Newspaper Page Text
D II KARST’S SUNDAY AMERICAN.
READ FOR PROFiT-AMERiCAN WANT ADS-USE FOR RESULTS
ATLANTA, GA., SUNDAY, AUGUST 17, 1913.
REAL ESTATE FOR SALF
ADAIR’S LIST
AUBURN AVENUE
.. INVESTMENT.
NEAR ctye cerrfnr • of '.Tafrksrtn'
Street, frbnrtqg 404 feert on
AinMirn Avenue. and rtmnlni?'
through th® blool^ 110 feet to, f>l(J (
Wh» pt Street, $\«> offer 0 'hollies,'
tyf-Jnfing in ;in inoolPo <>t 457 u*r
month Tsk«-" 1r>|f* eon arte ration
the fact that tjils piece of pro^ejr-
tv Is near three good streets, runs
through the •biyck, and has v
steady, • montUhly inrdme' of $$7.
Thee** facts assure a steady en
hancement In value, the property
fh the meanwhile bringing in a
substantial Income. Price, $9,000.
Terms.
Suburban Cottage
Near East Lake Road
A, SIX-ROOM COTTAGE on lot
190x200. half a block from car
line, in growing section. Price,
$3,'000 Terms. $250 cash and $25
,a, mrmth.
Jackson Street
A $4,250 Residence
: N#XT to the corner of Jackson
'Street and Highland Avenue, a
two-story, seven-room house, well
built and in £ood repair A home
you can occupy a while and make
some money on. Ohe-thlrd cash.
Piedmont Avenue,
Near Fourteenth St.
WE have made a subdivision of
the two blocks on Piedmont
Avenue*, between Twelfth and
Fourteenth Streets; lots are about
70x200 in Haw; prices range from
$316 to $!S5 a front foot. This Is
among the choicest building front
age in Atlanta, and Is well suited
for apartments.
Railroad Front
Near Bell wood Ave.
AN ENTIRE BLOCK, fronts 225
feet on A., B. and A. Railroad;
triangular in shape; has three
renting houses*. An Income prop
erty with railroad background;
lies well for factory site. Price.
$2,500.
Crescent. Avenue.
A $4,500 I Lome.
BETWEEN Eleventh and Twelfth
Streets, facing east, an attractive
six-room cottage on Crescent Ave
nue, lot 60x150. When we sell this
$4,500 home, the edition will be out
of print; there will not be any
more at the price.
WEST END HOME.
ON LAWTON Street, just off Oor-
don. we offer a modern. 7-room
bungalow, on lot 50x150. This home
is up to date in all respects and
is in perfect keeping with the
usual high standard of West End
residence property.* Price, $5,000.
ReaMnable terms.
Prvor Street
A 12 Per Cent Invest
ment
IT If} NOT OFTEN you ran buv a
TO nor nr.nl ln...n..n ...
li U er cent investment on a
main-pAved etrrv t, all improve
ments down and enhancement a
certify. We o/Tpr an apartment
building on Pryor, near Vassar
Street, lot 50x166; rents four ten
ants at $19 each; total rent $52.
Price. $5,200. Tenants pay water
bills. This is standard income
property
Renting Property
Near Davis Street
THREE BLOCKS from A.. B. and
A. freight depot, a corner lot
100x105; has two Hngh* and one
double house; room lor dnhthur
double house. Rents $30 abo\e wa
ter bills; price, $3,200 This is wry
close to Terminal Station and al
ways rents.
EAST LAKE ROAD.
A Ten-Acre Tract.
CORNER East I^aky. Road and
and
Boulevard D^Kalb: fronts 4r>7
feet; adjoining tracts owned* by
J. H. Porter. W. T. Gentry. Ma^or
W. R. Dashiell and Adam W.
Jones, a residence site de luxe
Price, $16,000.
COUNTRY HOME SITE
At East Lake.
SMALL acreage tract (about 4
acres): has spring and clear
spring branch on It; suitable for
chicken ranch or gardens, itne
building site, with trees; car line
runs through property. Prie**.
$4,000.
AT EAST LAKE
Fronts 400 Feet.
THIS tract is on Skiff Avenue, faj-
ing club grounds in next block
to Joseph Richardson’s new resi
dence. Price of entire tract. $4,000
easy terms.
Fair Street
At East Lake
ONE BLOCK from Country Club,
a pretty lot In oak grove. lOOx
200; close to paved road: a ’de
sirable bungalow site. Price, 11,-
500; terms.
FORREST & GEORGE
ADAIR.
Loan AGENTS NEW ENGLAND
LIFE INSURANCE CO.
College Park Busy Building Many Pretty Homes
• •
■!•••!• -I- • -5* - •!•»•{•
Steady Population Increase Is Noted in Suburb
The accompanying illustration shows a typical bungalow of the College Park section. Prominent in its construction is the wide porch across the front of the
house, the attractive stone pillars at the aid* and rear, and the wide, sweeping, symmetrical eaves. The stone harmonizes well with the white trimmings, and the
contrast in White and dark effects is good. The cost is about $3,000.
Autumn Renting Business
To Take on Roseate Hue
Agents Preparing for Rush That
Follows Return of Tourists
From Summer Resorts.
September is "moving time" in At
lanta. Next month the local moving
vans will do the heaviest business in
the year, and the renting agencies
will have their hands full until the
rush is finally over. Parents are busy
selecting schools for their children,
and this figures largely in determin
ing changes' of residence. Each fam
ily wants to*be as near .a school-
house as pd e siblr. and the best loca
tions are ajv avs spoken for early.
Another thing that ,causes the fall
renting business to be unusually heavy
is the return of .thousands bf people
from the summer resorts. Families
and couples which have formerly
rented houses are moving into apart
ments. and apartment dwellers are
seeking homes with front yards. Be
tween the tourists and the people who
want locations near the schools, the
renting agents are kept busy devising
means of aceommodhtlbn.
Scarcity of "Good" Houses.
1 .Has 1 * for •« long ,Ume have been.
» xHiring in" Scv^tymbeH and October
and when a lease is out there are
usually half a dozen people who want
to* roll* the liyuse. f4trpt]£ e as may
seem, there are .never enough "good’
bouses in Atlanta to take care of
each year’* surplus population.
'"If we had 50 houses of a certain
type!" declared M. S. Rankin, of the
Am 1th, Ewing .& Rankin Renting
Agency, Saturday, "we could All them
with ^tenants in a week's time. The
greatest denrjand . is for seven and
eight-room houses on the North Side,
easily accessible to the schools, ami
renting, from $3f» to $50 a month.
Builders who would make a specialty
of this kind of house' could sell or
rent with a minimum of trouble. Bun
galows naturally are popular, and are
rising higher and higher in percent
age each year."
An Interesting Factor.
Colonel John J. Woodslde. who
makes a specialty of retjtin*. also
predicts u record business His of
fice force has been carefully through
old lists, cancellhg out-of-date list
ings and adding new ones, to be ready
for the business that is expected to
develop next month. Tenants, as-
-euis Colonel NVoodside, are becoming
more and more fastidious about bath
rooms. Whereas many families were
formerly convent with one bathroom,
thev now almost invariably call for
two. especially when there Is a bed
room on the ground floor of a twq-
[story house. The minimum for poo**
ple" 1n the sb-ealled "upper middle"
Watch Charm Given
To Chas. P. Glover
Former President of Realty Agents
Honored—Presentation Speech
Is Made by M. F. Ramsey.
Charles P. Glover, vice president of
the National Association of Real Es
tate Exchanges and formerly presi
dent of the Atlanta Real Estate
Board, is in possession of a hand
some gift from his fellow real estate
men in recognition of his services as
head of the board during the past
year.
This is a watch charm, studded
with a diamond solitaire, to represent
the rising sun, and containing the
figures of a stork and a frog. It was
presented to Mr. Glover at the month
ly dinner of the land dealers at the
Hotel Ansley Friday at noon.
•M. F. Ramsey, who made the pres
entation speech, referred to „Mr.
Glover as "a man of remarkable
energy and sterling worth, who has
done more than any one person to
make the Atlanta Real Estate Board
a force in the community."
Mr. Glover declared: "I wish it were
in rpy power to reply as beautifully
In accepting as Mr. Ramsey has
spoken in presenting this prized, but
unexpected, gift.”
"S. B. Turman explained that tire
stork on the fob was symbolical of
hope rather than of realization Eu*
gene S. Kelly, of the Glover Agency,
was responsible for the suggestion.
Mr. Glover was given an ovation.
That the presentation was delayed
was due to the haste with which lo
cal delegates got away to the Winni
peg convention.
Many Atlanta Business Men Live Co 771/716 TCC Chamber Aid
in Quiet Suburb to South—Sec-! j-* F 3 J« n I
tion Noted for civic Plan. From Local Realty Board
The completion of a large number
of new homes in College Park places
that community in the forefront of
local -suburbs as regards building.
Never before, say College Park citi
zens, has there been such a steady
demand for good homes, and this ap
plies alike to expensive houses and in
expensive ones.
The,census of 1910 showed the pop
ulation of College Park to be slightly
more than 2,000, and an estimate of
the number in 1913 is easily 2,500, and
probably 3,000. Building has jumped
ahead in proportion
College Park is the home of some
of the best known business men in
Atlanta. These men find it profitable
and pleasant to work in the midst of
skyscrapers during the day and to
enjoy a cooling car ride home in the
quiet of evening. They are the origi
nal "commuters" drawn from sections
on which the city depends largely for
original forces in business.
Six miles south of Atlanta, College
Park is a unique suburb. Ever sine-'
it was laid out by its founders it has
been an educational and home-loving
community. Its builders made wi fe
streets, beautiful parkways and erect
ed tine homes and educational insti
tutions. Not long In this process
and if was a modern Utophi, and
still is.
• College Park and Decatur are pro
totypes, .Each has its boys’, .school,
Committees Named
For Realty Board
its gfFls' school, its focal 'government,
its churches and tine homes, its rail
road and its street car system. Each
is six miles and 30 minutes from busy
Atlanta. In the College Park and
Decatur radius are the Chattahoochee
River station on the west and Bu'ck-
heal 6n tse north.
Men Who Will Do Big Part of Work
During Year Announced at
Local Dinner.
Standing committees which will do
a good deal of the work of the At
lanta Real Estate Board in the com
ing twelve months have just been an
nounced and are ready to take up
their respective duties.
These committees are on member
ship, arbitration,- renting legislation,
entertainment and public good.
The committee on membership is
composed of J. Hope Tigner, chair
man; Ben Treadwell, J. F. Mayfield,
II. C. Blake and A. S. Hook.
The committee on arbitration is
Edwin P Ansley, chairman; B. M.
Grant. Edward L. Winn, J. P. Stur
geon and W. E. Treadwell.
The committee on renting is Eugene
S. Kelly, chairman; Albert S. Adams,
Raymond Robson, Forrest.Adair, Ed
win P. Ansley, Ft. < >. Cochran, Albert
Boylston. A. J. Mayfield, E. Rivers. S.
B. Turman, M. L. Thrower, John J.
Woodslde, Thomas Cheatham, J. II.
Ewing and S. L. Dallas.
The committee on legislation is \V.
P. Walthall, chairman: Walker Dim-
son. C. A. Home. R. C..Eve and W.
a. Sharpe. *
Tho ►comthlt tea- on entertain meat is
J R. Smith, chairman; Frank Adah*
Thomas Cheatham, John O. Dupree
and E. T. Luckie.
The committee on public good is
S. W. Carson, chairman; M. D..
Eubanks. L. <>. Turner, John S. Scott*
and Thomak ft- Finney.
t
hi Real Estate Curies
"I’m going to put my spare money
on Broad street," asserted a promi
nent real estate agent the other day
|n speculating on the best trading
(•enters for 1914. "Broad hasn’t yet
risen near the height of its possi
bilities. Wait until we get those
chickens off the street and put ftp a
few new and tall buildings and you
(sill see the change. Railroad de
velopment on the West Side w*ill have
Its influence. Cinders and smoke will
remain, but Whitehall and Peachtree
buildings manage to exist with both,
so I suppose Broad can."
class is two bathrooms, and the max
imum is whatever wealth and taste
| want to make it.
A tendency to re-lease. Indicating
! satisfaction with places now occupied,
j has been noted by Manager Aycock.
fof the renting • iep.minont of the
l Charles P. <7 over Real Estate Agen-
cy. .
Other renting agents have joined in
t) q jg< j eral i redU tion ol a record au
tumn business and after the rush tsf
over they Hire expected to call on the
builders g>r more houses of the
•good"
Charles P. Glover, formerly presi
dent of the Atlanta Real Estate
Board and now vice president of the
National Association of Real Estate
I Exchanges, mingled with "royalty"
at the recent real estate men’s con-
i ventlon at Winnipeg, according to his
companions on the trip. Mr. Glover
is a stickler for ceremony, and he
found that the Canadians used it
every day and Sunday, too. Henc\
when convention guests gathered,
they heard everybody addressed from
King to Constable.
Mr. Glover's speech was important,
and he sought a Canadian friend on
the form of Introduction The pre
liminaries ran something like this:
"Your Majesty, Your Grace, Your
Worship, Your Lordship. Your Lady
ship. Delegates to the National Con
vention. Ladies and Gentlemen."
Following Mr. Glover's perfect
rendition, a Canadian made a bad
mistake in his preliminaries, and with
I bended head and flushed face he said
"Sir. I humbly beg pardon for this
seeming indiscretion "
I King George could not be present,
but the
Pro vine:
Governor General of th*:
m’ngled with the guests.
Nearly every time arty public dis
cussion of a downtown corner arises,
it awakes witn it memories of what
might have been Half a dozen real
estate dealers could have bought low
and sold high hut they didn't. NoA.
they declare, it’s out of sight!
Same with the Conns 11.v property,
southeast corner of Whitehall and
Alabama. "Lordy, Lordy!" sighed a
leading real estate dealer a few days
ago. ”1 came within an ace of leas
ing that In 1910 for 99 years at 126,000
a year, and now it's easily worth
$60.000! I wop I'd have put a big
building—you bet!"
That Atlanta must take a giant
stride forward in street improve
ments if she is to rival the progres
sive towns of the Pacific Coast is the
opinion of H F. West, of the A. J. &
H. F West Real Estate Agency, who
has just returned from an extensive
trip •
"1 have been all over certain West
ern towns." declared Mr West, "and
1 fiqd that the street conditions are so
far ahead of Atlahta that there is no
comparison. Miles and miles of beau
tifully paved thoroughfares make lo
comotion a pleasure. If work is need
ed to be done, the order is given, and
the money is forthcoming. There is
no delay, no haggling about it.
"I don’t mean that the principal
streets are the only ones that are
I>aved. Nearly all thoroughfares have
been improved to such an extent that
the poorer classes of people living in
the outlying c!istrict eive benefit
The same is true ofAjghting. num-
7*
bering and naming streets. Atlanta
js far behind in this respect, and she
can better her condition when the
leading citizens of the community
take a more active interest in civic
affairs." «
Who will be the next patriot to
give the city another park?
Real estate men have been won
dering. What park spaces the city
has aYe filling a great need, but more
parks must come The large tract;*?
which could once have been bought
for a song are now mostly cut up
into city lots and many individuals
hold deeds to them.
The Peters property on Peachtree
between Fourth and Fifth streets will
soon be cut into store lots—unless it
is purchased for a park. Ten years
hence, if the city has not acquired
this, citizens will recall that It could
have been bought for comparatively
; little.
Another illustration is the triangle
! at the northern junction of tlif
Peaehtrees—a good place to cut di
octagonal space resembling roughly
: Columbus circle in New York, and a
1 splendid place for a handsome statue
: of -some pioneer citizen. " This trian-
! gle extends southward to Seventeenth
street, out the southern extremity of
it has been built up with houses. "For
sale" signs are on most of the rest
of it, for that matter.
Speaking ' of parks, a real estate
' man pointed out the other day that
i the so-called "park patriots” don't
| seem to be with us any more. "Peq-
i pie offer parks these days with com
mercial motives," said he. "It has
| been a leng time since anybody of-
; fered a park who didn’t expect to get
' as much out of the city as the city
got out of them."
Chas. D. McKinney Presents Plan
to Advertise Through State
Organization.
What can the members of the At
lanta Real Estate Board do to help?
the work of the State .Chamber of
Commerce?
This question was put forcibly at
th • regular monthly dinner 6f the'real
estate men Friday at the Hotel Ans
ley, and it has set the land dealers
to thinking.
'‘It seems to me." declared Attor
ney Charles D. McKinney, represent
ing the State Chamber, "that it lies
within the power of the real estate
men to give this project as great a
boost as any other organization can
give it. I want to know now or later
whether the chamber can count on
the Atlanta Real Estate Board to co
operate with it in advertising the ad
vantages of the State and in bringing
in a desirable clan's of settlers.
Central Body Needed.
"Georgia is one of a very few
States which does not have a central
organization for the dissemination of
this detailed data. We have no way
in this State of giving outriders in
formation on every phase of agri
culture, population, labor and lands.
In Atlanta we are also somewhat de
ficient in telling of the city.
"Texas has organizations whose
sole purpose is to bo.-<m the resources
of the State, and she is doing it in
a very effective manner. 1 sent for
some literature and I received a pack
age which it required 38 cents to car
ry through the mail."
The real estate men took no defi
nite action on the suggestion, but
assured Mr. McKinney that they
would be glad to consider the matter
further.
The monthly dinner was by far
the best that the land brokers have
held. Fifty were present and there
nas great enthusiasm over the work
which iies ahead-—to secure if pos-
o 5 K1.. , i... ..; ■ i .. —
siblc the nin’h annual convention of
the National Association of Real Es
tate Exchanges and to a.-eist next
ir in the proper entertainment of
tht> thousands of visiting Shriners.
List of Agents Present.
Fharles P Glover, S. B. Turman
and Harris G. White told of their re
cent trip to Winnipeg, and declared
that Atlanta must wake up if she is
to rival the growing towns of the
great Canadian Northwest. Mr. Glov
er said that 5,000 settlers pass each
week through Winnipeg. The towns,
he said, boosted Western Canada
above everything. If settlers were
not satisfied to «*tay in town they
were advised to move on the farms
but always to stay in Canada.
The suggestion has been made that
hereafter dinners be held oftener than
omv a month, and it is possible that
something will be done to get the real
estate men together every two weeks.
Among those present Friday, in ad
dition to those named above, were
F. R. Graham. Philip I/Engle, Eugene
P. Kelly. It. L. Turman, Haralson
Bleckley. Van B Smith, G. T. R.
Fraser, John D. Babbage. George H.
Bonnell. L. O. Turner. H. W. Dillin,
C. I). Galloway. Edward Morris, John
H. and Crawford Maddox. Joseph D.
Greene. G. M. McKinnon. T. B. Gay,
Fitzhugh Knox. L. M. Anderson, Her
bert Kaiser. Hal Steed, M. C. and
Horton Kiser Newton S. Thomas.
Ben Treadwell. J. Hope Tigner. S. E.
Davidson, E. L. Winn. \V. H. S. Ham
ilton. J. F. Mayfield, Walker Di|ti-
son and H. S. Willingham.
Six Crops of Alfalfa in , *
Season; Big Opportunity
for Farmers of South
CHARLES A. WHITTLE.
(Georgia State College of Agriculture.)
Think of from four to alx crops of
hay off a field in a year, and you
are thinking of the possibilities of
alfalfa growing in the South. Think
of cutting from one to one and a half
tons per acre each time and figure
that ea<ch ton is worth at least $25
and you arrive at a very snug income
with mighty little sweat as compared
to cotton, for instance.
But be not deceived. Learning to
grow alfalfa in the South is the big
gest thing about it. Anybody who
takes it as a matter of course that all
he has to do is to stir the land and
plant ana thereafter watch the ne
groes harvest, is more than likely to
be enrolled with the long list of those
who have proven alfalfa failures in
the South.
With a*1 the good things that can
be said of the soil of the South, it
can pretty generally be said that
Southern lands are not naturally "cut
out" to grow alfalfa. This Is not
saying that alfalfa as a rule will not
grew in th* Sou t h. nor is it reflecting
in any wise on either the soil or the
climate. The point is that all South
ern soils have to be given special
treatment and preparation before al
falfa will be at home in it.
Alfalfa on Every Farm.
"Alfalfa on every farm," the slo
gan now going the rounds, does not
point to an impossible ideal, but if
anyone thinks it can be attained in
the South without a considerable rev
olution. he may be easily deceived by
trying it.
With all. it Is easy enough to pre
pare the *oil for alfalfa and go along
producing it, if the prospective grower
will follow good advice—but there is
the rub.
The ordinary cotton grower of the
South will have to practice crop ro
tation. be will have to add inocula
tion to his vocabulary and practices,
and he will have to get lime into his
soil. Those who have been teaching
this sort of doctrine and have ob
served how far it has taken root in
the South will understand how much
farming practice will have to be
changed to realize "Alfalfa on every
farm."
To the average Southern farmer to
mention inoculation is to elicit in
quiries. What is it? Why? And to
tell the truth, it is neither easy to
understand nor to explain. A full ex
planation. indeed, is impossible. In
oculation means to introduce friendly
bacteria into the soil. W ithout cer
tain nitrogen fixing bacteria present
in the ordinary soil, alfalfa and other
legumes make poor headway. Cer
tain It is that some of these bacteria
can take the nitrogen from the al
and fix it in the ground, converting
at the same time the nitrogen into
food for the growing plant.
Alfalfa Bred Bacteria Best.
It is believed that almost any soil
has some of the nitrogen fixing bac
teria present in it, but as a matter
of fact in some soils these bacteria
are few and apparently so starved
as to be unequal to the task imposed
bv thrifty alfalfa.
The best bacteria with which to inoc
ulate are those which have been bred
in a good alfalfa field. Good bacteria
c'an be grown artificially and it is
with such artificially grown bacteria
that seed are inoculated. When
sprinkled with a solution in which
the artificially grown bacteria have
been turned loose, the seed carry on
their surface enough of the bacteria
to start up business in a new’ field.
Of course the bacteria are invisible
except under a compound microscope.
The farmer can not see them and
w hen h e buys he buys on faith. If his
alfalfa grows and produces good
crops he believes in inoculation. If
it does not, he is likely to have no
tions of his own about inoculation.
Tt is possible for seed to be perfectly
inoculated and by reason of improper
handling may fall to show results.
Sunlight destroys Bacteria and inocu
lated seed left exposed to the sun
light w ill become sterile. To escape
the danger of sunlight It is neces
sary, of course, to shelter the bac
teria, and it is wiser to sow or to ap
ply the inoculation medium late in
the afternoon or during cloudy weath-
Again, the seed may be properly
inoculated, due precaution may be
taken to get it into the soil w’ith the
least injury from the sunlight, but
the soil may be sour, w’hich is no sort
of soil for a nitrogen fixing bacteria.
Lime Necessary to Alfalfa.
To correct sourness of soil lime is
necessary. The fact is that prac
tically all soils in the South are de
ficient in lime. This may never be
come apparent so long as cotton or
corn is grown, but it is certainly true
when It comes to growing legumes.
The lime is not needed as a ferti
lizer. It is merely a tonic to nitrogen
fixing bacteria. Soils generally are
supplied with all the lime that the
crops need. Experiments have shown
that most of the crops grown in the
South are benefited by the use of lime,
a benefit that is attributable to in
creasing bacterial activity. Bacterial
activity means increase of plant food,
for bac teria in effect are minute lab
oratories changing the elements non-
available for plant food into elements
of the soil that are available. Of
course there are good and bad bac
teria. Some of those that might be
classed as bad operate to change
available plant food into non-avail-
able. Of such are the denitrifying
bacteria, which instead of preparing
bacteria for the plants change it into
perhaps free nitrogen that returns
again to the air.
These friendly bacteria have been
isolated and named and are nurtured,
coaxed and strengthened to do their
best. Only the border of the realm
of these soil agents has been entered,
and it may be reckoned with a degree
of certainty that as the scientist ven
tures further into the mysterious
country of the unseen that he will
bring back to the farmer knowledge
that will mean two bushels w'here one
is now grown, all by learning which
are the good bacteTia that are serv
ing plant life and how* to encourage
their grow’th.
The first great contribution of the
scientist in looking into the teeming
soil world is that lime is good for ni
trogen-fixing bacteria, and since ni
trogen is the most expensive plant
food and one of the most important,
it is a wonderful discovery this jf
lime and its relations to bacteria.
Since nitrogen-fixing bacteria op
erating to the good of alfalfa set up
shop on the roots of the plant and
there extract nitrogen from the air
that has penetrated the soil, to know
that lime will make it thrive is equiv
alent to saving that without lime al
falfa w 111 not 'grow in mapy Southern
soils, for it is a fact* that most
Southern sdil* 'are deficient in lime
and are too tour for nitrogen-flxiing
bacteria.
Some pretty well-known, highly re
spected and Intelligent*men have said
that they do not believe fn inocula
tion nor in liming for alfalfa. They
point to their successful alfalfa patch
to show you that neither is necessary.
Unwittingly such well-meaning peo?
pie have been the means of the down
fall of others In their attempts to
grow alfalfa. Do not get an idei
that there are many such alfalfa suc
cesses in the South, especially among
those who have not used lime. Even
where the soil has been formed by
the disintegration of limestone rock,
where there is a foundation of lime
stone in the soil, is to be found a
marked deficiency in available lime.
The lime has leached out. ‘ It must be
supplied. < >n soils which for some
reason, exceptional to the rule, there
is sufficient lime, alfalfa may be start
ed and grown successfully even with
out inoculation. The reason for the
unnecessary inoculation will be found
to be that the soil has already been
stocked with nitrogen-fixing bacteria
through the medium of clover, cow-
peas, beans or one of a hundred othor
legumes.
Some of the authorities are now ad
vocating going to the roadside, the
fence corners or other places where
sweet clover or burr clover, or lespe-
deza, or some other legumes are grow
ing, taking some of the soil from un
derneath. scatter it over the alfalfa
seed bed and harrow it under. By this
mean nitrogen-fixing bacteria will be
added to the soil, bacteria that have
been making their living off the very
kind of soil in which they are ap
pointed to continue operations.
Better still, of course, would be soil
taken from • a field in which alfalfa
had grown, a field where conditions
are similar as to character of soils
climate, growing zone, etc. Naturally
bacteria that have been feeding on al
falfa must have established alfalfa-
loving characteristics.
Suppose some cotton farmer gets
inspiration enough to get out of the
ruts and takes the advice of the man
who does not believe in inoculation
or liming, and suppose he fails, as ne
Is likely to do, what a pity! When
again will he be in frame of mind to
try?
Preparing the Seed Bed.
The preparation of the seed bed
with reference to weed eradication **
important. It is time well spent f
two years are taken in preparing the
land for alfalfa. If barnyard manure
is applied, it is better to follow witn
a crop of corn as a weed eradicate’
This followed by rye or oats drilled
betw’een the corn row’s at the last
time the corn is worked, will afford
not only a winter cover crop, but good
pasturage for the colts and calves
during the winter. After the rye or
oats, as the case may be. is taken off.
the cow’pea or soy bean will provo
excellent for keeping the weeds from
getting a start. Turning under the
eowp< as or soy beans and harrowing
the ground until it is in find tilth, is
good a seed bed as could be obtained
for growing alfalfa is prepared. .
Weeds and alfalfa do not »do well
together. If the farmer can not get
rid of the weeds, he need not look to
alfalfa to do it. Many* farmers have
had fits of despair over the weeds an-i
opab grass which have made their
appearance in their alfalfa patches.
But weeds are not formidable ob
stacles to growing alfalfa where the
precautions described have been
taken. Even w’here the weeds have
appeared in an alfalfa patch there
a fighting chance for alfa.l if the
right steps are taken to keep dow’n
the weeds. Thj method usually rec
ommended is to run a disk harrow
over the field. This blays havoc with
the weeds, but harms the alfalfa very
little. By some it is claimed that the
harrowing will break up the alfalfa
crowns or bunches and start new
plants. Weed eradication in the field
will rarely be necessary if the seed
bed is properly prepared in advance.
Then Put In Lime.
Having brought the seed bed
through two seasons of preparation
and having broken and harrowed the
ground, the next important step is to
put in the lime. The amount of lime
to apply will depend upon the degree
of acidity or sourness of the land, not
on the amount of lime already in the,
soil. The degree of sourness ik usual
ly determined by the use of litmus pa
per, a prepared paper that can be
purchased at any drug store. This pa
per when imbedded in fairly moist
soil and left a short time, when taken
out will show by the change of color
how acid the soil is. If the change of
color is very marked plenty of lime
should be applied. The application
will vary from one to two tons per
acre.
Lime is comparatively inexpensive
and when once applied serves Its pur
pose five or more years. Ground lime
stone is the form which is most gen
erally used. The price is determined
largely by the cost of freight. At
lime manufacturing centers the ground
limestone can usually be bought at
$1 per ton and even less, especially
where the lime is a by-product.
The lime should be broadcasted or
drilled in. If broadcasted, then har
rowed under.
Sourness of soil is attributed to an
incomplete stage of decomposition of
vegetable matter which has been
turned into the soil. The lime Is the
one element that will at once adjust
conditions and permit other bacteria
as well as the nitrogen fixing bacte
ria to do their work. The vegetable
matter which has been turned under
in preparing the seed bed and Is in
process of decomposition, that is,
which is being transformed by bacte*-
ria, proceeds with its processes most
favorably in the presence of lime, be
comes humus and then plant food.
An application of nitrate of soda
after the alfalfa has come up, espe
cially if it is not showing good color,
has often proved helpful.
Alfalfa hay Is good, rich hay and
ranks very near wheat bran in the
amount of nutriments, ton for toq.
Wheat bran costs about $30 per ton
laid down in the South. Raise al
falfa hay and the wheat bran need
not be purchased. Thp alfalfa has a
feeding value of nearly $30 per ton
at present prices, but at the outset
of this article a selling prices of $25
was set as an average.
As a feed alfalfa is a producer of
high-class barnyard manure. Con
sidering that the feeding value of al
falfa is nearly $30 per ton and the
manure produced of high fertilizing
value, the conclusion is that alfalfa
is most profitable to the farmer when
he feeds it to farm animals and ap
plies the manure to the land.