Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-01-12
Interesting Addresses by Messrs
Thrasher and Stackhouse

At a recent meeting, the Home Sec.
tion OF the Wild wood Civic club was
favored by two snort talks by Mr..
Thrasher, farm demonstrators, of Cape
May County, and Mr.. Stackhouse,
who is connected with the vocational
school at Cape May Court House.
Mr.. Thrasher's theme was the plant
ing and care Of shade trees suitable for
Five Mile Beach. AS our soil is poor
and the high winds hard on growing
trees, varieties must be selected that
will thrive under local conditions.
Some that may be grown are poplars,
oriental planes, pin oak, locust, etc.
Planting is very important, as much
good stock is lost through careless or
improper planting. MI. Thrasher
favored spring rather than fail plant
Ing, as nature then gives impulse to all
growing things. A hole should be dug
large enough to admit of the roots be-
ing spread out. When the soil Is poor,
some fertile soil should be put in, TO in
sure the tree getting a good start. At
ter the hole Is filled in the soil should
be well packed about the trunk of the
tree, so that the tree will not work
loose. Care should be given the tree
after it has started gro wing. A light
or yeIlo wish color of the foliage will
usually indicate that the tree is not
getting enough nourishment and this
lack IA be remedied by using we'll
rotted manure, o r il this 1t moi obtain
able an artificial fertilizer. One impor-
tant point not generally recognized
aud brought out by Mr.. Thrasher, was
that as the roots of most trees branch
out beneath the soil about as far as the
limbs branch out in the air, the %fertili-
ger should be spread out in a proper
Tomato radius or the tips of the roots or
feeders will not get the benefit. Prun-
ing, though beneficial, is best let alone
If not thoroughly understood. PrUn-
ing during the growing season will
check growth, pruning during the dor
mant season will promote growth later.
Many trees showing wounds can be
saved by cutting out the decayed tissue,
spraying the wound with a good fungi
eide and filling the wound with cement,
being careful to make the cement come
quite up to the healthy tissue, so that
no moisture can run into the wound
again.
MR.. s~TACKHoUsE sPoKEoN VOCATION
AL TRAINING
There is no better way of helping a
community than by helping its young
people. The vocational school Is doing
its part by helping some of the boys
and girls of the county to learn various
trades aud farming. AS the county is
an agricultural one and capable of far
greater development along agricultural
lines than it sho VS. at present 1t is for
the good of the county that such of its
young people who show an interest in
farming should be encouraged and be
taught the best methods now obtain
able. This Is done in a natural way in
the only real way by doing. The boys
have gardens, prepare them, plant
them and care for them, are taken out
to see some of the problems such as
drainage that are being solved in a
practical way on farms OF the neighbor-
hood. They are taught to know soils,
what crops are adapted to certain soils,
crop rotation, something about fruit
raising, pruning, etc. In short they
are given a practical training with the
helps of modern science applied. One
of the most valuable features of the
training is the correlation of subjects.
For instance questions are given the
boys. The answer to these usually
take the form of a composition, though
the boy is blissfully unaware Of this.
This is not only read by the teacher
with a view to the correctness of the
answers, but errors in spelling, punctu-
alton and grammar are corrected. Bet
ter ways Of expression are given, good
points are commended and poor de-
plored. As problems are often given
involving measurements and figuring,
the boy must apply the arithmetic he
has learned. or If as may be the case, he
has not learned it, will see as be-
fore why he needs it and will learn it,
because though perhaps not interested
10 arithmetic. he is in farming and sees
where he needs 1t in his farming and
other practical work. Thus, connected
with the farm work is practice in COM
position, spelling, penmanship and
arithmetic. Last but not least as the
work progresses, business methods OF
farm management are taught and this
of course involves to some extent book
keeping. For those who prefer a trade,
prxoticaI work with sOma of the mOsi