1865.j 
AMERICAN AQRICULTURIST, 
and draw the courses in gradually. When the 
stack is not bujlt around a pole, sharpen a small 
rail or scantling, and set it erect at the center, 
by thrusting it in two or three feet, so that it 
will stand while the top is built around it. As 
the area of the top of the stack diminishes, con¬ 
tinue to place the sheaves more erect, until it 
terminates in one course inclining at an angle 
of about 45 degrees. Bind the tops of these 
securely to the pole. Then make a large bun¬ 
dle of long rye straw, wet it thoroughly, so that 
it will keep in place better, and having bound 
it with one band at about one third the distance 
from the top to the huts, slip it down over the 
top of the stake, and bind the top with several 
bands, as represented in the illustration. Spread 
out the buts evenly, and rake them down straight. 
A stack made according to the foregoing direc¬ 
tions will turn heavy showers almost as well as 
a shingle roof, and the M'aler will all fall clear. 
Why Stacks Lean. 
Stacks will sometimes lean to such a degree, 
that all above the bulge must be pitched off, 
and the stack re-topped. When most of the 
pitching is done on one side of a stack, the op¬ 
posite side does not get pressed down so firmly, 
and it therefore settles more than the side where 
the material was pitched on. This causes the 
stack to lean ; and by leaning, the courses are 
turned up to such a degree that on one side it is 
down hill toward the middle of the stack. 
Another reason why stacks lean is, that the 
bulge is laid out further from the centre on one 
side than the other; and as the side that is laid 
out the furthest will settle most, the entire stack 
often leans so far as to fall over. 
The usual way of keeping a stack from lean¬ 
ing is, to thrust one end of a rail or pole against 
it, and set the other end on the ground. This 
sometimes turns up the courses so as to conduct 
the rain toward the middle of a stack. To 
avoid all difiiculty from this source, let it be 
braced as shown in the illustration on the pre- 
ceeding page, by setting one end of a plank a 
few inches in the ground, and the upper end 
pressed against the bulge of the stack. This 
plank should stand perpendicularly, so as not 
to turn the courses of the sheaves up sidewise. 
The upright plank is kept in position by a rail 
or pole resting against a broad stake in the 
ground, while a cleat upon the plank prevents 
the other end from sliding. Several such braces 
may be fitted to a stack, which will hold it in 
correct position while settling. This manner 
of bracing a stack before it has settled, when 
there is danger that a high wind may blow it 
over, will often be found very convenient. 
When a stacl^is braced in this manner, the 
props can be removed at pleasure; whereas, 
when thrust against the side, it settles so heavily 
on them, that it is difficult to take them away 
if desirable, after it has settled firmly into place. 
- -^- 
Indiana Agriculture. 
The State of Indiana presents to the traveller 
the appearance of a region most inviting to the 
new settler. A great portion of it is well 
wooded rolling country, alive with streams, ca¬ 
pable of supplying power for the employment of 
a large industrial population. The land is rich, 
vastly richer than New England, fully equal in 
most parts to the best districts of New York, 
Pennsylvania, or even Ohio. The prairies are 
not so extensive, perhaps not so fertile as those 
of Illinois, but where fertility is considered in¬ 
277 
exhaustible (though not really 
so), it is difficult to make very 
accurate comparisons. A large 
portion of the land, and we may 
almost say of the whole State, 
needs thorough draining; and 
it is the lack of this that causeg 
fever and ague, which how¬ 
ever, as the timber is cut off, is 
gradually falling back before the 
march of good farming. Why 
we do not hear more of and 
from the farmers of this State, 
we w'ill not attempt to decide. 
This is a question for them. 
The Agriculturist books have 
the names of many thousands of 
subscribers in this State. They 
seem to be good readers, but 
slow w'l'iters. The following 
letter, how’ever, is from one of 
them; we publish it as a rarity, 
and do so the more readily, as 
it is a sort of challenge to In¬ 
diana farmers to make them¬ 
selves and their agriculture bet- 
.ter known. Our correspondent 
writes from “ Central Indiana,” 
and signs himself “Clodhop¬ 
per.”—He says:—“ I have been 
a reader of the Agrculturist for 
eight years, but have scarcely 
ever seen any thing in it, or in 
other agricultural papers in re¬ 
gard to Indiana farming, or 
written by an inhabitant of this, 
my native State. Some of our 
best farmers have never travel¬ 
led out of the State, and they 
read of great things in other 
States, without thinking what 
Indiana can do and has done. 
Some of our local papers try to, 
and do, make the'impression, that Indiana is far 
below all of her sister States in every thing; 
this has a tendency to put the honest old 
farmers out of heart. But, like all other States, 
wm have a great many farmers who are not 
honest, and it is not much to their interest to 
try improvements, because they ‘ make their 
Jack’ by cheating the really honest ones. 
“Another thing that is the most in the way is, 
wm don’t mingle enough together. We are not 
social enough; we pass by one another too 
often without speaking; we don’t feel enough 
interest in our neighbor’s affairs, and we try to 
do our own business without letting any body 
know any thing about it, and so, in this respect, 
every man is a secret society within himself. 
“ Let me urge my brother farmers to write, 
and make ourselves more widely known. Let 
us hear from one another oftener. So far as I 
can see, and I have travelled a good deal, w^e 
are not so far in the rear as some suppose; as 
for crops w'e do as well as the best, our stock is 
good, our permanent land improvements are in¬ 
creasing every day, and what we lack is to have 
faith in the State, and to let other people know it.” 
We hope our Indiana friends will be stirred 
up to let the world know what they are about. 
Far be it from us to say a word against so mag- 
nificient an agricultural district. We have often 
thought that the fine timber-lands and rolling 
country offered more inducements to emigrants, 
and the prospect of more agreeable homes, 
around which orchards and vineyards would 
soon spring up, than the immense plains of the 
grand prairie, or the regions lying further We'st.. 
A New Weed—The Bladder Campion. 
{Silene injiata.) 
The Bladder Campion, or Bladder Pink, is a 
plant wiiich was long ago introduced into New 
England, where it grow’s not very abundantly 
along the road-sides and in fields, but has not here¬ 
tofore attained a place in the catalogue of trouble¬ 
some w'eeds. The plant has recently made its 
appearance in the eastern part of New York 
State, especially in Dutchess and Westchester 
counties, having been introduced there in some 
clover-seed, and has become established to such 
an extent as to cause the farmers much anxiety. 
All such plants are easily managed, if they are 
taken in hand wiien they first make their ap¬ 
pearance, and before they have time to mature 
a crop of seed; and as this is an innocent look¬ 
ing one, which would never be suspected of do¬ 
ing any injury, we give an engraving of a flower 
stem, in order that it may be recognized. The 
root is perennial, the main or tap-root often over 
an inch in diameter, and descending deep into 
the soil, throwing off numerous strong branches. 
The stems are usually about a foot high, but in 
rich soil it grows from 2 to 3 feet high, much 
branched, and usually weak and spreading. 
The leaves are of a pale green, the lower ones 
being much larger than those shown in the 
engraving. The flowers are borne in a loose 
cluster, and are not without beauty, the white 
petals being very deeply notched or cleft. The 
most striking character about the flower is its 
bladdery calyx, which very loosely surrounds 
the seed pod and is very prettily marked with 
