The Henry County weekly. (McDonough, GA.) 18??-1934, January 10, 1908, Image 2

The Henry County weekly., January 10, 1908, Image 2

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Newspaper Page TextSouthern Agricultural Topics. Modern Method* That Are Helpful to Farmer, Fruit Grower and Stockman. ■ ' Pecan Culture in the South. There seems to be a growing in terest in the cultivation of pecans for profit. Many inquiries are being made for the adaptability of Missis sippi soil for the successful and profitable culture of pecans. In order that interested parties may have authentic and reliable informa tion as to the best varieties, how they should be planted, cultivated, and cared for, here is a quotation from Professor George L. Clothier, forester and plant breeder, agricul tural and mechanical college, Mis sissippi: The fact that one should consider before a pecan orchard is planted that planting is a long-time invest ment, from which returns need not be expected for ten or fifteen years. That the pecan tree is not any more likely to reproduce a true variety from seed than the apple, is another fact that should not be ignored. Some people pay fabulous prices for seed of paper shell varieties to plant, hoping to grow seedlings possessing all the good qualities of the parent trees. These people are doomed to disappointment, for there is but one way to reproduce a variety, and that is by budding or grafting a scion of the valuable sort on a seedling stock. Paper shell pecans for seed are worth no more than the wild nuts collected In the woods. Since cultivation of the pecan first began a number of varieties having desirable qualities, such as largeness of fruit, thinness of shell, plumpness of kernel, or flavor of meat, have been discovered and sold by nurserymen under various names. These are without exception wild seedlings, that possess such qualities, that they have been singled out for cultivation from among the millions of natural trees which grow in the woods. Traveling agents have been known to sell bitternut hickory seedlings, pulled from the Southern swamps, for grafted pecans. This fraud is not likely to be discovered until the agent got his money and gone, since the buds of the pecan and the bitter nut are very similar. Even if the tree peddler should furnish pecan trees of the best varieties, he must make a very large profit to earn his salary and traveling expenses, and the purchaser pays the bill every time. Before planting a pecan orchard, the grower should give consideration and thought to the selection of the site. The wild trees are more thrifty and attain the largest dimensions on rich alluvial bottom lands. The vigor of the tree in the production of wood In such situations Is likely to cause tardiness in bearing. Upland la to be preferred to bottom land, If nuts are the crop desired. A soil containing considerable lime is pre ferable and it should be only mod erately fertile and well drained. Many gfowers advise spacing the trees forty to fifty feet apart. The writer believes, however, that thirty feet Is wide enough. When the tree begins to bear, there will be more trees to bear, consequently a larger crop. When their crowns begin to crowd, the poorest trees should be thinned out. Thinning must be com menced at the right time and con tinued until the full grown trees are at least sixty feet apart. While the young trees are growing to bearing size, the space between the rows should be devoted to field crops, such as cotton or corn, in order that an Income may be obtained from the land. Cow peas should be sown among the corn, and both the corn stalks and pea vines should be turned under with the plow, in the fall. The frequent tillage of the soil neces sary to grow the field crop will be of great advantage to the trees. During the period of the cultivation, grasses should not be permitted to gain a foothold In the orchard. Grass is one of the worst enemies with which a tree has to contend. Of course, live stock must be rigidly excluded from the orchard. Cattle and trees do not thrive together, and this rule not only holds good for the orchard and shade trees, but for the forest as well. Farmers should take care of their wild pecan trees and have them top grafted with fine paper shell varieties. This is the quickest mode of getting a pecan orchard. The top grafted trees, if of bearing size when grafted, will begin to be productive in four or five years. The nuts of the grafted varieties will bring twenty-five to thirty cents per pound, instead of five or ten cents, the price usually ob tained for the wild pecan. Try the pecan raising at first in a small way until you learn the busi ness, and then extend your orchard. —H. Houseman, Mississippi. Preservation of Fence Posts. Experimental tests made by the government with a number of infer ior woods have shown that it is prac ticable to subject them to preserva tive treatment by which they will be rendered durable and as lasting as the soundest oak in many cases. This is of the highest Importance in connection with the use of fence posts, telegraph and telephone poles, crossties and constructive timbers of many kinds. It is of special impor tance to farmers in many parts of the country, for with them the fence post problem is serious. Almost every farmer in the South and East knows that the supply of locust, white oak, cedar and other durable woods has become so re stricted in the last few years, that their cost has become almost prohi bitive. In the Middle West the sup ply of good post material always was limited, while in many places In the Far West It Is becoming more and more expensive to build fences be cause good timber for posts is be coming very scarce. The fence post problem, therefore, appeals to the farmers of the whole country, and they will be benefited by any pro cess by which a poor post may be made to give double or treble ser vice. The preservative treatment can be employed more successfully with cer tain kinds of wood than with others, but it fortunately so happens that the open-grained, quick-growing, quick decaying timbers are the easiest of all woods to treat. Among these are old field or loblolly pine of the South, lodgepole and western yellow pine, cottonwood, willow, buckeye, beech, sycamore and others In the West and Middle West. Woods which decay most rapidly in their natural state, with few ex ceptions, are best adapted for preser vative treatment. This is important because it renders cheap and abun dant timbers available and makes use of what would otherwise be wasted. The process of treating farm tim ber is simple, and the cost is low. The apparatus may be set up and operated by a farmer on his own premises, or two or more farmers or timber users may join and lessen the eipense for each. The only appara tus required is an open iron tank, large enough to receive fence posts in an upright position. Shingles, stakes and other small timbers may be treated in the same tank. The cost of the treatment, after the apparatus is ready, depends upon the size of the timbers and whether the entire posts or only the butts are treated, and the thoroughness of the treatment. When freight rates permit the shipping of the preserva tive at a moderate expense, the total cost of a treated post of old field pine, lodgepole pine, cottonwood or similar timber, ought not to exceed that of a high grade post in its natu ral state, and is often less. The government considers the in vestigations in the preservative treat ment o! timber of such importance that the business of one branch of a bureau in the Department of Agri culture —the “Office of Wood Preser vation” in the Forest Service is given over entirely to the work of experiment in co-operation with rail road companies, mining corporations and individuals in prolonging the life of railroad ties, mine props, bridge timbers, fence posts and trans mission poles. Advice and practical assistance are furnished all who re quest it of the Forester. Tlie length ening of life of timber means the saving of thousands of dollars annu ally through doing away with the heavy expense of labor and cost of material for renewals. Right Kind of Farming. Mr. J. C. Hinton, one of the lead ing fruit and truck meu of Texas, says: “I have a 114-acre farm, two miles north of Tyler. Twenty-two acres are in the woods, ninety-two acres in cultivation: twenty acres are planted in corn and twenty-three acres in cot ton, leavingforty-nine acres on which are planted the following fruits, veg etables, berries,melons,etc.: Peaches, plums, pears, apples, figs, grapes, Japanese persimmons, pecans ani chestnuts; celery, spinach, rhubarb, cauliflower, cabbage, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, beans, French peas, cucumbers, egg plant, turnips, lettuce, pepper, mustard, squash, to matoes, beets, collards, kale, leeks, radishes, horseradish, sage, okra and pumpkins; strawberries, blackber ries and gooseberries, watermelons and canteloupes; ribbon cane, pea nuts and cornfield peas. “I have matured on two acres in thirteen months, in the order given, the following crops: Turnips, cab bage, beans and celery. The crops, however, can be grown on the same land in rotation in any order in one year, or the same piece of land can be made to produce four crops ;a one year of either of these vegeta bles.” A Spanish bull fighter sometimes gets S2OOO for a single performance. CALEB POWERS ALMOST FREED Ten Jurymen Voted for Acquittal But Two Blocked Their Game. A MISTRIAL WAS RESULT Was Fourth Trial of Noted Prisoner Ac cused of Complicity in Goebel’s Murder-Fifth Trial July 6th. After being out more than 48 hours the jury in the case of Caleb Powers at Georgetown, Ky., tried on a charge of complicity in the murder of William Goebel, Saturday, finally reported that they were unable to agree upon a ver dict, and were discharged by Judge Morris. This was the fourth trial of Powers. In two of the former trials Powers was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, and in the third trial he was also convicted and given the death sentence. Few criminal trials have attracted more attention than has the case of Caleb Powers, who, eight years ago, was just entering on his term as sec retary of state, when William Goebel, democratic contestant in the guberna torial contest then pending before the legislature, was shot and killed at Frankfort, the shot having apparently been fired from a window of the sec retary’s office. Powers was arrested and for nearly eight years has been in various jails in Kentucky, part of the time as a state and part as a federal prisoner. Powers was charged with being ac cessory before the fact, and the open window in his office has played a large part in the various prosecutions. His fourth trial, just concluded, continued for seven weeks. Through the inability of a jury to agree in this last arraignment, Pow ers will on the sixth day of July next be compelled to stand a fifth trial for hts life. The attorneys for Powers made a motion for bail, which was over ruled by Judge Morris. In-their appeal to the court to grant bail, Powers’ lawyers pleaded that the defendant was not in good health and that in view of the fact that the jury could not agree as to his guilt he should be allowed to give bail. Another motion of the defense that the date of the next trial be fixed in ten days was overruled and the date was set by Judge Morris for July 6. Ten of the twelve men on the jury voted for acquittal, two holding out for conviction. Foreman J. T. Price of Grant county, aged 65, and J. W. Renaker of Harrison county, aged 62, the two eldest men on the jury, were the two who refused to accede to the ten. There came near being an acquittal. Mr. Renaker made a proposition to Mr. Price to vote for acquittal. Price held out, although a sick man. Rena ker thereupon said he would vote with Price. C. J. Marshall first voted for conviction, but soon changed. The jurors were greatly wrought up and there was much ill feeling among them. After the verdict was read in court two of the jurors shook Powers by the hand and actually cried. Powers states that he intends to fight the case to the bitter end. MEETING CALLED BY JORDAN. Executive Committee of Cotton Associa tion to Assemble in Dallas, Texas. President Harvie Jordan of the Southern Cotton Association has issued a call for the meeting of the national executive committee to be held at Dal las, Texas, on February 19, next. The annual convention of the asso ciation will also be held at Dallas, Texas, February 19 and 20. The regu lar annual meeting of the various state dlvisious of the association will be called to meet at their respective state capitols throughout the cotton belt on Wednesday. February 5. PRISON SENTENCE SOON BEGINS. Gaynor and Greens Ordered to the Atlanta Federal Prison January 7th. The Savannah attorneys of Greene and Gaynor were notified Thursday by District Attorney Erwin that it is the purpose of the government to take the prisoners from Macon to the federal prison at Atlanta on January 7 to serve their term of four years. The notice was simply received as information. The attorneys will at tempt no new step to prevent the car rying out of the sentence. Nothing more can be done. ANIMUS OF RAIDS. Seal Cause of Tobacco War in Kentucky and Resultant Depredat ons of Night Riders Pointed Out. A Louisville, Ky., special says: The raid on Russellville, Ky., early Fri day morning by Night Riders, which re sulted in the destruction of nearly SIOO,OOO worth of property and the wounding of three persons; the re fusal Saturday of the tobacco growers at a meeting in Winchester to accept the proposition for the purchase of to bacco and the announced intention of the growers to proceed against the American Tobacco company in the courts, following Governor Wilson's statement that the lawless element will be severely dealt with, have brought to an acute stage a condition which has existed in Kentucky and Tennes see for years. Recent conferences at Frankfort between a representative of the American Tobacco company and the tobacco growers have resulted only in transferring the matter to the head qf the company in New York for con sideration. The situation Is the result of a fight of the growers of tobacco against the American Tobacco company and other purchasers, and the complications are best explained by the following re counted sequence of events in chrono logical order: First: The apparent passing of the leaf tobacco market in Kentucky and Tennessee into the control of the Amer ican Tobacco company, with the sub sequent elimination of nearly all the middlemen or independent tobacco buyers and rehandlers. Second: The awakening of the farm ers to the situation, and the formation by them of the American Society of Equity and the two subsidiary organiza tions, the Burley (light-colored leaf) To bacco association and the Dark Tobac co association, with the purpose of pool ing and holding their crops until they could obtain what they claimed would be a fair price from the American To bacco company and affiliated con cerns. Third: The failure of the attempt by the farmers’ societies to win ever a suf ficient majority of the growers of to bacco in their pooling plan to enable them to immediately compel the com pany to pay the price demanded. Fourth: Ostracism and petty persecu tion directed against so-called “Inde pendents”—the farmers who were un willing or unable to pool and hold their crops of tobacco, and who sold to the “trust.” Fifth: Whipping of tobacco buyers and farmers who sold their crops; de struction of beds of young tobacco plants; burning of tobacco barns con taining the harvested crops of indepen dents; shooting into homes, and the wounding of innocent persons, among them being women; the warning of re fractory independents to leave the country. Sixth: The culmination of the mob spirit in bold attacks on Princeton, Hopkinsville and Russellville, towns of from 4,000 to 10,000 inhabitants, which raids resulted in the dynamiting and burning of tobacco warehouses controlled by the American Tobacco company; the killing of several of the raiders, the wounding of a number of citizens and the destruction of property owned by innocent neutrals because the raiders refused to allow the fire depart ments to work. As to the claim that the trust forces the grower to accept an unfair price, neither side has produced any figures as to cost of production and farm values in the tobacco districts which would bear out the statements pro or con. The “trust” has suffered the loss of a number of warehouses and their contents, the estimates on the direct gross loss running from $125,000 to $250,000. Fourteen of their warehouses have been closed. This loss, however, un doubtedly falls below the aggregate damage sustained by the men who have refused to join the farmers’ associa tions or pool their crops. Some of them were too independent to be coerced, DEPOT LEVIED ON BY SHERIFF. Freight House of Louisville and Nashville at Atlanta Held for Taxes. To satisfy fi. fas. against the Louis ville and Nashville railway for taxes amounting to $6,240, the sheriff of Ful ton county Friday levied on the prop erty of the railway, deeded to the Lou isville and Nashville by the city of At lanta. The railway company holds itself ex empt from taxation, inasmuch as the property is built on land belonging to the Georgia railroad, which, being the first established in the state, is not liable for taxation. THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. - INTERNATIONA t LESSON COM MENTS FOP. JANUARY 12. Subject: Jesu« and John the Baptist, John 1:19-34 Golden Text, John I:29—Commit Verses 29, 30—Commentary. TIME. —February, A. D 2 7. PLACE. —Bethany beyond the Jordan. EXPOSITION. —I. John’s Answer to the Committee from Jerusalem, 19- 28. The ministry of John the Bap tist has aroused great excitement. People were in expectation. All men were reasoning concerning John, whether happily he were the Christ (Luke 3:15). This gave rise to a committee being sent from Jerusalem, to investigate. There were two per sons for whom the people were look ing as preparatory to the coming of Christ, Elijah, as pronhesied by Mal achi (Mai. 4:5) and the “Prophet like unto Moses” (Deut. 18:15-18). John frankly confesses that he was not Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet predicted by Moses. There have been those in recent years whoj Claimed to be Elijah and the Prophet) predicted by Moses, and “Messenger of the covenant” and “David” and the “Branch,” one of the two witnesses of Revelation, etc. There was a sense in wljich John was Elijah (Matt. 11:14; 17:10-13), i. e., he came in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:17), but Elijah in the sense in which the ques tion was asked, a real re-incarnaHon of the prophet Elijah, he was not.: How unlike the real John was to those who in our day claim to be his successor! There is the utmost hu mility in the way in which John states his real position. He speaks of himself as only “a voice crying in the wilderness,” applying to himself the prophecy of Isaiah (Isa. 40:3-5), which so clearly set forth John the Baptist’s mission. A voice is some thing to be heard, not seen. As John had denied that he was the Christ, or Elijah, or “that prophet,” the priests and Levites made bold to question his authority for baDtizing. In a similar way, they made bold to question Jesus’ authority at a later day (Matt. 21:23), and later still the authority of the apostles to preach (Acts 5:28).- In his answer John again displays his, humility. His baptism in water was; nothing to the baptism of the Coming. One (cf. Matt. 3:11; Acts 1:5). The Christ was already in their midst, but they were so blind that thes" did not recognize Him (cf. vs. 10, 11; chap. 8-19; 16:3). Happy is the man who really knows The Christ (Jno. 17:3), but the world, even to-day, knows Him not (1 John 3:1). 11. John the Baptist’s Testimony Concerning Jesus, 29-34. Notice the precision with which John the Evan gelist marks the exact time that these things occurred. He himself was an eye-witness. John first testifies that Jesus was the “Lamb of God.” The reference is beyond question to the sacrificial lambs, the atoning sacri fices of the Old Testar#ent (cf. Gen. 22:7, 8; Ex. 12:3; Num. 28:3-10;s Isa. 53.7). As the Lamb of God, Jesus would take away the sin of the world. The thought here is not de liverance from sin’s power, but atone ment and deliverance from sin’s guilt. Jesus is the Deliverer from sin’s power and presence as well as sin’s guilt (Matt. 1:21; Heb. 7:25; Jude 24), but this is not the thought here. Where taking away of sin is spoken of in connection with atoning blood, it always refers to the removal of the guilt of sin (cf. Lev. 16:30; 17:11; 14:19, 31; Jer. 33:8; Ps. 51:7; Rev. 1:5; 7:14; Heb. 9:22, 23; Eph. 1:7; Rom. 3:25; 5:9; Matt. 26:28). As the Lamb of God in atoning sacrifice, Jesus made propitiation for sin (T John 2:2; Matt. 20:28; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13), and on the ground of this propitiation sin is taken away, re moved from the sinner as far as the east is from Lhe west (Ps. 103:12;; cf. Lev. 17:21, 22). God dealt in mercy with men before Christ’s time because Jesus was “The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8). The death of Christ was, in God’s sight, an eternal fact. But while the death of Christ avails in this way for all men, believer and nnbeliever, it fully avails only for those who accept it. Jesus “is the Saviour of all men, especially of those that believe” (1 Tim. 4:10). There need be no difficulty with John's statement, “I knew Him not.” John lived in Judea, Jesus in Galilee; and though Jesus had gone up to the pass over, it is quite likely that in the great crowds He did not meet John, but probably what John means is that he’ did not know Him as the coming Messiah. As soon r.s he saw, John gave his testimony. The descent of the Spirit was not a mere subjective experience seen only by Jesus (cf. Matt. 3:16; Luke 3:22), but an ob jective fact, witnessed by John as well as Jesus. John is not the real baptizer, but Jesus, the baptizer with the Holy Ghost and fire (cf. Matt. 3:11; John 3:34, 11. V.; Acts 10:44- 47; 19:2-6). The baptism with the Spirit is the great baptism, the one baptism that unites all believers into the one body (Eph. 4:4, 5; cf. 1 Cor. 12:13) and Jesus, and Jesus only, is He that baptized with the Holy Ghost. As the baptizer with the Holy Ghost, John also recognized Jesus as tne Son of God. Hfe is the Son of God, because begotten of God (Luke 1:35), and possessed of the attributes of the Father (Heb. 1:3: Phil. 2:6, R. V.), so fully that He could say, “He that hath seen Me hath seen tlie Father” (John 14:9); the One in whom all the fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily (Col. 2:9); to be hon ored even as the Father is honored (John 5:23). The cramped heart cannot contain the Christ.