VOL. XI
PITY IN BIRD UFE
RARELY DISPLAYED
Feathered Creatures, When
Hurt, Left to Die Alone.
"There Is not much sympathy to be
found In wild nature. If a bird meets
with a mishap it is usually left to get
over It without any assistance from its
companions. When a bird is taken 111
and expects to die you will not find Its
mate standing by to console with It,
but the suffering creature will just
slink away to a place of hiding In
which to meet the end, while the bird
which is left will very soon find a new
companion. But I have come across a
few instances where sympathy was
shown. When birds are mated after a
short courtship the male is most at
tentive to his newly won wife and will
almost starve himself to offer tit-bits
to her," writes Oliver G. Pike in the
London Mall.
"The beautiful male bullfinch is one
of the best of husbands. A pair of
these birds attempted to nest in my
garden last spring. The first nest came
to an untimely end and a second was
built When this contained young al
most ready to fly I heard the two par
ents calling out In great distress. I
hurriedly climbed up the steep bank
leading to the nest In a thick hedge,
but I was just too late, for a stoat
dashed from the nest and disappeared
in the thick undergrowth. Three of
the young had been eaten, while the
fourth was dead outside the nest
"For days afterward the bull
finch sat on twigs in the garden look
ing most disconsolate, and it was
rather beautiful to see the male offer
her choice morsels, which he continu
ally searched for. It seemed as If he
was doing his best to cheer her up, and
It gave much pleasure when I
found out that he had succeeded. For
at the end of the week they began a
third nest and with this they were
successful in rearing a family.
"It is only natural, however, for a
bird to assist Its mate during the time
of courtship. It is in the winter
months, when each bird has to fight its
own battle in the grim search for food,
that sympathy la rare. I have known
only one Instance of this.
"In my garden there was a large
dog kennel with a flat roof. During
the winter months the tablelike top
was utilised as a larder for th,e birds.
Many kinds visited us and it was sel
dom that the table was unoccupied.
One morning a. new visitor appeared
and she was a cripple. This great tit
bad one leg missing and she had some
trouble In balancing her body as she
picked up the food.
"The sparrows, for some reason, ob
jected to the presence of this injured
bird and drove her off. She made
many attempts to obtain a meal, but
the others prevented her.
"The next morning she brought with
her another great tit and again the
sparrows tried to drive her away. In
a flash the second great tit set about
them, fought the whole flock and kept
the board clear while the crippled bird
obtained a good meal. On each suc
ceeding visit this blrdland knight ac
companied her, and such respect did
the sparrows have for his fighting
powers that she afterward obtained
her food in peace."
United States Dinosaurs
Great animals as well as greet men
sometimes "leave behind thein foot
prints on the sands of time" Experts
of Uncle Sam's Department of the In
terior have discovered that tracks
found in the rock on the Navajo Indian
reservation In Arizona are the foot
prints of dinosaurs made about 10,000,-
000 years ago. The prints are 16
Inches long.
No Life in Dead Sea
The Dead sea has been navigated.
8 tin bo and Dlodoras tell of floats from
which men fished for bitumen. There
have also been several scientific ex
peditions on the soa for purposes of
investigation. The sea contains no
life of any kind with exception of t
few microbes. This is due to Its ex
treme salinity.
Refined Cruelty
▲ woman who is suing for divorce
says that her husband would whip ber
one day and the next lavish Jewelry
■poo her. Very crude work, this. He
should have combined the two and
walloped her with a rope of pearls. —
Boston Transcript
Strange Accompaniment
William Collins. English poet la
fits of melancholic Insanity, used to
karat the cloisters of Chichester ca
thedral, and weald utter
wrfvd and unearthly howls whenever
the organ was played at services.
Danced Into Royal Favor
Sir Christopher Hatton, lord chan
cellor of England during Elizabeth's
reign, was called* "the dancing chancel
lor," because It was said be first at
tracted the (Men's attention by his
THE ALAMANCE (CLEANER.
Idea of Growing Old
Fear From Ike Farnum
Dee farnum was sitting around with
me the other day. Just talking. There
bad been too little rain and too much
fire in the woods for us to take our
annual deer hunt this year, and we
were mourning about It Ike had just
finished telling me of the Springfield
rifle he had just had resighted.
"Stripped those military monstrosi
ties off and put on a peep," Ike said.
When In came Maurice Munn. Get
ting a bit fat, Is Maurice, and a shade
gray and he wears glasses. Other
wise quite all right. He listened to
the concluding stanzas of Ike's epic
and then hurled his wet blanket.
"It's just as well you didn't go hunt
ing," said he. "When a man gets to
be fifty years old his hunting days are
over. It's time for him to buy a bird
dog and a scatter gun and stay near
the shore."
Well, sirs, and ladles, I have never
seen or heard Ike In better form. He
passed his fiftieth birthday more than
one year ago, but if'he is a day over
thirty-five you'll have to lick him to
make him own up. He Is as young
and alive today as he ever was, except
that he Is harder to kill than a boy
Is. A middle-aged man who has kept
himself In good condition gets to be
like dry rawhide. He can't be cut,
torn or stretched.
"I'd have been as fatlieaded an old I
fool as you are, Maurice," said Ike, "If I
I'd let myself slip the way you have. I
The trouble with you Is that you quit j
this life when you got to be fifty and |
haven't reached the life to come. No !
wonder you're old I You act old and i
thirik old and talk old. If I ever said '
to myself—
"'l'm too old to go a-huntlng'—
"Well, I'd be too old to go a-huntlng. \
But I haven't said It and I never will." j
Yet I can remember that a few years j
a£f> Maurice was tougher and faster
and harder than Ike Farnum ever
thought of being. He has just thought
himself Into age.—"J. P." In Kansas
City Star.
Made Shrine of Garments
They tell an affecting little story of ;
French soldiers. It seemed that some j
one of the various headless—or rather !
hydra-headed—charitable organizations !
operating from our great country got !
Its donations mixed, and a French regl- 1
ment Just out of the trenches. In place :
of some boxes of warm underclothing
expected, got some children's clothes. |
There was some Idle jesting, some !
growling; but In the end that regl
ment built an altar, enshrined upon it
the little garments designed for chil
dren whom they might never see again, |
and the whole regiment passed before
It and one at a time knelt and re
newed their oath of allegiance to fair
France and the vow to expel the ln
: vader from hef soil.*—From the Witr
j Diary of Maj. Gen. James G. Harboard
In the Saturday Evening Post.
Popularity of Dichens
There Is a good deal of talk, says
tbe Providence Journal, coincident
with thp proposed purchase of Dickens'
I old home at 48 Loughty street in Lon
don, of a Dickens revival among Eng
lish and American readers, and If
such a rebirth of interest is actually j
| in progress no one who Is familiar
i with the great novels will doubt that It
j Is a fine thing. Actually, however, if
one is to accept In full the reports of,
! librarians, publishers and booksellers, j
! there Is no room for q renaissance In
Dickens, because interest in the mighty
stories of Oliver Twist and Copper
field and the impecunious Mlcawber
has never flagged since the day when
they were first published.
Boy's Real Gallantry
Sir Walter Raleigh, in all his glory,
never outdid a boy, about fifteen years
of age, who, when It was raining the
hardest stwd In water above bis
ankles and, after obtaining some
boards and placing them from the
building shed to fhe-sldewalk In front
of the new Sellg building In West
Washington street, stoqd there and
aided girls and women across the
plaflks.
11. E. McArthy, 822 Continental Na-1
tlonal Bank buildlflg, wbo reported the ,
Incident said that It was one of the
most gentlemanly acts be had ever
witnessed. "He may have been a boy
scout doing bis dally good turn, bat
whoever be Is and whatever he Is, I'm
for him," he said—lndianapolis News.
Model Chapel Cars
One of the latest contributions, and
not the least interesting, to the Vati
can missionary exposition, held in Con
nection with the Anno Santo, cdhsists
of models of "chapel cars" operated in
America by tbe Catholic Church Ex-1
tyn.irm society. The contribution is
made in the name of tbe society by Ed
ward F. Carry of the Pullman com
pany. It reproduces in miniature, bat
in tbe most exact details, tbe travel
ing chapels, whereby tbe society brings
the ministrations of the church to res
idents of distant sections that cannot
maintain permanent chorcb buildings.
Three such cars are in operation «a
American rsllroods:
GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY. APRIL 16, 1925
Vast Fortunes .Theirs
for Few Brief Hours
"I was a millionaire on paper for a
brief few hours," said a clerk In a
leading brokerage house and be added,
"as a inatter of fact I did not know I
had been a millionaire until the chief
bookkeeper shoved a paper under my
nose and commanded me to sign on
the dotted line. I then observed that I
had held 75,000 shares of leading In
dustrial stock overnight the certificate
being in my name, and that I was
about to sign away nearly $3,000,000.
The thrill wns brief."
In many brokerage houses everybody
from the office boy up temporarily has
much wealth In his or ber name. Some
years ago a certain house had put
ten thousand shares of a Standard Oil
stock in a clerk's name. When the
stock clerk came' with the customary
waiver for the erstwhile shareholder
to sirjn, he was home on Long Island,
sick.
A hurry call revealed he was 1 danger
ously ill and in no condition to sign
anything and would not be for some
while; in fact, the doctor said, "I hope
we can save him."
He came around and signed the pa
per some weeks later, but he had ac
tually been the possessor of $850,000
of stock for that time and If he had
died, the firm would have had to go
through some legul gestures to unravel
the red tdpe around an unindorsed cer
tificate. —Wall Street Journal.
Snappy Comment on
Odd Newr.paper "Ads"
London Paper—"Wanted, a second
hand terrestrial globe." Not the first
man who wanted the earth, or was
willing to take it "as Is."
Ad In "Golf —"To increase your
scores Wear Blank's Plus-fours." Easy
enough increasing one's scores; the job
Is to lower tfiem.
Birmingham Paper—"Officer's wife
would like jolly lady by birth to
shar; modern house." The only lady
thus qualified we ever heard of was
Beatrice, who was "born In a Jolly
hour; there was a star danced and
under that I was born."
New Zealand Paper—"Why rend
your garments elsewhere when our up
to-date laundry can do the work more
effectively?" But why rend your gar
ments at ail, when the Scriptural in
junction - is to rend your hearts In
stead? —Boston Transcript
Lifted by Toy Balloons
On a recent visit to London Lady
Poynter, author of travel books, met
the old lady who sells balloons at the
entrance to Kensington gardens, to
bring Joy to childhood. She said to
Lady Poynter: "I am the old woman
Barrle told the world about In 'Peter
Pan,' who was nearly carried off by
her balloons. Maggie Leary, the old
apple woman, who sold apples for for
ty years by this gate, had to catch me
by the handle of ber umbrella, or I
should have blown away. Lots of peo
ple have taken my photograph, and
one man paid me half a crown for It.
This has been the worst year I've had,
but things are picking up. Maggie
was here for forty yeurs and I've been
here for nineteen."
Evidently she enjoyed her celebrity,
for she asked, "When will you coma
back and photograph me?"— Japan Ad
vertiser.
w
Shows Value of Flattery
Speaking o police, the female of
the species occasionally comes In for
Its share of responsibility to the Joke
smiths. The following yarn halls from
the beginnings of the lady-police era:
One of the newly appointed police
women saw a carman treating his
horse roughly. She went up to him
and after remonstrating with him, de
manded bis name and address.
"Lord, miss," said the man with a
commiserating smile; "If I was to tell
you. It would go out- of that pretty
head of yours before you got to the
next corner."
Then he drove off, leaving the po
licewoman torn between conflicting
emotions of neglected duties and grati
fied vanity—San Frunrisco Argonaut.
Lizard Far From Home
An Australian bearded lizard (not s
lounge lizard either) was recently
found sunning Itself on the railway
track near Plalstow, near London, Eng
land. As the locality Is In the dock
area. It Is suppose' that the mysteri
ous stranger lande! there as a stow
away and was enc ged on a tour of
exploration. It ba> beneath the chin
a fold of skin which, unnotlceable
when the reptile Is In repose, can be
expanded Into a conspicuous bristly
frill, suggestive of n beard, for the
purpose of frightening enemies. If this
fills. It has a very effective weapoo
in Its spiny tail, with which It can
inflict serious wounds.
How She Arrioed
Raid the tank teller to the new girl
who was making a deposit: "Jw
didn't foot it up"
"So." she replied Innocently,."! took
« tuL"—Wall Street Journal.
Made Use of Physical
Deformity for Profit
TlieiV Is at Itlpon, in Yorkshire, Eng
land, an old hostelry, the Unleorn, at
which Is preserved an etching of a
character who once was "boots" there.
"Old P.oots," as lie was familiarly
known to ninny who never knew him
by tiny other title, flourished from
about the • middle of the Eighteenth
century, and now lies somewhere In
the yard of l{i|Hin minster. He wus
endowed by nature with a nose and
chin so Inordinately l:wg and so tend
ing to embrace each other that at
length he acquired the |>ower of hold
ing "a piece of money between them.
Tliiis he was able to turn his deformity
to commercial account.
It was a part of his duty to wait
upon travelers arriving at the Inn, to
assist. I hem in removing their boots;
and he usually Introduced himself car
rying a pair of slippers In one hapd
and a bootjack in the other, and we
nr? told that the company generally
wore so diverted by his appearance
that frequently they would give him
-u piece of money on condition that he
held it between his nose and chin.
Other times, oilier tastes, and It
se?ms hardly possible that modern
travelers would lend themselves to
such an exhlbltlcfti.
Wampum Accepted as
Currency by Indians
The ruins of an eqrly wampum mint
with Its ingenious machinery und many
examples of its coinage have been un
earthed in Bergen county, New Jersey,
within a few miles of New York, Fran
cis Collins writes in the New York
Herald und Tribune. From the earliest
days the white settlers manufactured
Indian money, but In the New Jersey
mint they introduced methods of high
finance with surprising effects upon the
native currency.
Labor-saving machinery wus opera
ted by water power for turning out
wnmpum wholesale. It was freely ac
cepted by the Indians throughout the
country, who refused to use the coun
terfelt wampum, however cleverly Imi
tated with glass or composition. One
of the proprietors of the old wampum
mint claimed that the first John Jacob
Astor laid the foundation of his great
fortune by buying this .wftmpum and '
exchanging It with the Indluns for
furs.
Touch of Defilement
Sophronlus hud a fair daughter
named Kululla and she naked his per- !
mission one day to vl4t the gay Lu- 1
clnda. "I cannot allow It" said the
Greek father. "Then you must think
me exceedingly weak," said the daugh
ter Indignantly. Sophronlus picked up
a dead coal from the hearth and band
ed It toJils daughter, but she hesitated
to accept It. "Take It, ray child. It will
not burn you." . Eulalla obeyed, and
the milky whiteness of her hand was
Instantly gone. "Father, we cannot be
too careful In handling coals," said the
vexed daughter. "No," said the father
solemnly, "for even when they do not
burn they blacken." So it Is with evil
companions and communications.
Exist on Porcupine
Four men, wrecked on the north
side of the Kenal peninsula in north
ern Alaska, lived entirely on porcu
pines until they were picked up by a
boat a month later. This diet agreed
with them so well that they were In
fine physical condition when rescued.
The porcupine Is one of tbe easiest
of wild creatures to kill, for It cannot
run fast and succumbs quickly to s
blow from a stick. Time snd time
sgaln prospectors whose protlslons
have become exhausted In the wilds
have been saved from starvation by
the flesh of these animals. An un
written law of the North is thst s
porcupine must not be killed except
for food.
City May Have Been Myth
The ancient city of Troy is supposed
to have occupied a slight elevstion near
tbe foot of Mount Ida, in Mysls, snd
nearly surrounded by the River Sea
mnnder. but Ita location Is in dispute
and some even doubt that It ever ex
isted. The founding of the kingdom
Is ascribed to Teucer, whose grandson
wss Tross, who wss tbe father of!
litis, who called the city Ilium after!
himself and also Trojs after Troas, 1
his father. The clsssic poets say that j
the walls of the city were built by the
magic sound of Apollo's lyre. The
date of the taking of the city after a
ten-year siege Is usually placed at
1184 B. C. >.
Here's Innovation
Joseph Sparrow, retired jewelar of
San Francisco, Cat, brought salt
sgalnst his wife asking separata
maintenance and S3OO a month. He.
asserts cruelty and says his wife baaj
a large Income from property left bar
by a former husband. This Is the first
suit In tbe state of tbe kind since the
legislature at the last session enacted'
a law enabling a man, aa wall as a (
.soman, to' sue tot ssparate main-1
ienance.
City's Dwellings All
Built on Log Rmfts
One of the oddest cities In the world
Is Sinvx>n Sound on the coast of Brit
ish Columbia. The entire place Is
made up of floating dwemngs. The
chief industry in that section Is log
ging and most of the work Is dona on
the sides of steep cliffs where it la
almost impossible to build a house.'
Then, too, the loggers are continually
moving to new sltesi So they solve
their housing problem by building com
fortable dwellings of cedar shakes,
similar to shingles only about twice
the size and rougher, on log rafts. The
loggers live In these raft bopses for
many years, towing their homes to new
sites for logging.
A number of years ago one enter
prising logger tied bis raft house up at
the place called Simoon Sound. As
the anchorage was good and the loca
tion was sheltered from wind gales, he
started a store. Gradually other float
ing dwellings were added until now
steamships make regular calls to the
port and the government has estab
lished a post office there. The main
street of this floating city has all been
connected and considerable city beau
tifying has been done. Flowers have
been planted along the way In old ca
noes and the storekeeper has a garden
In an earth-fllled boat. In the winter
many new floating homes are added
to the city, but they float away again
when the loggers go back to logging
with the return of good weather. —
Pathfinder Magazine.
Puritan and Pilgrim
Too Often Confused
1 should like to call attention to a
, mistake which appeared In the Publlo
Ledger of March 7. It was the confu
sion, or rather the mistaken Identifica
tion, of "Pilgrims" and "Puritans."
Even as well read and well educated a
man as Theodore Roosevelt made this
error and was corrected by Henry Ca-*
bot Lodge, writes Jane H. Farnham In
the Philadelphia Public Ledger.
The Pilgrims settled Plymouth In
1020, while the Puritan migration dlfl
not take place until 1630, when the
Bay colony was founded. No doubt
both colonies were Intolerant accord
ing to our modern views, but tbe Puri
tans were stern In the extreme and
banished such as differed with them In
religious beliefs. Among those ban
ished were Roger Williams, Anna
Hutchinson and the Quakers.
The Pilgrim colony for fifty years st
least did not restrict the votes to
church. members, as the Pusltans did.
I'erhaps this difference between Pil
grims and Puritans seems infinitesimal
to I'hlfadelphlans, but It Is rather Im
portant In New England.
Freaks of Lightning
It Is frequently said thst lightning
never strikes twice In the same place.
This Is not so. Only a few days ago
two houses near Brentwood, Essex,
England, were struck for the second
time within a few months.
Mr W. Larkins, the well-known
steeplejack, was once called upon to
repair a hottae In Sussex thst had ac
tually been struck by lightning on
three separate occasions.
He found, on investigation, that the
building stood on a subsoil of Iron
stone, such as Is found In msny partp
of the weald of Sussex This sub
stance is, of course, a splendid con
ductor of electricity. Hence the par
tiality of the lightning for the house
In question.
Trees With Latin Names
Latin bss slwsys been the language
of scholars. It Is now a dead lan
gusge and consequently—not being
subject to rhsnge—ls helpful In giving
to trees accurate names thst can be
used in all parts of the world, regsrd
less of the Isnguage spoken locslly.
The Itomans called the oak Quercus.
We still use this word as tbe first part
of the scientific name. Our native
white >ak Is known hjr tbe scientific
name—Quercus alba. Tbe word "alba"
Is appropriate, for It means white, and
refers to the white bsrk. The red oak |
Is known by tbe scientific name Quer
cus rubra. Tbe word "rubra" Is also
appropriate, for It means red sad de
scribes tbe distinctive feature of the
tree—Joseph S. Hllck, In Tree Habits. |
Classification of Teas
Teas are classed ss green sad black. |
according to color, flavor and mode
of preparation. Tbe leaves for green
tes are heated or roasted slightly in
shallow pans over a wood "re almost
ss soon as gathered, after which they
are rolled with the bands upon a ta
ble to decrease the moisture and to
twist them. They are again roasted
and quickly dried. The leaves for
black tea are spread oat in tbe open
sir for soma time and then tossed
with the hands an til flaccid, roasted a
few hours In a soft and moist state.
They are finally dried over a charcoal
fire. The operation of rolling and
roasting is sometimes repeated sev
eral timea until the leaves have be
come the proper color.
Imagined They Ware
Warm, and They Were
I Imagination, like the consciousness
. of being well and fashionably dressed,
i bss a singular power of Imparting
( warmth to the frame, a writer In the
. Yoath's Companion remarks. If you
, think you are warm, you really are. So
i at least the following story from the
- Tatler would seem to prove:
r The late Charles Brookfield used to
, tell a story of a miserable railway
. journey that be had to undertake with
some friends In order to get to a cer
[ tain country house. It was bitterly
, cold, and by the time they got to tbe
. end of their journey It was pitch dark,
r and they were nearly frozen. A pri
vate omnibus had been sent to meet
. them, and they trooped In and pulled
dp the glass of the window.
, "I hope to goodness they've remem
bered to put In the foot warmers 1" ex
, claimed one of them, reconnolterlng
with his foot "Oh, thank goodness!
Yes, they're there."
Sure enough, they found, stored un
der the seats, two heavy contrivances,
which they hsuled into line and grate
fully rested their feet on. The effect
wss instantaneous. Immediately a de
licious warmth pertueated the soles of
their boots and thawed their icy feet
and sdbn their whole bodies were In a
glow.
"Hang It I" one of them remarked,
perspiring freely, "This Is almost too
much of a good thing. Let's have the
window down."
They were thoroughly warm and re
frekhjed by the time they arrived at the
house, where they were met by an apol
ogetic butler, who expressed regret
that the omnibus had been sent off
without foot warmers. It then turned
out that the objects on which they
bad been so cosily resting their feet
were two of their own gun cases. Their
own imaginations had warmed their
feet I
• Galen Earned Title,
"Father of Medicine"
The foundations of medical science
were laid In the early part of the First
century by Clandlua Galen.
Galen was born at Pergmum, in Asia
Minor. He spent some years at Alex
andria and latar went to Rome, where
be wrote a work on anatomy and even
performed dissections upon animals.
He considered that disease was
largely based upon the four humors of
man—bUe, blood, phlegm and blade
bile —which were regarded as related
to (but not Identical with) the four
elements-fire, air, earth and water
being supposed to have characters sim
ilar to these.
Thus, to bile, as to fire, were attrib
uted tbe properties of beat and dry
ness; to blood and air those of heat
and moistness; and finaUy black bile,
like earth, was said to be cold and dry.
"Hobblef Stairway
In a certain building In Skowhegan,
Maine, Is an unusual flight of stairs,
which hsve a rise* of 5 inches and a
correspondingly narrow tread, looking
as if they were made for the con
venience of small children. This stalr
wsy wss built according to tbe idea of
Dr. Henry Leavltt a dentist In the
building. It was tbe day of tbe hobble
Skirt. Clad in a hobble skirt, any worn
> an ascended a flight of ordinary stairs
with difficulty snd Doctor Leavltt
planned the stairs with this style In
I mind. About the time they were fin-
I Ished, the style passed to swalt Its res
urrection, but the stairs will remain—
I a memorial to a forgotten freak of
faahlon.
II
Louisiana Purchase
Payment for tbe Louisiana purchase
was not made In actual gold coin or
bullion. The exact cost of the pur-,
chaae was francs in tbe form
of United States 6 per cent bonds, rep
resenting s capital of $11,280,000. The
ultimate cost would Include not only
tbe par value of the bonds, but also
ten years' interest the cost of survey*
lng, of government exploration, and of
selling tbe lands. In addition, the
| American government agreed to as
sume and pay tbe obligations of France
to American citizens for French at
j tacks on American shipping. These
| obligations were estimated at $3,750,-
000, making a total payment of
$16,000,000.
Reason for Name's Change
Whistler was baptized James Ab
bott The McNeill (his mother's name)
was sdded shortly after be entered
West Point There is not a college In
tbe land where a student soonfer gets
a nickname. The Initials of WHlstlefs
name (J. A W.) combined with the'
self knowledge of his fluency of
speech quickly suggested to blm the
use thst would be made of them, and
be instinctively shrank from the com-,
blnation. The cadets had no access to
the records, and before any cadet'
knew bis initials. Whistler had -hrls-|
tened blmkelf with his mother's name
McNeill. The Abbott be slwsys used;
for legal and official documents, but'
eventually he dropped It for all other j
«►*'* . -
NO. 11
Fertile Soil Is
a Real Treasure]:
English Scientist Empha
sizes Importance of OP- j 1
ganic Matter.
A fertile soli Is to the fanner vhatji
a mine rich In ores Is to the mine op-, i
erator, but there the comparison most
end, for the good farmer never de
pletes the fertility of his soli. ,
"But what is a fertile soil?" asks;
A. W. Blair, soil chemist of the New-
Jersey agricultural experiment station. '
Soil Fertility Defined.
"Definitions will vary according to
the viewpoint of those giving them. ▲'
definition given by the noted •
scientist. Sir Henry Gilbert, in a lec
ture on 'Agricultural Investigations/)
delivered at Rutgers college forty,
years ago last* October, is at least foil
of meaning. He said: The history of
agriculture throughout the world, so
far as we know It, clearly shows that
a fertile soil [» one which has accumu
lated within ft the residue of ages of
previous vegetation, and that It be
comes infertile as this residue is ex
hausted; and enormous as are the ac- J
cumulations In the prairie lands of tha
American continent, It is still desir-,
able to postpone rather than to accel
erate the time of their exhaustion.'
Statement by English Expert.
"Another of England's distinguished '
scientists, Sir John RusseH, while on
a visit to the New Jersey experiment
station In October, 1924, made this
significant statement: The . English
farmer must get 80 bushels of wheat
and about 800 bushels of potatoes to
the acre or he loses money.'
"This definition Is given In term of
the soil's crop-producing power, but
the two definitions are not far apart
In actual meaning, since a soil that la
deficient In organic matter —the ac
cumulated residue, of ages of vegeta
tion mentioned by Doctor Gilbert—
will not produce 30 bushels of wheat)
or 300 bushels of potatoes to the acre. J
"In one of his lectures in this coun
try, Doctor Russell further empha-'
sized the Importance of a supply oft
organic matter aa follows: "One «C
the great needs' of agriculture in
America, aa I see It, Is a more general"
practice of saving and applying bam- ,
yard manure, the using of lime to
sweeten the soil, so that leguminous
crops may be grown, and the following
of proper crop rotations. The ffngthli
fanner, was forced to edopt this prac
tice long ago, because of the
acreage of farm lands.'
"The question of maintaining the
supply of organic matter In the soli ■
Is becoming more serious every year.
There Is yet mnch room for Improve
rs en tln methods of handling and using -
farm manure, and In the growing o£
green manure crops. American farm
ers must sooner or later adopt tbq
practices which long ago proved m
successful In Europe."
Cocklebur Plants Will
Cause Serious Injury, |
A series of experiments conducted
by the United States Department ot
Agriculture has shown that cockletow ;
plants are poisonous to swine, cattle;
sheep, and chickens. Some have eon
tended that deaths due to cocklehors
were caused by mechanical action of
the burs on the tender organs of the
animals rather than to poisonous qual
ities of the plant
After extended experiments with tht
animals mentioned above, the depart*
ment concludes that while the bars
msy produce some mechanical Injury,'
and while tbe seeds are very poison
ous, stock poisoning is caused by feed-
Ing on the very young plants before
the development of true leaves. If
there Is a shortage of good forage and
animals find the young plantn, they,
may easily eat enough to cause aert-.
ous results.
Feeding milk to pigs Immediately
after they have eaten cockleburs has
proved beneficial, probably because of
tbe fat content. Successful results may
lie expected also, when such oils and
fats us bscon grease, lard and linseed
oil are used as remedies, according to
experts.
Asparagus One of Most
Dependable Vegetables;
Remember that asparagus Is one at
the most dependable and nutritions J
vegetables that we have, and one rfi ,
the earliest to be ready for use In the!
spring. The Mary Washington variety!
Is considered the best for both homel
tye and commercial purposes. Set the!
crowns In the garden In rows four feeM
apart and two feet apart In the rowj
A good crop will be produced.
Prepare hills for melons, encumbers .
and squash now. Mix the manure well ;
with soli after adding a handful of
apld phosphate and kalnlt, but do not
outdoors until apple blossom*-- J
open. A few for very early use may
be starK-d In strawberry boxes placed
In'bothed*.