The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-08-29

Join the M. A. M. T. P. C. Live Long; Be We'll. No Dues; Cheap Regalia. Also, Perhaps, Prizes.
 By ARTHUR BRISBANE

better health, greater comfort, ana render public service at the same time?. If so. organize in your neigh borhood a branch of the M. A. NJ. and T. P. c. That means the Middle aged Mowers and Tree Planters club" The motto of the club is Usefulness and health-no non- sense."
 The necessary regalia for complete membership is one brush hook. one scythe, one pick axe. one good shovel.
 Any costume will do, the plainer the better-overalls and straw hat preferred.
 There are no dues. The club is 100 per cent public service.
 You need not travel miles and walt your turn at golf club. Take your scythe and brush hook. go along the public road nearby or if you live in town, motor out to the near est agricultural region. Park your car along the roadside, outside and off private property, cut down weeds and useless, worthless bushes.
 You mow the weeds with your scythe. cut down the bushes with the brush hook. An upward jerk of the hook does the work. If you don't understand scythe go slowly and cautiously. Learn to cut a wide swath, swinging the body from side to side with the hips as a pivot. Keep the butt end of the blade on the ground as you swing it, and the point slightly upward. Beginners are apt to dig the point into the ground and bend a few blades at first. While you are learning, you'd better use the brush hook for now ing also. Change to the scythe when you get the swing. The hook is not ruined as easily as the scythe.
 Cutting down weeds along the road win cause farmers to bless you. Cutting them in summer prevents the seeds ripening and blowing over the farmers land to plague him next year
 If weeds are very thick, poor people will gather them for bedding in their stables and they will also thank you.
 If very public spirited you can buy a few pounds of mixed clover and timothy and scatter it over the ground where you cut down the weeds. The next year you may re-
 
 down real grass leaving It for those that need it. to gather up and take home.
 In the fall, when the weeds have been cut down or gone to seed, start your tree planting career. The agri- tural department nearest to you. state or the national agricultural de- partment. will supply free informa- tion about planting trees and where to buy them.
 Plant preferably fruit trees In the beginning the public would taixe the fruit green and break the branches. But if there we1e, as there ought to be. hundred thou
 
 United States. lined with fruit trees the public would respect the trees and the planters.
 When you have found how a tree should be planted and have selected your trees, put d little bunch of them in your car. or on your back and set forth to your planting work.
 A bunch of fruit or shade trees, carried on your back is at least as respectable as bunch of golf clubs, and not as heavy.
 After you have planted the trees take care of them. And now the an- swer to the American question:: Where do l come in?'
 You come in as follows:
 The best exercise in the world, with one single exception, is moving. The mower. moving slowly does not tire the heart. Swinging back nnd forth. bent over. he exercises the ab- dominal muscles puts life into the intestinal tract which gets sluggish and poisons you as you get old
 Exercising the muscles that stretch across the front Of the body eats away the fat that piles up there, mak- ing old age slow, ridiculous. ugly. 
 By moving you get thirsty, Drink water. with fruit juice, lemon, or- ange or something else mixed, aud drink plenty of it. Avoid drinking tco much pure water. If you have fruit juice, mix a little oatmeal with the water. The drinking of the water and the perspiring will clean your system, make you better man, im- prove your thinking, lengthen your life.
 Exercise that is even better than moving and 10000 times better than golf or mere walking is digging holes in the ground. We were put here to cultivate this earth; to dig in it. beautify it. make it productive Locsening the ground with a pick ax throwing out the earth with shovel strengthens all the muscles and the backbone. Nature rewards us with better health, better blood and a bet ter temper to enjoy them, when we work in her earth.
 Golf is good, but slow, for man who wants to feel that he is using his hours on earth usefully. You could not persuade an intelligent chimpanzee to play golf. He would say, "No, I know where there is a cocoanut. I'll swing from limb to limb and get that. I couldn't enjoy walking over the earth hitting a lit- tie ball that I can't eat when I catch up with it."
 Some human beings can enjoy that. May they continue to enjoy 1t.
 But if you want to live to be old and useful in your old age, good natured. cheerful, organize in yorr neighborhood and be a leader of the