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Modern Farm Methods
As Applied in the South.
Notes of Interest to Planter,
Fruit Grower and Stockman
Trouble in Securing a Stand of Clover
T. H. W., Franklin, T(pnn., writes:
What is the causa of land becoming
"clover sick?” Land has been in
.Wheat for a number of years. What
Constituents of commercial fertilizer
•nd proportion would you recom
mend? The soil is deep, loose, sandy
clay sub-soil. What are the relative
natural values of rye and red clover':
Would cowpeas preceding the seed
ing to clover enhance the chances of
taking?
Answer: The cause of the land be
coming “clover sirk” may be due to
one of several things, chief among
which is the poverty of the soil in
one or more of the essential ele
ments of plant food. Some claims
are now being advanced that the
trouble is due to a specific organism
found in certain soils. Just how im
portant this claim is can not be stat
ed at the present time, and if the
trouble is altogether due to organ
isms it is likely that some remedy
can be found sooner or later for the
trouble. For example, they may
starve to death like many of the use
ul forms of bacteria if clover is
not grown on tho land for several
years, and undoubtedly the failure to
rotate crops is one of the causes of
tho so-called clover sickness. The
plant food of tho soil must be kept
In equilibrium, and tho one cropping
•ystem which Is so often followed on
eur farms causes Borne of the neces
sary elements of plant food to be ex
hausted before others. To secure a
Stand of clover In your section, it. will
first be necessary to supply tho soil
with an abundance of vegetable mat
ter, and for this purpose there is
nothing better than the cowpea. Then,
•n application of at least 300 pounds
of high-grade acid phosphate with
100 pounds of muriate of potash
should be applied ns a top dressing
and worked in with a harrow before
•ending tho wheat and clover. Only
• thin seeding of wheat should be
used if tho clover Is sown in the
fall. Liming the land will also bene
fit It. From 1000 to 2000 pounds
per acre is not too much to use. The
lime may be scattered over the sur
face with a fertilizer distributor or
by means of a manure spreader. The
lime should be applied as a top
dressing and harrowed in, say ten
days or two weeks before sowing
the wheat and clover. There is much
poor clover seed on the market and
It is important to test it and make
(Certain that it is of a good quality
before seeding. Doep and thorough
tillage, heavy fertilization, judicious
crop rotation, and the use of plenti
ful supplies of farmyard manure will
•ome aLi nearly Insuring a successful
•tand of clover as any other known
practice of the present, day. Wo have
•eldom failed to securo a good stand
of red clovor when we could top
dress the land liberally with well
rotted farmyard raanuro. The dearth
of farmyard manure on many of our
lamps is ono reason why so much
difficulty Is experienced In obtaining
clover at tho present time. Red
clover is a legume and has the power
of gathering atmospheric nitrogen
through the bacteria which live in
the nodules growing on Us roots
under normal conditions. A good
growth of red clover turned under
would add anywhere from seventy
five to 100, or possibly 125 pounds of
nitrogen to an acre of land. It would
depend a good deal on the vigor of
the growth made by the clover and
the season. Rye, on the other hand,
would add nitrogen (o the soil gath
ered directly from the air. The one
Crop, therefore, is far more valuable
thau the other, though they would
both provide a largo bulk of organic
matter which would have a decided
Influence on changing the mechanical
condition of tho soil. Rye makes
#n excellent winter cover for the
land, and if plowed under early
in the spring and followed by cow
peas cut for hay or plowed under
would help to bring the land in good
condition for the fall seeding of
clover and wheat. —Professor A. M.
Soule.
Teach Breeding.
We look with admiration upon our
achievements in stock breeding. What
has been accomplished along (his line
adds millions annually to the wealth
of our people.
Every farmer, though he raise only
a few pigs and a colt and a calf an
nually, sees that these inherit the
best blood of their kind at his com
mand. If Uncle Sera's nieces and
nephews could only boast such nrui- ,
grees as the swine and cattle of our
land, we would Indeed be a mighty
people. But, apparently the quality
of our posterity is of no cone- :u.
Anything will do.
However, the elimination urf scrub
stock, physically, intellectually and
morally, from the human race is u
hopeless proposition—there’s no
money in It —so I’ll pass on to peach
breeding.
There are two ways in which great
improvements may be accomplished
in this work. The more simple of
these is through bud variation,
which is the parent of individuality
in trees.
Take an orchard of any given va
riety. Ninety odd per cent, of those
trees will show no characteristics that
are not typical of that variety, but
an occasional tree will be found that
stands head and shoulders above its
fellows In the number of good quali
ties to its credit, while a few others
will be notorious for their lack of
them. This is the product of bud
variation, and by using these prize
winning trees in each generation for
budding material, what may not be
accomplished? Asa matter of fact,
however, nurserymen usually use the
prodigal trees for propagating wood.
The reason 'a obvious; to use the
best would be more expensive and
they must meet competition.
The other method is by breeding,
pure and simple. Control the pollina
tion in certain blossoms of the varie
ties you wish to cross. The seedling
from this cross will usually show
characteristics of both parents. It
may be inferior to both or it may sur
pass them. This method is slow and
tedious and the reward uncertain,
but when it does come it may be a
Washington or a Roosevelt—who
knows?—A. J. Miller, Evergreen,
Ala.
Sheep on Every Farm.
The time is ripe, or nearly ripe,
says Wallace's Farmer, for the In
troduction of a flock on every farm.
Farmers are now coming to the point
when they can fence and cross-fence
their farms with woven wire, thus
enabling them to feed their sheep
over the whole farm instead of con
fining them to a permanent pasture.
The permanent pasture very soon
becomes sheep-sick, and the farmer
becomes discouraged. However, with
sheep-tight fences he can use his
sheep on the stubble fields or on the
aftermath of the meadows, and he
can fatten his lambs In the cornfield
to the benefit both of the lambs and
cornfield. There is more money for
the amount Invested in sheep than
in any other kind of live stock we
know of. Sheep are high now; the
probability Is that they will continue
high. Sheep may be lower than they
are now—probably will be—but we
do not expect to live long enough to
see sheep sell at the low price preva
lent ten years ago. Even then, how
ever, they were profitable. We will
never have clean farms until we in
troduce sheep husbandry. With the
exception of thistles, mullen and
cockle-burs in their mature stage,
sheep will eat every kind of weed
that, we know of on the farm, and
profit by the eating of it. A prop
erly fenced farm with a hundred
sheep will never be badly infested
with weeds. Therefore, once more
we say, keep a few sheep. Don’t
buy many, for two reasons. They
are high now, and the sheep busi
ness is one that must be learned—
not from books or papers, but from
actual experience in keeping sheep.
A flock of twenty-five will increase
faster than the average man’s knowl
edge of how to keep them.
Honesty in Racking and Selling.
While farmers have as much busi
ness honesty as any class of men,
there are some who are pot above de
ception when it comes n. packing and
selling certain kinds of produce. The
mixing of bad eggs with good ones,
putting small potatoes and apples
in the middle of the barrel and sell
ing old roosters and hens for young
fowls, are practices far too common.
They do not pay in the long run. A
farmer soon gets a reputation for
his products, and whether it be good
or bad depends entirely on himself.
The reason that some men have
no trouble in selling their fruit, vege
tables. poultry and dairy products at
top market prices, or above, is large
ly the care which they take in grad
ing and packing. Some of their
neighbors would get less money for
the same goods if they carried the
load to town, for they have been
known in the past to !:? indifferent
or dishonest in their methods. If
you have an old hen, sell her as such.
Then, wren you go to town with
young fow ls yon will have no trouble
in selling them for what they are.
The great difficulty in working up a
private trade among city and town
people is due to the deception which
many farmers and pedlers have prac
tised on them in tho past.—3l. W.
Swope, Todd. Teun.
C r uany has nearly one-half of
,hj breweries of die world.
COFFIN HELD
BEARDED BODY
Revelation on Opening Druce Grave
in London By Authorities.
SOLUTION OF MYSTERY
Fairy Tale of Perjured Witnesses is Ex
ploded After Ten Years of Legal
Proceedings-Buried in 1864.
The body of Thomas Charles Druce,
in High Gate, cemetery, London, was
exhumed Monday morning, just forty
three years to a day after its burial.
The cofiin was found to contain the
remains of a human body, thus ex
ploding the romantic tale told by Rob
ert C. Caldwell and bthers during the
recint hearing of the Druce perjury
case that it contained a roll of lead.
The official statement given out by
the home office and others officially
present at the exhumation seems ef
fectively to prove that the body burled
in 1864 was actually that T. C. Druce.
The authorized statement follows:
“The coffin opened and found to con
tain the body of an aged bearded man;
the plate on the coffin bore the name
of Thomas Charles Druce.”
The scene at High Gate cemetery
when the vault was opened was re
markable. All the entrances to the
cemetery were surrounded by cordons
of police. Only those persons who had
passes from the home office were ad
mitted to the grounds. George Hol
lamby Druce, who claims he is the
rightful heir to the Portland duke
dom and to its vast estate, tried un
successfully twice to get into the cem
etery.
The operation began at daybreak
Monday with the removal of the too
most coffins in the vault containing the
bodiew of a wife and a son of T. C.
Druce. It was nearly 11:30 before
the coffin was brought ready for open
ing and inspection. The top was
quickly unscrewed and the inner cas
ing of lead cut open.
There was no need for the dictum of
the eminent surgeon, Augustus J. Pep
per, to assure all present that human
remains lay in the coffin.
The Druce vault has thus given up
its secret after ten years of legal pro
ceedings which have cost a considera
ble fortune. A large part of this mon
ey was obtained from servant girls
and other workers who were induced
to buy shares in a company formed
to prosecute the claims of George Hol
lamby Druce against the estate of the
duke of Portland, which produces an
annual income of $750,000.
The charge of perjury against Her
bert Druce is effectively disposed of,
and those persons who have sworn to
the placing of lead instead of a hu
man body in the coffin have been dis
credited.
A New York dispatch says: Robert
C. Caldwell, whose testimony as a wit
ness in the Druce case led to the
reopening of the grave of T. C. Druce,
Is now at the home of his daughter
at New Brighton, Staten Island. He
is under $.',000 bond to answer to a
charge of perjury, preferred by the Brit
ish authorities in connection with the
story he told in , the London court.
Caldwell was afftSted when he arrived
from Europe. December 21.
Caldwell’s story of the alleged dual
personality of the duke of Portland
was the real sensation of one of the
most remarkable legal eases which has
ever engaged the attention of the
British courts. The reopening of the
Druce (grave was undertaken as a
final effort of the government to prove
that Caldwell’s testimony was “wil
ful and corrupt perjury.”
Caldwell’s story was to the effect
that the duke of Portland and T. C.
Druce, a London storekeeper, were one
and the same. He had known - the
duke of FortMiid under both names, he
said, and at the request of the duke
had arranged a pretended death and
mock funeral of Druce, so that his
dual personality c.,uld be buried
CATHOLIC PARADERS STONED.
Free Thinkers n Cuban Province Inaugu
rate Incipient Riot.
Tn Sail Antonio de los Banos, Ha
vana province, the Catholics were pa
rading a few days ago, carrying images
of the virgin saint. Antonio, as pa
tron saint, when Free Thinkers stoned
them, shouting. “Death to priests!”
‘Down with .the Catholic religion!”
The Catholics, who numbered 4,000,
resisted. Three children in the proces
sion were the only ones hurt. The
Free Thinkers were finally dispersed
by the police.
STILL GREAT EXPERT.
Doctor Dies of Lockjaw After Staking
His Reputation That Disease
Would Be Fatal.
By dying Thursday night of lockjaw,
Dr. Joseph Plesen of Chicago justified
his own expert opinion, and he will
be regarded as having been infallible
In regard to lockjaw—the one disease
of which he had made a special study
and In his treatment of which he
had won his reputation.
Had Dr. Pieten lived, a blow would
have been dealt to his reputation as a
tetanus expert and he would no longer
have been regarded as infallible by his
brother physicians’ For Dr. Piesen had
diagnosed his own case and declared
that he would die, and his death justi
fied his diagno: is.
At the Ch.cag > Baptist hospital,
where Dr. Pi .-sea was being treated,
he indicated by signs to the attend
ing physicians that he realized that
the attack was lockjaw from which
he was suli'e.ii.g w..u.d prove fatal,
and he begged tlum to end his life
with a drug.
The surgeons about him, inured as
they were to the su..erlngs of others,
hesitated before the dumb appeals of
this man of science, probably more
skilled in the effects of the disease
which had seized him than any other
man in this country, and then turned
away, for fear that they might grant
his wish.
Before the verdict of the dying man
on his own life, they were silenced, for
there could have been no higher au
thority than his opinion.
When he found that the law, writ
ten and unwritten, would net permit
his fellow's to end his sufferings, Dr
Piesen resigned himself to the cars
of the nurse. He heard his physi
cians say that if he lived another day
there was hope for him. He shook
his head. They pretended not to no
tice and left him in the charge of a
nurse, W'ith soothing lotions to quiet
his pain.
Aud Thursday night death came to
justify the opinion of Dr. Piesen.
On Christmas Eve, while arranging
a Christmas tree for his children in
his home, Dr. Piesen was suddenly
stricken with acute lockjaw. The in
jury which brought on tetatus was a
compound fracture of the nose, sus
tained a week ago. Dr. Piesen was
going through a dark passageway lead
ing from his laboratory to another
part of the establishment when he fell
down a short flight of stairs and
struck his nose on a board. The
hurt caused an abrasion of the skin
and the germs of tetanus infected it.
He diagnosed his own case and, fore
seeing death, directed his family to
send him to a hospital;* he then sent
for a lawyer and made his will.
INDIANA PULLS FOR FAIRBANKS.
Biennial Love Feast of Republicans Held
at Indianapolis.
Resolutions were adopted unani
mously Thursday in Indianapolis at
the biennial love feast of Indiana re
publicans urging the nomination of Vice
President Charles W. Fairbanks for
the presidency. The resolutions were
introduced by Governor J. Frank Man
ly and were adopted with a round of
cheers by the thousand and more act
ive party workers of, the state who
were present.
ACCOUNTS SOLD AT AUCTION.
Claim on Knickerbocker Trust Cos., Brings
Sixty Cents on the Doliar.
A depositor's account of si,i4S in
the Knickerbocker Trust company, at
New York, which suspended during the
recent financial depression, was sold
at auction Thursday for S6BB, 60 cents
on the dollar. The sale was made at
a weekly auction of stocks and bonds.
Last week an account of SIO,OOO bid
was made by the owner at 66 cents on
the dollar.
At the age of 21 most men are too
young to realize that they don't know
it all.
NIGHT RIDERS IN A PANIC.
Kentucky Authorities Promise to Make it
Extremely Hot for Them-
A special term of the Christian coun
ty, Kentucky, circuit court has been
ordered for the purpose of rigidly in
vestigating the recent raid of night
riders on Hopkinsville when about
$200,000 worth of property was destroy
ed and the local authorities and state
administration have made it plain that
neither effort nor cost will be spared
to track down and put in the peniten
tiary every one of the masked riders.
The activity of the state and local
authorities has caused a panic among
the night riders and their friends.
NAVY STIRRED
BY WRANGLE
Between Admiral Brownson and
Surgeon-General Rixie.
DEFI IS SHOWN TEDDY
Brownson Refused to Transmit Order of
President Assigning Dcctir to Com
mand of hospital bhip.
A Washington special says: Not
since the days pivcening the passage
of the personnel law ten years ago
has the feeling bet., ten the line and
staff of the navy be.n so acute as it
is just now, as the result of the re
fusal of Admiral Brownson to trans
in it orders from his superior officer,
the president of the Ln.ud States, as
signing a naval surgeon to command
a vessel in the navy.
In the of the personnel act, it
was Mr. Roosevelt, then assistant sec
retary of the navy, who acted the part
of the pacificator and succeeded in
bringing the two warring factions to
gether in support of the legislation
which for a decade past, though a
makeshift, has served to maintain
peace between the two factions in tho
navy. In the present instance, how
ever, the of the president to
reconcile the surgeons and the line of
ficers has failed, and it is probable
that the whole controversy will be
heard on its merits in congress. This
is much deprecated by conservative offi
cers in both line and staff, as like
ly to prove prejudicial to the navy’s
interest as a whole, for they believe
that In order to succeed in securing
from congress the four great battle
ships, the cruisers, scouts and subma
rines which form a part of the year’s
naval estimates, in addition to secur
ing legislation that will better the lot
of naval officers personally, the navy
must present a united front, which
cannot be done if just at the begin
ning of a session, line and staff are
to engage in strife.
Through the published statement of
Surgeon General R.ixey, the merits of
the doctors’ side of the case in this in
stance have been clearly set forth. Line
officers believe c,that in common fair
ness they should have a hearing. But
they are in an embarrassing position
in that respect. Admiral Brownson
preceded his resignation by a cold,
clear and logical presentation of tho
reasons why he-objected to command
a naval ship, even if the vessel were
exclusively devoted to hospital uses.
That statement was submitted to the
president, and, notwithstanding the
staff has had its say in print, applica
tions at the white house for this let
ter are met with refusal. Now it is
clearly impossible for Admiral Brown
son or any of his line officers to make
public a copy of the letter without
incurring the event of a courtmartial
on charges of disrespect toward their
superior officer, the president of the
United States. So they can only look
for a change in the executive mind
or for the congressional investigation
which will develop all the facts.
It may be stated in the absence ot
the text of Admiral Brownson's let
ter that his objection to the execution
of the president’s order to place a
surgeon in command of the hospital
ship Relief was twofold. In the first
place, like every line officer, lie be
lieved that the subordination of any
line officer, no matter how low in
grade, to a staff officer on shipboard,
was bad policy and subversive of na
val discipline. But a stronger objec
tion in his mind was that the pro
posed action was clearly illegal inas
much as it is forbidden by law or na
val regulation to assign a staff officer
to command a ship. It is only fair
to the staff to state that this is de
batable ground and that it would not
be difficult to construe the naval laws
and regulations in either way. So it is
not to be doubted that whan the sub
ject comes before congress for consid
eration the lawyers in that body will
find material to support either conten
tion.
GUILTY COUPLE MAKE ESCAPE.
Erring Parson Cooke and Floretta Whaley
Elude Officers at ’Frisco.
Rev. Jere Knode Cooke, formerly
pastor of the fashionable St. Georga
church, at Hempstead. Long Island,
and Floretta Whaley, the 17-year-okl
heiress with whom he eloped sight
months ago. deserting a wife to whom
he had been manic and for nine years,
stole away Monday from the little flat
which they had oc upied at 1199 Green
street in San Francisco, where they
we re discovered Sunday, living uuder
the name of Bc.com taking with them
their baby boy born two months ago.J*