The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1921-09-29
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DISPOSAL OF AUTUMN LEAVES

We are again having a beautiful
autumn, and | am sure that most peo-
pie not only appreciate this, but would
much dislike 10 have our fine fresh
air spoiled if it were at all reyent-
able.
May | suggest hat since it is about
time for people to begin raking leaves
from their lawns and making the usual
smudge fires lasting through the next
three or four weeks, that there are
several ways to avoid this nuisance?
There are many sensitive persons. in
Guiding not only those who have been
gasSed in the recent war, who would
welcome a sweet, clean atmosphere
through the next five or six weeks. in
stead Of the ugly, suffocating smudges
which frequently burn all night and
make life utterly miserable, because
those who start these fires never think
of how long they will burn, or how
much other rubbish they have raked
in with the leaves, making a moist
mass that scarcely ever burns com
pletely. The undersigned has ever
taken occasion to rake such piles apart
after night, and has found anything
from old rags and shoes to rubber
boots and tires s~moldering and pro-
ducing a most ~nauseating gas. If these
leaves must be burned, which is not
the case, then they should be thorough
ly dried and burned at once in small
fires, and loosened up continually with
a rake until a hot blaze entirely con-
sumes them. Such a fire makes very
little smoke and quickly does the work.
But this method is certain not to be
followed carefully, besides there Is al
ways some danger.
Can we not keep up with the times,
or be a little ahead Of the times, by
raking up these leaves and either stor- !
ing them in a box, or piling them up
boards or old carpet so that they may
partly decompose through the winter,
and then be used as a fertilizer in
the gardens next spring? There are
Wy tS" tbS Oh LIN So'So VI
the trees this fall, so hat burning is
not necessary, and there is not half
so much danger of disease from this
source if the leaves are piled, as there
is from the old stumps and dead trees
and branches, and even the sawed
stove-wood found in large piles in this
city. Some folks of course have no
gardens. In that case, these partly de-
cayed leaves could be given or sold
to neighbors. Many of the gardens
last summer suffered seriously on &C
count of the drouth; whereas, if they
had been treated with such leaves, and
in some cases had been plowed more
deeply, they would have withstood the
drouth very nicely, and in addition the
cultivation and spading of these gar
dens would be much easier and more
p%leasurable.
There are numerous little points
about our city life which may reach
much higher and more noticeable per-
lection if we would just think a little
further about the convenience n the
health and satisfaction Of u neigh
bors. But the point mentioned above
Is an outstanding one at this time
of the year. The writer wishes to as
sure not only the editor, but his neigh
bors and the citizens Of the city that
this communication is not written in
a spirit Of adverse criticism, but rather
in the hope hat we may have such a
thorough and pleasant co operation
that freedom from these sickening nui-
sances may be apparent even to Wis
itors, who are becoming more and more
numerous in our city.
Yours for cooperation toward a
healthier, cleaner Brookings.
E. J.. Petry,
Professor of Botany and Pathology,
South Dakota State College.