Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 70, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 March 1914 — Page 3

LEVER AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION BILL AND WHAT IT IS SUPPOSED TO OO

This Act, Which Provides for Carrying to the Actual Farmer Upon the Farm the Latest and Best Methods of Agriculture, Passed Congress by an Almost Unanimous Vote—Senate •L- Increased Appropriation Passed by House.

By HOWARD H. GROSS,

President National Soil Fertility League.

Waghjngtnn.-—-A review of the efforts that have been mado~for better agriculture, why this last act was passed and what it 4e supposed to do, will be interesting. Over fifty years ago by the Morrill act, congress established the agricultural collegesl by land grant. They were designed to disseminate the agricultural knowledge to the farmers of the country, upon the theory that agriculture is the most important industry and that the success of all our efforts for advancing civilization is based upon it It soon became apparent that the body of definite scientific knowledge was very limited, so 25 years later, under the Hatch act, congress established the United States experiment, stations for the purpose of developing an effective system of agriculture. This was followed by the Adams act providing for scientific research; then the Nelson amendments were passed increasing the appropriations. Resulting from the above legislation the agricultural colleges and experiment stations, as well as the federal

Howard H. Gross.

department of agriculture have been at work developing, collecting, classifying and reducing to practice a vast fund of-thoroughly tested out, scientific knowledge relating to agriculture, which, if it were in the hands of the actual farmers and generally applied by them, would revolutionize the art of farming and bring untold benefit to the whole people and to the farmers in particular. The re-direction of agriculture on scientific lines is one of the biggest and most important subjects that has ever been brought before the people.

For the last 15 years or more various efforts have been made to get this stored up knowledge out into the hands of the actual farmers for whom it was gathered, and who helped to pay the enormous cost of getting it. They undoubtedly have the right not only to ask but demand that it should be furnished to them in such a manner that they can make use of it

4mong the plans tried was the sending broadcast to the farmers and others interested ten of millions of tins from the department at ton and many more from the experiment stations and colleges. Comparatively few of these bulletins, however were written in plain non technical language, hence the average person could not understand them.

Another method was by "talk-fests” at farmers’ meetings, also the operation of lecture trains in co-operation with the railways.

None or all of these methods, however, have proven sufficient for the purpose, In fact they have hardly made a dent upon the main proposition. Experience showed that a better way must be found. Well, one was found years ago, and that was In making actual field demonstrations, showing the improved results that were secured by newer methods. This was convincing and just what was needed. It was not only theory, but theory applied in practice.

Few people not engaged in the industry realize that farming is a very difficult business owing to the ever changing conditions that the farmer must meet. One season it is too wet, the next too dry, the third is too wet. gay, iu the spring and too dry later Id the year when' the crop is matured; one year it is too cold, then the next it is hot winds; peate in nun-enable are to be contended with always, both above and below ground; weeds are everywhere In evidence. There are few lines of business that are more complex or where there is greater need for sound judgment, experience, quick decision, prompt actibn and that opens a larger field for the application of sei epee than that of farming. We are too apt to think science a mysIterioue and Intangible something, when indeed it is very simple; when reduced to its last analysis It is the of how to work with na-

ture under various conditions so we may get the best results for the effort and money expended. We are too often out of harmony with nature’s plan. If we observe and interpret correctly conditions and then do the right thing at the right time and in the right way, the reward will be abundant The steel industry was completely revolutionized by science and the cost of production of this article was greatly reduced, and the profits at the same time immensely increased. Agriculture will as surely be revolutionized by science within a score of years. We have on hand, and we might say in cold storage, the scientific knowledge necessary to do this. The problem is to get it out to the man on the farm and have him make use of it

The Lever agricultural .extension act, just passed by congress, will furnish a practical, sensible, efficient and sufficient plan for doiug this. By its terms, by co-operation with the states, it. endows the agricultural colleges with sufficient funds to enable the colleges to train and place ultimately and permanently in every agricultural county a trained man to help the farmers understand and apply the new methods in farm operations, and keep these methods up to date. If the plan is to succeed, it is of the highest importance that the farmer shall do his part and cooperate with the farm adviser fully and in a friendly way. The danger that surrounds the plan is the sending out of incapable or indiscreet men as farm advisers. It will be a difficult position for a man to hold; he should be well versed in all phases of farming and have both a \thorough, scientific training and considerable practical farm experience. He must know how to meet people in an acceptable manner. It will be the duty of these advisers to assist such farmers as desire it, to understand and apply the newer methode in their farm operations. These men will be the medium by which the college will reach the farmer and the farmer will reach the college—a sort of pipe line through which the pent-up knowledge will reach the farms. The attitude of these farm advisers is designed to be that of a co-operator rather than an instructor, for it will doubtless be true that they will learn as much from the farmers as the farmers will learn from them. The one ie presumed to be equipped with the theory and the science of the art, and the other the practical experience of it. The best results should be had by bringing these together. The Lever act contemIt may be interesting to illustrate the manner in which the act is pre-

MRS. NELSON O’SHAUGHNESSY AND SON

The perils of war have not induced Mrs. O’Shaughnessy, wife of the Amer lean charge d'affaires in Mexico City, to leave her husband alone in that troubled plane Tbjk Is a recent photograph of her and her little son.

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND?

turned to work out and what those who framed It had sh mtnd. Suppose we take a state of 100 counties. The state college authorities ths first year can find only a few men in the whole state, say, ten, who are capable of doing field work as adviser, so they must make a start with these. The next year a few more can be found and trained and fitted for the work. It will probably be eight or ten years before the state will be fully equipped and every county supplied with an efficient man, and the plan contemplated by the act be fully organized and in operation. The counties will undoubtedly be clamoring, for men long before they can get them, so the danger lies in going too fast and letting' incompetent men slip into the service. No greater mistake could be made. The

Agricultural Extension Work.

ten available men to begin with should be located at central points where they will be most accessible as farm advisers. They should have two or three assistants, young men taking the agricultural college course, and use them to do the preliminary work under the direction and supervision of the district farm adviser. They will visit the farmers, tell them of the plan and ascertain from them whatever serious problems they may have relating, to that locality and how they have been dealing with them. These young men should consult frequently, if not daily, with the farm adviser.

Pelts Should Be Barred.

Evans City, Pa. —Postmaster Wahl thinks pelts should be barred from parcels post. A box of skurik skins left on a radiator drove Wahl and a waiting throng from the building.

“Hobble Skirt” Causes Broken Leg.

New York. —While leaving the Bedford Hills Methodist church, Mrs. James H. Doxey, wearing a “hobble skirt,” tripped, fell and broke her leg.

Beggar Has Big Roll.

New York. —Twelve dollars ip cash and a bank book showing deposits of $460 were found on Hy.man Rachstein, following his arrest for begging.

MAKES AN UNEQUALED CAKE

Recipe la an Old One, but Years Have Passed Without an Improvement Being Made in IL i " A woman who for years has made and sold cakes always uses the same recipe for all -kinds of festivities, for wedding cakes, special cakes, holiday cakes, party cakes, and everyday cakes, simply because the cake which she made was so delicious that all the guests wanted one like it, and this desire has been passed on to their children and friends. 'She keeps many cakes on hand, so that customers may have their cake a day, a week, or a month old, as they . like. Esch cake weighs about one and one-half pounds, and is labeled with the date of its baking. They are kept in stone jars wrapped in waxe<f paper. Here is the recipe: One each of sugar, butter and molasses; one cupful home-made jelly or strawberry preserves! one cupful buttermilk; one-half cupful strong, coffee; two eggs; one grated nutjneg, two teaspoonfuls cinnamon, one teaspoonful cloves; two teaspoonfuls saleratus (dissolved in one-half cup boiling water); two pounds raisins; one pound cleaned currants; one pound chopped candied fruit (lemon, orange, citron); six cupfuls flour (measured before sifting). Mix the fruit thoroughly in the flour. Cream butter and sugar, add the eggs, milk and coffee, then the flour containing the fruit. Beat thoroughly and add the spices. Turn into well-buttered pans, and bake at least one Ijour in a slow oven.

AIIAROUND The HOUSE

The kitchen will take on a new atmosphere' of cheer if it is given a blue and white tile pattern paper and blue oilcloth for floor and table.

On the emergency shelf there should be some canned milk with the cans of vegetables and fruit, as there may come a time when oysters will have to be cooked at night or something else cooked for which thfere is not cream or milk enough. A woman who likes nice things always makes her own lavender water. She takes a bottle of white vinegar and into it puts a handful of lavender flowers. It is allowed to stand five, days in a warm place aud when strained is ready for use. Handkerchiefs or other articles of wear that have ink spots on them may be washed better if the spot is smeared with mutton tallow before sending it to the laundry. A weak solution of turpentine poured down the water pipes once a week will drive the water bugs away. Half a lemon dipped in salt is excellent for cleaning copper articles. Oxsuccessful both for copper and brass.

Curried Meats.

Curried meats and vegetables are delicious. Here is a recipe for a good curry sauce that is not especially difficult to make. It can be served with left-over chicken, cut into little strips, and heated in the curry, then put on a platter with a ring or mold of hot rice. It can be served with left-over mutton or lamb, cut in dice or thin slices. It can be served with several vegetables. To make it, slice a me-dium-sized onion thin and fry it in two ounces of butter. When it is brown add a dessertspoorfful of curry powder. Let it cook a minute or two 'fißa _ theh'ad<!“acupful of beef gravy. Dish gravy from roast beef or beefsteak is the best sort, but if this is not at hand beef stock will do. Add also 12 whole cloves, a clove of garlic, a strip or two of lemon peel, a half teaspoonful of salt, two bay leaves, and a teaspoonful or two of tarragon vinegar. Cook this gently for half an hour and then strain it.

Handy Window Pole.

Take an old broom-handle. Paint It to harmonize with your room and insert at one end a screw-hook. Screw into the upper sash of each window in the room a ring-screw for the hook on the pole and your window pole is ready for immediate use. This will save you from having to run up and down and through the house looking for a window pole, or climbing on chairs to reach the sashes every time you wish to raise or lower a window.

For Your Oilcloth.

A very good and inexpensive polish for oilcloth and linoleum is made by melting bits of candle and adding common turpentine to the grease. Apply the mixture with a soft rag and polish with a clean cloth.

Fruit Salad.

One pineapple, sliced, peeled, chopped; two oranges, peeled and cut up; three bananas sliced, juice of half a lemon, two tablespoonfuls grape juice, 1% cups sugar. Stir and blend. Prepare I*4 hours before using.

Baked Pork Chops.

Take as many thick slices as are needed for the meal, place in a pan with a little water, lay a thin slice of onion on each, season with salt and pepper and bake till done.

Bags for Vegetables.

Keep several bags made of cheesecloth or mosquito netting so that they will be at hand for holding lettuce, celery or other greens that are to be kept in the refrigerator.

Warming the marcinev

THE first lighthouse on record is said to have been erected at Alexandria in Egypt by Ptolemy Philadelphus nearly three centuries before the birth of Christ. It was said to have been 500 feet high, while, the light, consisting in all probability of’a coal or wood fire in an open hearth on the summit of the tower, is supposed to have been visible 42 miles out at sea.

In the United Kingdom, toward the end of the fourteenth century, the lighting of the coast was left in the hands of the various religious orders, who established and kept up lights at their own expense and thus did their best to warn mariners of the dangers which lurked round about their monasteries or dwellings, an exchange says. The lights at this time usually consisted of a wood or coal fire burnt in an open brazier situated on a church tower, although we occasionally read of lights being exhibited in windows to guide ships in from seaward. The dissolution of the monasteries in the reign of Henry VIII., doing away as it did with the men who gratuitously tended these coast lights as a sacred duty, abolished the lights also at one blow and it was not until several years later that the first of the regular coast lights were instituted.

Private Lighthouses Established. At this time it was customary for private people to erect lighthouses at their own expense, in return for which they were allowed to levy a toll on all passing vessels. The license to do this was granted by the king, but Trinity house, a guild or fraternity of sailors who undertook to look after the interests of all those connected with shipping, had developed into a rich and' powerful organization, holding the general management of navigation. .They regarded the erection Of these private lighthouses as a usurpation of their rights, for they were responsible for the buoyage of the channels, and alleged that they had the sole right of erecting lighthouses. Trinity house, therefore, opposed all schemes for the building of lighthouses by private persons. But in spite of this hostility lighthouses were erected at many points on the coast The light consisted of an open hearth at the summit of the tower, while the curious davit and pulley on the right hand side were used for holing up the necessary fuel.

Trinity house, in spite of the obvious utility of the light, was bitterly opposed to the measure, and characterized the lighthouses as "useless,” “dangerouS” and a "burden and hindrance to navigation,” and it was not until about a century later that the policy of the corporation changed. They then no longer opposed all measures for the establishment of lights, but, on the other hand, helped the sailor to demand that for the dues he paid the -private lighthouse owner should show a good and steady light. They also set about Improving the various schemes for Illumination, but ft was not until 1836 that privately owned lights were abolished, and the entire system passed into the hands of Trinity house.

The principal lllumlnants used In ancient lighthouses were coal or wood tires in an open hearth, but toward the end of the seventeenth century it occurred to some people to inclose the fire in a lantern with a funnel or chimney at the top. This saved the hiel. but the efficiency of the lights suffered, for it was no longer fanned

by the sea breezes and needed the frequent use of the bellows to kebp ft alight. There were many complaints about the poorness of the lights and the lanterns were subsequently removed, but coal or wood fires remained In use till 1822. Candles were next thought of. but these again had obvious disadvantages, for the great heat generated in the lantern melted the candles and thus diminished the Intensity of the light. The wicks also required the constant use of snuffers, and this again was a serious disadvantageThe use of oil was not universally adopted until the middle of the eighteenth century, while soon afterward contrivances were adopted for increasing the light by means of reflectors. Gas was first used as an illuminant in the early part of the nineteenth century, but only for lighthouses on piers and harbors near gas works, and It was not until 1865 that gat was used at ont of the way lighthouses. Soon afterward electricity and limelight were introduced; and these, gas and oil are now the principal illuminants employed. It was toward the middle of the eighteenth century that schemes for distinguishing one light from another were introduced, and the first device of this kind was invented, strange as it may seem, by a barber of Lynn called Robert Hamblin. The method by which lights are varied nowadays consists of hiding the light shown for a certain number of seconds. Thus one lighthouse may show a single flash every 15 seconds, another three flashes in quick succession every 30 seconds, and yet another may show a light for 30 seconds and then be obscured for ten seconds and so on. These methods, combined with the employment of /White, red and green lights, provide many different varieties of lights and thus form a ready means of distinguishing one from the other, as no two lights on our coast are exactly the same. Bell on the Inchcape Rock. The present Bell Rock lighthouse la situated off Arbroath, and this is the place, it will be remembered, that has been immortalized in the poem of "Sir Ralph the Rover,” where— The good old abbot of Aberbrothock Had placed that bell on the Inchcape rock. On a buoy, in the storm, it floated and swung. And over the waves its warning rung. The first time a lighthouse was erected on an isolated rock was in the case of the first Eddystone lighthouse completed by Winstanley in 1688, where tallow candles were used as an illuminant The tower was polygonal In form, which the ornamentation above offered great resistance to the wind. This lighthouse, however, stood' till 1703, when it was knocked down by the sea. and Winstanley himself and all the occupants perished. The next Eddystone was completed in 1708 by Rudyard, and this was completely destroyed by fire in December,

1755. It had been constructed of wood, and the next tower, of* granite, was erected by 'John Smeaton and stood from 1758 to 1881. In 1879, however, it was discovered that the rock on which it -stood was being undermined by the action of the water and this necessitated the building of a new tower on a neighboring rock' with more secure foundations This tower was completed In, 1881, when the old Smeaton lighthouse was removed to the Hoe at Plymouth, where it now stands.