The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-11-18

l WaSHHlBlOh, NoN0IlDe1 la-toPSNie'it
 The big political sensation in the city Q | Philadelphia is yet to be pulled off, ac
 cording to rumors that gossip and news l paper speculation bring to Washington. The routing of the gang by the uneX pected election of Mayor Brandenburg b' the democrats and good government peo
 pie was sensational enough but the req big "agog'' will come when the reformer' look into matters and begin to clear house.
 Senator Penrose and other gang leaders are begging for quarter. They are offer ing all sorts of support and loyalty to thS rCformers in return for political and othel considerations. They want their friends holding sinecues in the city hall to be re- ta;ned. They want large and useless sal. aries retained. They promise support that Is not support in reality. They are try ing to make peace with the new admins tI atlon.
 They fear the disclosures that are bouad to come when the city's books are opened and the Dutch mayor looks into the real condition of the city's previous ad- n.lristrations. The gang is trying to soft enn the blow. They are frightened.
 The decent people of the country have heard something of the corruption of Phil adelphia but they may be shocked when they know all the truth if it is ever known. And the true condition in Phila- delphia should be known to all the people. It affects the whole people. The gang corruption methods of Philadelphia are connected in an official way with the great legislative body of the country. Sen ator Penrose was the avowed leader of the gang. He is the leader of the re- publican party in the United States sem ate.
 The people should know the truth about Philadelphia.
 It has been announced with much en- thusiasm that a new car line connecting Washington with a suburban community is to be equipped with real air beraks on the cars. The innovation is to be curi- osity.
 Jack A. Bingham, postmaster at Talla- dega, Ala, who spent few days in Washington this week, is enthusiastic about the agricultural development in his county and in his state.
 He is great believer in the growing
 
 Some of the farmers of Talladega have been very successful in the growing of alfalfa" said Mir. Bingham. "Our soil is rich clay loam and is adapted to a great diversity of valuable crops. The soil has to be sweetened by applications of lime, but this can be done at small ex- pense, and alfalfa grows luxuriantly Our lands are well drained and yet there is plenty of moisture we'll distributed, which tfa1 fr,- ha = this kind of forage crops.
 ''Talladega is one of the finest agricul- tural counties of the state, and our farm CTS are well alive to the advantages of scientific methods in farming. They are taking more and more to the raising of stock and food crops. It means the eman- cipation of the people from debt and other worries.
 Alfalfa, corn and stock are the hope of the state and the south. and I am glad that the people are realizing this in a practical way"
 The Philadelphia Record has published an article on plant bacteria that should be read and studied by every farmer in the country. The facts preserved are of special interest to the farmers of Ala tama who are just now engaged in the improvement of their lands and the adop- tion of crops that not only will bring ready return in cash but at the same time improve the lands.
 I ask liberty to reproduce the article in full. It follows:
 ''There are 10 essential clements of plant food, each of which is of equal im- portance to the plant. As a plant food, carbon has no market value for the req son that the plant secures carbon in the form of carbon dioxide, a gas which is present everywhere in the atmosphere and which the plant inhales through it's leaves. Both hydrogen and oxygen are without market value because they are the elements which compose water liquid compound which plants absorb through their roots. Calcium, magnesium, iron and sulphur have no market value as clements of plant food, for the reason that they are present in practically all soils in abundance as compared with the amounts needed in. the growth of the plant.
 'The three elements-nitrogen, phos- phorus and potassium-do have market values as they are required by plants in very considerable quantities, and are present in most soils in rather limited amounts, and when the available supply of any one of these clements becomes too much reduced in soil the crop yield fin consequence, also becomes reduced"
 There are two groups of bacteria that are of great importance to agri- culture because of their relation to the element nitrogen, this being com monly acknowledged to be the most valuable element of plant food These two groups or bacteria are known as the nitrifying bacteria and the nitro gen gathering bacteria.
 "The former are those which have the power to form nitrates. The nitro gen in the soil is almost entirely in organic compounds-the nitrogen Is united or combined with other ele- ments, notably with carbon. hydrogen and oxygen, in the form of partially decayed vegetable or organic matter.
 Plants are unable to use the free nitrogen of the air as plant food, neither can they use the organic com pounds of nitrogen which occur in the soil. Calcium is the alkaline element in lime or limestone. The name calcium nitrate indicates just what clements this compound contains, namely, cal cium, nitrogen and oxygen. If no aka line element is present in available form then no nitrates can be made in the soil. One of the reasons for ap- plying ground limestone to soils which are deficient in lime is to furnish the element calcium in suitable form for the formation of nitrates in the pro- cess of nitrification.
 Tn the process of nitrification; that is, in the formation of nitrates, there is required not only the presence of calcium, or some other alkaline ele- ment, in suitable form, but also good supply of the element oxygen. The sup ply of oxygen for the formation of ni- trates in the soil comes from the air. which consists of about 20 per cent oxygen, IS per cent nitrogen and per cent of other elements and compounds. One of the important effects of cultiva- tion or tillage is that it permits the air