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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1933-01-05, Page 3TIP 'St . • • • Farm QuOries ' Henry G. Bell, B.S.A., Dept. of Chemistry, O.A.C. Address All Letters to Farm Editor, 73 Adelaide St. West, Toronto. All Answers Will Appear in this' Column. If Personal Reply is Desired, Enclose Stamped and Acklressed Envelope. * 1*.11,11,410.1,•11.10•11.0•11.,•••••••••••••••.**•10411 Uncles present. Yarning conditions it is possible, if not generally probable, that practices may be adopted next summer which have large capacity for soil injury. Wheu buildings are va- cated and stand idle for a period of time, rapid deterioration is bound to take place. The case with soil is not exactly parallel. Nature provides that If a field is loft untilled, grass and Weedgrowth quickly cover its surface, generally preventing erosion and add- ing to the orgaeic'inatter of the soil. But the temptation is, in times when certain hoed crops are most profitable, to groeethese crops on larger areas of good Still without giving attention to the Maintenance of organic: matter or humus, It is from this practice that Injury May result to the farm. This is an established fact from long time ob- servation, Organic matter or plant fibre in the soil is absolutely necessary for the retention of eufficient water for plant growth. As soon as organic matter is • removed from the soil, waterleaves it rapidly, especially on light sandy or gravelly soils. Growing 'Of hoed crops gives best opportunity foe a depletion of organic matter. In aa experiment continuing for over thirtyy ears, where corn was grown continuously, the organic matter in the soil Was, depleted two-thirds within that period of time. Where hoed crops were alteraated with grain and hay crops, the loss was reduced to a little more than one-quarter. Where hoed crop, grain, clover and timothy were grown in rotation and backed up by a dressing of about sixteen tons manure per acre once in the rotation, or six times in a period of thirty years, there was practically no loss of organic mat- ter. The physical condition of the eoil was kept in best form and its water -holding capacity was not lower. ed. Rothamsted Experimental Station pointed out some years ago that a soil receiving 14 tons annually for thirty - Eve years holds thirty-two tons more ivater'peie acre in the top nine inches than does the same soil without man - re, Organic matter not only retains pre- eipitation for the growing crops, but it Is very active in catchiug and holding t lent food or plant nutrients which come into solution. Successive crops take from this store of plantfood in the soil varying quantities of nitro- geo, phosphoric acidand potash, but it the organic matter of the soil is low- ered, not only does this less of plant Teed. on the part of the, crops wearing dowel the soil occur, but nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash and lime go out in soil drainage in increasing amounts. Cornell Agricultural Experi- ment Station and Rothamsted Experi- mental Station, both have established this point from studies of soil in large tanks. On certain of, the- tanks the surface soil was kept bare of crops throughout the growing season. On other similar tanks and with the same soils a rotation of Crops was followed. From these tests it is establisted be yond a doubt that there is a large loss, especially of nitrogen, potash and lime, from bare soil. This itforma- tion points to the beneficial' 'practice of keeping the soil area cropped so as to prevent such loss, Organic matter 'itself has been proven to, have a holding capacity for important nutrients of growing crops. In its decay in the soil it has the power to incorporate ammonia, pot- ash, phosphoric acid and Calcium or lime through the formation of various organic substances containing these constituents. If the plant fibre or or- ganic matter of the soil is won, out or used up, these substances are lost in drainage waters. In the maintenance of organic mat- ter there is another point that should be kept in mind and that is the injury to succeeding crops that may be done by an inpudicious heavy application of straw or very strawy manure. The decay of straw is dependent very largely on the work of microrganisms. These organisms in their growth use considerable quantities of nitrogen. It is possible, then, that too heavy an ap- plication of strawy manure incorpor- ated into a soil, especially in spring, may result in nitrogen starvation of succeeding crops. If this strawy man- ure were applied in the fall and had all winter to decay, such a wasteful lock- ing up of nitrogen would be avoided. In fact, organic matter applied in this way actually, builds up the nitrogen supply within'the son. In the process of decay nitrogen from the air is in- corporated in the soil. Where straw is to be applied to the soil for fall wheat, frequently good.eesults Are ob- tained from applying it on clover sod or on stubble where sweet clover has been grown in the grain. The decay of the legume crop meets the immedi- ate needs of nitrogen of the organisms of decayeoperating on the strawy man- ure and together they add to the nitro- gen conteut of the soil. The physical effect of organic mat- ter is considerable. For light gravelly loam or sandy soils organic matter is the one thing that gives them sub- stance or water -holding capacity. On heavy clay soils the 'incorporation of organic matter greatly assists the cir- culation of air throughout the soil.. Plant fibre in the soil can be built up by manuring, by plowing in crop residues such aa „stubble, leaves, vines Of potatoes and other waste parts •of any crop. A crop of clover or other leg-ume not only adds organic matter in the volume of roots it produde.s and the abundant top growth, but it adds nitrogen to a soil by virtue of the bac- teria that grow upon its roots. Non - leguminous crops such as buckwheat, rye, etc., add plant fibre but no more nitrogen than they take out of the soil. Whatever the condition of farming business,' attention should be given to keeping the farm machine—the soil— in best possible condition by the main- tenance of its organic matter. Women's Flight Exploits Alarm French Writres Paris, — Amy Johnson Mollison's, recent record-smashiug flights be- tween London and Cape Town have brought only grudging praise .from Frenchmen, who are concerned over the possibility of French women be- coming infected with the virus of feminine athletic fever. 3. H. Rosney, member of the Gon- court Academy, feels that such. per- formances as those of Mrs. Mollison and Amelia, Earhart Putnam would endanger a Feenth woman's femin- ine charm. "Masculinisation of the woman," he writes in a current periodical, "is agatast the dictates of nature and of organized society." Henri Falk, noted French writer, likewise "views with alarm" but is inclined to adopt a more humorolus tone in his comment. He is mainly concerned wiht the decreasing pres- tige of husbands under the "new aro- Man" system, He envisages the modern woman remarking: "Leon, I love you and will marry you, but you mast realize that 1 am passionate parachute jumper. You Must let me jump whenever I want. Otherwise, nothing doing." The Teacher's Task • By Lady Astor I ani one of the few people who really like teachers. I look upon them as members of a consecrated profession, If you teachers don't feel that way, don't go' into the pro- fession of teaching children. We are passing through one of the most interesting periods in the his- tory of the world. People do not real- ize how the world is chtinglag. It is up to the teachers teetrain mankind, to develop the mind from the com- petitive one of today to a contempla- tive one. - I have watched communism grow and I don't believe for one minute that it will last on a materialistic basis. I have studied capitalism and unless the capitalistic system of so- ciety emerges to something better than it is at present it will not con- tinue to exist. It Is necessary to In- troduce spirit, a spiritual something, into our competitive minds in order to remain: Sunday School i Lesson January 8, Lesson II—Jesus Begins His Work—Mark 1; 12-20, Golden Text—The time ;s fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye, and believe the gespel.—Mark 1; 16, ANALYSIS "TEMPTCD LU AS WE ARS," Mari; 11 12, 13, II. THE COSTLY WAY, Mark 1 14, 15. III. A DIG= JOB, Mark 1; 16-20, INTRODUCTION--Maik is the Gospel of the :mighty deeds of •Iequs. Its theme is reflected in its vivid direct, forceful style; "Steaightwayi"s one of Mark's characteristic words. It means immediately, forthwith, at once, tout do saite. Jesus, hiNthe face Of increasing difficult and dangerous situations, overcomes every adversary. I. "TEMPTED 'LIKE 'AS WE Am," Mark • 1: 12e 13. • • After that tremenuotta experience at Jordan -side, an intense and over- mastering impulse compelled Jesus to seek solitude. That impulse was so strong as to be explained only by that new, dominating divine personality which had now taken possession of him. Note Mark's vivid way of put- ting it, "immediately the spirit driv- eth him," v. 12. Jesus, sure now that he was his Father's chosen One ("beloved," in v- 11, Means "chosen") f or the great task, must face the various methods presenting themselves for the accom- plishing of that task. What road must he mark out for himself? "The wild- erness" (v. 12) means the desolate and lonely country that rises from the deep valley of the Jordan. What happened there Jesus himself must have told. Again, Mark's account is very brief. Ile evidently takes for granted that iris readers are 1 =iliac wi'71 it. He does not mention the fat, 1 t he seems to assume it in his refee- eace to the ministering angels. For the forty days' fast, compare the experi- ence of Moses (Exod. 34: 28) and Elijah 1 Kings 19: 8. The "wild beasts" may well be taken, literally. That territory was infested with thein. Probably also the expression i symbolic ef the "poweri . of dark- ness" which sought to persuade, Jesus that the world's way of doing things was better. "Gratify your God-given desire to help the poor by feeding them, improving their earthly lot, re- Teving their crushing load of pov- erty," Matt. 4: 3. "Take Rome's way of 'militarism and conquest. You have the power, if only you will use. it. Your people are waiting for o leader liks you," Matt. 4: 8, 9. -€,`No?,, Well, then, God must love you for your brave loyalty. He will surely take care of you. In every place' Of danger you will walk unscathed. Even a fall Brom the pineacre of this temple will leave you. ur_hurt . . . and how it would impress and 'convince the peoa pie!" Matt 4: 6. That whole spiritual struggle. Mark passes over with his brief but gripping sentenc., "he was with the wild beasts." - From all those alluring prospects Jesus turned. No easy road to popa- larity, no shortcut to power, no expec- tations for an easy road—but the un- popular, disappointing, dangerous way marked itself out for him. The deci- sion was made, with shining face and 1 -cart aflame with God (v. 13) he re- turned to try to make that same God known to men. II. THE COSTLY WAY, Mark 1: 14, 15. The "costly way" so bravely resolv- ed upon in the wilderness soon thrust itself upon our Lord. The first news that greeted him upon his return was that John was in prison. Any one who knew Herod would know that John's earthly career was about end- e‘.I. Jesus loved John. It was John's Isreaching that had called Jesus out iron Nazareth. The people would certainly rally around any leader who would undertake to liberate him. Love, lcyalty, chivalry, patriotism, religion a , Saallled to call for action. 13d Mark briefly records, "Jesus came into Galilee. preachi:ig." It looked as if he Lad run away. Had Jesus struck a blow for Joan he would have been hailed as the long- expectea, nationalistic, militaristic Meseiah. It would have spelled dis- aster to his real Messiahship. John's nhysical safety must then be sacrificed for the sake of that spiritual kingdom in which John will surely have his place. On to Galilee, therefore, Jesus went. It takes a brave heart and a great love to do the things that appears selfish and cowardly. It was part of the costly way that our Lord had chosen: At :first Jesus' message was prac- tically identical with that of John, vs. 14, 15. It called for a spiritual preparation for a spiritarl kingdom. To. the restive, impetuous Galileans, both the message and its method nmst have. been disappointing. But Jesu,s, thrilled with the conecimericss of Lis oneness Father, knew tha he represeniad a kingdoni greater even than genie. III. A aiGOER 305, 141ark 1: 16-20. An example of that persinal ewe scam oecerred. Walking by the sea, Jesus saw stun people fishing, With great dramatic power Mark te. s the story, Did these men know Jer before? We cannot say. Even if they did, he wax only an itinerant preacher, with o stated income; they were Eshermen. Th.-, Ash business was flourishing. Yet ....;:ark r,,cords, "and straightway" they forsook their nets and followed hlin, vs. 18, 20. Of ti e first pair one at least was marrieu, It is not uncommon in the East today for a man to leave his wife to :Jlow a "holy-rnau." To leave one's father was another matter, but Zebedee was evidently well-establish- ed. He could exnploy hired labor, v. 20. Think of the compelling power of the personality which took these men from a suron,job to undertake what to business eorarnon-sense must have ap- peared a great uncefteinty. It was the auth4rity of a Ciod-filled life. "The,,atithority of Jesus is not arbie trarY, and yet it is the incst imperial theeaahrld has ever known. Like the ailthority of he physician in whim confidence is felt and whose commands are promptly obeyed because it is be- lieved that he knows best; like the atahority of the sea -captain in the tinie of storm, -whose commands are implipitly followed because one has ;fidence that in this course alone is ty, such is the autho;ty of Je- st Of.the work facing them they knew lito4e-except that the knowledge of ea:* which they now possessed was td`oa,aput to greater use, v. 17. Gifts of.4rsonality, knowledge, skill, when crated to God's purposes, find gr ter scope for their use than they 16 Ed ever before. Winter Twilight • a ttle while ago and you might see - ebony trees against the saffron Tat sky through flame to rose; but now a calm Or solemn blue above, a stilly time, With pines that peer and listen, while the snow Gleamsghostlyand the brittle sound nt Tinkles along the dumbnesa, strange- ly loud, • • Since all the air is tranced. Housed - in; the folk Clese-gather at the ing,le, ..and the 4 hour Of fireisinde cheer and homely talk of d s welcomed, as the big, vague world , beyond Mtestenriyg.htevard, merges into rays- -From "The Collected Poems of (New York. Bobhs Richard Burton," Merrill.) t Smart School Model New Oyster Incubators Give Sed Better Chance ... Washington. — The infant oyster now has a better chance to grow up a useful shellfish, thanks to two new "oyster incubators" developed by the United States Fisheries Biological Station at Beaufort, N.O. The "incubators" consist of paper tubes and mats coated with cement and placed o11 the sea bottom. Thou- sands of the microscopic oyster larvae that otherwise would be Icst can at- tach themselves to these man-made Lens of refuge and grow into seed eystees, says Dr. H. F. Prytherch of the station, in a report to the Oyster Crowers' and Dealers' Association. In order to grow successfully young oysters need something to which they can attach themselves. Oyster shells have been used for this purpose, but use of the cement -coated paper de- vices is expected to enable, large quantities of shells to beenarketed for O lime and poultry .feed in crushed form. New Year , Scitst will thou let it it laaa Slip useless away? ere hath been dawning Another blue day; : 1,.,, Out of eternity 0,CThis new day is born; Into Aernity At night will return, Bold it a.foretime o Neye ever did; So soon it for ever ,From all eyes is hid, .. P —Thomas Carlyle. a Casey's wife had been. presented with twins, and Casey was asked if they didn't make an awful row at 1112.4ello" he said, "not so bad. Ton see, one howls...such a lot that you can't hear the other." • • len By HELEN WILLIAMS, Illustrated Dressmaking 'Lesson Fur- nished With Every Pattern Black rough crept silk, so extreme- ly popular this season, snade this graceful model. The softly draped scarf collar is white crepe. The sleeves puffed above the elbow and fitting the arms snugly below, are .a well -liked feature. And note the length -giving line of the gored skirt. It's simplicity itself to fashion it. Style No. 3197 is designed for sizes 14, 16, 18, 20 years, 36 and 38 inches bust. Size 16 requires 33/2 yards 39 -inch with 3/2 yard 39 -inch contrasting. Another.youthful scheme is to carry it out in tomato red rough crepe silk. HOW TO ORDER PATTERNS. Write your name and address plain- ly, giving number and size of such patterns as you want. Enclose 15e in stamps or setsia Leek preferred; wap it carefully) for each numbers, and address your order to Wilson Pattern Serviee, 73 West Adelaide St, Toronto. Historic Paris Buildings Get Vigorous Scrubbing Paris.—The French capital and much of France have been undergoing a vigorous cleaning. Inside and out, many of France's historic buildings and monuments have undergone reno- vation. The Ministry of Public Works esti- mates that these projects in the last six months have provided employment for 15,000 men, who would have other- wise been idle, and that the cost of removing historic grime from ancient buildings is in excess of $400,000. Celebrated structures in Paris which are exposing new facades to residents include the, Opera, Tour St. jacques, the Pantheon dome, the Caroussel Arch, parts of the Louvre and the Patois Royal. While this unprecedented activity is or benefit to thousands of workers, it is to one group of Frenchmen a sad and barbaric business. Oysters From Japan On the British Columbia coast there are 'three species of oysters -.-native, imported Eastern and imported Jap- anese. As a result of investigations carried on by the Biological Board of Canada in those waters in the last few years, it has been found that the Japanese shell -fish are the hardiest of elk While the native and import- ed Eastern products sometimes fail, there seems to be no limit to the quantity and quality of Japanese epodes, which can be successfully matured on the Pacific Coast, The windows in the House of Lords (London) are never opened. erehistoric Plat Pollen Studied Microscopic Shows Percent- age of Different Flora in Any Given Period Them old timerwho insist thest the climate is changing may be right after ail, though the change ca scarcely have been enough in, one lifel time to make a measurable diffor. euce, writes G. Edward PeudraY the N.Y. Herald -Tribune. In the las( few thousand years climates In mi. ous Parts of this continent have cer. tainly undergone important altersi, does and the process is probably a continuous one. Proof of these climatic changes and some idea of what they must have meant to earlier people who inhabited North America are advane,1 ed by Professor Paul Bigelow Sears,, of the 'University of Oklahoma, the "Americau Anthropologist." Ie this report on his recent work, Dr, Sears adds another to the various tee curate methods of measuring the Simi which has elapsed since the last glad- , 1 etion. The new method is one thait not only gives a measure of the years but also reveals what the climate want in any given period by revealing thIll nature and abundance of the vegeta, tion growing at that time. Study Thin Sections of Peat. The method is based upon. the - slow accumulation of vegetable matter in the form of peat, which containd layer after layer of fossilized pollen. Since the pollen of every kind of plant is distinctive in shape and other characteristics, it is possible to count the percentage of various plants rep- resented in each stratum by examin- ing the material with a microscope. Professor Sears reports that he froze pieces of peat from various bogs in the Middle West and then cut there, vertically into thin sections. After, such treatment alternating layers 4i cellular and gelatinous materials are revealed, at least in some peats. Thest4: layers are considered by Dr. Sears tOl represent seasonal accumulations, one/ being laid down in summer and the! other in winter; each pair thus repress, senting one year. The combined flicks; ness of each pair averaged one 25th, of one inch in the samples examined.1 This means that the peat accumulated( at about the rate of three cent -arid per foot. Dr. Sears reports that this method of reading the climatic history of the, past has now been applied to bogs* Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Virginia, Arkawi sas and Southeastern Canada. Thesst reveal that there have been at least Eve major climatic changes on Oahe continent in the last 10,000 years. It was to be expected, of course; there should have been -a gradual ante elioration of climate from glacial dayri to the present—a sort of slow war* ing and drying. Presuming that thlea was the case, archaelogosists studying the relics of prehistoric men in Amer.; ica have been puzzled by the overlap- ping cultures discovered in varietal parts of the continent, especially the Ohio Valley, where there are traces of at least four distinct peoples, eac4 with a different type of culture, an he period of occupation of each sharp, ly separated in point of time from the other. The evidence of the pollen and dui bog laminae, however, indicates that there has been no such simple amelli oration of climate, but rather a aerie* of distinct changes from wet to dsl and back to wet, and from cold tac warm. In the first period, around 10,' 000 to 8,000 years ago, the climate was cold and wet, probably a holg4, over from post -glacial conditions. as those days the Ohio Valley and mo of Indiana were covered by forest spruce, pine and fir, and if there well any primitive Americans living in thti region they probably engaged in hunt ing exclusively. ..._..a.._____. KEEPING HIS SECRET. An Irishman on his way to the raceli was persuaded by three other meal pants of the railway carriage to join iiii a game of solo. , For half an hour he lost steadily and then, to his astonishment, h noticed one of the players, a toughtpt looking specimen who boasted a shodq over one eye, produce an ace f moat nowhere. dee , "Look here," he said, "there's ol member of the party cheating-. 1 'WW1 to eause any animosity, so c won't mention who it is, but if does it again, I'll bung his other 4. MUTT AND JEFF—. By BUD FISHER And Then Mutt Crowned Hirn With the Skillet JUST '88cAJS6 THIS Is MY DAY TO coote T nininiaix--you toot.ma -altakA 04 SAUSAGE.• Kourt.t. 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