davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-01-15
SOLDIER ORGANIZES A CLUB

ricultural club has been so complete that the local community plans to make. the club a permanent thing of interest 10 all the people, and through the club to stand ardize the hogs. poultry, corn and other products of the community. Co-opera- tive marketing will be attempted with other activities begun which usually are associated with valuable county-agent work of the first water.
 The community fair was held at the oak Grove school and was the first fair or it's kind ever held in Marion county There were exhibits from the farmers and club members of corn and pigs, ana from their wives and daughters quanti- ties of preserves and canned goods: lne Oak Grove school is a one-room buiid- ing with poor equipment. For years the community has planned to improve the building. but has deferred such Work pe- cause of lack of interest and because IL was thought impossible to raise the xloo which would entitle the district to sup rIementarv state aid However, at the community fair the county superintendent of education took advantage of the splrlt and enthusiasm aroused by the boys agri- cultural club and made strong appear to inc people to improve the school bufid- inp immediately As consequence subscription list was passed ana siW quickly raised This amount entitled the the district to 800 of state money. The sov thus secured will permit of addlng one room to the school building. as Well ds some additional equipment
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-01-15
Curing Pelts for Market

In skinning fur-bearing animal, excepting beaver, the pelt of which is sent to market flat, a slit is made across beneath the tail from heel to heel, the skin being reversed as the body is withdrawn. The tail and base of the ears should be skinned out, ac- cordng to instructions issued by the biological survey of the United States Department of Agriculture.
 Skins are a good source of revenue if properly cured. Fresh skins should be divested of loose fat and muscle and then either tanned at once or cured so as to be kept without de- terioration until convenient time for tanning arrives. They are cured by being stretched free of wrinkles, flesh side exposed, and left in cool shady, airy place. In moist atmosphere or where haste is imperative, the flesh side may be covered with a layer of salt and the skin folded, hair side out, into a compact bundle. which should be opened and refolded two or three times during the first two days to in sure salt action in every part.
 Flat skins may be stretched by pin ming them out on floor or frame, but in any case there should always be a circulation of air on both sides. Pelts of fur animals are dried, flesh side out, after being drawn over piecs of board shapd so as to stretch them uniformly Wolf, fox, lynx and wildcat belts are taken from the boards and turned fur side out before they are fully dried. Other kinds or pelts so to market flesh side out.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-01-15
Electrocution for Insects

Electrocution of insects infesting pack aged cereals will result in great saVihss to tproducers and consumers if expecta- tions are realized, says the bureau oi entomology of the United States depart ment Of agriculture, which has been car rying on work of this nature. A com mercial machine for sterilizing cartons of cereals after the latter have been sealed has been installedNin large ce- real factory. with every promise of prac- tical value.
 Experimental work to determine the usefulness of fumigation in lessening or preventing the enormous waste -aNihs place through insect attack to storsd goods in warehouses. though as yet ex- tending over only short period. has yielded practical results of great value The valae of cold storage temperatures in preventing insect damage has alreacy been proved Detailed data regarding the effect ef low temperatures upon various insects attacking stored products are be- ing secured.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-01-15

an individual to purchase a desirable fafnl in order to get started in the farming busiuess. but also makes it exceedingly difficult for one who purchases land at inc present high prices to carry on thf business at a profit even at present prices for farm products and at the sanN time he will probably find himself m serious financial situation if there IS q general readjustment of prices and 'aha values to A lower level in the near future
 It appears that a great deal Of the re- cent speculative activity has been que to farmers selling their farms witho"t assuriug themselves that they couit op- tain another farm at a reasonable figure as compared with the price received TOT the one sold There have been numerous instances where men sold their land anu shortly thereafter bought the same tarn' or another one no better, at considet- ably higher price, to the benefit or the specu a.or and detriment of the farmer.
 While in some ways it is an advantase to farmers who own their own land 70 have land values increase, at the same time high land values make farming more hazardous and with greater probabilities of losses both through poor crops and through the collapse of Hand boom.
 For the tenant farmer they represent increased handcaps with no compensat- ing advantages
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-01-15
By MRS. JOHN C. MOSES Mississippi City. sIt,s.

"Cockerel No. 11el. The dam of this bird was No. 9S7. She held egg-iaying record of 220 eggs in her bullet year. Sire of this coekerel was son of No. $40, that held a three-year record of 536 eggs"
 bird with a pedigree like the one above is the kind that is commanding a fancy price in poultry circles today. An cestry counts in chickens quite as much as in cattle or horses. and every poultry man or woman who is endeavoring to build up the egg productivity of his flock seeks & bird with a good egg-producing ancestry to head it. Better still, he buys a pen of pedigreed birds and gradually culs out his common stock, For these girds he goes 10 q reliable breeder of the variety that he keeps. It is not profitable for the owner of a large flock who is producing eggs and chickens for market to pedigree. The breeder hand ling fewer birds and making relatively higher profit on each one can afford to expend more time and care on the in- dividuals With him it is not how 1nany," but "how good.
 Pedigreeing chicken means the keep ing of a complete breeding record. This involves a record by a leg band or some other accurate means of Identification of the male and female which are mated; record, with the aid of a trap nest, of each egg laid; an arrangement of the eggs in the incubator so that the baby chicks can be identified and the labelling of the chicks by q leg band after their removal from the incubator
 By means cf leg1banded hens and trap nests the breeder is able to identify every egg produced and to mark each egg. The United States department of agriculture poultry specialists mark the big end of the egg with the number of the hen and then put underneath that the pen num- her The number on the leg band of the hen gives the clue in the record book 10 her pedigre. The pen number gives the information regarding the sire.
 If laying heavily enough eggs from one hen for one sitting may be saftly saved when a hen is used for matching. When
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-01-15
A Pigs Worth

Many of us may think that pig is not naturally clean animal, but prefers to wallow in mud and filth.
 This is not true. Our pig will keep himself clean t we give him clean place to live.
 Insaritary conditions dirty feeding feeding places-may give pigs SCOUTS and cause then, to cough. We must keep our pig in clean quarters.
 Another thing we must watch out for is lice Lice bother pigs. You all know a pig eant get very fat if annoyed by hunl lreds of these little pests.
 If were feeding a pig, l would feed pig. and I think I should object to ice eating If that pig.
 There isn't any need of pigs or people having lice. Keep the pigs clean and sprinkle crude oil or coal oil around
 Wet a gunny sack in crude oil or coal oil. wrap it around a post where the pigs can reach it. Lice breathe through the pores of the skin. The pigs will run against the post and the oil will stop up the pores and kill the lice.
 Whitewashing the pens cleaning out the sleeping places. and furnishing them with fresh, dry bedding, helps to Keep pigs free from lice.
 Pigs need some mineral matter to grow strong bones. Place some soft coal or charcoal. wood ashes, fine salt and ar slacked lime where they can get to them,
 If you want to mix up little copperas and sprinkle this over the other mixture' that is a good plan Put it all in sha,- low trough wlere rain will not get to It. ana keep it always before the pigs.
 At eight months, good pig snoaid weigh about 20a pounds.
 Don't sell your first pig, but Keep IL to start q herd next year. Pigs grow into money fast.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-01-15
May Grow All Our Figs

1t is not improbable that this country
 will soon produce all the figs it needs. This statement is made by the bureau of plant industry in report on the progress
 of Symrna fig culture in California. Much
 of the success of this enterprise has been
 due to the fact that the department has
 been able to maintain 8 caprifg orchard
 at Loomis, from which caprifigs have
 ben distributed free to growers. Before
 this distribution was arranged for many
 small growers of Symrna figs became dis ccuraged and some even dug up their or
 chards. The relationship between these two varieties is that the Symrna fig is fertilized by an insect which lives on the
 caprifg When Smyrna figs and caprlfigs are planted together the caprifgs do not
 bear enough fruits to caprify the crop
 properly until several years after the
 trees begin to bear. For this reason q
 young orchid is dependent on importing
 the rleeded caprifgs during the first few
 years. It was to supply this need tha.
 the fig orchard at Loomis was leased by
 the department. Many new varieties of
 caprifigs have been brought to light, some
 of them very important in commercial
 Smyrna fig culture Many thousands ol
 seeding figs have been distributed to CO., operators in the hg-growng regions or
 California, Arizona ano --exas, and some promiseing new varieties have been origi- hated by a proper selection of male pol,en In the fall of 1917 the fig insect was established in some old seeding caprifis trees in Brunswick, Ga, and since then a number of caprifg trees have been slNl- larly treated The result is that 1t has been possible to caprify and bring into bearing many sterile smyrna fig trees growing in the southeastern states, some of these trees bear very hlgh-grade of fruit. promising for use as fresh fruit ,i, for canning. It is still doubtful whether figs can be grown in the south eastern United States to advantage in a commercial way. but it is matter oi much interest and of some economic slg- nifcance that many old sterile fig trees l in this region are really smyrna seeu- hngs Approximately half of the trees are smyrna figs, and the others are cap | rifig varieties.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-01-15

an incubator is used a tray contains eggs fro mseveral hens. The best method to us etc identify the baby chicks when they hatch is as follows:
 On the eighteenth day the eggs in the incubator are sorted. Eacn hens eggs are put into wire box or bobinet sack. These containers must be large enough to permit of plenty of room for the chicks. Each box or bag is vagged with the hens number and the incubator is closed, rot to be opened until the birds are hatched out of the shells.
 Under ordinary conditions as soon as the chickens get their i:sea legs after matching, they go toward the light in the front of the incubator and drop into the nursery below. Here the temperature is cooler. The pedigreed chicks in the boxes or bags. being unable to leave the tray, may become too warm After the hatch is over if they show signs of panting the door should be fastened open so a little more air may enter.
 As soon as the chicks are dry or after about F hours, they are taken out of the bags and small metal band with q number is wrapped around the leg. This should be folded until it will not slip over the foot Some breeders put one of these baby chicks or pigeon bands on each leg, so if one gets off accidentally there is still one left by which the bird can pc lQeItlIeu. AS lHe UdiiQS are BAe on, the record is made in the book For instance No. would be the first chicSs number and oposite this in the pedigree book would be written the hens and pens number of the egg from which it matched. By this means the accurzse pedigree Of each chick is assured
 How the identification of each bird is kept as it grows older and outgrows the baby chick leg band is another story.
 
 A small flock of hens can be kept with profit bp many city dwellers who have back yard Even as few as eight or ten hens should produce eggs enough, when used economically, for a family of four or five persons throughout the year, ex- cept the moiting period of the fall ant early winter.
 Householders usually desire not only eggs for the table and for cooking, but also an occasional chicken to eat For this reason one of the general-purpose breeds, such as Plymouth Rock, Wyan-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-01-15
Fly C. A. wHITrLE.

Fly C. A. WHITTLE.
 50 far as the growing plant is com eerned, solubility of plant food means ability to dissolve in water Plants can reed only on materials in solution.
 
 When nitrogen reaches the soluble form ana IS not taken up by a growing plant t is in danger of teaching out or wash ing away. When phosphoric acid becomes soluble and the plant does not absorb it, then It reverts. that is, it joints with l'me, iron or aluminium, in which com bination it is insoluble for the time, and does not leach out
 When potash becomes water soluble it may leach downward a bit gut 1t finds a way of staying very close around, be- ing held by occlusion or absorption.
 A serious problem of agriculture IS to conserve soluble nitrogen. It's departure with soil water accounts for it's compara- tive scarcity in the soil. Then. too. the home of nitrogen is the air. It has to be hedged closely to keep it from going off into it again.
 Nitrogen. it Is true, is found in rock tnitrate of scda) or coal. but originally
 it came from the air via the organic route. In the form of nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia, the nitrogen of the air of geologicai eras long past were taken out of the air and into vege- table form. In vegetable remains it got into coal In either vegetable form or the vegetable converted into the animal form, the nitrate of soda deposits were created.
 Since nitrogen got into the soil by vegetable processes. what is it that must take place to render the nitrogen in vege' table form available as plant foods
 Tn the vegetable form nitrogen is not plant food. There must be a breaking down, separation, as ''unscrampIfng, so to speak, whereby the nitrogen will emerge from the combinations in which it is held and become plant food again.
 This breaking down of vegetable mat ter is carried on largely by bacteria. These bacteria are of various kinds. They do various things One group will attack the proteins, split off sulphur or phos- rhoric acid. and ammonia. Then it is thought that another group attack the ammonia and produce nitrites. and stia another group will attack the nitrites and form nitrates which is soluble nj trogen, ready for the plant roots to absorb.
 But not all the nitrogen in the organic matter becomes soIuble and, therefore, available plant food, Some of it has escaped into the air through oxidation in the soil, just the same as ixidizing, or burning, cornstalks will release nitrogen of the stalks into the air. Some of the nitrogen will also be dentrified, by which | is meant that certain kinds of bacteria which turns the nitrogen into gas will operate under favoring conditions. Still another portion of the nitrogen will enter t.xt- t.,..x@ n..1 s,1 | ar unavailable state for years.
 l Is difficulty ever experienced in get ting the organic nitrogens into a soluble form? There is at times. If for any reason bacteria are not active the or ganic nitrogen may remain locked up When soils are acid they depress bacteria
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-01-15
5S..s3 AGE-HERALD'S FARM PAGES sEEiE..E5SSs
SOLUBILITY OF PLANT FOODS

activity. Correct this acidity with lime and there is immediate response on the part of the decomposing and nitrifying macteria. As result of the changes caused by the attack of bacteria of all sort, of course the phosphoric acid pot ashk calciums etc., in the plant are brought into plant food form also.
 
 Reduction of organic matter into solu- ble plant food forms is affected by some crops mere than by others, according to Lyon and Bizzel Tillage is supposed to assist some of the forms of bacteria. Va rious minerals have been found to help, such as lime, phosphorus, magnesia, sulphur, sodium and carbon-dioxide
 The best thing that farmer can do to prevent the loss of nitrogen from the soil when it becomes soluble, is ito have a crop growing thereon that will use it, While most of the organic nitrogen IS made water soluble in the warmer wealth. CT. there is quite good deal Of it made water soluble in the south during the winter. Therefore, winter cover crop must be growing to make use Of II. Moreover the winter cover crop viii keep good deal of plant food of all sorts from being washed away by the eroding rains.
 Phosphoric acid exists for the most part in combination with lime, three parts of lime to one of phosphorus. ln that form it is not water soluble. It IS not plant food and cannot be until it is attacked by acid. Suiphuric acid read ily removes the lime and leaves the phos- phoric acid soluble and ready for the plants Hen@e, the use of Bulphuric acid to manufacture the soubie phos- phoric acid known as acid phosphate Rock phosphate is the tri-calcic or rcn-solilble form All phosphates derived from minerals in the soil are in the same form as the rock phosphate. Acid has not vet unlocked it's phosphorus, Much effort has been made to find a way to render rock phosphate soiuole without the expense of aciduating i1. Some have advocated putting it In the soil and let the bacterial and chemical nrocesses therein do the work. While. in some instances success has been at tained in this way it has been generaly found that the most economical returns were obtained when the rock phosphate had been changed to acid phosphate De- fore applying.
 Hopkins and Whiting concluded that 1 nitrate bacteria were of first importance in rendering phosphorus soluble. due to the nitrous acid generated rom aii- mcnia but Kelly concluded to the con- 1 trarv from his later experiments unoer | field conditions, where no increase I'll soluble phosphates was shown as re re suit of applications of rock phospna..es .s | and dried blood. He concluded tnal !, was possible for the nitrification or am l monium sulphate to cause the soiusion 1 oe small amount of tri-caicium phos- phate
 l Since a good deal of the phosphorus III i the soil is organic in form rather than 1 inorganic or tri-calcic, bacterial stinu- l lation would more likely mean the con version of the organic than the nor sanic into plant food, while the rocA pio9- ] rhate would remain, untouched.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-01-15
It Pays to Advertise

Mention advertising to the oid-time e farmer and he thinks of large display type announcements more or less ex- pensiveiy illustrated. But moder.i farmers have found scores of ways by which they can attract buyers for theT products. The suggestions offered herewith are designed particularly for the farmer who is in position to sup py given grade of goods in suffi- cient quantities to meet a stable de- mand. Butter. eggs, live and dressed poultry. dressed meat, home-rendered lard. sausage. fruit and vegetables are among the commodities the sales of which can be bettered by some form of farm advertising
 There are many means of direct ap- peal to buyers which are made par ticularly profitable by the treme ndous increase in auto travel Today that farm is remote indeed which is not passed many times a week by town or city motorists. the majority of whom are possible customers for the farmer. Consequently he must look weel to the appearance of his place. Perhaps un-
 slightly features of which he is not
 conscious exist but the passer-b by. keen to discern these signs of laxness,
 hesitates to purchase at such a farm.
 X bulletin board near the front gate
 is big asset if carefully prepared.
 In addition to the name of the farm
 or farm owner. it should state in sim
 pie large type the kinds of produce
 for sale and the price. Some farmers
 nave found supplementary notices placed at a proper distance on either side of the main bulletin board. very valuable in calling attention to th' latter,
 There are various ways in whicf he farm name can be displayed tt the owners financial advantage. An' taru,e will he better remembered D! passing stran~ers if it's name appear l in neat lettering over or beside tn main entrance or across the face of barn. The farmer who possesses al auto truck-and he is laEion thes 1 davs-is overlooking splendid adver Using opportunity if he does not nay ! the name of his farm and his spec'a products neatly lettered on the side i his vehicle. Then every trip to tow l Is 8 reminder to hundreds. perhap thousands, of people that the owner l still lon the map One dairy farme l who built up large retail trade no 1 ,nlv carried on his vehicles the nam | If his farm. hut made all his truck snd warons even mora distinctive ~aint;ng them ? dark yellow
 {! pri-tAa letterheads arn real S1s SIT -ha farmer vino is sell'ng 10 eithe wholesale or rs-al trade.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-01-15
High-Priced Farm Land

One of the greatest advantages whicn the American farmer has enjoyed ih years past has been the comparatively low priced land of good quality when was available in considerable quant'tie7' This condition no longer exists. The ln- crease in our population and consequent ly in lhe domestic market for farm crops together with improved transportation i@- cilities. has resulted in normal increase in the value of farm land At the same time there has been an abnormal Increase in land prices due to speculation.
 This has brought about condition which not only makes it more difficult tor