Atlanta Georgian. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, May 11, 1913, Image 17

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8 B HF.ARST’S RT'NDAY AMERICAN. ATLANTA, GA., SUNDAY, MAY 11, 1913. 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. How to feed bacteria and encour age their development is the biggest Issue of modern agriculture. Via bae- t ria plant8 get 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 they 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 toll bacteria and their depend ence upon us in the practice of agri culture,. Science has opened our eyes and defined to some extent a compli cated and confusing microscopical world, reveaJing very wonderful things, the*use of which will prove of 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 bow many kinds of bacteria fix nitrogen and convert it into form suited to plant food and how to foster their growth and pro* tort them from natural enemies and adverse conditions. When we buy nitrates from Chile we pay dearly for It, end if we con tinue to depend upon this sole com- men i tl 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 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 no coFt whatever; 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 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 farmers’ 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 use is 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 mode 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 bacteria are not there to ferment or. rot it. the vegetable matter would never become available s food j. r> growing plants, aralc, of Germany, recently sealed s< ome interes ting facts show- X to w hat extent nitrogen-fixing refer * d iff ere nt forms of veg- ible mal ter.. The o lder tht* vegeta- ' IlMt! ! the less ad apted to the nu n < t tht p baot< tria. but green iffs and l to a less ier degree roots d straw rich an • easily changed water into forms' adapted to con tnptioti, a re prefer! ed. Green Stuffs Best, Green stuffs are best because the carbohydrates and nitrogen are there found in most favorable proportions, and also because the carbohydrates are in the form most easily trans formed. Green manuring not only In crease* bacteria, but it raises the temperature of the soil, sets off a greater amount of carbon dioxide, which in turn createat r porosity of the soil and admits water for a bettor disintegration of insoluble phosphates and 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 Is most 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. Soil sickness, believed* to be due to reduced bacterial action, can heVured \>y 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 cus^ of a sewerage sick soil. There they found ont. When they ster- protc oa pi ilized or partially sterilzed the proto: ■ ver they were were destro 98 degrees foi killed the prot. but also harmful or hindering fi disappeared, or Ba teria were then to multiply ten times their for mer numbers in the soil. Exposure to a temperature of 96 to t\M' h.mrs not only oa or hindering cause, isiiic organisms, ected a certain amount of decom position thus assisting the bacteria in. their subsequent work of trans forming it, and developed ns a sec ondary consideration a large number of fibrous roots. A temperature of 55 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 antisept! will also destroy th tors, indicating that may be, they' are bio Lodge and Smith. < setts Experiment Station it is not the protozo. iting factor, for they to eliminate the pre tests, and in spite different results, du to the presence of a of organic matter in one than the other, the organic matter, of course, favoring the development of the ba?- soil, Seaver and Clark call attention to the fact that heating noils 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 consideration. Many keen scientific minds have been on the trail for sev eral years. Here a bit and there a bit of evidence lias been picked up. One kind of bacteria and then another has been isolated and found to fix 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 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 there 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 food. Blit 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. Tnls bacterium, therefore, prevents denltlrlflcation and holds In the soil a compound that can bo converted into plant food when another class of bacteria tie- come active and can .change nitrites Into nitrates. It can fSo readily seen that .this bacterium might have been classed as harmful and put out of the ways 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- oVganlsm which constitutes 20 to d0 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. Grelg-Smith thinks that in- crf&scd 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 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 Rhodln, by us ing lactic acid ferment upon the ma nure heap which was losing ammo nia by 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 the manure that was untreated. It was slMply setting one set of bac teria to w’ork to offset a part of the work of another. The results have demonstrated something w'orth while. Bacteria Don't Like Sour 8oils. When clover, peas, velvet beans, al falfa or other legumes are not doing as well as the soil fertility would indi cate that they should, usually the rea son can be found by testing the soli for acidity or sourness. If the soil is sour, the bacteria that 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 must 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 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 be easily seen. They are called nodules, 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 fix it there, aiding the growing plant to w'hich 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. Th® Practical Benefit to th® 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 thnt bacteria would not thrive In sour soil, the farmer learned that lime w’as 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 have been using green ma nures, who have been using lime on the soils and who have been growing legumes and rotating crope, is not as great as for those who have never practiced these things, but even the progressive farmer who has received benefits in these ways now knows how he can receive greater help. By know ing something of the nature of his bacterial friends, he has learned h(>w to feed them better than formerly, to get larger crop returns. He knows better what to put down Into the soil, that greater return." may be sent up by his invisible army of farm helpers. All the while more and rqore Is be ing learned of the bacterial world and more and more will he ascertained as to how the farmer can better employ his bacterial workers to fatten his purse. John W. Grant Pays Record Price of $1,100 for Ivy St.—Three Cash Deals. A. 8, Hook, of Foster Robson Agency, has sold for the Houston- Ivy Realty Company to John W. Grant the northeast comer of Hous ton and Ivy Streets for approximate ly $98,000. The property fronts 90 feet on Ivy Street and 132.5 feet on Houston Street. This Is a high water .mark for Ivy Street frontage, being \r>nroximately $1,100 a front foot. If figured by the Houston Street front age, the price paid is approximately $745 a front foot. This is the old Evins property. It was boi/ght less than three years ago by the Houston-Ivy Realty Company for $100,000, then 1C2 feet on Hous ton Street and 202 feet on Ivy Street. Soon after the purchase the Hous ton-Ivy Realty Company sold a 100- foot lot on Ivy street for $40,000 to a syndicate of^ South Georgia capital ists, and recently this syndicate sold to a syndicate of Atlanta capitalist headed by E. C. Callaway for $66,000. Mr. Hook has sold for Mr. Grant to the Houston-Ivy Realty Company 25 South Pryor Street 4for $52,000, or at the rate of $2,000 per front foot. Old residents of Atlanta will remem ber this property as the old poll 32 barracks. The property 's a three- story brick and basement building, on a lot 26 by 120 feet, with alley on side and rear. Mr. Grant’s father bought this property several yea.s ago for about $1,100 a front foot. These sales make a very interesting .story of the steady enhancement of Atlanta property, both on the North Side and South Side of the city. The A. S. Harris Real Estate Agen cy has sold for G. C. Rogers to a client 208 Crew' Street, a six-room house, on a lot 54 by 120 feet, for $3,500 cash; also 286 Crumley Street, a flve-ro*>m house, on a lot 58 by 54 feet, for $2,000 cash, and for W. P. Shannon t_> to a client 204 Crew Street, a six- room cottage, on a lot 50 1-2 by 173 feet, for $3,650 cash. Back in Realty Game Goes Captain Petty Veteran Dealer Says Atlanta Is Best Field After All—Talks of Farm Prospects. NEW COTTON PEST • ' CAUSE OF BAN ON ALL FOREIGN SEED ? hindering fa - 1 . whatever they logical. . 1 ichu- i tion, assert that that is the Ilm have taken en re ozoa from th fir | >f that obtf lined , as they c laim. greater am lount j WASHINGTON. May 10.—Impor- tution-of cotton seed will be forbidden by the United States after May 20. 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 else where. The .pink boll worm, the Peruvian cotton square weevil and t lie boll weevils of East Africa and the Phil ippines are the reasons for the quar antine With the Mexican boll weevil ^ind the native boll worm already awing incalculable damage irv the United States, the department feels that the American cotton farmer has enough to fight. It believes that the danger from new cotton pestH would offset any improvement in the grade to bo obtained by importation of new va- 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 his 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 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 seed. Under such circumstances it would be 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- G. C. Given found that pitrifleation was twice as rapid In soil sterilized and then reinocculated as in soil which had not been sterilized. While admitting the benefit to the growth of the plant by heating the ’ signs ONE SHIPMENT CAUGHT. At the time the Consul at Al-x- ndri advised the Department of Ag- iculture of the discoveries in con- ection with the pink boll worm he iformod the department that a ship- tent of seed had just been made from for e . point in Mississi purposes The e notified the e seed would not PPi i 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 nt first dirty white, becoming flesh 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 fio knowledge of the presence of this pest in the United States, but 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 still contain living larvae. In its operation the larva enters the large boils 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 ."mall 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, eating out the whole of the Interior of the seed and leaving 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. 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 first-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^ but it is esti mated that it caused a loss of $4,000,- 000 a year in the cotton-growing sec tions of India. Ineiden’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 short, the actual effect of the depart ment’s order will be to establish a quarantine against all foreign cotton seed. i M. L. Petty, for over a decade well know'n 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 hlmnelf still in Atlanta, and he be lieves he can handle farm propositions ns well from the Gate City as any where. Local real estate will also be given attention. “The lower half of Georgia is Just 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 be the opening of the Panama Canal, and l expect Georgia to de rive as much benefit from this as any other State in the Union.” ACCOUNTANTS TO TAKE STATE TEST MAY 21-22 • A half-yearly examination of pub lic accountants will be held in Atlan ta May 21 and 22, according to an an nouncement issued by Joel Hunter, chairman of the Georgia State Board. The examination will be held in accordance, with the certified public accountants’ law, passed in 1908. Those passing the examination will be awarded the degree of certified public accountants. Candidates will be examined in theoretical and prac tical accounting and auditing and commercial law as affecting account ancy. SEVEN TIMES WOMAN GIVES SKIN FOR CURE Special to The Sunday American. PARTS. May 10.—Mme. Maneuvrier, living at Landrecies. has seven times allowed strips of skin to be taken from her body and grafted on to her son-in-law, who was accidentally burned and would otherwise have died. She was operated on without an anaesthetic and at the enif of the seventh operation fainted. When she recovered consciousness she said to the surgeons: “I un ready for anoth or operation if it is needed to save my son-in-law’s life.’’ HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS BOX, PROTECTED BY CAGES DOVER, N. J., May 10.—Dr. Guy Otis Brewster, physical director of the Dover High School, is teaching the girl pupils of the school to box, and to protect them from injury he has devised a wire cage which covers their heads and the 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 Interscholastic League meet in Morristown, X. J., on May 30. , Geese Profitably and Easily Bred; Farmers CanFindReady Market Very Little Trouble In Raising Them. Different . Breeds Offer Wide Range and Many Selections. By JUDGE F. J. MARSHALL. The breeding of good strains of geese*has not been developed to any extent in the South. Upon any plan tation of considerable size where there Is running water and where grain is raised a good grade of geese can be made profitable to their owner. 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- raised goose for roasting more high ly than they do that of any other fow'l. 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 geese of those days. From what we can find out, it is but in recent years that 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 profit able market stock, the Toulouse is 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 gander should weigh 20 pounds and the young goose 16 pounds, while the mature fowls over 1 year old should 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 dregsed, they will net the owner from $2 to $3 each—a price well worth working for. They are, in 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, With head -carried rather erect. In color they may be called a gray and white. The back and front part of the breast a dark gray or brown, with the underpart of the breast and body a light gray, shading to almost white under the tail. The shanks are an orange yellow*. Embden geese rank second in pop ularity, being somewhat similar in type to the Toulouse, but not quite ,«o heavy in body, and general make up, weighing from two to five pounds less than the Touloufce. They are pure white in color throughout. The Chinese geese are small in size, but are long drawn out in their propor tions, having slim, erect bodies, very long and slim necks, gracefully arch ed, carried very upright. The top of the head is surmounted by a large leathery appearing knob. The larger and rounder the better. There is a pure w'hite variety, and a browm va riety. Identical in other way*. African Goose. The African goose is built some what similar to the Chinese w’ith. a knob bn 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 much a dwarfed, un dersized Toulouse, colored with al ternate patches of black, w'hite and brown, but little bred and of leps 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 bv some of the lovers of the fancy in fowls in this country and Canada. Little Practical Use. In fact, aside from the Toulouse. Embden and African, the other breeds are of but little practical use. being bred almost entirely for ornamental purposes. Any farmer can be a suc cessful producer of geese; or. in other words, anyone with unlimited range of woodland and pasture, with ponJs or running water, can make * good money from geese, provided, however, that he uses for his breeding stock one of the heavy pure breeds—\rc should say either the Toulouse or Embden. While the general *farmer can do well with them, the stock raiser can be especially so. allowing the flocks of geese \o follow the cat tle' and hogs over the range, grazing and picking up grain that might oth erwise bo lost. Geese do much better in grass pastures with but little grain than they can possibly do confined to small yards and grain fed. In fact, the person who would make a real success in raising them for the mar kets must not attempt it by the back- lot route. It will be an expensive un dertaking. Good Scavengers. Geese make good scavengers to turn Into the orchard or plowed fields, be ing good at cleaning up all sorts of bugs, slugs and grubs from the roots of trees and the plowed land. They should not, however, be allowed the run of the corn field while the corn is small as they will eat it up (root and branch). This is not a hard task ro accomplish for they are most easily fenced or even directed in their move ments by a small child or a collie dog trained for the watch-care. Geese make good alarmists, too. Being al ways on the watch, strange prowlers of any kind *111 be given the great “honk” signs’, warning them that they had better keep away. While geese breeding may 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 termed “green goslings”) or well-fat- tended young ones that have been quickly grown, it is not advisable to | go Into the business as an exclusive business upon a large scale until the market ha.s been coached and gotten into better 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 way 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 w’inter 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 tificial for their comfort. The old practice of plucking live geese in the northern sections of our country has about gone out of fash ion, because it has come to be con sidered as a cruel practice, especially w'hen 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 fow'ls frequently, observing when these new feathers first show', then the plucking can bs 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 to accomplish the w'ork 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 betw'een the knees. Plucking only the soft feathers from the breast, back and abdomen, be ing careful to remove the old and well ripened feathers, not disturbing ; the new ones or the pin feathers. In j dressing for the market the goose is ■ first given a good sharp blow upon 1 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 an ink erasing knife, w'ith 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 twd The head is then held firmly between the knees w’hile the left hand holds both wings; the right hand soon re moves the feathers, putting them into a box or barrel, except the stiff feathers, which are not retained. A few feathers on the tips of the wings and about the head are left on. The down and hairs are shaved off with a sharp shoe knife. All this Is done dry. No scalding is done. Incision Sewed. The entrails are then carefully drawn and the inside ringed with ice water. The incision made for this is sewed up w r ith a w'hite string. The wings are tied down snugly to the body with a clean white cord. When the weather is warm, of course they must be iced and kept cold until marketed. This is about the plan used by geese breeders for marketing in a limited way. Gee^e are easy to raise when once started. Like ducks, the principal point in their case is to keep them from getting wet during the first two 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 etand lots of rain and are really able to look out for themselves. Oid geese are not good for the table during hot weather, as they usually lose flesh and become stringy and flabby as hot weatftter comes on. Further Uses Seen For Bleckley Pl^za Vehicles Now Using Whitehall and Peachtree Should Park on It, Says Realty Man. New's that the Bleckley Plaza plan for bridging the railroad tracks in the heart of town w'ill be taken up in the State legislature in June has | aw'akened a great deal of interest in the project. The Whitehall regrade proposition ha.s come and gone with favorable action, and real estate men I declare the plaza is the next improve ment in order. "The time will come,” declared a prominent kind broker, “when the people won’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 w’hich | 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 squarely behind the plaza plan and will see that it is put through, pro vided the interests of the State can be protected in the concessions which the State will be asked to make. GIRL, FULL OF NEEDLES, SAYS IT IS PLEASANT Special Cable to The American. PARIS, May 10— Mile. Thornton, 18, of Rheims. swallowed a packet of needles a few weeks ago. A needle was recently removed from her chest by a doctor, and since then she has shed forty needles from her left hand, fingers, both legs, and her chest. Each time a needle makes its ap- j pearanee 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,” she told the doctor. Regrade Will Bring New Build ings and Extension of Retail District—$47,000 Job. Now that Whitehall regrading is assured between Mitchell Street on the north anft 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 W. Grant will build a $20,000 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 qu *tiort 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. Regrading of city streets in the downtown districts is being given more attention than ever before. The ■work 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 that 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 f,eet at the Aragon Hotel. Urges Strike of Preachers’ Wives Bachelor Clergy Should Be Stationed in Slums, Says Eminent English Bishop. Special Cable to The American. LONDON, May 10.-Vrhe Bishop of Manchester (Dr. Knox), has stated .that if it were lawful for a bishop to suggest a strike his advice to the •wives of the clergy would be to re fuse to do any parish work. A rector’s wife in Ancoats, Man chester, a district which contains many slums, said recently. “I quite agree with the bishop. Af ter parish work, at w'hich one sees terrible sights, you come home and face dirty housework, assisted by a typical second-class servant, for the better type would not live in a neigh borhood Lueh 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 the life of the clergyman’s wife in the slums would be almost as bad as penal servitude. “After five years’ service in *the slums a clergyman ought to he given an easier living with congenial com panions and surroundings. 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 we better understood how to preserve our nerve energies,” said Dr. Edwin Ash, a London specialist 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 apd 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 open air. Always get up at the same time. Eat slowly. Dress slowly, speak slowly and walk slowly. 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 whi.:h tenants pay their debts and which do not. Hence the suggestion. TO BE REAL CITY Four Thousand Acres on Ocean and in Forest Go to Seekers of Year-Round Homes. Atlantans w'ho are accustomed ts visiting Atlantic Beach have re ceived with more than ordinary in terest the news that this popular Florida resort is undergoing a re markable land and building develop ment. Four thousand acres of land have recently been purchased for homes and a fourth of this has been cleared for immediate building. A number of bungalows and other styles of houses have been erected and a great many more will be bui\t this summer, in fact, before the tourist season has got well under way. A complete new city will be built at Atlantic Beach. The plan con templates an area as large ‘Sis the present city limits of Jacksonville. Ample capital is available and expe rienced men are the promoters. Near ly 200 laborers have been changing the thick jungle into a park-like ex panse for a mile north from the county road to the beach and weit of the Florida East Coast Railway tracks. A score of tasty bungalows has been built. More are to be start ed as fast as a supply of building materials can be turned into a steady stream of loaded cars bound beach- ward and a force of carpenters and masons can be assembled to han dle it. Double Advantage of Site. The situation of the Atlantic Beach Corporation’s land is such that it offers two distinct advantages. There are miles of picturesque ocean front and tropical forests as well. Resi dents can be either on the bluffs over, looking the Atlantic Ocean, with its dancing spume, or they can locate In the tangled and sequestered nooks of the inland. The .officers of the Atlantic Beach Corporation are: E. R. Brackett, of New York and Jacksonville, presi dent and organizer; J. C. Turner, of New York, vice president; A. L. Tay lor, of New York, secretary. and William C. Byram, formerly of New' York but now of Jacksonville, general manager. There is a Jacksonville of fice in the St. James Building and Mr. Bvram is in charge of It. Among the improvements put in by the company are an electric light ing plant, an artesian w'ell and miles of splendid streets and roads. Pros pective residents have in many cases already gone to Atlantic Beach, and many of them will stay the year- round, since the climate of the Flor ida resort is particularly favorable. 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. Explosion Menaces U.S, Paris Embassy Workman Killed by Boiler Next Door to Residence of Ambassa dor Myron T. Herrick. Special Cable to The American. PARIS, May 10.—A boiler explo sion occurred next door to the resi dence of Myron T. Herrick, United States Ambassador, to-day, killing one and injuring three other work men. The fence surrounding the Am bassador’s home caught fire, but lit tle damage was done. The Ambassador and his family are in Rome attending the Interna tional Agricultural Conference. The boiler was attached to an engine em ployed in driving piles for a new house. 469 PRIESTS WIN SUIT AGAINST NEWSPAPER Special Cable to The American. PARIS, May 10.—Four hundred and sixty-nLne village prieses of the Finisterre 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 $5 on each one of the 469 charges, besides being ordered to publish the report of the judgment in ten differ ent newspapers. CHILD KILLED AND MOTHER, HURT IN RUNAWAY, MAY DIE MOBILE, ALA., May 10.—Returning from an outing near Wilmer. a small town in the western part of Mobile County, Harold Purlfoy, aged four, was killed, his mother, Mrs. A. D. Purifoy was so badly injured that she can not recover, and Carl Roberts was badly hurt Their team became frightened and ran away, throwing them under the wagon John Moddy Jumped and es caped with bruises. The child’s neck was broken.