The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1907-05-06
o. r. T. Meet in Atlanta Tomorrow


gates are expected to attend the biennial
convention of the Order of Railway
Tranmen which begins here Tuesday for
a ten days session. The claims commit
tee OF the organization which has been
In session for the past ten days has
completed it's work and all is In readi-
ness for the convention. It Is expected
tina. the Idaho murder cases will be
the subject of considerable discussion.
All of the sessions Of the convention
will be executive.
and more than half the million pounds
of cabbage seed used in our crops Is
grown in our own soil.
When 1t is remembered that little
scent package OF cabbage seed will make
200 plants, too many for a single gar
den, and that each pound will supply
fifty gardens, the enormity of these fig-
ures will be realized OF course many of
the seeds which are sold do not pro-
duce vegetables, as they are prevented
by insects, impurities of soil, and eli
matte hardships, but IL every seed sent
on. by the seed industry of American
fulfilled its mission every man, woman
and child in the United States could
have at least one square meal day,
regardless of the beef trust
Corn growing for seed purposes has
has made great strides in this country,
and more of 1t is sold than any other
kind. An instance of Mother Earth's
kindness to the corn grower is shown
in the experience of prominent seed
grower in Ohio. Thirty-five years ago
he had one acre of land and IS dollars.
He invested the So In seed corn His
profit for his first yesrs work was only
SIS, but now he produces yearly 10000
bushels of corn, and has become indie
pendently rich. John Rankin, Il Missouri
farmer. plants 600 acres of corn at a
time, using as much corn for his seed
as an eastern farmer would harvest in
one season. He sends out $50 plows at
time to his fields, and ships his corn
In the fall by the trainload instead of
the carload. Not long ago a single ear
of prize corn, of the Reid Yellow Dent
variety, was sold at auction at the Iowa
State college for $3.50. This was at the
rate of $3.50 a bushel, which is the
worlds highest price for seed corn.
Almost all the choice kinds of toma-
toes are the result of the patience of
A. w. Livingstone, who discovered In
bed of ordinary tomatoes one which was
susceptible of treatment to enlarge It and
enrich it's flavor. He saved the seed of
this accidental tomato, and year after
year replanted the seeds obtained from
the children and grandchildren of his
original find, until 1t is difficult to find
In ones salad a tomato not descended
from this discovery of .1r. Livingstone.
Flowers furnish equally as interesting
| instances. One of the most notable seed
achievem ents of recent years Is the work
of Rev. w. Hinhks, the secretary of the
Royal Horticultural society In England,
| who produced the Shirley poppy from
bed of common field peoples. In a patch
of the latter in his garden, he saw one
edged with white He marked 1t, obtained
its seed. and planted 1t the following year.
The edge of white had grown deeper and
after many years of experimenting he
had a bed of peoples whose white edge
had worked into the center making the
ptals n pale pink. and in one plant, pure
white After several years more he turned
the black center a pale yellow, and now
| the ghostly Shirley poppy stands as mon
umerft to his infinite patience and care.
But seeds are not always so carefully
propagated. Every element In nature
| has had hand in 1t, at one time or
another, and strange flowers are even
now growing on our coasts as a re-
suit of a long journey on the breast of
| the gulf stream, or a gallant race with
| the north wind. The haphazard career of
the thistle-down, which is resown by any
passing breeze, has been the theme for
many n poet Birds have carried seeds I'M
! digested in their stomachs for miles and
miles, and even into different states.
| Many little northern blossom has APP
| peared in the south with no possible
| explana ton for its presence but that 1t
had been carried there by a flock of
| migrating birds.
Tomorrow: 1.-THE Children OF the United
J StatAs."