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12 n SUNDAY 11 KARST AMERICAN*. ATLANTA. GA . SUNDAY. MAY 11. If 13. News and Views by Experts of Finance, industry, Crops and Commerce TRADE GROWS RATHER SLACK The Between-Seasons' Dulness Settles Down on Business, Though Not Too Rapidly, COTTON REPORTS ARE MIXED Some Replanting May Be Neces sary—Textile Trade in South Not Worried Over Outlook, NEW COTTON PEST CAUSE OF BAN ON ALL FOREIGN SEED BY M. A. ROSE. Something akin to hetween-sea - eons duJn* ss has settled on trade in the Southeast, though the slowing down Ip not startling. It is not unnatural at this time of year, but the slackening this season perhaps is a bit more pronounced than usual. Clearing* are at low ebb, .showing decreases from week to w*ek, and decreases as compared with the same weeks of 1912. This is rather a healthy sign than other wise. It means prudence which will prove its value this autumn. The demand for loans continues brisk. Deposits may be expected to show decreases from now on until the crop is In. That Is the regular summer routine: deposits start < limbing in the late autumn; reach their apex in January or February, ind then begin to recede Each year howevei the low level is considera bly a!/*ip' the low level of the pre ceding tear, recording the steady growth of the community. Opinion i« in the formative stage as to the forthcoming cotton crop. In general, the outlook seems one which will give pause to the bun tal ent. On the oth«>r hand, there are unencouraging reports from here and there of replanting, lack of rains, hard baked Linds. Some go so far as to say that the early start in the Southeast has been lost by the un- j ropltiou* weather conditions. in cluding the lack of rain and the cool rights Floods Recode Rapidly. In the western belt, timely rains seem to have improved a situation which was causing some concern. Less is heard of the flood, and v\here the lands were overflowed, the wat ers are receding rapidly enough to permit of planting. City trade seems unaffected by general conditions. The retailers report another excellent week, with business stimulated by warmer weather. Gloom In the Hast over the tariff situation, especially as it will affect the textile industry, is not reflected in the South. Tariff agitation has one effect. It has caused buyers to hesitate. Many jobbers w ho will be needing big lines before the season begins have not placed an order. They want to wait and see if the new bill will cause any reduction in prices. With no orders, stocks are puling up at the mills. Hut the mills feel certain of their position. No matter how the tariff is settled, they say. a certain amount of cloth will he needed and they feel sure of r\'o< injr their entire output. Southern Product*. Few print cloths are made in the South. Gnu goods for shoe and rum- ber boot linings, for the pockets of men’s suits; for table oil cloths, for automobile tires, tire hose and the other kind, belting sets and drills are the products in which Southern mills excel. They fear only that foreign com petition in the finer goods will cause Eastern mills to turn to the products now made in the South. The dosing of Fall River mills had no effect in the South. It is ex tremely unlikely that any such move will be made In tHis section Labor troubles, poor equipment and une conomical management have left' •ome of the Fall River and Provl-j dence mills In poor shaj*e An Atlanta concern in this line will issue $2**0.000 new stock to cover ,cnlargments. Other mills, notably one of the few in th* South turning cut fine print cloths, are making ad ditions to their plants and equip ment. It has been stated often in the past few months that no money Is available for extensions or new en terprises. In general, this Is true. Atlanta, however, has proceded with the organization of a new trust com pany of considerable proportions, and tome of the stock subscribers are paying in full In advance. Business Troubles Few. Business troubles are few. One financial institution is in the throes of litigation attacking it from all side*, hut this ts causing little stir. The creditors of the concern now en gaged in a battle for its life are. for the most part, residents of Northern States. Determination of the farmers to produce this crop cheaply, to borrow a- little as possible and buy as lit tle a.s possible; tight money every where. and more or less caution in view of political changes and tu iff revision, are blame'd for the de crease in clearings by D. G Jones, who is manager of the Atlanta Clear ing House. The lively real es f ate market which is v year kept the checks passing fnrough the banks. i« a shade or two • ss brisk at present, and trading in securities ha* been practically at a *-• mdstill. although it is beginning to show signs of a revival. Fruit Cleaned Up. WASHINGTON. May 10.-—Impor tation of cotton seed will be forbidden by the United States after May 20 Experiments with Egyptian seed will have to cense Seed from Egypt. Sierra Leone. Southern Nigeria. German East Af rica and other cotton growing sec tions of the Dark Continent and seed from Hawaii, the Philippines, India and Peru will be denied entrance to the United States. This, in effect, bars all foreign cotton seed, as no varleJies of cotton more valuable than the native staple exist else where. The pink boll worm, the Peruvian cotton square weevil and the boll weevils of East Africa and the Phil ippines are the reasons for the quar antine With the Mexican boll weevil and the native boll worm already doing | incalculable damage In the United ’States, the department feels that the American cotton farmer has enough to fight. It believes that the danger from new cotton pests would offset any improvement In the grade to be obtained by importation of new va rieties. THE NEWEST COTTON ENEMY. The pink boll worm Is the newest and most insidious enemy of cotton discovered. It infests Egypt. Sierra Leone, Southern Nigeria and other portions of Africa, as well as Hawaii and India India, the only one of the affected nations which has statistics of dam age caused by it to offer, charges against the tiny pink worm a damage of $4,000,000 per year. It is particularly dangerous because It will remain dormant in the cotton seed for six or seven months. Live worms and pupa© have been found In cotton seed after it had passed through the gin. It causes premature opening of the boll, rotting and soiling of the lint. It causes many bolls to drop off. and destroys much seed. Under such circumstances it would he practically impossible for the ex perts of the department to fumigate seed well enough to kill the larvae, so the department acted quickly and at once forbade the Introduction of the seed Into the United States. Owing to the difficulty of fighting the pest/ the quarantine probablyy will be per petual. • ONE SHIPMENT CAUGHT. At the time the Consul at Alex- andri advised the Department of Ag riculture of the discoveries in con nection with the pink boll worm he informed the department that a ship ment of seed had Just been made from Egypt to a point in Mississippi Jor experimental purposes. The de partment at once notified the con signee thut the seed would not be allowed to come into the United States, unless the Government was allowed to fumigate It. This permis sion was readily given. The young larva of the pink boll worm is at first dirty white, becoming flesh colored, suffused with pink in the back at a later stag**. Each seg ment then hears two darker pink dorsal transverse liars, followed by two pinkish spots mi the lateral por tion. each sprit bearing a single'slmrt hair. The perfect insect has golden brown forewings sprinkled with dark brown scales, and the hind wings are dark grav with a continuous fringe. GROWERS MUST BEWARE. The Department of Agriculture has as yet no knowledge of the presence of thin pest in the United States, hut cotton growers are advised to be on the lookout, as shipments of seed which have come into this country as long ago as twelve months, might wtill contain living larvae. In its operation the larva enters the large bolls when they are more than half ripened, the egg being, prob ably, though not certainly, laid on the boll itself. The hole by which the larva enters Is usually so email that it is inconspicuous, and even when dissection Is made of a boll which contains a. full grown pink worm, the passage of entry is often impossible to find, owing to the wound having healed up. The larva feeds upon the unripe seed in the boll, cm ting out the w*hole of the interior of the seed and leavfYig the ‘■•hell filled with excrement. It passes from one seed to another, usually only destroying the seed in one cell of the boll. It forms a cocoon in the Interior of the seed, in which it remains dormant for months. In the spring the larvae leave their first cocoons and eat out new cells in which they pupate about the middle of May. There are at least two gen- erations.N HAS SOME PARASITES. The only enemies of which the de partment has record are found in Sierra Leone and Southern Nigeria and in Hawaii. In the firrt-named sections an insect nas been observed entering the opening of the bolls and sucking the juices from the body of the pink boll worm. No record is given of the amount of damage caused by the pink boll worm in Egypt or Hawaii, hut it is esti mated that it causes a loss of $4,000.- 000 a year In the cotton-growing sec tions of India. inciden’allv, the quarantine will prevail also against the Peruvian Cot- ton Square Weevil, the German-East African cotton boll weevil, and the Philippines cotton boll weevil. In -hort, the actual effect of the depart ment s order will be to establish a quarantine against all foreign cotton seed. OF PROSPERITY Chicago Banker Declares Na tional and International Events Point to Era of Strength. TARIFF ISSUE IS SETTLED Business Increasing and America Looms as Trade Dictator in Chinese Republic. OUR RAILROADS UNDER-OFFICERED American Officials Attempt Too Much Detail Says Expert Re turning From Germany. Most large railways in the Unit ed States are under-office red. and their detail work is sadly under-su pervised. Too much detail is im posed on the heads of departments, and they are left with 'Insufficient time' for going into close touch with the territories they manage. ’ This criticism was made by Arthur M. Waitt. formerly general Superin tendent of motive power, rolling stock and machinery of the New York On tra! lines, in discussing the adminis tration of the State railways of Prus sia in comparison with those of the United States. After 25 years serv ice on American roads, and 10 years freedom from any direct alliance with them—and having, during the latter period visited Germany many and examined railroad there. Mr. Waitt spoke regarding the two ideas ing; “In this counry an insufficient force provided to collect and collate dat i time conditions as follows of railroad and to make comparisons and analy sis of the results of the management. Complaints, and special inquiries front railroad and government offi cials require unusual efforts and ex penditure of lime to the detriment of other necessary and important routine work, in order to prepare the proper feports and answers to the special inquiries. There is a ten dency also for higher supervising and administrative officers to int Vro in matters for w hie A they are not tech nically trained. if the railways in several of our States had expended one-quarter of the money for improved service in supervision, that they will have to expend in putting on additional men on he locomotives. (with very doubttul beneficial results) they would nave taken one of the most effective means of raising the stand ard of efficiency of service and re ducing as a consequence the mem ber of accidents, vim their attend ant injuries or death to employee and passengers. "1 belie \ • a more generally satis factory passenger service would be given in this country by the gradual iniieduction of classified passenger service not only in standard railway service but also In the subway and elevated service in our largo cities ’’ Fru i •eption of s almost o inn Gross Earnings of Road Increase but So Do Operating Expenses. Dividends Earned. in the market here, which is a bare, with the possible exceptic some cold storage stuff, which may !m- expected to emerge to — I now i take I au vantage Box apt line, with sional 'Mi he itt:active prices, about all left in tha ception of an ocom -sets. Apple- wi moved out .;nii denaru up) Leir.i ■ tng* > m«i I-i.m s « high price! none uu< From the viewpoint of gross earn ings the Southern Railway Company is holding its own with other rail roads of the country, but the im provement !r. net Is small, us com pared with a year ago. In March the company scored a gam In gross of almost $500,000, nearly all of whiijfh was offset by higher operating expenses, so that the Increase in net was less than $100,000 For the first three-quarters of the current fiscal year there was a gross gain of over $4,000,000 but a net Increase of a tri fle less than $700,000. From this it is apparent that the company is pay ing out a very large amount of it increased gross revenues for operat ing expenses. It should be explained, however, that the road is devoting a consid erable amount of money each month to the maintenance of it- property which accounts in considerable meas ure for the higher operating cost*. Both maintenance of way and struc tures and maintenance of equipment thus far in the current fiscal period have been much higher than in 1912. Up to the close of March the outlays for maintenance were considerably more than $1,000,000 in excess of the corresponding period i year ago, while a like increase is shown in transportation costs. Therefore, the increase in expenses for the nine months has been pretty evenly divid ed between the two items referred to. But the Southern’s earnings are sufficient to meet the 5 per cent, div idend that is now being paid on the $60,000,000 preferred stock with a substantial balance to spare availa ble for the common stock. On the basis of figures reported to date antf making allowances for any changes <n charges, etc., the company is now- earning at the rate of over 4 per cent, per annum on its $120,000.noti outstanding common stock. During die nine months reported to date it earned approximately 314 per cent, on its common stock which is at the annual rate of about 4 1-8 per cenlc on the issue. Double-tracking work is now being pushed to completion on that portion of the system between Monroe and T> e River Th > new track Is par- i lei to the old line the entire dis- .ame and vvl! probably be complet ed by December. When this is fin ished the company w ill have about 50 mi!»»- of double-track in a stretch. 2«> mi>H of wnich will be north and 30 miles south of Lynchburg It Is understood that in the future the company will on- rue .;«uh! -track (»!•■ under ixis'ia.; conditions and as funds are available for such worn. CHICAGO, May 10. Everything in the field of international and national events points to a season of increase ! business and financial prosperity in tho United State.*', is the view ex pressed by George M. Reynolds, one of the foremost among Chicago finan ciers, and {’resident of the Continental &* Commercial National Bank. President Reynolds, who has just returned from a three and a half months’ trip in California, where he traveled more than ten thousand miles in successive automobile tours and found health and renewed youth, names these among the reavofis that presage a wave of prosperity: The end of the Balkan-Turkish War and the dissipation of fears that it would lead to a general European conflict. Mexico's insurrection reduced almost to a vanishing point. Recuperation of the West and Middle West after havoc by frost and floods. Practical certainty that the American tariff question will be settled very soon for years to come, and that a compromise cur rency reform measure will be en acted. General activity in business throughout the United States, ac companied by complete restora tion of public confidence in credit. Bright prospects for increased trade with the Orient, due to the friendly attitude of the United States toward the Chinese repub lic. Health Greatly Improved. “It has been most reassuring to me to note how Urn various sections of the country have quickly recuperated from the severe losse/occasioned first by frost, and then by flood*’.” s„»4 Air. Reynolds. • “In all sections of the United State s and in the world at large there is gen eral activity in business, goad prices for commodities, and a perfectly 'se rene state of public confidence in credit. For several months past the renewed business activity has led to. a very great demand for money throughout the entire world, and the banks have been put to the test to furnish readily the credit which thi large business extension has made necessary. “The end of the Balkan-Turkish war. with the dissipation of the fear which has hung over the civilized world like a black cloud that the great powers would be drawn into a vaster conflict, Las done much to brighten the general "outlook. The collapse of the Mexican insurrection, or rather its redu lion to the vanish ing point, has also had a good ef fect. Reconciled to Tariff. "I see nothing other than encour aging in home affairs. There need be no scare over tariff revision. Busi ness men and financiers have become generally reconciled to the changes about to be made in th- -.riff sched tiles and which it is hoped will settle the question for years to come. “1 do not prophesy as to the fu ture. but I am frank to say that I am of the opinion that the protec tion theory has been overplayed and I rep nothing to Ear in a wisp re vision of the tariff, though I regret it could not have been brought about through a permanent tariff commis sion such as the former President proposed. “Neither am 1 opposed to the in- come tax feature of the tariff bill. Any method of collecting the revenue nec essary for the nation’s need is satis factory to me if it is equitable, fair and Just to all. with no one claso singled out for persecution or favor itism. “I believe we can look with confi dence for a reasonably good meas ure of currency reform My views on the currency reform question are well known, so I will, need not repeat them. 1 will say, however, that 1 desire to do all I can to co-operate with the | present national administration to secure currency reform legislation. Oriental Situation Hopeful. "Bankers generally will be wiling to meet the administration half-way in the Effort go provide some plan under which there * an be proper elas ticity in the credit system and the bank note system. If that can be se cured it w ill in* a long stop in the right direction, it is to be presumed, however, that the first legislation enacted at this time will be only part way legislation, in the nature of com promise or instalment. “The outlook for an extension of our trade with the Orient nas been greatly improved by the friendly at titude of the United States Govern ment towards the new Chinese repub lic Many business met. on the Pa cific coast whom 1 met recently give me assurances that China -s looking with marked favor upon the United States because of our recent changed attitude.’’ MORE*SAVING NEEDED. There can be no doubt that more saving and less spending would quickly begin to cure some of the conditions which have been finding reflection in the adverse movement of security values. The accumula tion of capital ha* not been commen surate with the degree of prosperity which the country has enjoyed, and th*- effect of this i*• seen in many direction? Pig Iron Prices Not Satisfactory No. 2 Foundry Sells Around $12, Which Is Not Far Above Cost. Steel in Demand. BIRMINGHAM, AHA . May lu. With the exception of a day-or two Hhut flown at three or four furnaces the past week, there has been no curtailment in the pig iron produc tion in the Southern territory lately, and nt no time during this month is any shortening of output looked for. There is not much demand for pig iron and the quotations still are weak, but the manufacturers are con fident that everything will come out all right, and that the iron being ac cumulated w ill be needed a little later. Tariff revision talk will not down! but no one is brave enough to pre dict that the country is going to the “bow-wows’’ by reason of the re vision. It is not believed that foreign irons will swamp this country. That there will he a need for pig iron in quantity before long is an expression heard on all sides. Before the end of the second quarter of the year, the prediction is heard, there wilr be a buying movement that will call for a large tonnage of iron for delivery during the last half of the year. With pig iron at $12 per ton, No. 2 Foundry, the manufacturers expect some good business. Consumers, however, are holding off and Indications point to even lower prices for the product. Two or three more shadings of quo tations will bring the prices down near the cost line. There is a good demand for basic iron, the steel market being quite satisfactory with the brightest of prospects. There will be steady oper ations at the various steel works in the South the business in hand and in sight a. d the need of repairs and improvements are enough to keep the present army of employees at work through the rest of the year. There is a steady delivery of steel rails in the South. There is a good demand for wire and rod. Sucn plants as are manu facturing steel cotton ties are work ing overtime, and so far show no worry because of the tariff revision. Much steel will be used by the cotton tie manufacturers before the season ends. Good prices obtain for steel prod nets with prospects'good for the rest of the year in this direction. There is much activity at coal and ore mines, limestone quarries, coke ovens and other sources of raw ma terial. The Tennessee Coal. Iron and Railroftd Company has lighted up 200 more coke ovens to care for an ad ditional demand for coke. It is an nounced that there will be an accu mulation of the various raw mate rials so that when the pig Iron pro duction becomes very active again there will be no heed for any inter ruption. It will not be a hard mat ter fo bring about a considerable ton nage of ore. but coke and coal are not so easily produced. Charcoal iron is in fair demand, what is being made. There is a good demand with the ear wheel works, and charcoal iron plays an important part in this industry. Foundries and machine shops are requiring considerable pig iron and coke. The prospects are reported somewhat improved. Cast iron pipe plants also are looking forward to much activity and a strong melt of pig iron. Some export orders for pig iron are under consideration in the South with prospects of the negotiations result ing in business. Feeding Soil Bacteria Most Profitable Practice Possible for Modern and Progressive Southern Farmer Greatest Modern Discovery of Agricultural Science—Immense Help in Increasing Size and Standard of Crops of Every Variety. Methods of Inoculation and Use Fully Described. — By CHARLES A. WHITTLE. Georgia State College of Agriculture. VETERAN PAYERS OE DIVIDENDS Here are the most thoroughly sea soned dividend payers, w ith the num ber of consecutive years of dividend disbursements, their present price, and their yield at present levels Stock. Penna HI. Cent N Y. C. A H. N. Y.. N H. & (’hi. & Nwestern D. L. * W Del. & Hud. Co. . Years. Price. Yield. H. . 4* . 43 . 40 . . 35 .33 . .32 115 i 20 103 112 133 410 160 128 132 161 114 109 5.22 >.83 4.85 7.14 5.23 4.88 5.63 5.47 4.55 5.94 6.14 4.59 this ihi-'A-fo!.; \\. hi< •. would - more if di-v vulu. yl'he rad ius ait in this da vs. (it. Nor. Ry. pfd. ... .32 Con. Gas of N. Y. ..28 Diamond Match Co. 24 Amor. Sugar Ref Co.22 C. M. & St. Paul ..21 The rates of course have varied in different years, but with none of-the companies selected has the rate *n any one tear fallen below 2 per cent. The extreme priod embrace? the vears of severe depression of 1857, 1873. 1893 and 1907 FRED W. ELLSWORTH PLANS TO MAKE ADDRESS HERE The Atlanta branch of the Ameri can Institute of Banking will have Fred IV. Ellsworth, publicity mana ger of th* Guaranty Trust Company. New York, as its «ruest May 15. T. \Y Townsend, of the Fourth National bank has received a definite accept ance from Mr. Ellswortl]. May 15 is the regu’ai meeting date of thm local organization ind Mr. Ellsworth will be the speaker of the evening. Mr. Ellsworth has a grasp on finan cial subjects which places him among the best. , Mr. Ellsworth was one of th$ first members of the American Institute of Banking as well as one of the most prominent men identified with it. From Atlanta he goes to Macon where he is one of the principal speaker’s scheduled to appear before the Georgia Bankers' convention May 16 and 17. MEN TO TILL FIELDS NEEDED IN BALKANS one of the principal financial in stitutions of Germany, having intl- mau mnntviions with the Near Ea*t. has just issued a report dealing with trade * enditions in the Balkan States The report states that the economic development of these countries in the near future depends largely on how ':ir is possible to prepare the land for the next crops. I Se *re weather prevailed in Serviaj up to a week or so ago. but condi tions ap now quite -pringlike. and j it is. therefore, highly desirable than the troops return as soon as possible ! n order to get work in the fie id*, i w hich for the most part an lying j vet untouched. Sio k? of torn are! so * ..all that Government re- eenrh decided t»* suspend the import: duty on fi-»ur. Tier* are large; k f maize and thi- is proving o- g at assistar.ee to pig breeders. | How to feed bacteria and encour age their development is the biggest issue of modern agriculture. Via bac teria plants get much of their im portant fot>d. and via the plant we live. Our invisible friends of the soil world are middlemen in the cycle of food preparation. If they thrive we thrive. If they suffer we suffer. Where-they die w e can not live. Not until the last few years have we come to learn of our dependence upon soil bacteria and their depend ence upon us in th* practice of agri culture. Science has opened our eyes and defined to some extent a compli cated and confusing talicroscopical world. revealing very wonderful things, the use of which will prove pf vast benefit to agriculture. The discovery of nitrogen-fixing bacteria was epochal. Subsequent dis coveries of how to feed and energize them mean more than any invention, any legislation or any plant propaga tion affecting soil husbandry ever con ceived. And yet there is still much to be discovered as to how many kinds of bac teria fix nitrogen and convert it into form .suited to plant food and how to foster their growth and pro tect them from natural enemies and adverse conditions. When we buy nitrates from ('title we pay dearly for it, and if we con tinue to depend upon this sole com mercial deposit disaster awaits us. In the air is plenty of nitrogen. With a lot of electricity and lime, manufac turing enterprise is attempting to ar rest it irom the air on a commercial busiu.. and in this they may succeed but by the bacteria! process it can be trarsferred from the air to the soil at no .’ost whatever; indeed, at a profit lice only from a crop that favors the growth of the bacteria, but also the profit that comes of permanent im provement of the soil. Feed on Organic Matter. Bacteria can not live on inorganic dust. They must have organic mat ter. Turn under vegetable matter and Mr. Bacterium will feast, swell up and pop off into another bacterium, which in turn pops off into another, and* so on. rapidly ad infinitum, every last one of them busy attacking vege table matter and transforming it into a combination suitable for plant food. It is great business The fertilizer factories are not in their class. As fanners’ helpers they are always ready and willing to manufacture plant food for their board—and what they eat is a small fraction of what they produce. Indeed, what they ust is most often what man can no longer use. So it is that soil is dead, weak o' active to the extent that the bacteria have been cut short or fed their nat ural provender of organic matter, or in some other way made inactive. Plants are not cannibals. They can not feed upon each other. No mat ter how much vegetable matter is put into the soil, if bac teria are not there to ferment or rot it. the vegetable matter would never become available as food for growing plants. J. Davorak. of Germany, recently revealed some interesting facts show ing to what extent nitrogen-fixing bac teria prefer different forms of veg etable matter. The older the vegeta ble matter the less adapted to the nu trition of the bacteria, but green stuffs and to a lesser degree roots and straw, which are easily changed by water into forms adapted to con sumption, are preferred. Green Stuff* Best. Green stuffs are best because th * carbohydrates and nitrogen are there found in mos-t favorable proportions, and also because the carbohydrates are in the form most easily trans formed. Green manuring not only in creases bacteria, but it raises the temperature of the soil, srts <»ff a greater amount of carbon -dioxide, which in turn createat a porosity • f the soil and admits water for a better disintegration of Insoluble phosphates and silicates. f To what, extent and how rapidly bacteria absorb and convert nitrogen Into plant food is. of course, a very important consideration. The sam authority has found, by experiments. that nitrogen in the form of ammonia | 0 f great tilings w sulphate is most readily absorber;, pimps arp made that sodium nitrafte is absorbed about Tike calcium nitrate, that the absorp tion of nitrogen is less active in an acid soil and that the amount of car bon dioxide produced is an index to the bac terial absorption of the soil. Soil sickness, believed* to be due to reduced bacterial action, can be cur’d by sterilization. Some have believed that there were denitrifying bacteria in the soil that brought out soil sick ness. but this seems to have been dis proved by Russel and Golding, of England. * other organic life larger than bacteria is held responsible by these authorities in the case of a sewerage sick soil. There they found protozoa prevalent. When they ster ilized or partially sterilzed the soil these protozoa or hindering factors, whatever they were, disappeared, or were destroyed. Bacteria were then able to multiply ten times their for mer numbers in the soil. Exposure to a temperature of 96 to 98 degrees for two hours not only killed the protozoa or hindering cause, but also harmful parasitic organisms, affected a certain amount of decom position thus assisting the bacteria in their subsequent work of trans forming it, and developed as a sec ondary consideration a large number of fibrous roots. A temperature of .»■» degrees for three hours 'serves the same purpose, except for the. forma tion of the fibrous roots. Antiseptic Destroys Factors. The same authorities have discov? ered that an antiseptic such as toluene will also destroy the hindering fac tors. indicating that, whatever they may be. they are biological. Lodge and Smith, of the Massachu setts Experiment Station, assert that it is not the protozoa that is the lim iting factor, for they have taken care to eliminate the protozoa from th ur tests, and in spite of that obtained different results, due, as they claim, to the presence of a greater amount of organic matter In one than the other, the organic matter, of course, favoring the development of the ba tP (L u. Given found that nitrification was twice as rapid in soil sterilized and then relnocculated as in soil which had not been sterilized. While admitting the benefit to tne growth of the plant by heating ta • soil Sehver and Clark call attention to the fact that heating soils tends to increase the growth of harmful fungi. ... Which are the bacterial inhabitants in the underworld that produce nitro gen and what else happens when they do their work in the way of chemical changes is, of course, an important HAVE A BAD WEEK Field Agents Report Serious Need nf Rains—Much Cotton Must Be Replanted. ATHENS. May 10.—Reports re- eeived at the State College of Agri culture from sixty-five agents in farm demonstration work in Georgia indicate an unfavorable week for the farmer. Dry. cool weather which prevailed throughout the State during the last week of April and the first of May militated against getting a good stand of cotton. A great deal will have to be replanted or already has been replanted, but.unfortunately, such replanting as has been done ha.- poor promise of coming up. owing to the dry weather. Corn is reported quite generally to have come up with a good stand. Oats, generally speaking, have been affected severely by rust, and are greatly in need of rain. Wheat is reported looking well. Where farmers broke the crust aft er rains by harrowing (he corn and cotton, stands are very much better than w here such treatment was neg lected. A good warm rain is the greatest need of Georgia' crops at the end of the first week of May. RAILflOADS AND BANKS EXPECT- BUMPER CROPS Both railroads and banks are pre paring to handle what promise to be i h« biggest of bumper crops. Three of the Northwestern roads, alone ar» spending upwards of $25.- “00.000 on new equipment which they expect to ne^d 40 haul crons and the merchant 5: ; e w hr* h prosperous farm-* rrs wi!’ hue with ihe proceeds of their harvests. I consideration. Many keen scientific minds have been on the trail for sev eral years. Here a bit ami there a bit of evidence has been picked up. One kind of bacteria and then another has been isolated and found to fix nitrogen. Numbers Increasing. They need not he mentioned here, but it may be said that as observa tions continue tne number increases. MdBeth and Scales, of the Bureau of Plant Industry of the United States, have recently succeeded in isolating and defining some of these bacteria, and particularly to have proved that gaseous products hitherto attributed to nitrogen fixing bacteria are really the work of other bacteria—a discov ery that may not seem here nor the**e. to the lav mind, hut may be potential hen further discov eries are made. A. Fousek finds that Streptothfix converts nitrates to nitrites without denitrification—which statement may need some explanation for the lay man. Nitrates are, of course, just the form that plants require. To change to nitrites would mean to make it unavailable for plant food. But to change it to nitrites is better than to denitrify it. that is. to turn it loose into the air. This bacte rium would not be friendly to plant growth at all.were it not for its gen eral assimilative ability. Besides ni trates. it assimilates ammonium compounds, urea and uric acid. To catch ammonia and fix it is impor tant, for this has a strong disposi tion to escape. This bacterium, therefore, prevents denitirification and holds in the soil a compound that can be converted into plant food when another class of bacteria be come active and can change nitrites into nitrates. It can be readily seen that this bacterium might have been classed as harmful and put out of the way by antiseptics ,pr steriliza- ( tion if the important facts about its good as well as Its bad habits had not been learned. As it is, this micro organism which constitutes 20 to 30 per cent of micro-organisms in loam soils. 8 to 15 per cent in clay soils and 7 to 10 per cent in sandy soils, will find encouragement. It not only thrives in fallow soils, but grows on the roots op a very great variety of ; plants. Increase Due to Fat Removal. R. Greig-Smith thinks that in creased bacterial activity in soils after antiseptics have been applied is due to the removal of fatty protec tive coverings of soil particles. To set one class of bacteria after another and cheek some of their harmful or wasteful habits is, of course, one of the greatest move ments of science to-day, whether it be in the medical world or the agri cultural world. One instance recently coming to attention may be men tioned. Barthel and Rhodin. by us ing lactic acid ferment upon the ma nure heap which was lo**ng ammo nia b\ the action of certain bacteria busy therein, succeeded in conserv ing the ammonia and proved that the fertilizing efficiency of the manure was maintained 59 per cent higher than th# 4 manure that was untreated. It was simply setting one set of bac teria to work to offset a part of the work of another. The results have demonstrated something worth while. bactwr'ia Don't Like Sour Soils* When closer, peas, velvet beaflS, al falfa or other legumes are not Going as well as the soil fertility would indi cate that they should, usually the rea son can be found by testing the soil for acidity or sourness. If the soil is sour, the bacteri;vthat set up shop on the roots of these plants to manufac ture nitrates from the air. close doors and cease business. No vinegar with theirs. The acidity murt be neutral- i ze ri__that is, corrected, and the soil made sweet before the farmer’s best friend—nitrogen fixing bacteria—will begin the manufacture of fertilizer. Lime is the “sweetening.’ It must be put on in large or small amounts depending upon the sourness. LimJ in the carbonate form-just plain, pulverized limestone, marble, marl, shells or other substance containing a high per cent of lime—serves the purpose and will maintain a sweet ness for several years. With this corrective dose, the bac teria get busy around the roots of the legumes. Their tiny factories can b€* easily seen. They are called nodules, in other words, swollen places. These are store houses as well as operaflng centers for the bacteria that some how extract from the air some of its nitrogen. They carry it to the roots, rather fix it there, aiding the growing plant to which it adheres, by feeding it with the nitrogenous fertilizer. It is a bountiful provider and leaves some on the roots to permanently en rich the soil. The Practical Benefit to the Farmer. Without knowing that there were bacteria in the soil calling for organic matter for food, the farmer learned that turning vegetable matter under improved the fertility. Without know ing that bacteria would not thrive in sour soil, the farmer learned that lime was good for his land. Without know ing that bacteria had anything to do with it. the farmer^earned that le gumes and rotations helped the soil. The practical benefit to many farm ers who have been using green ma nures, who have been using lime on the soils and who have been growing legumes and rotating crop*', is not as great as for those who have never practiced these things, but even the progressive farmer who has received j benefits In these ways now knows how Banks’ Strength Is Heavily Taxed Reserves Down anH Loans Much Increased to Meet Demands of First Quarter. The «ummary of the returns of the j National banks under the call ot April 14 issued by the office of the Controller of the Currency i. clear t^a* the banking facilities of the country have been taxed somewhat severely to meet the demands which have been made upon them. This, of course, is in part due to the inevi table effect of this country’s great volume of business, but it is also due in part in a more special sense to the manner in which some of this business has been done. The Controller’s figures showed that the percentage of reserve was smaller than at the corresponding date in either 1906 or 19#r. In the period of relaxation which followed those years the percentage of reserve rose to 23.94 per cent, which it reached in May. 1908. There tfae been a pretty steady ’ recession in the percentage since them until it now stands at 20.44. This is the lowest reported at this season in many years, and :s only* a little above the low percentage reported on the call of November 26 when thq great amount of money* needed in ujarketing the record crops of last year had not yet returned to the banks. While this movement has been un der way in the reserve percentage, and while the actual cash holdings of the banks have decreased, loans! he can receive greater help. By know- have largely increased. Compared with the figures for March. 1911. the April 4 \gurtS of the National banks this year show a decrease in cash holdings of over $19,000,000. while loans have ir Teased during tjiis pe riod by more than $6ii0.00:)7©00. Find ing Uni* to he the condition of tfte Na tional bank position, it hardly gives cau**e for surprise tha; those w ho have had appeals to mak“ to the capital market have found st/p plies small and I rates relatively high. ing something of the nature his bacterial friends, he has reamer how to feed them better than formerly, to ge4 ’arger crop returns. He knows better what to put down into the sc>.1 that greater returns’ mav he sent ijfil by his invisible army of farm helpers. All the while more and more is be ing learned of the bacterial world and more and more wi!! be ascertained as to how the farmer can better empioy hi* bacterial workers to fatten his 1 .1. j purse.