FARM NOTES.
—The composition of soils, princi-
pally, is mineral and organic matters.
By mineral matter is meant frag-
ments of rocks, sand and clay, all of
which have come from the breaking
down of larger masses of rock. The
decomposition of leaves, stems and
roots of plants, and the remains af the
bodies of animals is known as organic
matter. When the latter materials
are so far decomposed as to lose their
form, the resulting organic mass is
known as “humus.”
Varying quantities of salts of pot-
ash, lime, ete., are also found in soils,
in addition to the materials already
mentioned, which, dissolved in water,
are taken up by plants through their
roots, usually as food.
While not, strictly speaking, form-
ing a part of the soil, there are in it
great numbers of very small plants,
generally in the upper six or eight
inches, and which are referred to as
bacteria, molds and algae. Many of
them are highly important, because,
by their action, some of the plant
foods and perhaps most, if not all, of
them are prepared for the use of our
high plants.
The mineral matter and organic
matter in our soils are found in vary-
ing quantities. In cultivated upland
soil the organic matter will run from
3 to 6 per cent. of the total dry weight
of the soil. In muck soil it will be
considerably greater, some times
reaching 97 to 98 per cent. Such a
soil is worthless for cropping pur-
poses. All soils contain moisture in
some condition.
There may be too much water in a
soil, and there may not be enough—
or there may be just the right amount
for the best germination of seeds and
the best growth of plants.
When water stands upon the sur-
face for any considerable time at any
season, or within three feet of the sur-
face during the growing season, the
land should be drained—preferably
tile drained. :
When soils take on the appearance
and feel of dryness, although they
may still contain a measurable amount
of moisture, they have reached a point
where they will no longer yield mois-
ture to the growing crop.
All of the food of the plant, except
carbon, is derived from the soil or
through it. These foods are dissolved
in the soil water, and the water with
its dissolved materials is taken in
through the roots of the plant, and
thence conveyed to the leaves where
the food materials are reconstructed
and much of the water thrown off in-
to the air. From the leaves the re-
maining water with the reconstructed
food moves out through the plant to
the growing parts where the food is
transformed into plant tissue, or is
stored for future use.
What appear to be grains of soil in
mellow loams and clays are usually
not grains, but erumbs—composites
consisting of tens, hundreds and even
thousands of individual or simple
grains, held together partly by ce-
menting materials in the soils and
partly by water contained in the comi-
posites. Not only does the water help
in developing this crumb-like condi-
tion, but a soil in this condition will
hold naturally the largest possible
amount of water for the use of crops,
and at the same time will retain larg-
er amounts from loss by percolation
and evaporation.
The organic matter in a soil, and
especially the humus, acts as a sponge
would act. Its relative capacity for
holding water is considerably great-
er than that of the mineral matter as
may have been observed. Hence the
importance of returning to our soils,
especially to our loams, clays and
sandy soils as much of the roughage
of the farm as possible, and hence, al-
so, the importance of following a
careful rotation which shall result in
part in an abundance of root material
in the sub-soil.
Good applications of barnyard
manure increase the water-holding
power of soils. .
In a mellow soil each crumb be-
comes a reservoir filled with food-lad-
en moisture, and through the openings
or archways separating thgse crumb
masses from each other the roots of
plants may readily travel, thus find-
ing ready access to the moisture and
food stored in the crumbs.
The really productive soils are those
possessing the mellowness found in
our virgin soils, and they possess it
because proper methods are employed
in their tillage. These include a prop-
er rotation of crops, the incorporating
of an abundance of organic matter in
the soil, and the wise use of tools.
Nature, left to herself, provides a
crop, and usually a rotation, for the
soil, in which:
1. The soil is filled with roots—
often perennial roots which, with
frost action, develop the crumbed and
mellow of arched structure.
2. The bulk of the growth is return-
ed to build up and enrich the soil.
Bees may remove the nectares, birds
may remove the seeds, and grazing
animals may crop off the grasses, but
after all the roughage with much of
the fertilizing material is returned to
the soil. The wise farmer profits by
the object lesson.
Nature, however, has need of no
other tools than the roots and the
frosts and the multitude of animal
forms which burrow in the soil—earth
worms, ants, etc. The farmer must
use the plow, harrow, roller and other
tools. ‘With the proper moisture con-
ditions these tools may be made to
help develop the mellow condition
sought. Every farmer should learn
to recognize this proper moisture con-
dition and to appreciate its impor-
tance. If the soil be too wet the use
of these tools may prove injurious
‘rather than helpful. If a cultivated
soil be allowed to become over dry,
the drying often produces a degree of
compacting that the use of these tools
cannot overcome.
SHEDS NEW LIGHT
ON URBAN GROWTH
Writer Makes Point as to
Drift From Farms.
That the urbanization of the United
States has not been so rapid as a
casual reading of the census figures
seems to indicate, is the contention of
Robert W. McCullough in the Survey.
Admitting that the relative decline of
the rural population was marked be-
tween 1880 and 1920, he argues that
the drift from the farms to the big
cities has not been what is popularly
supposed.
Use by the census bureau of the
term “urban” to classify villages and
towns of more than 2,500 inhabitants
is misleading in that “urban” is usu-
ally thought of in connection with
cities, whereas when this classification
is subdivided it appears that growth
has been by no means equal among
villages, towns and cities of different
sizes. »
Many places formerly classed as
rural, as their population was bess
than 2,500, have passed into the ‘“ur-
ban” classification merely because
their population now exceeds that
figure. A part of the urban growth,
therefore, may be said to be in realitv
a mere bookkeeping transaction.
Between 1900 and 1920 about 4,620,-
000 people passed from the rural to
the urban classification without ever
leaving their homes. Instead of the
large cities receiving the bigger part
of increase, places having from 25,000
to 100,000 population had the greater
gain. Mr. McCullough also shows
that the bulk of the immigrants settle
in urban regions. They add to the
bookkeeping ipcrease of urban popu-
lation without representing a loss from
the rural regions. Making deductions
for this element, the urban increase
rate drops from 066.4 per cent to 52.1
per cent. The corrected rate of in-
crease for the rural population is 23.6
per cent, which is about equal to the
normal increase of births over deaths.
Interesting as are these figures, they
should not be taken ag indicating that
the cityward trend has been checked.
The back-to-the-farm movement has
never been really popular, and the lure
of towns and cities, even if only in
the 25,000 to 100,000 class, continues
to be so strong as to be a problem of
national importance.
It is true that mechanical devices
have greatly increased the agricul-
tural output in proportion to the num-
ber of agricultural laborers, thus lib-
erating a certain proportion of the
farm population,
Old Manuscripts Verified
The Roerich museum of New York
announced that an expedition sent
from the museum has verified the ex-
istence of manuscripts in the Hemis
monastery of Ladak written during
the life: of Christ and relating his
travels: and preaching in India, Tibet
and Central Asia. "The expedition,
which has been in Chinese Turkestan
since 1923. was detained in that re-
gion by the Daotai of Khotan. The
members were later ‘released ‘after
their weapwns were confiscated by
the native government. It is the
opinion of the museum that the manu-
scripts at Ladak will throw much
light on the vague years of the life
of Jesus before his return to Jerusa-
lem in his twenty-ninth year. Many
‘| are skeptical as to the authenticity
of any such manuscripts.—Pathfinder
Magazine.
Excuses
Representative Gilbert N. Haugen
said in Washington the other day:
“The men who block the Corn Belt’s
demands offer us very fine explana-
tions and excuses. Well, they remind
me of an anecdote.
“A married man at a shore hotel,
cried to kiss a pretty girl, but she
pushed him off and said:
“How dare you try. to kiss me?
only this afternoon I saw you Kkiss-
ing your wife. And I heard you
tell her, too, that she was all the
world to you. :
*“‘Yes, that’s right the man an:
swered calmly, for he was full of ex-
planations and excuses. ere are
two worlds, you know, Wife is the
Old World, you are the new one.”
Postwar Diplomacy
Representative Moore, who advo:
cates revision of the passport laws,
said at a dinner in Washington:
“Diplomacy seems to have gone
crazy. The crazy way each nation
judges its next-door neighbor reminds
me of Chlorida Lyme.
“ ‘Men folks are fickle,’ said Chlo
da Lyme. ‘Dey ain't no reliance ter
be put on ‘em.’
% ‘Cause why? asked her girl chum.
* ‘Dat wealthy young Rastus Dough
come ‘round las’ night tryin’ ter kiss
me,” said Chlorida, ‘and so as not ter
seem too brazen and awdacious-like
Ah biffed him in de smeller wiv a hot
flatiron, and jes’ foh dat he Jilted
me.’ ”»
Her Quaintness
“My Aunt Hetty, who has been dead
chese twenty years, was in some ways
a remarkable woman and in other
ways a thundering remarkable one,”
stated old Roswell P. Rasp. “For one
thing, she didn’t believe that the
average old woman knew more about
medicine than a doctor whe had made
it his life's study. For another thing
she didn’t believe that the boys were
all going to the gallows and the girls
were all flittery whoppets. And, last-
ly, she did not think the. millinery of
her day was any crazier looking than
that of 1872. But, as I say, she has
been gone to her reward twenty
years.”—Kansas City Times.
Thus Ne. 1 under the column headed
tionary words, except proper names.
HOW TO SOLVE A CROSS-WORD PUZZLE :
When the correcy letters are pluced in the white spaces this pussies will
spell words both vertienlly smd horizontally.
indicated by a number, which refers to the definition listed below the pusmsie.
The first letter In each werd is
“horizontal” defines a word which will
fill the white spaces up to the first black square to the right, and a number
under “vertical” defines a word which will fill the white squares to the mext
black ene below. No letters go in the black spaces. All words used are dioe |:
Abbreviations, slang, initials, techniomd |
terms and obsolete forms are indicated in the definitions. : {
CROSS-WORD PUZZLE No. 8.
il]
(©, 1926, Western
Horizontal.
1—An engine of war
4—A body of water
7—Leased
9—A cramp
11—Unruffled
12—A small bag
14—Instrument for rowing
15—Under
17—Hard shelled fruit
18—To run away
21—Skin disease
22—To defeat
23—A wager
25—A garden tool
26—Point of compass (abbr.)
27—An opinion
99—Poet and author (initials)
30—To lower
‘41—Bill of rare
32—A beverage
34—To run away
36—To tap
$9—A kind of fuel
40—Wasa seated
41—Neat 43—Comfort
44—Pit for fodder 456—To do
46—To make tight 52—To stitch
53—A flight 55—Owned
57—A story 58—Languishes
59—Human beings 60—Guided
ll] 1
HI
14 | TF J
9 S hi 1
Tz Jl ll “a
26 |
III ri
32 [33 Ezz vue ll
| re | 41 42
= | lM 44
I
: I 12 49 |50 |52 52
pe oe oF S56 I
57 58 | |
> HL
Newspaper Union.)
Vertical.
1—To free
2—A dweller in the desert
8—To measure
4—A speck
6—Everyone
6—To request
7—In this
8—A lair
9—A mineral spring
10—Pertaining to mind
11—A fine art gallery
13—Folds in a dress
14—Away from
16—The first garden
18—An article
20—To raise
21—Breaks out
23—Sounding vessels
24—To test 27-~To fastes
28—Small mound of sand
32—To impart
82—A spring festival
85—An affirmation 37—Mounts
38—Covered with slate-stone
89—A vegetable 42—To cut down
46—A period 47—A metal
48—A kind of fish
49—To hit gently
50—Sinful 51—Not any
54—A vegetable secretion
66—Married
Solutiom will appear ip next issue.
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Pennsylvania Motor Federation Plan-
ing to Eliminate Skidding.
Under the old theory that “a stitch
in time saves nine,” the Pennsyl-
vania Motor Federation believes the
Pennsylvania highway department
‘should “act, now, to prevent cars from
skidding on slippery concrete grades
next winter.
“The cost of giving these grades
'a non-skid surface will be far less
| than repair bills paid by automobile
| owners— and if only one life is saved
' the return on the investment will be
a handsome one,” said the Motor Fed-
' eration writing to the department of
highways.”
i “No State in the union has given
this matter proper consideration,”
! continues the communication. “Penn-
sylvania should lead the way. Dur-
ing winter months the newspapers
are filled with stories of disasters oc-
curring on icy grades. It is the idea
of the Motor Federation—eighty-six
Pennsylvania motor clubs, that con-
creted grades, steep enough to be
dangerous, should be given a coating
of tar—a fifth of a gallon to a square
yard; that the surface then be covered
with small ‘chips’—three-eighth inch
stone. Oxidation of the tar alone will
give a surface better than bare brick
or concrete; chips will be added safe-
ty. Such a treatment will be effective
for at least two winters. The cost
will be very small, compared with the
benefits. And the work should be
done now—not when there is moisture
on the concrete.”
The Motor Federation suggests to
all automobile drivers that they be
particularly careful when driving in
fog.
“The season of the year has come
when fog is encountered almost
nightly,” says the federation. “Some
drivers make the mistake of using
only their dim lights. They cannot
see any better with dimmers, and
they increase the risk of head-on col-
lisions. For their own safety, and the
safety of others, they should use their
headlamps. To tie white handker-
chiefs over the headlamps increases
the visibility somewhat; to use orange
colored cloths is even better. This
precaution stops all direct unreflected
light, which otherwise would illum-
inate the particles clouding the atmos-
phere, and reflect back into the eyes
of the driver. No device, however,
is a complete success against fog. On-
ly thoughtless or ignorant drivers at-
tempt to drive rapidly through fog.
Caution is the only real accident pre-
ventative.”—Exchange.
rir —————
Not True to Life.
“I knew an artist once who painted
a cobweb so realistically that the maid
spent several hours trying to get it
down from the ceiling.”
“Sorry, dear, I just don’t believe it.”
“Why not? Artists have been known
to do such things.”
“Yes, but not maids.”—S. Californ-
ia Wampus.
nse fp fp ——————
—Native (at country summer re-
sort): Say, Jimmy, what has become
of that old rooster you used to have
around here?
Jimmy: Oh, Ma served wild duck
for the city boarders last week.—Van-
derbilt Masquerader.
Solution to Cross-word puzzle No. 7.
VIE/RININT[AIMAILE]
TEA DALE]
A| TIOMERS|T]|
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Reduced Fares to State Sunday School
Convention.
Sunday School leaders of Centre
county will be pleased to learn that
again the railroads are granting a re-
duced fare for the round trip to the
State Sabbath School Convention at
Reading on October 13, 14 and 15, and
that credentials entitling delegates to
this reduced fare can be secured from
the county secretary, Darius Waite, of
Bellefonte, Pa.
In this county there should be quite
a number of Sunday Schoal veterans
i who would be entitled to the Gold
Medal which the State Sunday School
Association presents during the con-
vention each year te those who have
been either officers or teachers or both
continuously for fifty years, and in-
formation concerning these can be
secured from our county president I.
L. Foster, of State College.
In Centre county practically one of
every four is enrolled in the Sunday
Schools and in Pennsylvania almost
two hundred thousand consecrated
officers and teachers are engaged
Sunday after Sunday in giving in-
struction in order that conduct and
character may be rightly cultivated.
For the coming year a working bud-
get of $74,250.25 will be asked by the
State Organization in order to carry
on its various departments and main-
tain its present splendid field staff.
Of this amount Centre county last
year contributed $550.00.
The local committee at Reading
have all arrangements eompleted for
entertaining twenty five hundred dele-
gates in homes and hotels. The main
sessions will be held in the Rajah
Temple, the largest auditorium in the
city. While Divisional meetings will
be held in five of the nearby churches.
Centre county is making prepara-
tion to send a fine delegation to this
large gathering, and information per-
taining to the convention can be had
From the county president or secre-
ary.
seen eens.
By Comparison.
An American died, and met an old
friend in the realms of the departed.
“How are you getting in?” asked the
old friend kindly. “Fine!” was the en-
thusiastic reply. “Say I thought lil
old Noo Yahk had the universe skin-
ned to death, but this here heaven of
yours—"
“Heaven ?”’ repeated the older hand
pityingly. “Heaven! Say, get wise,
bo; get wise!”
Yell established corporations are not seri-
ously affected by death, and are the »
proper avenues through which es- 4
tates should be settled.
More and more thoughtful men are
realizing this and are making wills naming a
strong Bank as their Executors.
This Bank, with its large surplus and
experienced officers, guarantees a proper ad-
ministration of any trust fund.
The First National Bank
BELLEFONTE, PA.
We Offer You Safety
PLUS LIBERAL YIELD
RAR) CIS
AW OAM O
hose who speculate in doubtful stocks
or risky schemes, learn by sad ex-
perience the folly of such action.
You know that you will receive a liberal
yield consistent with absolute safety at
this Bank.
3 per cent Interest Paid on Savings Accounts
THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK
STATE COLLEGE, PA.
QQ) MEMBER FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
(el a ae I A oN A LERNER A)
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Lyon & Company
New Fall Ready-to-Wear
Just received a new line of Satin and Silk Crepe
Dresses. All the new shades in Crackelhead
Blue, Jungle Green, Chanel Red, Navy and Black
—new Dolman Sleeves, new Neckline and new
Skirt, at less than the cost of silks
New Fall and Winter Coats
for Stouts, Slender and Small Women—all New Color-
ings, with Fur Collars and Cuffs—in Sport Models and
others—at very low prices.
Childrens Coats
A fine line of Childrens Fur-
Trimmed Coats from $4.00 up
All the New Fall and Winter Shades in the famous
Silver Star brand Silk Hosiery from 95c. up.
A new Fall line of Tapestry,
Cretonnes and Draperies.
New Curtains (Plain and Ruffled) in all the new
weaves. Marquisettes and Scrims, plain and figured. ¢
Rugs, Carpets, Linoleums
and WINDOW SHADES are here
ready for the Fall House Cleaning.
Lyon & Company
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