THE GLEANER I880ID KYEBY THDK8DAT. J. D. KERNODLE, Editor. $1.00 A YEAR, IN ADVANCE. Intend at tna Poatoffloa at Qrattan, R. O., aa aeooud-olaee matter. TOe editor wilt do. raeponalble tor /lews ezpreaeed by oorreepODbente. GRAHAM, N. C., Jan. 6, 1927. Congress, this week, passed a bill, introduced by Senator Over man, creating a new Federal district and providing for a third Federal judge for North Carolina. Of course a Republican judge aud district attorney will get the plums. The legislature has had under consideration for two or three weeks a bill that would make The Qreat Smoky Mountains National Park a reality. It carries an ap propriation of 12,000,000 for the acquisition of acreage. The bill will no doubt become a law this wdek. It is a big forward step and will no doubt be worth all it costs. The conservation of the great forests embraced in the boundary is a safe investment, aside from climatic and water control advantages. Farm Problem a Business Problem. "The so-called farm problem," says R. W. Dunlap, Assistant Sec retary of Agriculture, "is one of pure economics, and that, almost entirely of marketing. Here is where the farmer is seeking to establish himBelf on a new founda tion, where be can partake of our national prosperity in his just proportion and derive his profits on the same equality with the in dustrial man, the transportation man, the manufacturer, and the laborer. , "He is beginning to have a group consciousness for the first time in American history?he is follow ing the example set by the busi ness man, and has organized his fellow farmers into associations for their own advancement. He is studing his- problems, and by means of a thorough understand ing of the economic laws of supply and demand, production and dis tribution, marketing, surplus, etc., is the farm problem goinjg to be solved. When a great' basic industry like agriculture finally operates as a unit, guided by the immutablee oonomic laws, and be comes stabilized to the same de gree of self-understanding as new found in industries, then and only then will agriculture have come to Its proper place in our national economic scheme." Fighting The Smoke Evil. Great Britain, aroused to the evils of smoke-smothered cities, is rapidly turning away from the burning of raw coal in coal stoves and grate*. Of 28,600 houses built in Lon don during the past five years, practically all are equipped with gas stoves. In Glasgow, 95 per cent of the new houses are so equipped. Other cities show similar figures. i It is estimated that smoke and soot cost the city of London 26 ? million dollars annually in dam age to property alone, not count ing its direot relation to health. Engineers in the United States, joining with public health author ities, are fighting the smoke evil on grounds of economy. It is es timated that use of gas and ooke would save hundreds of millions of dollars a year in the large cities. Ike Weather. Thursday and Friday wera balmy apring-Iike days, bat it .began rain ing late Friday afternoon. Saturday was a rainy day and turned colder. Sunday waa uahered in with snow. Very little oi it stack. Monday morning there was just a little fce, and it turned colder. Tuesday morning there was more ice and a big frost. ' Wednesday it rained all the morning and cleared off about one o'elock. This (Thursday) morning started off with a heavy fog, which was dis pelled before noon by a spring-time k . The Best Fertilisers Are Less Expensive The growing demand for good fertilizers has resulted iu the production of highly concentrated mixtures which in 1 lie end are less expensive to use. "This tendency to use high an alysis fertilizers has resulted in such mixtures as 36-6-6, 30-5-5, 18-6-6, and 16-8-8 which are high ly concentrated compounds," says S. K. Jackson, fertility agronomist at State College. "Since the price of fertilizers is based on the cost of materials and the general ex pense of mixing, bagging, storage, commission and freight, it is less expensive to buy such mixtures thau the old low grade materials. One ton of a 16-8-8 mixture con tains the same amount of plant food as two tons of an 8-4 4 mixture. When a farmer buys two tons of the 8-4-4 goods, he pays expense charges for two tons of a mixture compared with ex pense charges of only one ton when he buys a 16-8-8 mixture Then, too, the high grade mixtures are made from only the very best of materials which furnish plaut food in a readily available form." Mr. Jackson states that a num ber of questions have arisen re garding the use of these highly concentrated mixtures. Farmers want to know the effect upon germination of seeds and the con dition of the fertilizers when mixed and stored. All of these problems are now being investi gated by the federal Bnreau of Soils and the Agricultural Exper iment Station. This work has been done in North Carolina for two years and the results indicate that these highly cocnentrated mixtures may reasonably find a place in fertilizer practice. More facts are needed, however, as to the effect on crop yields and the investigations are still in progress. Most of the research work with these mixtures is beiug doue iu cooperation with farmers of the State. The various soil tyves are being used and the crops which are important iu a given locality are being tested. Mr. Jackson believes that the high analysis goods will eventually come into more general nse. To Grow Tree* la New Club Project "Plant a forest and grow up with the trees." is a new slogan adopted by certain farm/ boys of North Carolina who will join the three new farm forestry projects reoently begun in the State. "Some of onr club boys have been quick to realize the possibil ities in growing a crop of timber aud have asked for projects in farm forestry," says R. W. Grae ber, extension forester at State College. "We have planned three projects which we think will in terest these young men and which will have much influence in im proving forestry conditions in the State. Onr new work will deal with thinning or improving the standing forests by proper cutting, with planting new forest trees and in identifying and col lecting woods and trees." Under the first project, the boys will take a definite area of one-half acre or more and carry oat simple rnles of thinning. All dead, defective and suppressed trees will be cut out and the strongest left .to grow into a money crop. Periodical harvests will be made as the timber be comes crowded and in this, the club boy wi'l get immediate profit for his labor. In the second project, >tr. Graeber explains, the boys will plant one-half acre or more in pine seedling*, selecting 'those spdeies best adapted to a given locality. By means of this project, Mr. Graeber hopes to get some of the abandoned acres put to profitable nse. The third project will serve to interest the ?oys in' knowing the trees growing on the home farm and to study the commercial nses of the different woods. The boys will gather specimens of all trees on their home farms aud in the community. They will study the common and botanical names of the trees and mount their spec imens in snob a way as to show the quality and finish of the wood This is largely an educational project. . V A bo a I 700 progressive farmers attended the eight meetings held in Gaston County recently in the interest of better balanced farm ing. The Gastonia Chamber of Commerce donated $26 towards the expenses of the campaign. Farmers of Catawba County shipped 161,000 pounds of poultry in cooperative shipments during 1926. This amount will be in creased CO preoent in 1927, states County Agent J. W. Hendricks. I Each Farm Uses 17 Cords of Wood Supplying the wood used for fuel on the farms of North Caro lina is uo light task and .this is one of the principal markets for the low grade timber produced on a'farin. "The farm itself is our biggest market for our lowgrade timber," says R. W. Graeber, extension forester for the State College of Agriculture. "A careful calcu lation will show that the farmers of this State use 4,816,348 cords of fuel wbod. This is an average of 17 cords per farm. If all this wood were placed in a continuous stack four feet high, it would ex tend for a distance of 7,302 miles. This means that it would make a single stack four feet high along every mile of State ^lighway in North Carolina with a double stack for Route number 10 from Beau fort to Ashevilleand a double stack along Route 20 fgom Wil mington to Asheville and a double stack along Route 50 from Rock ingham to Henderson. This "volume of wood is equivalent to a little over one-half a cord per"acre per year from all the farm wooa laud in the State." There is no reason therefore why landowners should permit timber to go to waste on their farms with such a homer market as is offered for fuel wood. The low grade timber should go to supply this need, leaving the sound, straight trees for lumber. Mr. Graeber states that in ad dition to the home market for low grade timber, the larger cities and towns are paying high prices for fuel wbod. Wood prepared for the stove is selling from $10 to ?12 per cord in many towns. Farmers around -Winston-Salem are getting from $1-5 tb $18 per cord for the wood which they sell in small quantities. Many farm ers of the State can easily pay their taxes from waste timber if they will only put it to its proper use. ^