Newspaper Page Text
^Wilhelm Miller
'T'he University of Illi-
A nois is telling Rural
People why trees and
flowers and fine views
add value to property.
4
’ OBODY can afford to have bare and
ugly home grounds. It is bad busi
ness. Os course we do not commonly
take a business view of our homes;
we think of home in terms of senti
ment. For we all want the best there
is in life, and we know we can raise
better children if they have beautiful
surroundings.
!» But, granting that we all have the
best seijtiment in the world, we can
not escape the business side. For in-
Stance, we all hive to y'Snsider the cost of making
a lawn, of fertilizing and' planting.
Now, there are two' ways of handling these
practical matters, one of which gives little or no
profit while the other gives very great profits. Os
course you do not expect to make money out of
your home —you expect to live in it—but the day
will come when you or your children will wish to
sell part or all of your property. And the buyer
will look at everything you have done from the
cold, unsympathetic viewpoint of hard-cash value.
The man of wealth who indulges every personal
whim, and makes an eccentric place, will lose a
lot of money. On the other hand, if you leave your
place bare, it may be absolutely unsalable when
the time of need comes, or you will get less than
it is worth. But, if your farm is sensibly planted,
- you can get a bigger profit for the money you
put into trees and shrubs than for the same
money spent on house, barn, or hogs. Then, old
trees, that cost you nothing to plant, may bring
you a millionaire buyer. Ten dollars spent on
shrubs and vines planted against the foundation
of your house may add SIOO to its cash selling
value. . . . If you spend $lO in the ordinary
way of “beautifying the farm” you will get back
not one single cent. If vou spend it in the “Illi-
ncis way,” you cannot
he 1 c increasing the
cash value or salability
of your farm, because
permanent trees are
worth, for beauty alone,
$1 a square inch in
cross section of their
trunk three feet above
the ground, and they
increase in value every
year.
The common way of
planting is to scatter
flower beds over a
lawn. It aims to make
the biggest show for
the money and get im
mediate results. That
Is why beginners make
fancy beds of compli
cated design and fill
>- them with flowers
which give great mass
es of strik’ng color for
three months or more. But next winter those
beds are vacant and ugly, and next spring the
) same work must be done, and every year there is
a fresh outlay of money for the same thing.
Soon the constant repetition of the work gets
monotonous, and next we realize that the effect
| is gaudy, for our standard are constantly rising,
, and what we admired five y’ears ago now seem
; in bad taste. It dawns on us that any beginner
can put flower beds in the middle of the lawn,
and that every beginner will try to make each
dollar stand up on edge where everyone can see
it. Thus, we come to hate show, and to care more
for privacy, permanence, dignity, peace, restful
ness, outdoor living, winter comfort, views, a play
ground for the children, old tree, cut-flowers in
the house all the time, and low cost of main
tenance. Why lose money by planting now what
you will tear out five years hence, when you know
better? Why not anticipate the growth of your
own and everybody’s good taste, so that you will
waste no precious years, and your place will grow
lovelier and more valuable every year?
The right way is to use permanent plants. In
stead of temporary otfes; and to place them
where they will meet every practical need of the
family, instead of scattering them for shew. And
the “Illinois way” is to meet all the outdoor needs
of the family by having 90 per cent of the plant
ng composeij of trees and shrubs that grow wild
Illinois. Why Illinois trees? Because they are
ardy, and therefore economical to maintain. We
Io not have to test their hardiness, since nature
s has adapted them to our conditions by experi
ments covering tens of thousands of years. More
over, we want Illinois to look different from all
the rest of the world, and *o have a noble char
acter of its own! The highest ideal that any farm
er can realize is to have a profitable farm With
permanent buildings and permanent planting,
both of which are utterly different from' those of
Europe, and as full as possible of American and
even of state character.
European farm houses are so different that you
can usually tell simply from a picture whether
they are German, French, Dutch, Italian, or Span
ish. The English farmer often lives in a house of
brick or stone which has sheltered his family
for generations. In front of it stands a pair of
oaks that have defied the storms of 300 to 500
years. The house is covered with ivy or with
roses, which climb to the top of the red-tiled
roof. The yard is surrounded by a hedge of haw
thorn or of holly. The Englishman boasts that
he loves his home more than any other man liv
ing, and points to the fact that the English lan
guage is the only one that has separate words for
“house” and “home.”
Every old state in America tends to have its
own style of building and planting. Massachusetts
is famous for her colonial, or Georgian houses, .
like the one In which Longfellow lived, with con
tury-old elms sheltering the stately roof like
I
gigantic umbrellas. Virginia is celebrated for the
farmhouses built by Washington, Jefferson, Mad
ison, and their friends—their hospitable roofs
shaded by towering tulip trees or ancient live
oaks hung with moss. Long Island is noted for
the homes of its cauliflower growers, with every
room open to the ocean breeze, and the white,
wide-shingled walls set off by feathery locust
trees, loaded in June with wisterialike clusters of
fragrant' white flowers. Georgia is renowned for
her houses in the Greek style, which are gen
uinely adapted to a hot climate by reason of their
"galleries,” or second-story porches, where the
family can enjoy every passing breeze and feast
their eyes upon the grandest subtropical tree in
the world. Magnolia grandiflora. Connecticut has
many a clapboarded farmhouse, shaded by white
oaks that were here when the first white man
came, w’hile on the lawn may be a rhododendron
or mountain laurel, planted by the great-grandfa
thers of the present oSvner. In Pennsylvania you
can often tell what county you are in by a single
glance out of the car window. If you see every
where massive farmhouses of local stone, laid up
in Germantown style, it is a fair wager that you
are in Bucks, Chester or Delaware county. If
your eye meets ancient brick houses, with porches
extending the full length of each house, a dia
mond-ahaped stone bearing the date of its erec
tion, and odd little projections on the slate roof,
to keep the snow from falling off in great chunks
that may bury a person, it is a safe guess that
you are in Lancaster or some adjacent county.
The great variety of majestic oaks that have
brooded for a century or more over these ven
erable houses proclaims that eastern Pennsylvania
is a paradise for trees designed by nature to last
through -the centuries. Even in the new state of
Oregon, the up-to-date apple growers of Hood
river are laying the foundations of a state style
of architecture and gardening with their low
houses, screened porches aus paths lined with
great double .garden ros^^ooming in a pro
fusion that is impossible irf^jtEast. Every state
will eventually have its oW style of farm archi
tecture and gardening. Nothing can stop it, and
we can profit by building and planting in the
style that will become dominant as the. centuries
roll by. <
It is natural that we should like tp have near
us the trees we love best, but nearly all the most
popular trees are unfit for framing a view of the
home. Take, for instance, those that have showy
flowers, like the horsechestnut, the locust, and
the empress tree, or paulownla; they are forever
making a litter and should be at a distance from
the house. So, too, with the quick-growers, like
the box elder, the silver maple, and the Carolina,
or Lombardy poplar; they go to wreck in storms •
and their branches fall on the house. Perhaps '
the most Inappropriate is the Norway spruce.
Many a house has suffered a depreciation of hun
dreds of dollars' owing to dismal Norway spruces,
.A' ■ I \ • *
THE BULLETIN, IRWINTON, GEORGIA.
for they often hasten the decay of a roof by giv
ing too much shade and moisture, to say nothing
of making a home look melancholy, instead of
joyous. The sugar and Norway maples are fine
trees, but, like all round-headed trees, they tend
to hide the view of a house more quickly than
is commonly realized.
The ideal tree for frt ming the view of your
house is one that Will give enough sunlight and
enough shade, enough shelter and enough cool
ing breeze, to keep a family healthy. The only
tree that does all these things to perfection is
the American elm—not the European. Moreover,
a pair of elms will make a pointed or Gothic arch,
suggesting high-roofed cathedrals and God’s first
temples. Unfortunately, the enemies of the elm
are multiplying, and if you plant elms you must
be willing to stand the expense' of yearly spray
ing when the time comes. Be sure to specify
vase-form elms. . They are the only ones that
make the Gothic arch, and are more valuable
than the other types or straggling kinds.
A pair of oaks will last longer than elms and
cost less to maintain. The oaks excel all other
trees in nestling'close to a house and making it
look snug and comfortable. The common idea
that oaks are sjow growers and hard to trans
plant is true only of the white oak. The pin,
the scarlet, and the red oaks are easily moved,
and will soon overtake maples and other trees
that are quicker at the start. They will last for
centuries after the quick-growers” are dead. Plant
the trees that yffu know will make your property
more valuable every year.
Soldiers Noisy Dreamers.
Landladies of London lodging houses near by
the railroad terminals such as Victoria and Water
loo are becoming diffident about taking in soldiers
just back from the front, particularly those who
have participated in the fighting around Loos.
The landladies say the poor soldiers fight the
terrible battles over again in their sleep and the
shrieks and hysteria are enough to shake the
strongest nerves.
Many of the men who took part in the engage
ment are afflicted with the most horrible of
dreams and somnambulistically slash and kill, to
the terror of all the other lodgers.
Figures are unobtainable, but the cases of*
nervous breakdowns during the last few weeks
have reached a high figure.
, Even officers have been affected, and men who
have stood up under the strain since the early
days of the war say that the sights during the re
cent offensive are top terrible for mention.
Souvenir Grenade Killed Boy.
A soldier had a tragic home coming at Boulogne
sur-Selne, France, recently. His grandson, five
years old, was examining some souvenirs of the
trenches which he had brought with him, when a
loud explosion occurred. The boy was killed and
his grandmother sustained severe injuries. The
explosion was caused* by a German grenade.
Degrees of Insanity.
“What’s the difference between a futurist
painter and a post-impressionist(?” (
“Not being an expert alienist, I can’t answer
that question.” ' ,
How Can He? <
Social Worker —Do you obey the Bible injunc
tion to love your neighbor?
Freshman—l try to, but she won’t let me. —Cor-
nell Widow.
Eye to Utility.
“I want a pair of pants."
“Something in rough goods or smooth?”
“Rough, I reckon. I Apd it handier to scratch
matches on.”
J Isn't Maud Mercenary? K
Maud —Would you marry for money?
Ethel —Not I. I want brains."
Maud—You certainly do It you wouldn’t marry
for money.
IMPORTANT TAX
DECISION MADE
Property In Georgia Owned by Residents
Os Another State Subject When
The Owner Dies
APPLIES TO INHERITANCES
Estate In Question Was That Os Josh
H. Gans, Who Died In
New York State
Atlanta—
That property in Georgia owned by
a resident ,of another state is, upon
the death of the owner, subject to tax
ation under the Georgia inheritance
tax law, js the opinion of Attorney
General Clifford Walker, rendered up
on request of Comptroller General W.
A. Wright.
The case, in question is that of the
estate of John H. Gans, deceased, of
New York, the property involved be
ing 150 shares of stock in the Naninga
company, a manufacturing concern of
Chatham county, Georgia. -
Mr. Gans died recently at his home
in New York, and at the time of his
death the Naninga stock certificates
were in his possession. The comp
troller general of Georgia called upon
the executor of his estate for the pay
ment into the Georgia treasury of the
taxes on the stock he claimed were
owing under Georgia’s inheritance tax
law, passed in 1913.
The executor demurred in the pay
ment, holding that' under the inherit
ance tax law the property is subject
to taxation in New York, and he took
the position that injustice would be
done were he compelled to pay taxes
on the stock in this state as well. IP
was then that Comptroller fceneral
Wright asked Attorney General,'Wal
ker for an opinion.
The Georgia inheritance tax law has
been held by the state supreme court
to be constitutional, but no question
of the particular chdlracter of the dnd
at issue ever has been before the
court, but, in all probability now, it
soon will be.
According to the attorney general
the Georgia inheritance tax law reads
similarly to that pf NeW York, nei
ther is it essentially different from
corresponding statutes of Massachu
setts and New Hampshire. In fact,
the wording of the law in each of
these states is practically the same.
And the New York court of appeals
has held that stock owned by a non
resident in; ■ a domestic c.orpbration,
upon the death of khe owner, is sub
ject to taxation under the law. Sub
sequently, the supreme court of Mas
sachv^setts and the courts of New
Hampshire have rendered decisions
following the New York court of ap
peals’ ruling. The question, says Mr.
Walker, also ha# been passed upon in
other states, so . that in reaching his
opinion he had precedents a-plenty,
the most ancient one being a decision
by the supreme court- of North Caro
lina, rendered in 185-1 , . > >.
■ ■ *■
Ta Extend Highway
The decision of the directors of the
Forrest Highway association at Rome
to extend the Forest highway to Mo
bile completes a chain of great high
way movements in the southeast. .
The first ot these movements was
that which made the Dixie highway a
reality. Such of the other 1 movements
as have not been a direct outgrowth
of the Dixie have tn a large measure
been inspired by the enthusiasm w;hich
has fired the buildiiigs of the, artery
from Chicago to Miami. ... .
The Dixie highway is not yet in its
perfected state, -'but- already the in
creased motor travel between the"
south and the middle west has become,
very noticeable, and. this increase is'
also true of the more neighborly trav
-el between towns within . eftheft of
these two great sections.
Watermelon Diseases Menace Vine
One hundred Georgia melon grow
ers met at Macon and heard,talks, by
experts on various features of the In
dustry, warning being'issued'by Prof.
W. A. Orton of the United States de
partment of agriculture, that unless, a
cure is found for stem rot, anthrac
nose and wilt that the watermelon
industry in Georgia is doomed.
According to Professor Orton, no
cure can be perfected in a short time.
As for anthracnose and wilt, he said
he hoped to have something to com
bat these troubles within a short time,
As for anthracnose of the leaf. Profes
sor Orton said the only remedy he
knows of., is spraying.
4
I - ■ T.'Z" "" \
Governor Signs School Warrants
Gov, Nat Harris has signed school
warrants calling for the payment of,
$270,600 out of the state’s treasury
for teachers’ salaries for March. This
is the third batch of warrants issued
thus far this year under*the Walker
law, and the fourth all told since the (
law became effective, one issue hav-'
ing been made in 1915.
Fulton Names Delegates
Judge E. D. Thomas announced the
names of the delegate A-to represent
Pulton county in the state Democratic
convention next month in Macon.
The delegation is composed of Rob
ert F. Maddox, Albert Howell, Jack
Cohen, Mason,..Charles Ryan,
Clareince BeH, '"Altjert Thompson, B.
Lee Smith, J. R. Robinson, St. Elmo
Massengale, J. M. George fed Fred-
Lewis. ,
W. & A. COMMISSION INSPECTS
CHATTANOOGA TERMINALS
, Various Properties Os State Road
Looked Over By The Geor-
i gia Officials
Atlanta —
i The Western and Atlantic railroad
commission made a trip to Chatta
nooga, where it inspected the state
road terminals there. With the com
b mission were its various statistiscians,
I engineers and secretaries.
( The inspection consumed four days,
। during which a searching investiga
tion was made into the physical con
dition of the property and rolling
stock. The result of the investigation,
was the finding by the commission
■ that the road was in excellent shape.
- The inspection completed at Chat
tanooga was one of the most compre
s hensive ever made Os the property.
■ Special attention was paid to the At
• lanta and Chattanooga termini and to
the roadbed, bridges and buildings
along the line.
> The condition,of the roadbed, and
' especially the ballasting done by the
■ Louisville and Nashville railroad’com
pany, present lessee, occasion favora
’ ble comment. The ballasting had
been widened from six inches outside
’ the end of the ties to eighteen inches.
The excellent condition of up-keep and
- repair of bridges was also noted with
■ satisfaction.
Plan School Board Depository
'At a meeting of the state board of
education at the capitol, a resolution
was introduced for the establishment
of a joint central school bobk depos
itory for the state, with a view to
wards making school books more
readily available in all parts of the
state, and to reducing the cost.
The resolution was the subject of
lengthy debates at the meeting and
' was finally tabled until the July meet
ing, when it will be taken up for con
sideration'. In the meantime Super
intendent of Schools M. L. Brittain is
authorized to submit the resolution
to Attorney General WalkSr and ask
an opinion as to the legality of Rs
provisions.
The resolution carries the provision
that the governor shall appoint a com
mittee of three, members to decide up-,
on the location of such a depository,
and in.thls connection the city of Ma
con was mentioned as a possible fa
vorable location.
The further provision is made in the
resolution that the manager of such
a depository shall not be connected in
any way with any book concern and
that his pay shall be from commis
sions, from the sale of school books.
. f ■ ' ■ ■■
Georgia Fruit Crop Damaged
Owing to the recent cold weather
information gathered by the Georgia
; Fruit exchange is to the effect that
. the north Georgia fruit crop this year
will be only about one-third of what
it was a year ago.
Last year 1,30(^ cars of fruit were
shipped from that part of Georgia
lying north Os Atlanta, while this year
it is expected that not more than be
, tween 800 and 400 cars will be ship
ped. The damage was for the most
part in the northeast, where the Feb
ruary and March frosts played havoc
with the young trees,, and no damage
is reported as a result of the frost of
this month. The fruit in the south
ern part of the state, it is said, will
make a good crop —better than that
of a year ago; aa
Urges Extension Os W. & A.
The Ocilla Southern is thinking of
becoming a bidder for the lease of the
Western and Atlantic railroad, if it is
leased in its present condition, and
will soon take this matter up with
the Western and Atlantic leasing com
mission, according to the statement of
President J. A. J. Henderson of the
Ocilla Southern.
President Henderson .is an advo
cate of the extension of the road to
the sea, and states that he would be
glad to make the Ocilla Southern a
past of the state road in any extension
■' plan.
Innes Will Be Tried May 29
. Vjctor E. Innes and his wife, Ida
May Innes, will be tried Monday, May
29, before Judge Ben S. Hill of the
superior court. The charges brought
against them is that of larceny after
trust of $4,000 alleged to have been
appropriated from the estate of Eloise
Nelms Dennis, who, with her sister.
Miss ; Beatrice Nelms, have since dis
appeared.
The agreed trial date was reached
after' a lengthy conference between
Solicitor General Dorsey and Attorney
Reuben Arnold representing the In
nesses. s :■ ...
Georgians Must Serve Terms
The United States Supreme court
has declined tb review the conviction
of Franklin Huff, Harry Putnam and
Charles Adams, of Spalding county,
• Georgia, on charges of conspiracy to
'.unlawfully arrest one John Westmore
land, with the irttent to . hold him to
a condition of peonage.
> _
State Offered Land For Station
Through an offer made to the state
by Alex K. Sessoms, who owns a large
tract of land in Ware and Clinch
counties, negotiations were opened.fpr
the establishment of a state expert;
ment station at Cogdell in Clinch
county. Mr. Sessoms called upon State
Entomologist Worsham and Offered to
give the state 100 acres of land, ready
for cultivation, put up administration
building, install water and electric
lights and contribute SSOO a year to
. the station, it the state will establish
an experiment station there.
