Jasper County Democrat, Volume 22, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 June 1919 — The Neighborhood Corner [ARTICLE]

The Neighborhood Corner

Department of Farm Welfare Conducted by County Agent Stewart Loaming.

Poultry Association to Hold Meeting Jesse Snyder, president of ths Jasper County Corn and Poultry association, has called a meeting. of that organization to be held at' the court house at 9 o’clock on the evening of next Thursday, July 3, for the purpose of formulating plans for the next winter’s exhibition. A movement is on foot to enlarge the organization and hold the official state Barred Rock meet in Rensselaer. Special consideration is being given the corn show, in view of its rapid growth the last few years. A full attendance of members and others interested is desired. Fertilizer Prices Should Be Lower This Fall The department of agriculture has announced that it has reached an agreement with the manufacturers of mixed fertilizers whereby these goods should sell next fall for about 30% less than the prices of last spring. A schedule has been issued showing the maximum f. o. b. prices' at which the principal fertilizer grades at the three great centers of fertilizer distribution, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Carteret, N. J.,* to dealers and to farmers ordering 30-ton lots may be obtained. The matter of supply and prices of unmixed fertilizer material available to farmers for direct application to soil or for home mixing is still under investigation by the department and an announcement of the agreements is expected soon. Livestock Men Will Picnic Everyone interested in better livestock in general and in Hereford cattle and Spotted Poland China hogs in particular is invited to become the guest of the Quality Stock farm near Parr on the afternoon of June 29, at an outdoor gathering in the interests of these Livestock experts from various parts of the state are expected to be in attendance and a profitable afternoon is anticipated for all who. attend.

Army Worm History On account of the widespread interest in the army worm at this time, the following brief description of the life history of this insect is published: The army worm belongs to a large family of insects known as the noctuidae, or night flyers. Grass lands being its natural home, it is present to a limited extent every year. The mature insects are dull brown moths, having a peculiar white spote on the center of each front wing. The body of the adult moth is about threefourths of an inch in length. The eggs, which are usually laid on the terminal leaf sheath on grasses and grains are small, globular and white. The eggs are deposited, in straw stack bottoms, hay ricks, old corn shocks, -and even two-year-old corn stalks lying on the ground in the meadow. A single female lays from 50 0 to 700 eggs, wmen accounts for the rapid increase of the worms under favorable conditions. The eggs hatch in eight or ten days. After feeding on anything of succulence, the larva is grown in 25 or 30 days, attaining a length of one and one-half or two inches. When young they travel like a measuring worm, are dark, naked caterpillars with longitudinal stripes running the full length of the body. A very marked broad stripe on each side is characteristic. The pupa stage, which lasts about two weeks, is passed on rubbish on the ground. The adult emerges and begins to lay eggs again in 6 or 8 days. There are usually three broods during the season. _ The combination of trenches and bran poison are proving entirely successful in handling these dangerous pests. I Check Up the Oats Smut This Week Now is the time to check up on the results of the use of the formaldehyde treatment on the oats to determine whether or not it was profitable in preventing smut. By stooping down in the fields of grain, one may get a fair idea of, the degree of infestation. As usual, I treated fields are showing much ! less smut than those which have been left untreated and it seems but| a matter of time before smut pre-, vention will be a common farm operation.

Farmers Issue a Paper The first number of the Organ-: ized Farmer, the official publication of the Indiana Federation of Farmers’ association, has made its appearance. The number is a example of what Indiana farmers can do in the field of literature as well as a faithful record of the aims and accomplishments of the state federation.

By the Agreement of December 2, 1899, among the United States, Great Britain and Germany, the Samoan islands were divided between the United States and Germany, Great Britain retiring and accepting compensation for her retirement in -the form of colonial concessions elsewhere in the world. This agreement ended a long series of outbreaks and disorder in the islands amounting to a state of civil war, due, It was charged at the time, to the intrigue and aggression of the Germans. A large factory for the manufacture of underwear is to be established in Manila by Filipino and Spanish capitalists. The organizers plan to obtain the necessary machinery in Spain and the yarn used in the making of the goods is to be bought in the United States.