The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-10-01
The Big Peanut Crop.

The Big Peanut Crop.
The value of this years peanut crop in
the United States exceeds SI5,o00000 Tt
makes about 100000 pounds. and rearly
10000 persons are employed IN the cult
walton Of the crop. over 10000 acres Of
land are devoted to the cultivation Of
peanuts for market purposes. A market
gardener In Newport News. Va. where
peanuts are largely grown, said recently
that "the peanut will grow on soil that
cannot be used for anything else, and If
properly gathered and carefully marketed
il will yield 800 20 the acre Tho weeds
must be kept out and a little lime Is
needed 10 keep of the bugs, and that is
about al the attention ir needs" The
Agricultural Department has commended
the peanut as "a nutritious and wholesome
food for man and beast To the former
il supplies protein aad ash material. and
20 the animals Of the farm II is par
ticu.arly valuable ID combination with corn
and other carbOn3ceous foods notably for
young and growing stock. AS an im-
proven of the soil it is equal 10 any
Iegumiuous crop. It's chief virtue Is that
It does not consume the nitrogen Of the
soil The uiborc-es of the roots collect
nitrogen from the air and feed it TO the
plant without imp0verishing the land
How He Wrote the Editorial.
zone Of my FIRST jobs said the man
who used newspaper work as a stepping
stone 10 a prominent and lucrative posi-
ton with a big Eastern railroad. was
on small morning daily in one OF the
larger towns in Kansas. The editor was
a Gre-eaJinE old eX-FedsraI who cordial
~ detested the South, the Democratic
party. low Tariffs and everything else
not intimately connected with his be-
loved N0rJh-he was a New Englauder
by blrth-Jhe C. A. r, and the G. O. p
He was a brilliant old chap, too, and his
editorials were, to me, classics. His
greatest fault. aside from his quick tenn
per and his tendency 90 be ultra-radical
in his attacks on his opponents. was his
fOnGuess for The flowing bowl About
once every month or six weeks be would
imbibe q casual drink, and anybody who
happened TO he appraised Of his action
knew that IL meant a de5auch Of a week
or So Usually the office heard about the
old mans condition In time 10 get an
outsider a local lawyer. 20 write the edi-
tOT!als But one time. / remember, We
were not so fortunate. The old man
was az his desk as usual during the day,
but 10 seems he fell by the W8yside on
the way home 90 supper. We knew moth
ing either OF his condition or of any
break in the daily routine until, about
u 80 r. m., the foreman came In and de-
sired 10 be informed Of the whereabouts
of the blankety-blauk editorial COPY.
Then we understood The staff was
small. Of course. but the man who wrote
heads over news items and read proof
abandoned his work and commenced The
painful preparation Of an editorial lead
er He had written scarcely a line when
the old man came In. walking with that
marked dignity which some intoxicated
individuals affect Without a word 20
any one he went 20 his desk, took of his
hat and coat. and began 10 go through
a pile Of papers The second one he
picked up was the Louisville Courier
Journal. his bette n0ir. Immediately his
eyes lit up and, turning to the editorial
page. he sCisSOrcd out one of those Wat
tersouiau pert paragraphs about a col
Umn and a half long. Fasting the clip
ping on a piece Of copy paper, be wrote
a line or two AZ the top yelled for the
foreman. said shortly. Here's the edi-
torials,' put on his hat and coat. walked
out, and we didn't see him. sober, for a
week.
The foreman showed us the few
words the old man had written. First
there was the caption, An Absurd Argu-
meut' and then. We do not agree with
Henry Watterson when he says After
the colon came the column and a half
Of printed matter. its paragraphs neatly
quoted. Print the thing? We did. We
were afraid not 70. even though il was
only a few observations on art or some
other abstract subject that Marse Henry
/ had written The old man thought Il
was a political argument His cronies
/ jOllied him considerably, we heard, but
/ he never said a word to anybody In the
Office about the matter"