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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.”