or the production of any crop, or other articles, shall be required, before such premium is adjudged, to deliver to the awarding committee a full and correct statement of the process of such mode of tillage or production and the expense and value of the same, with a view to showing accurately .:e profit derived or expected to be derived therefrom. Personnel of the Board. Section 4 of the act names the members of the first state board of agriculture, as follows: That Joseph A. Wright of Marion county, Alexander C. Stevens of Putnam county, Jeremiah Mcßride of Martin county, ' Roland Willard of Kosciusko county, Jacob R. Harris of Switzerland county ( Henry S. Ellsworth of Tfppecanot county, John Ratliff of Morgan county, Joseph Orr of Laporte county, David P. Holloway of Wayne county, John B. Kelly of Warrick county, William McLane of Lawrence county, Samuel Emerson of Knox county, John McMahan of Washington county* Thomas W. Bweney of Allen county, George Brown of Shelby county, George Hussey of Vigo county, be, and they are hereby created a body corporate, with perpetual succession. In the matter hereafter described; under the name and style of the Indiana State Board of Agriculture, On May 27, 1851, the first meeting of the board was held, with eleven members present, vis.; Joseph A, Wright. Jeremiah Mcßride, Roland Willard, Jacob R. Harris, John Ratliff, David P. Holloway, John B. Kelly, Samuel Emerson, Thomas ,W. #w«w. Gsor« K,