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6 B TTEARST’S SUNDAY AMERICAN. ATLANTA, 0A„ SUNDAY, MAY 11. 1913. Feeding Soil Bacteria Most Profitable Practice Possible for Modern and Progressive Southern Fanner rj'LLA WMKKLER WIL- J—' Cox. who wah introduced «t the English Court last week. King Edward was fond of her poet ry. (Jreatest Modem Discovery of Agricultural Scienct Increasing Size and Standard of Crops of Methods of Inoculation and Use Fullv By CHARLES A WHITTLE. ~ Georgia State College of Agriculture. Immense 1 Id) Every Variety. I tescribed. > in How tc feed bacteria and encour age their development is the biggest issue of modern agriculture. Via bac teria plants Ret much of their im portant food, 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 the\ suffer we suffer. Where they die we 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 the practice of agri culture. Science has opened our eyes ahd defined to some extent a compli cated and confusing microscopical world, revealing very wonderful things, the use of which will prove of vast benefit to agriculture. The iiscovery 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 bacteria fix nitrogen and convert it in'o form suited to plaift food and hr.w to foster their growth and pro tect them from natural enemies and adverse conditions. When we buy nitrates from Chile we pay dearly for It, and if we con- tjr me to depend upon this sole eom- mercial deposit disaster awaits us. In tiu air is plenty of nitrogen. With a lot of electricity and lime, manufac turing enterprise is attempting to ar ea-t it from the air on a commercial basis, and In this they may succeed, but by the bacterial process it can be transferred from the air to the soil at m> cost w hatever; indeed, at a profit not only from a crop that favors the growth of the bacteria, but also the profit that comes of permanent im- ^jyivement of the soil. Feed on Organic Matter. ^ErRacteria 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 -o 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 Jn 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 friction of what they produce. Indeed, what they use Ip most often what man can no longer use So it is that soil is dead, weak or 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. Blunts are not c annibals. They can n it fe ed upon eac h other. No mat ter l ow 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. Divorak. of Germany, recently revealed some Interesting facts show ing to what extent nitrogen-fixing bacteria prefer diffe rent forms of veg etable' matter. The older the vegeta ble matte r the les• adapted to the nu trition of the bacteria, but green stuff. 1 and to a leaser degree roots and straw, which are easily changed \by water into forms adapted to con sumption. are preferred. Green Stuffs Best. # Green stuffs arc* best because the* carbohydrates and nitrogen are there Co and in most favorable proportions, and also because the carbohydrates are in the form most easily trans formed. Green manuring not only in- errus*** bacteria, but it raises the temperature of the soil, sets off a greater amount of carbon dioxide*, which in turn neatest a porosity of ♦ he soil unci admits water for a better disintegration of insoluble phosphutes end silicates. To what extent and how rapidly bacteria absorb and convert nitrogen into plant food is. of course, a very important consideration. The' same authority has found, by experiments, that nitrogen in the form of ammonia sulphate readily absorbed, that sodium nitrate is absorbed about like 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 bacterial absorption of the soil. Boil sickness, believed to be due to reduced bacterial action, can be cured bv sterilization. Some have believed ♦ hat there were »1« nitrifying bacteria frr the »oil that brought out soil sick ness. but this seems to have been dis proved by Russel and Golding, of England. Other organic life larger Hum bacteria is held responsible by these authorities In the case of .1 sewerage sick soil. There they found protozoa prevalent. When they ster ilized or partially sterilaed the soil these protozoa or hindering fac tors, 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 degrees for two hours not only k|Hed 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 numbe r ol fibrous roots. A temperature of degrees for three hours serves th* time purpose, except for the forma tion <>f 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?ir 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 bac teria. . G. C. Given found that nitrification was twice as-rapid in soil sterilized and then reinocculated as in soil which had not been sterilized. While admitting the benefit to the •• ttha nlsnt hv 11 /.ha soil, Soaver and dark call attention to the fact that heating soils tends to increase the growth of harmful fungi. Which are the bac terial Inhabitants in the underworld .that produce nitro gen and what else happens when they do their work in the way of chemical changes j.s. of course, an important consideration. Many keen scientlfl minds have been on the trail for sev eral years. Here a bit and there a bit of evidence has been picked up. One kind of bacteria and then another has been isolated and found to tlx nitrogen. Numbers Increasing. They need not be mentioned here, but it may be said that as observa tions continue the number increases McBeth and Scales, of the Bureau of Plant Industry of the United Stat •«, have recently succeeded in isolating and defining some of these baiter 1 », 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 v o to the lay mind, but may be potential of great things when further discov eries are made. A. Fousek finds that Streptothflx 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 fond. But to change it to nitrites is hotter 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, i( 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. Tnis bacterium, therefore, prevents denitirifleation and holds in the soil a compound that can be converted into plant food when another class of bac teria 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 or 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 of a very great variety of plants. Increase Due to Fat Removal. R. Greig-Smlth thinks that in creased bacterial activity in soils after antiseptics have been applied is duo to the removal of fatty protec tive coverings of soil particles. To set one class of bacteria after another and check 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 add ferment upon the ma nure heap which was losing ammo nia by the action,of certain bacteria bufy therein, succeeded in conserv ing the ammonia and provbd that the fertilizing efficiency of the manure was maintained f»9 per cent higher than the 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. Bacteria Don’t Like Sour Soils. When clover, peas, velvet beans, al falfa or other legumes are not doing as well as the soil fertility would indi cate that thev should, usually the rea son can he found by testing the soil for acidity or sourness. If the soil is sour, the bacteria that s* t 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 mud be neutral ized—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. Lime in lhe 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 is* easily seen. They are called nodule.'* 1 , in other words, swollen places. These are store houses as well as operating centers 'for the bacteria that some how extract from the air some of its nitrogen. They carry it to the roots, rather flx it there, aiding the growing plant to which it adheres, by feeding it with tin* nitrogenous fertilizer. It is a bountiful provider and leaves pome on the roots to permanently en rich the soil. Th© 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 tike 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 learned that le gumes and rotations helped the soil. The practical benefit‘to many farm ers who haye been using green ma- nures.vwho have been using lime on the soils and who have been growing legumes and rotating ( rope, is not us great as for those who have never practiced these things, but even the progressive farmer who lias received benefits in these ways now knows how lie can receive greater help. By know ing something of the nature of his bacterial friends, he has learned how to feed them better than formerly, to get larger crop returns. 1-fe knows better what to put down into the soil, that greater returnp may be sent up 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 will be ascertained as to how the farmer can better employ his bacterial workers to 'fatten his purse. NEW COTTON PEST • CAUSE OF BAN ON ALL FOREIGN SEED quar- weevil and WASHINGTON, Mfty 10.—Impor- I tation of cotton seed will be forbidden ! by the United States after May 20. i Experiments with Egyptian seed will have to cease. 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 varieties of cotton more valuable than the native staple exist olse- w here. The pink boll worm, the Peruvian cotton square weevil and tin* boll weevils of East Africa and the Phil ippines are the reasons for tht antine. With the Mexican boll the native boll worm already doing j incalculable damage in the United j States, the department feels that the American cotton farmer has enough I to fight. It believes that the danger j from new cotton pests would offset j any Improvement in the grade to be 1 obtained by 'importation of new va rieties. THE NEWEST COTTON ENEMY. I The pink boll worm is the newest j aqd most insidious enemy of cotton 1 discovered. It infests Egypt, Sierra J 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 ye.r. It i> particularly dangerous because it will remain dormant in the cotton J seed for six or seven months. Live j worms and pupae 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 see .. Under such circumstances it would be practically impossible for tin* ex perts of the department to fumigate seed well enough to kill tba larvae, so the department acted quickly and at I once forbade the introduction of the seed into the United States. Owing] to the difficulty of fighting the pi the quarantine probablyy will be p petual. ONE SHIPMENT CAUGHT. allowed to come into the United States, unless the Government was allowed to fumigate It. This permis sion was readily given. The .voting larva of the pink boll worm is at first dirty white, becoming desli colored, suffused with pink in the back at a later stage. Each seg ment then bears two darker pink dorsal transverse bars, followed* by two pinkish spots on the lateral por tion. each spot bearing a single short hair. The perfect insect has golden brown forewings sprinkled with dark brown scales, and the hind wings are dark gray with a continuous fringe. GROWERS MUST BEWARE. The Department of Agriculture has as yet no knowledge of the presence of this* pest in the United States, hut cotton growers are advised to be on the lookout, as shipments of seed j which have come into this country as long ago as twelve months, might still contain living larvae. In its operation the larva enters the large bolls when Qiey are more than hair ripened, the « ggMieing, prob-, ably, though not certainly, laid on t'ao j boll itself The hole by which thoj larva enters is usually so email that! it is inconspicuous, and ov* n when I contains a full grown pink worm, the! passage of entry is often impossible to find, owing to the wound having) The larva feeds upon the unripe e» d in the boll, eating out the whplej if the interior of thtv-s, ed and leaving! he shed filled with excrement, It >asses from one seed to another, isuall.v only destroying the seed in •ne cell of the boil. It forms a cocoon n the interior of the seed, in which t remains dormant for months. In larvae leave eat out new upate about tl 0 are at least ;heir first cells* in le middle two gen - *rat and No time the t hi At t andri advise riculture of nection with thi informed the dr; inent of seed l from Egypt to . for experiment a partmem at on sJsrn*i« that Lht Consul at Alex- epartment of Ag- scoveries in con- nk boll worm he ment that a ship- en nt in Mis would not be 1 seed. HAS SOME PARASITES. The only enemies of which the de- art men t has record are found in ierra l.eonc and Southern Nigeria in Hawaii. In the firet-named ons an •insect nas been observed ing the opening of the bolls and ing the juices from the body of >ink boll worm. record is given of the amount of damage caused by the pink boll worm in Egypt or Hawaii, but it is esti mated that it causes a loss of $4,000.- uoo a year in the cotton-grow ih.a sec tions of India. Inciden’allv, the quarantine will orevail also a gain >t the Peruvian Cot ton Square Weevil, the O^rirtun-Ea&t African cotton boll weevil, and the Philippines cotton boll weevil. In •diort. the actual effect of the depart ments order will be to establish a quarantine against allAforeign cotton >Back in Realty Game Gees Captain Petty Veteran Dealer Says Atlanta Is Best Field After All—Talks of Farm Prospects. M. Potty, for over a decade well known in Atlanta real estate circles and who decided some time ago to make Albany his home, has re considered and opened up a real es tate office in Atlanta. He is located at 125 North Pryor Street. Captain Petty is best remembered as a partner for several years in the realty firm of Grant & Petty. He became Interested to such an extent In Southwest Georgia farms that he was convinced that Albany would be the field to carry on his land operations; but other considerations prevailed, and Captain Petty finds himself ptilj in Atlanta, and he be lieves he can handle farm propositions as well from tin* Gate City as any where. Local real estate will also be given attention. "The lower half of Georgia is jus; beginning to come into its own,” de clared Captain Petty. "The profits In pecan groves, vegetables and other products are attracting many people to the farm. Another great influence will he the opening of the Panama Canal, and 1 expect Georgia to de rive as much benefit from this as any other State in the Union." SEVEN TiNiES WOMAN GIVES SKIN FOR CURE Special to The Sunday American. BAR IS. May 10.—Mme. Maneuvrier, living at Landrecb s. has seven times allowed strips of skin to be taken tgum her body and grafted on to her sen-in-law. who was accidentally burned and would otherwise have died. She was operated on without an anaesthetic and at she end 01 the seventh operation tainted. When she recovered consciousness she said to the surgeons: ‘ l am ready for anoth <r operation if it is needed to save my son-in-law’s life ” HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS BOX,* PROTECTED BY CAGES Geese Easily Ca n Find Ready Market Profitably and WHITEHALL WORK WAGNERIAN OPERA Bred; Farmers HillF» WITH Jiff IS TOO DEEP FOR ENGLISH SOCIETY Very Little Trouble In Raising Them. Different Breeds Offer Wide Range and Many. Selections. By JUDGE F. J. MARSHALL. Ella Wheeler Wilcox Meets King and Queen American Authoress Presented at British Court by Member of Embassy Staff. Special Cable to The American. LONDON, May 10.—The King and Queen held court at Buckingham Pal ace Thursday evening. The American* 1 presented were Mrs. Ella Wheeler Wil cox, tin* poetess; and Adrian Iselin and Miss Louise Iselin, Mrs. Charies Edward Greenough and Miss Helen Marie Stuart, all of New York. Mrs. Wilcox said afterward that she was greatly impressed by the splendor and particularly by the great pre ponderance of youthful and beautiful women. The famous American authoress arrived recently from North Africa and found a note from the Ameri can Embassy notifying her she would be introduced to the King and Queen at court May ’7. She imme diately became busy, as she had not a dress suitable for the occasion. Fortunately her dressmaker was working on an evening gown, so Mrs. Wilcox telephoned her to alter it so as to render it suitable for court and to add the usual long train. It Is said the King and Queen are very fond of Mrs. Wilcox’s poetry and it is known that King Edward and Queen Alexandra were two of her greatest admirers. The breeding of good strains of geese hus not been developed to any extent in the'South. Upon any plan tation of considerable sTze where there Is running water and where grain *s raised a good grade of geese can be made profitable to their own?" They are not only profitable as pro* ducers of feathers, as of old, but they are so large and fine in quality of flesh that they will command good prices in the markets. This is par ticularly true during holiday and Thanksgiving times. There are many people who prize the flesh of a well- laised goose for roasting more high ly than they do that of any other fowl. In history the.goose dates back further than that of any other of our domestic fowls. We have an account where Rome was saved by the gease of those days. From what we can find out. it is but in recent years th it we have had the benefits to be de rived from the enlarged and im proved varieties. Six Breeds of Geese. The American Standard of Perfec tion recognizes and describes six breeds of geese—the Toulouse, Emb- den. African, Chinese, Canadian or Wild, and Egyptian. Of the Chinese there are two varieties—the brown and white When it comes to profD ■ able market stock, the Toulouse s used almost exclusively. The well- bred Toulouse goose and gander are so very nearly alike that no one short of an expert can determine the sex. They are fowls of mammoth propor tions—so much larger than the tradi tional "old gray goose that died” that they would hardly be considered as of the same family. The young Toulouse go into the business as an exclusive business upon a large scale until the market has been coached and gotten into belter shape. But the growing f geese for home use and the local mar kets for feathers, down and all the rest that go with it is worth the un dertaking. Geese Easily Handled. Geese are easily handled and need but little provision in the vvpy of houses or sheds for their shelter. In fact, many of the best geese raising farmers do not deem it of importance to provide any shelter for them, ei ther winter or summer, except shade to protect them from the heat of the sun. If they have good shade trees or hedgerows, they need nothing ar tifleial for their comfort. The old practice of plucking live geese in the northern sections of T>ur country has about gone out of fash ion, because it has come to be con sidered as a cruel practice, especially when it is done two or three times during the year. In the South, how ever, where the weather is hot for many months, it can be practiced to advantage and be a real comfort to the goose plucked. This is best ac complished once a year, just at the time when the new' feathers have made the start. Looking after the fowls frequently, observing when these new* feathers first show, then the plucking can be done easily and without any injury or discomfort to the patient. Geese under two years old should not be picked. Blindfold Goose. The easiest method Jo accomplish the work is to draw’ an old thin stocking over the head of the goose to prevent its thrashing around to get away; then hold the head and neck firmly between the knees. Plucking only the soft feathers from the breast, back and abdomen, be ing careful to remove the old and gander should weigh 20 pounds and weII ripened feathers, not disturbing the young goose 16 pounds while the lne new oneg or the pin feathers. In mature fowls over 1 year oM snoalu i dressin g f or the market the goose is ■ i H *> tw in n >\i fru* thti irrtnnpr n n <1 , ■ t.t. weigh 25 pounds for the gander and 20 for the goose. Just think what roasts such specimens make! At the prices they usually bring of 12 to 15 cents per pound alive and 15 to 20 cents dressed, they will net the own r from $2 to $3 each—a price well worth working for. They are. la body shape, broad and very deep; in mature spec imens the keel or breastbone almost touches the ground. Thighs Short and Stout. The thighs and shanks are rather short, but stout. A rather large, but short, head; neck medium length first given a good sharp blow upon the back of the head with a small club, and is then quickly stuck - in the roof of the mouth with a sharp killing knife. Which is similar to ink erasing knife, with two sharp sides to it. This incision in the mouth severs a neck artery and penetrates the brain. The fowl is hung up by its feet until it has thoroughly bled, which takes but a moment or two. The head is then held firmly between the knees while the left hand holds both wings; the right hand soon re Regrade Will Bring New Build ings and Extension of Retail District—$47,000 Job. J* 0 * Now that Whitehall regrading is assured between Mitchell Street on the north and Forsyth Street on the south, substantial improvements which have been contingent on it can go ahead. Charles H. Black will erect a $50,000 building at the southwest corner of Whitehall Street and Trini ty Avenue, on the old Trinity Church site. Charles E. Currier will put up i structure on Whitehall, and John VV. Grant will build a $20,00.0 three- story building just north of Mitchell Street. The street improvements and the building improvements will have the effect of extending the Whitehall business district sharply southward, to a point several blocks below' Trin ity Avenue, which has been out of the question with the present drop at Trinity Avenue in the way of exten sion. There will be a fill of eight feet at Brotherton Street and a cut of eight feet at Trinity, which will make the street nearly level for many blocks. The south side has long desired this improvement, and the people most vi tally interested declare that the city has done a great thing to guarantee the work. Action on the regrading proposition came to a head Friday afternoon at the City Hall when the Streets Com mittee of Council decided that $30,000 should be appropriated for the job, $17,000 having been guaranteed by property owners whose land will be affected. The work is to start not later than October 1 and will, of course, be completed long before the arrival of the Shriners. Out of nine voters in the Streets Committee only one voted adversely to regrading. Regradfbg of city streets in the downtown districts is being given more attention than ever before. The w'ork on Ivy Street, the proposed re grading of West Peachtree, which has been • assured, and the regrading of Whitehall will mean as much to the city as any improvements mat could be made. Peachtree Street is better since the removal of the "hump” at Baker Street, and this thoroughfare, think a number of realty men, could be Improved still more by cutting down ten feet at the Aragon Hotel. German Composer’s Work Has Never Been Appreciated in London at All. with head carried rather erect. In moves the feather* putting them into color they may be called a gray and ; » b ' ix °J\ bar ™‘' '“alV I white The hack and front part of feathers, which are not retained. A white. The back and front part or fgw fpa(hers on the tlps of (he wIngs the breast a dark gray or brown, with . . .. , r . the underpart of the breaat and body han't about the head are left on. The a light gray, shading to almost white 'loan and hairs are shaved off with under the tail. The shanks are an « sharp shoe knife All this is done orange yellow i dr y- No raiding «* Embden geese rank second in pop ularity, being somewhat similar in type to the Toulouse, but not quite so heavy in btody, and general make up. weighing from two to five pounds less than the Toulouse. They art Incision Sewed. The entrails are then carefully draw’n and the inside rinsed with ic** water. The incision made lor this is sewed up with a white string. The wings are tied down snugly to the pure white fh color throughout. The I body with a clean white cord. When Chinese geese are small in size, but . the weather is warm of course they ; must be iced and kept cold until i marketed. This is about the plan are long drawn out in their propor tions, having slim, erect bodies, very! . . . , „ , . long and slim necks, gracefully arch- | > lsed W geese breeders for marketing ed, carried very upright. The top of! 1 " a llmlted way - Gee ™ are easy t0 the head is surmounted by a largt.- leathery appearing knob. The larger and rounder the better. There L* a pure white variety, and a brown va riety. Identical in other ways. African Goose. The African goose is built some what similar to the Chinese with a knob on top of the head, but they are a much larger and coarser variety, with a thick bull neck so different from the slim, racy neck of the Chi nese. In color they are a brown, over the back and the breast, with the under part of the body a light gray. The Egyptian is a small goose resembling very m|ich a dwarfed, un dersized Toulouse, colored with al ternate patches of black, white and brow n, but little bred and of leos im portance. The Canadian or wild goose needs no description for the sport lover who has seen them upon the lakes and ponds of this country for years past. In late years, however, they have become almost extinct, ex cept as bred by some of the lovers of the fancy in fowls in this country and Canada. Little Practical Use. I11 fact, aside from the Toulouse. Embden and African, the other breeds • re of but little practical use. being raise when once started. Like ducks, the principal point in their case is to keep them from getting wet during the first tw'o weeks of their lives; after that they can stand almost any thing. Feed simple mashes three or four times a day; allow them grass or green stuff in abundance. When once they begin to feather upon their breasts they will ntand lots of rain and are really able to look out for themselves. Old geese are not good for the table during hot weather, as they usually lose flesh and become stringy and flabby as hot weather comes on. Further Uses Seen For Bleckley Plaza Vehicles Now Using Whitehall and Peachtree Should Park on It, Says Realty Man. News that the Bleckley Plaza plan for bridging the railroad tracks in ^ the heart of town will be taken up hi ed almost entirely for ornameniqi in the State Legislature in June has purposes. Any farmer can be a sue- 1 , , * . 1 * . * . . cessful producer, of geese; or. in other awake " ed a great df ' al of ' n ^*t ih words, anyone with unlimited range project. The Whitehall regrade of woodland and nasture, with pon is or running water, can make good money from geese, provided, however, that he isses for his breeding stock one of the heavy pure breeds—we should say either th« Toulouse : .r Embden. While the general farmer can do well with thorn, 'the stock raiser can be especially so. allowing the flocks of geese to follow' the cat tle and hogs over the range, grazing and picking up grain that might oth erwise be lost. Geese do much better in grass pastures with but little grain thaji they can possibly do confined to small yards and grain fed. In fa.pt. the person who would make a real success in raising them for -the mar kets must not attempt it by the back- j proposition has come and gone with favorable action, and real estate men declare the plaza is the next improve ment in order. "The time will come.” declared a prominent land broker, “when the people w’on’t stand for smoke, noise and dust caused by the railroad trains. There is another reason why this improvement should be made- automobiles and other vehicles which are now allowed to block Peachtree and Whitehall can be provided with parking space on it. Pedestrians are now filling Peachtree and Whitehall, and the vehicles must find other places to stand." Fulton County's legislators are DOVER, N J . May 10.—Dr. Guv Otis Brewster. physical director of the Dover Hig 1 School, is teaching the girl pupils of the school to box. and to protect them from injury he has devised a \\ ire cage which covers I their heads and tin* upper part of their bodies. A public exhibition of boxing in this apparatus will be given for the first time by the pupils at the Tri-Coun ty Interscholaatic League meet in Morristown. N\ J- on May 30. lot route. It will be an expensive un- I squarely" behind the plaza plan and d( Halting, j will see that it is put through, pro- Good Scavengers. tided the interests of the State can Qee.-e make good scavengers to turn | be protected in the concessions which into the orchard or plowed fields, be ing good at cleaning up all sorts of bugs, slugs and grubs from the roots of tree* and the plowed land. They should not, however, be allowed the run of the cArn field while the corn is sinai’ as they will eat it up (root and branch). Jhis is not a hard task *o accomplish for they are most easily fi nerd or even directed in their move ments by a small child or a collie cog trained for the watch-care. Geese make good alarmists, too. Being al 1 , wavs on the watch, gtrange prowler* 1 ^ rom ^ er chest by a doctor, since of any kind will bo givm the great then sin* has shed forty needles from "honk” signal, warning them that they j her left hand, fingers, both tegs, and had better keep away. While geese chest the State will be asked to make. GIRL, FULL OF NEEDLES, SAYS IT IS PLEASANT Special Cable to The American. PARIS. May 10.—Mlie. Thornton, 18. of Rheims. swallowed a packet of needles a few weeks ago. A needle was recently removed breeding tray be made very remuner ative as a side line to the farmer in a moderate way. at the extreme’v good prices that may be obtained from the best hotels for fine (what%are to mod “green goslings”) or well-fat- tench d young ones that have been Each time a needle makes its ap pearance the girl feels a slight prick ing sensation, but she experiences no inconvenience, and the pricking she says. Is rather pleasant than other wise. It is like drinking soda-water,” quickly grown, it is not advisaJ*J* to she told the doctor. Urges Strike of Preachers’ Wives Bachelor Clergy Should Be Stationed in Slums, Says Eminent English Bishop. Special Cable to The American. LONDON. May 10.—The Bishop of Manchester (Dff. Knox), has stated that if it were lawful for a bishop to suggest a strike his advice to the wives of the ^leigy would be to re fuse to do any parish work. A rector’s wif_* in Ancoats, Man chester, a distr’et which contain? many slums, said recently. "I quite agree with the bishop. Af ter parish work, at which one sees terrible sights, you come home and face dirty housework, assisted by a tvpical second-class servant, tor the better type would not live in a neigh • borhood such as this “You and your husband may give* your lives to the work, and in re turn. you get $1,500 a year, with which you have to provide for every thing. We have* three children. Af ter six years’ experience I say that these slum parishes ought to be worked by bachelor clergy. Without a happy nature and a happy home Lhe life of the clergyman’** wife in the slums would be almost as bad as penal servitude. "After five years’ service in the slums a clergyman ought to be given un easier living with congenial com panions and surrounding**. Too Much Energy Lost, Says Doctor “Can’t Waiters” Make Up Class of Human Beings That Are Con tinually Restless. Special Cable to The American. LONDON. May 10.—“We could quite well bear the strain of mod ern life if w<* better understood how' to preserve our nerve energies," said Dr. Edwin Ash, a London specially in nervous diseases in a recent ad dress here. ‘We -waste an enormous amount,” he said, "in restlessness, which in volves the repeated and profitless contraction of many muscles in tricks of manner, hurry, and haste There is a large class of persons who are unable to wait for anything. They are always anxious to get on to the next item in the day’s program, they speak and act without thinking ajid so waste their energies. Such peo ple might be called ‘Can’t Waiters.’ ” Those who are “Can’t Waiters,” who are using up too much nervous energy, should says Dr. Ash, dili gently practice self-control and car ry out the following rules: Wear reasonably loose clothing. Spend at least one hour daily in the o{len air. Always get up at the same time. Eat slo'vly. Dress slowly, speak slowly and walk slowly. By HERBERT TEMPLE. Special Cable to The American. LONDON. May 10.—The Wagner season at CoVent Garden this year is almost over, another week and so ciety people will begin to visit the opera. Owing to the Wagner centen- nary, the German season has been an unusually long one and several works by the world’s greatest com posers have been taken up besides the Ring, but although the audi ences hat^e been large, they have con sisted mostly of music-loving for eigners. Londoners, even those who pretend to love music, do not like Wagner, whom they understand no better than they do Ibsen; they are much more fond of ragtime, though they can bear Italian opera. Wagner incongruous. There is something indescribably incongruous in London having its Wagner season each year. The great est singers that Germany and Den mark have produced are engaged at salaries, which, in some cases, are enormous, the orchestra, which con sists mostly of Germans, plays won derfully under the conductorship of men like Dr. Rottenberg and Dr. Shuck, both of Germany, less won- defully when conducted by Arthur Nikisch, w r ho is excellent when con ducting a concert, but who gets ner vous grhen he cannot give his full attention to the orchestra but has to divide it between that and the ar tists of the stage. The “musical” critics of the London press are in despair, for their sense and knowledge of music are as* poor as their technical ^vocabulary, and their criticisms show* it, having the appearance of having been written by public school boys with the aid of a dictionary. They never praise or condemn -the foreign singers straight out, for they know them all to be artists of international reputa tion, but give them a judicious mix ture of praise and condemnation, just to show* that they are real experts, whose eye? are not dazzled by the continental halos around the heads of the singers. But they draw a breath of relief when they have to make comments on the vocal exertions of the few English artists whom nobody out side of this little island has ever heard of. Then their hearts swell with British national pride and praise flows uns*tintingly from their pen cils and they go into raptures at the singing of the English choruses who always sing out of time and call forth beads of cold perspiration on the foreheads of every conductor and stifled "Donnerwetters” on the lips of every musical German in orchestra and audience. Society Buys Boxes. London society, of course, buys up all the expensive boxes to get theii names into the papers. But they do not carry their sacrifice any fur ther. They give away their dearly bought seats to their governesses and poor relations, for you cannot sleep comfortably in an opera box, your jewelry cannot be seen, admired and envied, because that fool of Richard Wagner, w’ho was childish enough to believe that people went to the. opera to listen to music, issued a de cree that his works must be played with no light appearing on the stage, and his disciples, the Imported con ductors, refuse to play under any other conditions. On the day when the Wagner sea son opened King George and Queen Mary ran away from London to look at English potteries and set the ex ample to all London society. LIST OF “BAD” TENANTS WANTED BY REALTY BOARD Delinquent rent payers had better look out—the Atlanta Real Estate Board may go after them! In the latest issue of the board's bulletin the suggestion is made that agents report their "bad" clients so that other agents may beware. The board does not care to discriminate between cit izens. but It wants to know which tenants pay their debts and which do not. Hence the suggestion. Janitors Fighting for Waste Paper Custodian Wants to Take Special Privilege Away in Illinois State House. SPRINGFIELD, ILL., May 10.— Franklin McCombs, of Chicago, new custodian of the State House, has come into collision with the State’s janitors in the Capitol* In consequence the Legislature may be asked to specify who shall receive the money accruing through the sale of waste paper that accumulates In the State House. Hitherto the jani tors have collected and sold it, re taining the $20 or $30 a month That It brought. Mr. McCombs instituted a new practice. He has the janitors collect the paper and put it in a base ment room, where it is baled on a. newly installed machine, for sale. The new custodian, whose salary is $3,600 a year, claims the right to the proceeds. The janitors have appealed to several legislators for a bill giving them the waste. 469 PRIESTS WIN SUIT AGAINST NEWSPAPER Special Cable to The American. PARIS, May 10.—Four hundred and sixty-nine village prieses of the Finlsterre and Lot et Garonne depart ments brought an action for libel recently at Brest against the “Cri du Peuple,” a Socialist newspaper, which had published improper com ments on the priesthood in connec tion with the death some months ago of the Abbe Chassaing. The 469 priests won their case. The “Cri du Peuple” was ordered to pay $2.00 damages and costs and a fine of $6 on each one of the 469 charges, besides being ordered to publish the report of the Judgment in ten differ# ent newspapers