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HEARST’S
South Could Add Millions to Cotton Crop
Without Any Further Expense to Growers
Right Seed Selection, Correct
Bed Preparation, Fertilization,
Sorting at Gathering, Good
Baling and Care After Baling
Will Achieve Best Results.
BY CHARLES WHITTLE.
The South can get 50 per cent,
more for its cotton crop simply
by producing and marketing it
correctly.
By correct production is meant
right soil preparation, planting of
good seed, proper cultivation.
By correct marketing is meant
gathering of the crop in good
condition, grading according to
requirements of the buyer, proper
baling and care till sold.
And this calls for no other ex
pense to the farmer than that to
which he is now put. Further
more it is not just talk on paper.
Farmers are doinq it.
T HE cotton crop pays everybody
through whose hands It passes
to the ultimate consumer, bet
ter than it pays the farmer, chiefly
because every one manages his bus
iness better than the farmer. The
warehouse gets a good per cent, on
the investment, the cotton merchant
and the mills fare pretty well and
the dealers in the finished products
manage to create a satisfactory profit.
A fair profit to the cotton grower
will come not so much through the
increase in the selling price of cotton
as through economy in its produc
tion and marketing. Does this
sound like agricultural heresy? Well,
it isn’t.
To permit the price of cotton to
go too high, is to kill the goose that
laid the golden egg. The tilt in the
scale Is bound to reverse. Never
is there a condition so satisfactory to
producer and consumer as when there
is an equilibrium. Hence the cot
ton grower should look not so much
to bulling the price as to cutting the
cost of growing and marketing.
Preparing a Seed Bed.
Deep fah plowing of land on which
some legume has been growing, fol
lowed by spring harrowing or disk
ing are the most favorable prelimi
naries.
Right preparation of seed beds in
cludes the application of right fer
tilizers. Live stock manure is al
ways the right kind, but where this
cannot be- had in sufficient quanti
ties, the commercial fertilizer must
be supplied. One cannot apply fer
tilizers intelligently without knowing
the requirements of the soil. In what
is the soil deficient? How much ni
trogen. how much potash, how much
phosphorus, are questions which very-
few farmers can answer concerning
their soils. If they do not they may
buy plant food of one kind that the.
land and the proposed crop do not
require, or they may not buy enough
cf another kind to get any- benefit. In
either case there would be waste or
unnecessary cost.
Nor is a seed bed properly prepar
ed that is deficient in vegetable or
organic matter, for not half of the
value of fertilizer will be obtained
by the crop unless there is sufficient
humus in the soil, as well as proper
breaking and pulverizing. To ob
tain humus in the soil means a sys
tem of crop rotation in which is in
cluded those crops which can be
turned under, or which leave consid
erable stubble to be put beneath the
surface.
Good Seed Means Much.
Not until the crust is broken with
harrow or cultivator after the hard
rains and previous to the coming up
of the cotton, is the seed bed finally 7
properly prepared.
All this entails no expense above
the ordiharv method employed by the
cotton grower.
Cotton plant that produces as many
as 56 bolls may be no larger nor
thriftier looking than one that bears
only twenty-six bolls or less. Why
the difference? It is largely in the
seed. To be more exact, in the re
producing power of the seed.
Anyone, of course, knows well
enough to gather seed from the plant
of largest yield for future planting.
This is the meaning of plant selec
tion. but very few cotton growers
take the pains to do it. The'ma
jority of them take the seed as they 7
come, trusting blindly and reaping
poorly.
If one were to select seed from a
plant that bore 56 bolls, he will not
get from each seed a 56-boll pro
ducer, but he will certainly 7 get much
better than the average yield of hap
hazard planting, for in spite of all the
variations of nature, like will beget
like to some extent.
Select Producing Seed.
If every cotton farmer would select
seed from the best producing plants
!n the field, he youId easily obtain an
Increase of 25 per cent, in his crop.
Consider what this would mean if
the whole cotton belt practiced it!
Of course, cotton growers have not
been wholly negligent. Every com
munity has its few men who exercise
more than ordinary care in this re
spect, and these are they who have
the large yields per acre. Usually,
however, the cotton grower takes
thought only to the extent of getting
some seed from the field that has
produced well. He does not stop to
consider that just any seed taken
from a good cotton field, may include
a great many poor seed. He must
learn that good seed can be obtained
only from good plants—from the sin
gle plant and not from the field as a
whole. True, it takes care but not
much time, and the little time can
be no more profitably spent by a
farmer.
It will be surprising to some o
know that almost any fifty successive
plants in a field, where no attention
has been given to seed selection, will
range in yield from one, or possibly
no boll, to twenty-five bolls. Use
all the seed from these 50 bolls and
the yield is kept low. Plant seed
from the good ones only and a won
derful improvement in looks,yield and
profit will be seen in the cotton farm.
Testing Cotton Seed.
To make sure that seed from a good
producing plant are good in realiry
as well as in appearance, it is neces
sary to make two tests, the mote test
and the germination test.
By a mote test is meant a determi
nation of the number of inotes or un
developed .cs****- a boll. Of cours--,
These two cotton plants ot same variety were grown side by
side under same field conditions. One produced 56 bolls, the other
23. The difference is that one was grown from good, strong seed,
the other from poor, weak seed.
this must be done while the plant is
still standing in the field, or at least
before the bolls have been removed
from the plant. The average num
ber of motes to a boll is about 1 1-2,
based upon a county of 1,000 bolls
gathered from sixteen widely separate
localities in Georgia and numbered by
Prof. R. J. H. DeLoach.
To get cotton graded above "Good
Middling,” there must be no motes,
and. depending upon the amount of
defective fiber caused by disease and
the number of motes, the cotton will
take various grades and prices.
Naturally then, the cotton bolls
that have the fewest motes, should
be set aside for the germination test.
Preferably none with more than one
mote should be selected.
Germination Test.
A germination test consists of de
termining what percentage of the
seed will sprout. This can easily
be done by taking 500 or 1,000 of the
selected seed, placing them under a
moist blotting paper and maintaining
a temperature of about 68 degrees for
a week. If 100 seed of the 1,000 fail
to germinate the germination record
is then said to be 90 per cent.
No seed should be planted which
do not show from 85 to 90 per cent,
germination record. This will as
sure a good stand without which, of
course, cotton growing is not profit
able. It is well worth the time it
takes to make germination tests.
If we have 5.000 plants to an acre
that average 20 bolls to the plant, we
will make a bale of cotton to the
acre, estimating 70 bolls to the pound.
If we expert to make two bales to
the acre one must have plants with
40 bolls. The 40-boll-producing plants
can not be obtained by guess work.
The seed must be selected from plants
with records like that or better.
Five thousand plants to an acre!
means a stalk every two feet in rows
four feet apart. This allows only i
for 460 missing plants from the stand, j
No Increase Without Selection.
It must be apparent from these ;
figures and estimates that a farmer j
can never hope to raise two bales of |
cotton to the acre without selecting
seed in the first place from good,
healthy stalks, which have on them
enough bolls to average two bales
and more per acre; by testing for
motes and discarding those plants
that produce an excessive number of
them; by conducting germination
tests to know whether the reproducing
power of the seed has run out or
not and hv proper fertilizing and
cultivation.
If when the cotton picker goes into
the field he would carry two bags in
stead of one. put in one the diseased
and discolored bolls and into the other
the sound and white, the farmer
would net as much as $8.00 more
per bale than if he baled all together. |
It has been estimated by Professor j
DeLoach that only about 4 per cent i
of the defective bolls would be kept j
out of the better bale by this pro*
cess of separation. Inasmuch as de- 1
feetive bolls are lighter and rarely
ever diseased in all four locks, the
loss from this source would average
*2.0(1 pgf bale.
But the cotton that remains after
the defective is taken out. will bring
at least 2 cents more per pound, or
$10 per bale. Here we have a ifet
gain of $8.00 per bale in consequence
of carrying two bags into the cotton
field in place of one.
Appreciable Coloring.
If 10,000 diseased cotton bolls got
mixed up with 100,000 bolls in a bale,
there would be a very appreciable
coloring of the bulk. When the cot
ton grader came to appraise its* mar
ket value he would rate it at least
one and a half grades lower than
if it were clear of color.
Viewed another way, for every
eleven bales of cotton going to the
mills ungraded or sorted, the defective
fiber and the motes cause the mills
to get only ten bales. This is a loss
of 9 per cent on the entire crop—
a loss that comes home to the farmer.
The farmer who leaves his cotton
out in the rain and weather during the
winter suffers a loss of at least $5
on the bale because of the discolora
tion and deterioration caused by tpe
weather. And yet, sad to say. there
are thousands and thousands of farm
ers in the South who treat their cot
ton that way, believing that It does
not hurt. In fact, some think it
helps the fiber. When they come
to Mell, they do not understand the
mysteries of grading, do not ques
tion it, they are ignorant of the fact
that by their own carelessness they
have caused their cotton to grade low
and their proceeds from the crop to
diminisAh. Through improper stor
age of cotton, the South can count it.?
loss in the millions each year.
Poor Baling a Loss.
Of no le^s loss to the cotton indus
try of the South is that which comes
of poor baling. The exposed fiber
scuffed against a thousand dirty sur
faces from the wagon bed to ware
house, warehouse to car floors, from
cars to dirty trucks and to dirty
holds of ships and on to the manufac
turer, each handling making the fleecy
staple blacker, each hook of the han
dlers* yanking some of the fiber out,
each move reducing its value. It
could not be near so bad if the bal
ing were done in well-bound bundles,
with bagging that will not only pro
tect against dirt but against the ruth
less extraction of cotton from the bag
by the hooks.
How much more the cotton crop
would be worth after a good seed bed.
after obtaining a good stand, by prop
er methods of cultivation, or by co
operative flna'ncing the loans that
may be required or a dozen other
ways that enter into proper ways of
combating disease, pests and the like,
will not be detailed here, enough hav
ing been given it is believed to demon
strate that the value of the cotton
crop can be increased at least 50
per cent without entailing upon the
farmfr additional expense.
Cuba Becomes Better
Market for U. S. Fruit
WASHINGTON, May 24.—Cuba is
developing into a very good market
for American fruit. United States
Consul General James L. Rodgers of
Havana finds. This means really
the opening of an entirely new mar
ket to the fruit grower of the United
•States, as until recent years the Cu
ban people had not learned to eat
the tart fruits of the Temperate Zone
and the American exporter had not
become sagacious enough to make up
in sugar what the fruit lacked In
natural sweetness.
Apples are now being imported for
Cuban consumption from many sec
tions of the United States, Mr.
Rodgers writes, but those from the
Northwestern States appear to be in
greatest demand, owing to their ap
pearance. flavor, and their abilities
to withstand the Cuban climate. But
few apples of otner countries than
the United States go to Cuba. Mr.
Rodgers finds, and the pears are al
most exclusively the product of Cali
fornia.
Shipments in Boxes.
“The shipments of these fruits,”
Mr. Rodgers says, “are always made
in boxes, except in the cheap grades
of Eastern apples, which usually ap
pear in barrels. The Oregon apples
ordinarily have about 88 to
the box, and the California pears
about seventy. Landed in Havana
and with all charges including du
ties paid, these fine apples cost the
importer about $3.85 United States
currency a box. and the pears about
$4. At wholesale these prices are ad
vanced about 30 per cent and the
individual consumer pays for an ap
ple or a pear of these kinds about 10
cents each. Low-grade apples in
barrels are seldom imported and are
not quoted, but it is safe to estimate
their price In Havana at about 30
per cent over the New York job
ber’s price on board ship. Peddlers
and fruit stands usually sell these
poor apples for 2 or 3 cents each.
“The dried or evaporated fruits,
such as apples, pears, prunes, plums,
peaches and apricots, are more wide
ly distributed as to origin. many
countries contributing to the supply.
The United States, however, fur
nishes a majority of the commoner
apples, pears, peaches, apricots and
prunes, but France and Spain send
in large quantities of high grade dried
fruits of one kind or another
There is no general classification of
these dried fruits, but it is to be as
sumed that the bulk of the importa
tion consists of products not within
the scope of American producers.
Canned Fruits Wanted.
‘Tanned fruits of all kinds, and
especially those highly sweetened, are
constantly growing in favor in Cuba,
but the preference is toward peaches,
pears, and strawberries, as far as
one can judge by the quantities ap
pearing in the stores. Of a total of
2,522,456 pounds of all kinds of pre
served fruit Imported In the fiscal
year of 1910-11 the United States
sent about 55 per cent, Spain about
33 per cent, and France about 4 per
cent. These import percentages will
hold about true in any year, since
they recognize the United States as
the easiest and cheapest source of
supply and show the patronage of
Spain for national reasons, as well
as preference of certain products.
That the United States should do
even more in this line is apparent
when it is stated that her prefer
ential reduction In duty is 40 per
cent, the net duty on such preserver
being 19 5 per cent ad valorem.
SUNDAY AMERICAN,- ATLANTA, OA„ SUNDAY, MAY 25. 1913
7
BETTER HOS KNOXVILLE 10
WILL DECREASE PRESENTYEAR S
PRICE OF FOOD BIG EXPOSITION
Twcnly-fice years of thoroughbred
poultry raising has brought the busi
ness from a freak, footing up to a place at (he top of the field.
Effort and energy expended by pioneers have borne fruit and
millions of dollars is now invested in ii.
BY JUDGE F. J. MARSHALL.
POULTRY
How often we hear people say how
the time* have changed. and yet the
people of this day and generation are
places. We presume such tradesmen
had not recognized the poultry busi
ness as fertile field for their opera
tions.
BEING SOUGHT
Southern Railway President’s Ad
dress Before Congress Points
Out Remedies.
WASHINGTON, May 24. Follow-
ing the recent publication of the Good
Roads Year Book, which presents
the road situation in the United
States to date, the American High
way Association has begun the issu
ance of a series of instructive papers
presenting the most important phases
of road improvement from the stand
point of both the layman and the en
gineer.
Among the first to be issued is a
reprint of the address by W. W. Fin
ley. president of the Southern Rail-
way # at the recent American Road
Congress, on "Good Roads and the
Cost of Living.” Mr. Finley holds
that the cost of living is largely an
economic question and that efforts
should be turned toward increasing
the area of farm land under cultiva
tion and increasing the yield of farm
products per acre. He points to the
well known fact that prospective
farm settlers are largely governed by
railroad anti public road facilities and
that when these are not adequate
farm operations are discouraged.
“Increasing farm products by get
ting more people on to the land and
by bringing a large area under more
intense cultivation is largely a mat
ter of transporation,” said Mr. Fin
ley.
Concerning public roads as feed
ers to railways. Mr. Finley says:
“May it not be a fact that the trans
portation needs of many localities
that seem to be waiting on railway
construction would be met more sat
isfactorily and more comprehensively
by a system of good roads connecting
them with existing railways? The
railway should be located with refer
ence to the main traffic channels. It
can no more take the place of the
wagon road for the collection and
distribution of traffic in a rural com
munity than the wagon road can re
place it as a main highway of com
merce. Considered as parts of a gen
eral transportation system, the rail
way and the wagon road supplement
each other, and l believe that this
relation should be recognized in the
formulation of plans for road im
provement.”
Man Crosses Oceans
For Bartlett Pears
Trader From Interior Africa Travels
to California to Eat
Fruit.
TjTfrV h;
LOS ANGELAS.* {j j&4.—Some
months ago some one shipped from
Southern California to London a
crate of Bartlett pears. . j^ater this
crate was shipped to a Gerfnan trad
er at Kilolevel. on the east coast of
German maudscharo, 10,000 feet above
sea.
This trader shipped a portion of
the fruit to Tangangebra Lake, more
than one hundred miles inland
through the jungle. All but one had
been eaten by the set-tiers when Rein-
hold Radok, a wealthy rubber plant
er, who has a plantation sixty miles
inland, arrived there after eight
months of travel. By chance the
first thing he tasted wa-s this pear.
All this has to do with the arrival
here of Radok. When Radok ate that
pear it tasted so good to him that he
decided to visit the land where they
grew. Therefore he journeyed from
Tanga ngebra I^ake to the coast, .took
passage to London, and came here by
way of New York.
Girl Leaves Counter
To Manage Big Farm
Supervision of Every Detail Will
Be Left to Woman When She
Takes Charge.
MINNEAPOLIS, May 24.—With a
contract for $40 a month and a third
Interest in the profits. Miss Gra *e
Simpson, of this city, will undertake
the management of a farm at Bethe ,
Minn.
Having personal supervision over
every end of the farm work, she will
be ready, she says, to step in and
plow, harvest or care for horses, as
she is needed.
‘Til be the first up in the morning
and the last to go to bed,” said Miss
Simpson. "I probably will have ‘o
work twelve or fourteen hours eacn
day, whereas if I worked in the city
I would be working only ten. but I
will be out in the open air and do-
healthfui work, eating good food and
sleeping well, and that beats city ex
istence, anyway.”
Hungry Snake Eats
Rabbit of Cast Iron
Nine-foot Reptile, Unable to Wriggle
With ‘Bunny,’ Caught by Farm
er and Exhibited.
ROCKWOOD, PA., May 24.—When
Gibson Umstott, a fanner living near
Cresaptown, Md., heard a peculiar
noise on his porch last evening he in
vestigated.
Umstott was startled to see a mon
ster bla^k snake in the act of swal
lowing a cast-iron rabbit, which was
painted in natural colors and had
been doing duty as a weight to keep
the front door of the house open. The
snake swallowed the rabbit, but could
not escape with it and was captured.
Umstott caught the snake with the
help of a farm hand and forced him
to disgorge the pseudo rabbit.” Then
with strong twine he pulled the
snake's teeth and brought the reptile
to this city. It measured a trifle over
nine feet and was the largest snake
ever seen in this country of big
snakes.
Tennessee City Ready to Wel
come All Visitor* on Sep
tember 1.
KNOXVILLE, May 24. -Knoxville,
the picturesque city of the South, that
lies at the foot of the Great Smoky
Mountains, that is In the center of
the great hardwood region of the
South and the watersheds of the
Southeast, is preparing to welcome
during the months of September and
October of the present year more vis
itors than ever before have entered
her gates. Knoxville is making its
arrangements, and will have them
made, to entertain 1,000.000 visitors to
the National Conservation Exposition.
The exposition will be opened on Sep
tember 1 and will continue until No
vember 1.
President May Come.
The favorable reception recently
given to a delegation of Knoxville
business men by President Woodrow
Wilson has given residents of Knox
ville strong reason to hope that the
President will make a visit to the ex
position, if, Indeed, he does not go to
Knoxville to open the show on Sep
tember 1. The Knoxville delegation
extended to the Nation’s Chief Execu
tive an invitation to come to Knox
ville to see with his own eyes the
wonderful progress the South Is mak
ing in all lines of industrial progress.
While Mr. Wilson since taking office
has made it a rule to steadfastly de
cline all invitations extended to him
for visits to different parts of the
country, so strongly did the appeal of
the Knoxvillians strike him that he
asked the matter to be held in abey
ance for a time.
President Wilson is very deeply in
terested in the whole subject of con
servation. The aims and the pur
poses of the Conservation Exposition
were explained to him. Ke asked
many questions, smiled a typical Wil
son smile and then asked that he be
not required to make a decision one
way or another just at that time.
Cardinal Gibbons Invited.
There is also a possibility that Car
dinal Gibbons, of Baltimore, will see
the National Conservation Exposition.
Secretary of the Navy Josephus Dan
iels, Secretary of War McAdoo, Post
master General Burleson and Jofeph
P. Tumulty, secretary to the Presi
dent, are also expected to visit Knox
ville for the exposition.
Shorter Exercises
Draw Big Crowds
Downpour of Rain Postpones Finals
One Day—Grand Concert
Evening Feature.
ROME, May 24.—Shorter College
commencement is in progress and vis
itors from every part of the South
are here in attendance
Exercises were to have started Fri
day afternoon with the presentation
of “As You Like It” by the class in
expression. As the play was to have
been given on the campus, it had to
be postponed until one day next week
because of a heavy downpour of rain.
This afternoon from 3 to 5 o'clock
the departments of aft and domestic
science gave exhibitions
Last evening occurred the grand
concert This comprised quartets,
duets, choruses and solos, arranged
by Madame Almy and Director Stan
ley. s
The baccalaureate sermon Sunday
morning will be preached by I)r. W.
A. Hogan, of Agnes, Ga., a brother of
L. R. Hogan, of the faculty.
The alumnae meeting will be held
Monday morning. The class recep
tion will take place in the afternoon.
The baccalaureate address Tuesday
will be by Dr. E. M. Poteat, of Fur
man College.
Teeth Marks Convict
Four Young Burglars
Sausages, Cakes and Crackers Bear
Print of Boys’ Molars When
Examined,
MILWAUKEE, May 24.—Teeth
marks as evidence to-day led to the
arrest of four boys on a charge of
having robbed five stores.
Detectives found partly eaten sau
sage links, cakes and crackers in all
of the stores. Some of the remains
showed plainly the marks of the teeth,
so the detectives took the "evidence”
to a dentist for examination. The
dentist decided that the marks were
those of boys’ molars, and this was
proven to-day when the same dentist
examined the teeth of the boys under
arrest and said the marks in the
jwusages came from the teeth of the
boys.
Husband Kisses Wife;
Placed Under Arrest
Suit for Divorce Under Way and
Spouse Objected to Public
Osculation.
ST. LOUIS. May 2 ’ Passengers on
a - row<led Main Stieet car In East
St. Louis gasped as they saw a man,
in working clothes, embrace and kiss
a well-dressed woman, beside whom
he had been sitting, and who had
ignored his attempt to engage her in
conversation.
I want this man arrested,” she ex
claimed as he followed her into the
police station a few minutes later.
He kissed me on a street car. right
under everybody’s eyes.”
•The man explained that the women,
Mrs Henry Witemier, was his wife,
who is suing him for divorce, and that
he could not withstand the tempta
tion to kiss her. He was locked up
HOMESTEADER WANTS WIFE.
CHEWELAH. WASH., May 24.—
Tired of single life, Enoch flhepperd,
a homesteader, living near Kettle
Falls, is advertising in the columns
of the local paper for a “female
partner.” Mr. Shepperd gives his age
as fifty: says that he is no crank;
belongs to no church, has no idea of
joining one, and has no money.
very much the same as they were
twenty-five years ago in that they
want company in all their new un
dertaking. They want to be sure
that the general public will not accuse
them of chasing butterflies. When
we began breeding thoroughbred
poultry as a business exclusively
breeders were few and far between
so that It was so much of novelty
that we had many visitors w 7 ho would
come miles to see our poultry and the
manner in which w 7 e took care of it.
At times it seemed to be a matter
of mere curiosity, while with others
it was an honest desire to get Infor
mation.
Th© women usually led in these
trips of investigation and investing.
We well remember a certain couple
who cflme to our plant to investigate
matters and purchase stock if need
be. how the husband took particular
pains to tell us that his wife w 7 as
very much concerned about fine poul
try biit he Jifst came along to drive
and be company for her He would
frequently forget himself, however,
and become more interested then he
pretended, in what was said and seen,
which led me to believe that he was
head rooster at home but wanted
outsiders to think that he was away
above the chicken business, so took
his wife along to lay it on to.
Poked Fun At It.
At that time when the chicken
business was new and novel, people
were disposed to poke fun and make
light of it. How my old farmer
friends used to sneer and tickle them
selves over the idea of chickens be
ing a business, when it was really
such a small thing and should be
beneath the notice of any man and
suited only for women and children.
Any one who would fool with poul
try must be a little light in the up
per story or slightly unbalanced.
Perhaps we were both. Nevertheless
we got a good deal of free advertis
ing. by being called the chicken
crank of our country and time. But
we lived through It all and have
passed into a period and time when
we have all the company that we are
looking for in this same business.
Men have become bold enough, too,
so that it is not necessary for them
to take their wives along to shoulder
the blame.
In spite of all the sneering and
talking that these men did they were
always looking for some chance to
buy three dollar eggs for twenty-five
cents. A common trick was to w r atch
the time when we were marketing a
part of our product at the store and
slip in and get them at the market
price. But this kind of them did not
last long for we very soon fixed the
eggs so they would be none of the
hatching tricks although perfectly
good for the table.
Had to Cultivate Trade.
While a limited number of us had
the fancy field pretty much to our
selves we also had to cultivate the
trade. In other words we had to be
everlastingly telling people the value
of good stock. Why it would pay
them to invest in it. That it really
was as we had been representing it.
We increased our trade by getting
what might be called colonies started
in various sections of the country.
When we got a setting or two of eggs
or some breeding stock in good hands
in a neghborhood we were particular
to see to It that this party did some
talking about where he got his stock
and so on.
We would give him to understand
that the more he talked about it and
where it came from the more we
would do for him thereafter. Soon
neighbors were ordering stock from
us until it was not long before we
had a regular colony of customers
who would come to me year after
year for a chance of males, some
eggs and the like. This plan would
work well where the breeder was
particular to give value received at all
times. Prices in those days were
good, but not unreasonable by any
means. But few high priced get-rich-
quick schemes were in vogue at that
time as we see them to-day in many
Own Battles Fought.
It was a question of fighting our
own battles in. those days if we suc
ceeded in bringing our good poultry
into prominence. All our poultry
Journals could be counted upon the
fingers of one hand, and the farm
papers printed but little pertaining
to poultry, while as to the dallies they
had not even dreamed of it as yet.
When we had anything for sale we
had to put out the good cold cash
dollar for dollar to tell the people
about it.
It was like every other new thing,
the people had to become educated to
it. But we kept hammering away,
and the customers would come drop
ping in one by one giving up their
money rather grudgingly, something
like the householder pays his plumb
er’s bill after the freeze is over. We
saw the Silver Wyandottes come to
light, and they were called just plain
Wyandottes. and were made of about
as many imperfections as one could
Imagine might be crammed into one
chicken. Then the Blacks popped
up and a variety name had to be
given the silvers and they were thus-
designated. These were followed by
the Goldens. Whites, Bluffs. Partridge
and Silver Penciled. The Whites and
Silvers have enjoyed great popular
ity while the others have had a fair
share of trade.
Barred Rock Beginning.
We saw the Barred Rocks when
they were crude also and had a hand
in developing them to the point where
they stand to-day. We saw the Whites
appear and go along for a number of
years before they werq followed by
the Buff. Partridge and Silver Pen
ciled. The Barred and White have
had years of unprecedented popularity
which no other varieties have ever
seen so far. Some twenty years ago,
the Rhode Island Red was introduc
ed and bred lightly over the country,
mostly by curiosity seekers.
They failed to make a hit at that
time and had about passed from sight
and thought until a goodly number
of admirers with the determination
and the money took up the cudgel
in their behalf singing their praises
on every hand. The general public
took up the refrain passing it on from
one to another until it developed
into one grand chorus for the Reds.
A regular epidemic began for Reds.
Not that they were the best chicken
in the world hut they had the best
boosters in the world behind them.
They are a good practical fowl for all-
general purposes. In fact they are
better for the utility man than they
are for the fancier, as they are so
hard to breed true to feather. The
fever is a little on the waiie however,
and the Orpington tribe is having its
inning at this time.
Energy Has Made Business.
We have observed during these
years of our poultry experience that
the popularity of a breed is not depen
dent upon its sterling worth entire
ly, but is the result of well spent ef
forts and energy for the men who
have them in hand and are determin
ed to make a success of them.
If they happen to be men of strong
capabilities and a determination to
win, their variety will be a winner
right from the start. Such a class
as this has been behind the Barred,
the White Rocks, Silver and White
Wyandottes, and Rhode Island Reds.
Whenever you can determine that
such a class of individuals are behind
a new and apparently practical breed
you can afford to join the procession
and put your money into it. We
have observed, however, that during
all of these years of chicken breed
ing in this country that the rank
and file of the people demand some
thing practical and full of utility
points. For this reason no freak
fowl has ever become really popu
lar.
On the other hand I do not know
what would have been the condition
of the utility poultry business in this
country if it had not been for the
eternal vigilance of the breeders of
pure bred poultry during all of these
years in their efforts to put their
good stock into the hand of the farm
er and general poultry raiser. It
would evidently be about one tenth
of the importance that it is to
day
Eight-Year-Old Boy
Speaks 3 Languages
New Mexico Child Educational Mar
vel of the United States—Never
Attended School.
BOSWELL, N. D., May 24.—Not
yet eight years old, but qualified to
enter high school next fall, which he
will do, Raymond Ray, of Boswell,
is the wonder of the educational
world of the United States.
Without a single day in the public
schools, trained at his mother’s knee
since he was a babe of a few months,
Ray already has stood the tests re
quired of the average boy or girl of
fourteen, W’ith six or seven years :o
study In school. The child reads,
writes and talks German and Spanish
in addition to English, and is now
about t© take up Latin as a regular
course.
His record equals and almost ex
cels that of Herbert Wiener, the fa
mous son of Dr. Leo Wiener, of Har
vard College, who will receive his de
gree as doctor of philosophy ip June,
though but eighteen years of age. If
he maintains his present rate of pro
gress he may be qualified to enter
college when ten years old. Wiener
matriculated at Tufts College when he
was tieven.
Physically Ray is a young athle f e,
while Wiener was not at his age. He
plays with other boys and girls, and
plays hard, while Wiener did little
playing when his age.
FAMILY MOVED TO CITY
IN ORDER TO JAIL FATHER
DETROIT. May 24.—A new reason
for living In a big city was given in
police court to-day. John Piotrowski
was arraigned for drunkenness and
his daughter. Violet, appeared against
him.
Until recently, the family lived in a
small town in Ohio. Violet told the
magistrate they had moved to Detroit
in order that her father might be
Jailed for his sprees, the police facili
ties of minor municipalities not being
sufficent to accomplish his correction
The court issued a warrant for non
support.
Big Cross to Mark
Marquette Church
Huge Granite Shaft Will Be Erected
on Site of Explorer’s Mission
Overlooking Illinois River.
BLOOMINGTON, ILL., May 24.- A
gigantic cross of granite will shortly
be erected on a lofty spot on the West
bank of the Illinois River in La Salle
County, and which will be visible for
many miles up and down the valley of
the picturesque stream.
This cross will marke the site of
Father Marquette’s mission establish
ed in the Indian village of Kaskaskia.
April 8, 1675, the first Christian
church of the Mississippi Valley and
the great West. The mission was
named the Immaculate Conception
of the Blessed Virgin and was famous
for many years. Father Claude Al-
iloeux. whose name is famous in the
missionary annals of the Northwest,
was also Identified with this mission
and succeeded Father Marquette April
27. 1677.
The x acquisition of Starved Rock oy
the State and the establishment of a
State Park, free to all the people,
has had the result of bringing thou
sands of tourists to La Salle County
annually.
—4
SUBTERRANEAN WONDERS
FILL SOUTH ATLANTIC
NEW ORLEANS. May 24—Marin-
ers say that in the midst of the At
lantic. about where the 25th meridian
west from Greenwich crosses the
equator, there lies a region of mystery.
It is on the line that ships take from
Madeira to Brazil.
Oniy within the past half-century
has it been sounded and its strange
phenomena reported. One investiga
tor declared that he saw the sea about
half a mile from his vessel suddenly
disturbed. For about two minutes it
boiled up violently as from a subter
ranean spring.
Variants of Many Old Highland
Songs Are Retained by the
Mountain Folk.
CH A RLOTTESTVTLLJi, May 24.—
Dr. C. Alphonso Smith, professor of
English at the University of Virginia,
is systematically searching for bal
lads In the South. He believes that
the mountain fastnesses of Virginia
and North Carolina especially furnish
the greatest unexplored field for this
work in America.
His chief aim now is to Interest
students In the normal schools, par
ticularly those young men and wo
men who are going out into the far
corners of the State to teach. They
will come into contact with the na
tives of the mountains more intimate
ly than any one else will be able to
do, and to them he Is looking for
help in running down the ballads
which he is convinced are being sting
to-day by the illiterate descendants
of the earliest English settlers of this
region.
Such ballads as may be found, of
course, will be variants of the stand
ard English and Scotch ballads, be
cause ballad making, except to .some
extent among the negroes, is no doubt
a dead art.
Important Find.
Tremendous impetus was given
Professor Smith’s ballad hunting a
few weeks ago when one of his stu
dents—W. E. Gilbert, of Russell
County, Va.—produced a variant of
the famous ballad called ’Barbara Al
len.” Mr. Gilbert heard it sung by
an illiterate old woman in the moun
tains of Buchanan County, Va., near
a point In the extreme southwestern
part of the State where it hits against
Kentucky and West Virginia. Pepys
speaks of this ballad In his diary, and
Goldsmith, too, refers to it In several
places.
After making a number of visits t©
the old woman’s cabin, and after re
peated failures. Mr. Gilbert at last
succeeded in getting her to sing the
ballad as it had been sung to her by
her mother and grandmother, and as
she had sung It to her children and
grandchildren.
This variant has proved to be, in,
the opinion of Professor Smith, a not
able discovery indeed. Other vari
ants of "Barbara Allen,” one of the
most famous ballads in the world, by
the way, have been found in New
England. All of them, however, are
obviously incomplete in one particu
lar.
Notable Difference.
In the ballad as it has been handed
down from generation to generation
—that is, in the form in which it is
generally known to-day—Barbara Al
len is made to be deeply grieved at
the death <f her lover, but in non© of
the known versions is any explana
tion made of the cause of her grief.
The verses in point are as follows:
“Do you remember the other day
When we were at the tavern drink
ing?
Yon drank a health to the ladies all
And you slighted Barbara Ellen.”
"Yes, I remember the other day
When we were at the tavern drink
ing;
I drank a health to the ladies all
And three to Barbara Ellen.”
"Do you remember the other night
When we were at the ballroom danc
ing?
You gave your hand to the ladies all
And slighted Barbara Ellen.”
"Yes. T remember th© other night
When we were at the ballroom danc
ing;
I gave mv hand to the ladies all
And my heart to Barbara Ellen.”
New Truer Version.
These four additional verses. Dr.
Smith is convinced, tend to show that
beyond question this new variant is a
truer version of the original ballad
than any other known one because
they make the story complete by giv
ing a motive for the poignant grief of
Barbara over the death of her lover.
In all other versions the reason for
Barbara’s grief is In the dark. In
them she accuses her lover as in this
new one, but he makes no defense as
he does here.
The new variant furthermore is
( ailed ’Barbara Ellen,” not "Allen.”
I>r. Smith thinks this is another evi
dence that Mr. Gilbert’s discovery is
nearer the original than previously
discovered variants because Ellen
throughout the ballad makes better
rhyme than does Allen.
Speaking of this phase of the ques
tion to-day, he said: _
“Professor Child, the greatest ballad
collector of the English-speaking
world—the greatest collector who
ever lived, in fact—refers frequently
to ballad variants found in New Eng
land and rarely to variants found in
the South. There is so little refer
ence to the interesting variants in the
South chiefly because the South has
never realized the richness of the
field.
North Carolina Ballad.
"Professor Child does give one va
riant found in the mountains of
North Carolina. It is the ballad of
The Wife of Usher's Well.’ The va
riant in question was sent him from
Polk County, North Carolina, where
it is still sung by men and women
who can not read or write and whose
forefathers could not read or write.
This is an example of what may be
done if one should go at the search
with vigor.
“I believe that in many parts ot
the South may be found most inter
esting variants of the 306 standard
English and Scotch ballads which
Professor Child has collected.”
Still another undeveloped field for
the future collector Is to be found
among the Southern negroes. A for
mer student of the University of Vir
ginia, George P. Waller, Jr., recently
sent Professor Smith a negro version
of one of the most famous pure Eng
lish ballads, "Sir Hugh, or the Jew's
Daughter.”