Our Part in Feeding the Nation
(Special Information Service, U. 8. Department of Agriculture.)
MORE FUEL FROM THE W00DL0TS.
It Is Where Team-Hauled Wood Can Be Used Instead of Railroad-Hauled
Coal That Changes of Fuel Should Be Made.
FARMERS ASSIST
j COAL STRINGENCY
Use of More Wood Would Aid
Economy in Commodity.
MANY DOLLARS ARE IDLE
It I* Where Team-Hauled Wood Can
Be Used Instead of Railroad
Hauled Coal That Change of
Fuel Would Help.
Are you a coal burner when you
night be a wood burner? Have you
a woodland that Isn't working? What
can the town man and the surburban
dweller do about the coal stringency?
Much would be accomplished toward
meeting the present situation arising
from the unparalleled demand for coal
and from the great burden on the na
tion's railroads, it is believed, If not
only the farmers who have woodlands
but city and suburban real estate own
ers possessing more or less wooded
tracts of land would draw on these
areas for a part, at least, of their fuel
supply. In the neighborhood of small
cities as well as larger ones there are
many woodlots from which much fuel
wood could be obtained without en
croachment on the needed shade trees
and without detracting from the
beauty of the landscape. In fact,
proper thinning in many cases will
help the development of desirable
trees.
Save By Burning Wood.
As an instance of how coal can be
saved by the burning of wood, the
United States department of agricul
ture has cited figures for 17 northern
and eastern states with a rural popu
lation of about 20,000,000 which, It is
estimated, uses annually about 18,
000,000 tons of coal. It is figured that
the substitution of wood for one
fourth of the coal burned by farmers
and for one-tenth of the coal burned
In villages would result in a saving of
nearly 3,000.000 tons, or between 65,
000 and 70,000 carloads.
It Is where team-hauled wood can be
used instead of railroad-hauled coal
that the change of fuel should be
made. While it is not cxpected that
the substitution of wood for coal
could be complete, it Is true that for
heating many kinds of buildings wood
is the more convenient and ordinarily
the cheaper fuel.
This is particularly true in buildings
for which heat Is required only occa
sionally, bu? then is wanted in large
volume at short notice.
Arrange for Burning Wood.
Furnaces are built especially for
burning wood in three or four-foot
lengths. If a stove grate is too coarse
for wood a sheet-iron cover over a
good part of the surface will make It
suitable, or a few bricks can be used.
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PRIVATE WOODLOTS HELP
MEET A COAL SHORTAGE.
?
Throwing open the woodlot on
his suburban place to all who
would come and out, a Washing
ton (D. C.) man aided shivering
families to meet the coal strin
gency a few weeks ago. Then
he located some 5,000 cords more
in either fallen or dead standing
timber in wooded lands nearby
and obtained the consent of the
owners to allow the public to cut
fuel in needed quantities under
? proper supervision.
Are the woodlots around your g
-j town doing their part in the fuel a
emergency?
Wood grates are sold in two pieces
which can be inserted through the fire
door and placed on top of the regular
grate.
In heating value one standard cord
of well-seasoned hickory, oak, beech,
birch, hard maple, ash. elm, locust or
cherry is approximately equal to one
too (2,000 pounds) of anthracite coal.
Of soft maple a cord and a half is re
quired to equal one ton of coal, and of
cedar, poplar or basswood, two cords.
One cord of mixed wood, well sea
soned, equals in heating value at least
one ton of average-grade bituminous
coal.
The most common method of making
cord wood Is to cut the trees into four
foot lengths with an ax and split the
larger pieces. The pieces are then
piled In a standard cord, which is
eight feet long, four feet high and four
feet wide. The contents are 128 cubic
feet, of which 70 per cent is wood and
30 per cent air.
6est Heating Value.
To have the best heating value as
well as to reduce the cost of hauling,
wood should be thoroughly seasoned,
HOW MUCH WOOD WOULD
A WOODCUTTER CUT IF?
jx Taking white oak as fairly
C typical of the hard woods and
jj white pine for the soft woods,
S the figures below will show ap- ^
5 proximately the amount of cord
5 wood that may be cut from trees
2 of different sizes. The figures
5 will vary considerably with the
c extent at which the tops and
ji branches are utilized and on the
X taper of the tree trunks. With
S forest-grown trees, utilizing fhe
? branches and tops to about two
Inches, these amounts may be
expected :
White ?ak.
Ten Inches in diameter, 50 feet
high, one-sixth to one-seventh of
a cord ; 15 inches in diameter, 60
feet high, about two-fifths of a
cord; 24 inches In diameter, 70
feet high, one and one-fifth
cords.
White Pine.
Ten Inches in diameter, 50 feet
2 high, one-eighth of a cord ; 15
5 inches in diameter, 00 feet high,
c one-third of a cord ; 24 inches in
?5 diameter, 70 feet high, eeven
? eighths of a cord.
which means drying it from six to
eight months when piled so as to get
a good circulation of air. However,
50 per cent of the moisture may be
removed in three months.
Because of the unusual demand for
cord wood It Is believed that the
present time offers unparalleled op
portunity not only for farmers to Im
prove their woodlands by cutting out
the poorer trees and selli*g them, but
for private and public owners of
wooded tracts to clear their lands at
a profit. Communities which feel th??y
are threatened with a serious fuel
shortage will do well to take measures
to stimulate the cuttrng of wood. Such
action may be viewed as part of
America's co-operation in the national
endeavor to feed and sustain Ameri
ca's army and allies.
I
Without any special Inconvenience
and without any risk to health or well
being, the sugar consumption of the
average person can be lowered. Any
one who uses sugar in excessive
amounts will be the better for using
less.
More Food From New Islands.
Our new possessions in the Atlan
tic ? the Virgin islands ? will become
more nearly self-supporting if the aim
of the United States department of
agriculture is realized. A representa
tive of the federal department In
vestigated the agricultural situation In
these Islands last season and made
suggestions Intended to help the peo
ple there to produce more food.
The only crops the Investigator found
under extensive cultivation were sugar
cane and Sea Island cotton, the yields
of which are low compared with other
West Indian islands. The representa
tive found that there was an almost
complete absence of vegetables and
fruit on the markets, indicating very
limited supplies of locally grown food
materials. Stock growing is followed
to some extent, but improved stock Is
needed, better forage plants should be
introduced, and more attention la
needed to the proper handling of stock,
dairying and other farm enterprises.
TRADING IN PULLETS AND
HENS IS NOW FORBIDDEN.
Washington, Feb. 12. ? Trading in
live or freshly killed hens and pullets
anywhere in the United States is for
bidden in an order announced today
by the United States food adminis
tration. February 23 is fixed as the
date when fresh stock must be dis
posed of and adds that additional
stocks may not be purchased.
By restricting the killing of chick
ens which have been heavy layers,
the administration hopes to increase
the production of eggs and allow
them to be put in storage at a rea
sonable price.
Make the Hens Help Win the Fight.
In an effort to stimulate North
Carolina farmers and poultry keep
ers to do their part toward doubling
our poultry supply during this year,
B. F. Kaupp, head of the poultry
work of the College and Experiment
Station is recommending that in
creased poultry production for North
Carolina be included as a vital part of
the general food production cam
paign.
The ten following rules if observed
will aid in increasing our production:
1. Keep more pure bred hens of a
good laying strain.
2. Keep one breed, the best you can
get.
3. Select your breeding eggi from
the best layers ? the latest hens to
molt in the fall and winter.
4. Select large uniform eggs of
even shape and color.
5. Hatch pullets in March, April
and May.
6. Keep plenty of green feed where
the hens can graze it regularly.
7. Provide good feed and housing,
and provide water in clean vessels.
8. Feed a variety of grains, such as
wheat, corn, oats, and sunflower seed.
9. Feed a dry mash of corn meal,
cottonseed meal, wheat bran and
shorts or ground oats.
10. Keep a good scratch of straw
and throw all grain feed in it to in
duce exercise. ? N. C. Extension Ser
vice.
Legume Cultures and Pulverized
Limestone.
Take no chances this year. Get the
best ? most virile and effective ? in
oculating: bacterial cultures from the
N. C. Department of Agriculture for
your spring and summer legume;
crops ? clovers, alfalfa, peas, beans
and other legumes.
Pulverized limestone is recognized
as one of the most essential factors
in economic crop production in N. C.
The farmers of this state have a lime
stone pulverizing plant in east Ten
nessee that will soon be ready to ship
high grade pulverized stone into N.
C. at cost.
W. A. GRAHAM,
Commissioner of Agriculture.
Carelessness and a Match.
"A boy hunting for his coat in a
dark closet, using matches for a
light," is the cause assigned by an
Assistant State Fire Marshal for a
fire which resulted in the total de
destruction of a house in Daviess
County.
The above is but one of the many
reports of carelessness that are re
ceived daily by the State Fire Mar
shal. Such fires as the above help to
make up the terrible annual fire
waste due to preventable causes, and
serve to emphasize more clearly the
need of greater caution on the part
of citizens to the end that the num
ber of fires of careless origin may be
reduced to the minimum.
Careless fires at this time are more
heinous, when the Nation is facing
the enormous task of feeding and
clothing not only its own people, but
those of its allies. We play into the
hands of our enemies when we per
mit the needless destruction by fire
of natural and manufactured resour
ces. A single fire can nullify the
labor of hundreds of persons and de
stroy the production of thousands of
acres. ? Indiana Bulletin.
His Wife Did It.
A man who had been drinking too
much liquor for his own good was
induced to sign the pledge the other
day. His wife was delighted. She
took the document and said:
"You must let me have it. I will
keep it for you."
So the paper was confided to her
custody. On the next day the man
was drinking again as freely as be
fore.
"How is this?" asked a friend.
"You signed the pledge yesterday,
and now you are drinking whiskey
again."
"It's all right," replied the pledge
signer in unsteady tones, "I didn't
have to keep that pledge. My wife
says she'll keep it for me. That's
the kind of a wife to have, old fel
low." ? Chicago Herald.
CALL AT THE HERALD OFFICE
and get your 1918 Turner's North
| each. By mail 12 Centa.
Big Lot Fertilizers Now on Hand 1
At Smithfield and Four Oaks!
200 Tons 8-3-3
200 Tons 8-2-2
50 Tons Nitrate Soda
25 Tons Muriate Potash
Cotton Seed Meal
And Acid
Mr. J. W. Sanders has charge of our Fertilizer
business at Four Oaks. We can deliver in Car Load
Lots or in smaller lots anywhere in county.
We have on hand Two Car Loads nice Buggies.
Well selected stock of Furniture.
Biggest Stock of Dry Goods we have ever carried.
Give us a call and let us show you our goods.
Cotter-Underwood Company
Smithfield, N. C.
RailRoadEmbargoes
Do not effect us? We have our Guano houses
full, so come to see us today for
Soda,
Cotton Seed Meal,
Acid,
Obers 8-3-3, 8-2-2
%
And Potash.
Come and come quick, there may come
a time when Fertilizers will not move freely,
but we can supply you today. See us at
Smithfield and Four Oaks, N. C.
Austin-Stephenson Co.