Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 164, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 July 1918 — Page 2

Yards For Chickens

Prapaiad by the U.S. Department of Agriculture

Free Range Is Best for Chickens, but They Can Be Kept Successfully in Small Yards In the City.

In most places where poultry Is kept It Is necessary to have yards inclosed by suitable fences which will confine the birds. When it is possible, however, to allow the chickens to have free range, this is the best and most economical way of keeping them. , Fences dividing the land into yards increase the cost of equipment, labor and maintenance, and there should be as few fences as possible, as land can be cultivated and kept sweet more easily if nqt fenced, and the value of fresh, sweet land for poultry can hardly be overestimated. A grass sward can be maintained on good soil by allowing 200 to 250 square feet of land per bird (217 or 174 birds to the acre), while more space is necessary on poor or light land. A larger number of fowls are usually kept to the acre where double yards are used* and the land is frequently cultivated. Plymouth Rocks and the heavy meat birds in small yards require fences five to six feet high, while a fence six to seven feet high is necessary for Leghorns. The upper two feet of the fence for the latter may be inclined inward at an angle of 30 degrees, or a strand or two of barbed wire may be used on top of the regular wire to kelp keep them confined, while it is sometimes necessary to clip the flight feafhers of one wing of those birds which persist in-getting out. It is not advisable to use a board or strip along the top of the fence, as hens will often fly over one so constructed.

Produce Food, Mr. Town Man

Gel Blistered and a Oeaa Conscience L

(Prepared by the United States Department o£ Agriculture.) Speaking of food —how much of what you eat do you help to produce by your own work? Farms need labor. The difficulty is not an insufficiency of actual man power. There are plenty of men to supply the farms with help. But that man power is applied to other things and the farms will not be adequately supplied with help unless men turn temporarily from their present business or employment and work on farms in their county during the rush periods of cultivation and harvest If we were not at war you might feel free to disregard this as your personal duty. But we are at war; this is a war need, and you are not free to disregard it It is the duty of every strong man of farm experience or of farm aptitude, who is not now engaged in work of war value, and not engaged in work to which his personal attention is constantly indispensable, to go to farms in the agricultural territory adjacent to his town when farm labor needs are' urgent and help produce the food crops which are essential to war winning. •You eat every day. Some man’s hard work produced that food. Our soldiers in France must eat and somebody’s hard work must produce that food. If you are so situated that you can help produce this food it is your duty to do so. Get in touch with the county agent of the United States department of agriculture and the state agricultural college or write the state agricultural college if you cannot get in personal touch with nearby farmers who need help. Lay off your present job or get away from your present business for a few days or a few weeks as you are needed. You’ll lose money and weight. You’ll gain blisters, sore muscles and a clear conscience. /

British Food Experts Tell How Potato Butter Is Made

Bntter, which formerly was an exclusive product of the cow, will In future be made from nuts and potatoes. The latest substitute to compete with the bovine nectar of the meadow and the silo has been announced* by the conservation department of the United States food administration to be potato butter. From the home of the “magna charcomes a recommendation by the British ministry of food that potato butter can be made for ten cents a pound. Here is the modus operandl: “Peel the potatoes. Boil until they fall to pieces and become floury. Rub them through a fine sieve into a warmed basin. To 14 ounces of potatoes add two ounces of butter or margarine and one tablespoonful of salt. Stir until smooth. Mold Into rolls. Keep in a cool place. Use butter coloring to Improve the appearance. If intended to be kept more than a few days, use butter preservative.” ___

Burbank’s Liberty Wheat Gives Promise That Bread Is to Be More Abundant

As Luther Burbank has not been in the habit of indulging in baseless sensations, the announcement from Santa Rosa that, after eleven years of experimentation, he has evolved a wheat plant which will yield an average of forty bushels to the acre of grain possessing a high percentage of gluten becomes news of first importance, asserts a writer in the New York World. Although the wheat crop of the United States is greater than that of any other nation, the average yield to the acre has always been comparatively small. Some years ago it did not exceed twelve bushels. Taking into account what Mr. Burbank has done in the matter of potatoes, apples and plums, to say nothing of flowers, as to which he has almost wrought miracles, we may easily accept at face value whatever he has to say in regard to cereals. Wheat flour has become so vital as a food of civilization that strenuous efforts have been made to extend the acreage and by more careful methods of tillage to increase the average product. Thus far, however, in spite of agitation and instruction, such results as have been gained must., be attributed more to favorable seasons than to intensified cultivation. What a wizard of horticulture has achieved in the wonderful climate of California may not be repeated by everybody else under less favorable conditions, but his discovery is full of promise that some day the bread of the world is to be more abundant. The man who wins that triumph will be entitled to stand in the front rank of those who are to conquer the earth for liberty and democracy. »

Facts Worth Knowing.

Chinese raise stags for their horns, which are cut off when soft, and used in the manufacture of native medicines. Dogwood root is said to be the source of the “Indian Red” which the original Americans used for dyeing their feathers and plumes. ' A Swedish engineer’s stoking device makes 1.3 tons of pulverized peat produce as much power in locomotives as a ton of coal. The peanut is a substantial food, six ounces of shelled peanuts being said to possess a food value of 2.3 ounces of round steak, five ounces codfish, one ounce rice, 4.2 ounces rye bread, 35.5 ounces spinach, 5.1 ounces apples, or six ounces bacon.

Soap and Fertilizer From Insects.

Locusts are plentiful In Uruguay and the farmers of that republic are compelled to keep up a constant war against them. Millions of these destructive insects are killed every year. Recently it was learned that soap, fertilizer and lubricating oil may be obtained from the dead locusts, and in the future they win be utilized.—Popular Science Monthly.

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER. INI>.

OUR LITTLE HOUR

Oar little hour—how swift It flies When poppies flare and lilies smile;, How soon the fleeting minute dies. Leaving us but a little while To dream our dream, to sing our song, To pick the fruit, to pluck the flower. The gods—they do not give us long— Our little hour. Our little hour—how short a time To wage our wars, to fan our hates. To take our fill of armored crime. To troop our banners, storm the gates. Blood on the sword, our eyes blood-red. Blind In our puny reign of power. Do we forget how soon is sped Our little hour? •» Y Our little hour—how goon It dies; How short a time to tell our beads. To chant our feeble litanies. To think sweet thoughts, to do good deeds. The altar lights grow pale and dim, The bells hang silent in the tower — So passes with the dying hymn Our little hour. —Leslie Coulson, in London Poetry Review.

Mother’s Cook Book

A grindstone that had not the grit in it, how long would It take to sharpen an ax? And affairs that had not grit in them, how long would they take to make a man?— H. W. Beecher.

Ways With Vegetables. We tire of certain vegetables because they are served so often In the same way, until we grow to dsillke them. “Variety is the spice of life,” and every housewife should endeavor to put a little of this spice into everything she does. The Individual is unfortunate who has been spoiled by a monotonous diet, for enjoying all kinds of foods, especially vegetables, which are so valuable to keep the body In good health. Simple Cabbage Salad. Shred a small cabbage, add a small amount of celery and a bit of chopped onion and pour over the cahbage the. following dressing hot: Beat two egg yolks, add two tablespoonfuls of water, a tablespoonful of butter melted, a dash of salt and cayenne, and a quarter of a cupful of vinegar. Cook this over hot water and pour over the cabbage, stirring it over the heat until well heated,; then serve hot. Onions Stuffed With Rice. Parboil a sufficient quantity of onions of even size, remove the centers and chop fine; mix the chopped onions with cooked, seasoned rice, season with butter and salt with a few dashes of cayenne, stuff the onions and bake, basting with good stock or butter and water. Serve as a garnish around a platter of chops. Any sweet butter substitute may be used in place of batter, in cooking. Sausage, leftover meats of various kinds, bread crumbs and nut meats, as well as cheese, all make good filling for stuffed onions. Cabbage cooked with an onion finely chopped and served with a white sauce, is a good dish to add to ways of serving vegetables. Onions and cabbage have the largest share of abuse given to the ordinary vegetables, as there are some who fail to digest them, while others object to their strong flavor. They are both rich in mineral salts, and acids, give bulk to food, as the roughage is necessary to aid in digestion, and are allround -desirable foods to serve, worthy of more attention. Stuffed Cabbage. Remove the heart of a small cabbage head, drop into boiling water and cook until tender. Cut in to the cedter in triangular pieces and pour over the well-drained vegetable a white sauce made rich with a cupful or more of finely chopped rich cheese. TUjLgli

Flunky Wastes Own Time as Well as That of Others

The feeling that Idleness Is a crime under present conditions is rapidly spreading all over the country. A sheriff in Sherman, Tex., recently announced that every man in his jurisdiction would either go to work or go to jail. The Ku Klux Klan recently reappeared in Birmingham, Ala., with a warning to all idlers. Several states have recently passed laws providing that every able-bodied man must work so many hours a day, and many towns and cities have begun to enforce laws to the same effect. But the idea that superfluous and unnecessary work is worse than idleness does not seem to have made so much progress. Yet it is patently true, writes Frederick J. Haskin, in Springfield Union. The flunky wastes not only his own time but often also the time and money of those he serves. The man who takes a job that a woman could hold Is not only neglecting the work he should do, but is depriving some woman of the independent income that might release another man.

Automobiles Climb Fences.

In many parts of the West and Southwest where automobiles are numerous it is becoming common to drive one’s car over a fence instead* of stopping to open a gate, drive through, and then shut it. The new and quicker method Is made possible by- the construction of inclines which make It an easy matter to mount to the top of the barrier and then descend on the other side. The inclines are usually composed of two tracks, set the proper distance apart for automobile wheels and supported hy posts.—Popular Me ehanics Magazine.

Farm Production Grows

EriialtJ Gross Value of Wealth Produced on Farms b 1917 F.icmb Nineteen Billion Dollars

Following the items of the census of 1910, the United States department of agriculture has estimated the gross value of the wealth produced on farms in 1917 to be $19,444,000,000. This is divided into a total of $13,611,000,000 for all crops and $5,833,000,000 for animal products and animals sold off farms and slaughtered on farms. Such totals* as these, even thqpgh they represent gross values, would have been regarded as fabulous before 1916. The census total of wealth production on farms is $2,500,000,000 for 1889, $4,700,000,000 for 1899, and $8,600,000,000 for 1909, and the estimate for 1915,1 s $10,800,000,000. These numbers, being dollars and not quantities of product,, are the resultant .of two factors, production and price, and hence, as gauges of the productiveness of the agricultural Industry, may be above or below the fact. In the ordinary course of events, many years must have elapsed before the products of farms would reach the stupendous aggregut o gross value of 1917. The average increase per year from 1889 to 1899 was $226,090,000; from 1899 to 1909, $384,000,000; from 1909 to 1915, $370,000,000, and from 1899 to 1915, 16 years, $3’79,000,000. At the average annual rate of increase for the 16 years, not until! 1938 would the gross value of 1917 be reached, computed-as an increase over 1915. Mainly due to increase of price since 1915, the calendar has been anticipated by 21 years. In the continuous annual record, extending back 21 years, 1911 is the only year with a decline in total gross value, of farm products when compared with the preceding year, and that year was one with low production. A year that hardly exceeded the preceding one was 1914, when the price of cotton was demoralized by the war. By the end of 1915 the prices of most farm products were still nearly on the plane of 1914, with crop production 7 per cent above; and the total gross value of farm production was $10,775,000,000, a gain of nearly a billion dollars over either 1913 or 1914. Then followed a rapid ascent of prices of farm products, and the weighted Index for the prices of principal crops in December, 1916, was 56 per cent above 1915, so that, although the crop production was 14 per cent less, the total gross value of farm production was $13,406,000,000, or 25 per cent above 1915, itself the topmost at that time. The performance of 1916 in farm wealth production, unprecedentedly large though it was, was a puny precursor of 1917. The price Index number of the principal crops of this year is 35 per cent above 1916 and 111 per cent above 1915, and complicated with this enormous factor is a crop production that is 12 per cent above 1916. Hence it is that the grand aggregate of $13,611,000,000 is reached as the gross value of the farm crop production of 1917, and of sl9,- i? 444,000,000 as the, total of all production. - Caution is given by the department of agriculture against accepting this total of $19,444,000,000 as the amount of the farmers’ cash income, and also against regarding it as a net income. There are duplication and triplication of value and also Omitted items; qpst of production must be considered, and certainly for 1916 and 1917 a soaring, cost has complicated the problem. It is a gross income in a vague, undefinable, intangible sense, which cannot be reduced to a net income, nor net wealth production, by any process.

Baseball Equipment Aids in Making Athletes of Soldiers of the U. S. Now in France

Three months ago an earnest appeal from a second lieutenant of an engineer regiment doing duty at a permanent post back of the lines in France, for athletic equipment to outfit five teams was mailed to Clark Griffith. Mr. Griffith responded to the call. Up to the present time the Griffith Bat and Ball fund has given the boys about 48,000 balls, 12,000 bats, 4,000 catcher’s masks, 4,000 catcher’s mitts, 4,000 chest protectors, 4,000 first base-

Clark Griffith.

man’s mitts, 12,000 base bags, more than 60,000 fielder’s gloves and thousands upon thousands of baseball guides, score cards, sweaters, boxing gloves, shoes and countless other articles. In all, it has furnished a greater part of the baseball goods that have been sent over there. Clark Griffith’s appeal 'to President Wilson and the secretaries of the war department and the navy, as well as other men of influence is largely responsible for the interest that is being taken to keep the soldiers physically fit by athletic sports. “A soldier is only half a soldier until he becomes athletically trained.” This is the note of thanks that General Pershing sent to Mr. Griffith for the work that he has done for the American Expeditionary forces.

Provisions of the War Tax on Parcel Post Packages

The war tax act of October 3, 1917, Imposes a stamp tax on parcel post packages as follows: “Upon every parcel or package transported from one point in the United States to another by parcel post on which the postage amounts of 25 cents or more, a tax of one cent for each 25 cents or fractional part thereof Charged for such transportation, to be paid by the consignor.' No such parcel or package shall be transported until a or stamps representing the ta:x due shall have been affixed thereto.” This is not an amendment of the postal laws but a special war tax based on postage rates. There Is no war tax on parcel post packages on which the postage is less than 25 cents. A machine has been invented for chopping out young cotton plants, at the same time the crop is being cultivated. -

Ten Commandments Adapted to the Soldiers and Sailors in Service of Uncle Sam

V The Lake Division News, official publication of the Lake division of the Red Cross, which includes Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, contains what it calls “Uncle Sam’s Ten Commandments” In a recent Issue. The “commandments,” submitted by an Ohio chapter, follow: “1. Thou shalt not evict for nonpayment of rent a soldier’s dependents, under penalty of SIO,OOO fine. “2. Thou shalt not cut off a soldier’s life insurance because of delayed premiums. “3. Thou shalt not foreclose a mortgage on a soldier’s property. “4. Thou shalt not take away a soldier’s home on which he has made part payment. “5. Thou shalt not sell a soldier’s property because of his failure to pay the taxes, national, state or local. “6. Thou shalt not settle a lawsuit against a soldier in his absence. “7. If a soldier is sued, the courts shall postpone action until he can attend to it. “8. If a soldier have a mine, timber or farm claim, assessments on which are overdue, shall be held for him. “9. Honor thy soldier and thy sailor that thy days may be long. “10. No man hath greater love than that he offer his life for the world’s sake, and It Is commanded that lawyers, loan sharks and tithe gatherers shall not fatten on him.”

New Jersey Dentist First to Fill Tooth With Gold

The first dentist to fill the nerve cavity with.gold was Edward Maynard, who was born in Madison, N. J., 105 years ago. Maynard was also the Inventor of many of the instruments now used in dental surgery. He had a varied career. His ambition was to become a soldier, and he was appointed to the West Point Military academy, but resigned because of ill health. In 1835 he graduated in dental surgery and settled in Washington, where he practiced for 55 years. While Doctor Maynard was experimenting with improved fillings for teeth, and inventing new appliances, Doctor William T. G. Morton, a Boston dentist, robbed surgery of much of Its horrors by Introducing the use of ether in operations. This was in 1844, a few years after the first dental college In America was founded in Baltimore. Doctor Maynard was also the Inventor of the breech-loading Maynard rifle patented in 1851, which was the forerunner of the modern rifle. He died in Washington in 1891.

Some Postscripts.

A factory for the manufacture of alcohol from sweet potatoes is planned for the Azores. For marking tools or other metal objects an electric etching machine has been Invented.. To support a table for invalids a bracket that may be attached to any bedstead has been invented. Using ordinary coal tar as a basis, a factory in Europe is turning out about 200 tons of artificial rubber daily. in proportion to population Serbia leads the nations for centenarians, Ireland ranking next and then Spain.

Historic Forests Are Cut Down to Supply the Many Needs of Warring Nations

War, with its greedy demands, is fast sweeping away the carefully tended forests of Europe. Even in England, which has been protected by Its fleet from invasion, the ax of the woodman Is making great changes In the appearance of the landscape. Reports say that the beautiful woodlands, forests and groves that have for centuries formed part of i t;he charm of rural England are disappeai ing. It Is expected that by the middle or this summer the British government will be converting trees into lumber at the rate of 6,000,000 tons per annum. The old, careful methods of Europe, by which trees .which had passed their prime were selected and individually chopped down, leaving the forest undisturbed, are being replaced by a style of lumbering nbore familiar' here, says the Rochester Times-Union. Canadian lumberjacks are swinging their axes in the New Forest and many other historic tracts, cutting a wide swath in much the same fashion as in the woods of British Columbia or northern Ontario. Over in France,* American forestry regiments are making a similar sweep through the woodlands. In Great Britain replanting has followed the lumberman, but It will take a century fully to cover the scars. In France there has been no chance to pay attention to anything but getting what was needed for the war. With European forests thus laid low we should be the more careful to see that our own great resources are not recklessly wasted, and should follow the example of the older countries in making etfen private owners guard forests against fire loss.

HAVE A LAUGH

Proves His Point.

two ears.” “He does pretty well for a blind man, doesn’t he?” “He does, Indeed; but I was Just thinking of wan thing.” “What’s that?” “It wouldn’t make any difference t© him if he wasn’t blind.” “Why not?” “Well, I was watchin’ him all th© evening, and he never looks at the piano anyhow.” The Solution. “You can’t be too drastic in your treatment of a nation like Germany,” said Admiral Couden Perry at a Cold Springs luncheon. “You’ve got to consider Germany as John Nagg considered marriage. “‘John,’ said Mrs. Nagg, ‘have you read this book, “How to be Happy Though Married?” ’ “ ‘Nope,’ said Naggr ‘I didn’t need to. I know how, you see, without reading it.’ “‘Well, how then?’ said his wife. “ ‘Get a divorce,’ said he.”

Observations. “Did Reginald call to see you?” “Yes, Gwendolyn,” replied Mr. Cumrox. “I suppose you wanted to see whether I’d object to him as a son-in-law.” “Not exactly. I thought you two had better get acquainted so that Reginald would decide whether he objected to you as a father-in-law.”

The Absentee Owner.

Poilu (on short leave) —Where is your mistress’ maid? Suzette Upstairs, monsieur, arranging madame’s hair. Poilu And madame —is she with her?

Self-Criticism. Doctor —The man who told you your heart was weak was mad. When was it? Recruit—When I last came up, sir. Doctor —Who was it? Recruit —You.

Longest Submarine Cable Is 3,458 Nautical Miles

The longest continuous stretch of submarine cable now working, that is, without relay, is 3,458 nautical miles — that from Vancouver to Fanning island in the Pacific, and the average distance without relay is much less than this. It is evident, therefore, that on the long transoceanic cables such as those across the Pacific, islands must be found for relay stations. This explains the rivalry of certain of the European nations for the possession of small, solitary islets, scarcely more than mere rooks, and useless except for just such a purpose as 'this. This was the reason for Germany’s acquisition of the Caroline and Mar-, ianne islands and later of one of tha Samoan group, at the time of our war with Spain. Similarly England is to be found In possession of conveniently placed islands all over the world.

After witnessing the wonderful performance of a blind pianist one Irishman remarked to an? other: “Be the pow r ers, that’s the best music I ever heard with me