The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1923-10-05
CHAPTER I-Continued.

i knobs, smaller than pinheads.
Ever hear of the use of nitrate
, to enrich the soil?"
"Ain't that the stuff the old mai
used on the lawn last springT
YES" said Jim, your father use'
some on his lawn. We don't put 1t OF
our fields in Iowa-not yet; but If 4
weren't for those white specks on tn,
clover-roots, we should be obliged t.
do so-as they do back east"
"How do them white specks keer
us from needin' nitratesT
Its long story" said Jim. "You
see, before there were any plants big
enough to be visible-if there had
been any one to see them-the world
was full of little plants so small that
there may be billions of them in one
of these little white specks. They
knew how to take the nitrates from
the air"
"AirI" calculated Newton. "Nitrates
In the air You're crazyp
NO" said jim There are tons Of
nitrogen In the air that press down on
your head-but the big plants can't
get IL through their leaves, or their
roots. They never had to learn, be-
cause the little plants-bacteria-l
Gated on those roots and tapped them
for the sap they needed-began to get
their board and lodgings off the big
plants. And in payment for their hotel
bills, the little plants took nitrogen
M Of hn afr 20 hot coI, a
their hosts"
what dye mean by 'hosts'?"
Their hotel-keepers-the big plants.
And now the plants that have the
hotel roots for the bacteria furnish
nitrogen not only for themselves, but
for the crops that follow. Corn can't
get nitrogen out Of the air; but
clover can-and that's why we ought
to pillow down clover before crop Of
corn"
"Gee" said Newt. IF you could get
to teach our school, I'd go again."
ut would interfere with your pool
playing"
what business is that o. yours?"
Intercepted Newt defiantly.
well, get busy with that shovel"
suggested Jim, who had been working
steadily, driving out upon the fill oc !
occasionally to unload. On his return
from dumping the next load, Newton |
seeued, In a superior way, quite |
amiably disposed toward his worlSfel- |
low-rather the habitual thing In the |
neighborhood.
"IH work my old man to vote for
you for teacher" said he.
Those school directors" replied |
Jim, "have become so bullheaded that
they'll never vote for any one except |
the applicants they've been voting for"
"The old man says he will have
Prue Foster again, or he'll give the
school darned long vacation, unless
Peterson and Bonner join on some one
else. That would beat Prue, of
"And Con Bonner won't vote for
any one but Maggie Gilmartin," added
Jim.
And" supplied Newton, "Haakon
Peterson says he'll stick to Herman
Paulson until the Hot Springs freeze
over"
And there you are" said Jim. you
ell your father for me that I think
he's mere mule-and that the whole
district thinks the same"
"All right" said Newt. "Tll tell him
hat while I'm working him to vote
or you"
Jim smiled grimly. He had re-
nained a peasant because the Amer
can rural teacher is placed econom-
cally lower than the peasant. He l
ave Newton's chatter no considera- I
ion. But when, in the afternoon, he [
Etched his team with others to the q
ig road grader, and the gang became /
within talking distance, \
e found that the project Of heckling ;
nd chatting him about his eminent fit a
ess for a scholastic position was to v
e the real entertainment of the oc- I
aston. c
"Jim's the candidate to bust the v
said Columbus Brown, with
wink. "Just like Garfield in that II
epublican convention he was NOM 6
lated in-eh, CONF"
Con" was Cornelius Bonner, an b
1shman, one Of the deadlocked school a
oard, and the captain Of the road | CT
raider. He winked back at the path A
aster. cl
"Jim's the gray-eyed man O. des- d.
n.y." he replied, IF he gets two a.
ties In that board" in
You'd vote for me, wouldn't you. fe
Dn?" asked Jim. Dc
"I'll try anything vance," replied sv
onner.
"Try voting with Ezra Bronson once, gr
r Prue Foster" suggested Jim. of
hes done good work here" tn
Opinions differ" said Bonner, IAN be
hen you try anything just for III
ince, 1t shouldn't be an irrevocable Oh