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Show IE d i t o r i a 1 IS THE SOIL GIVING OUT? American soil is losing its "fertility, according to James J. Hill. The great railroad magnate ought to know, for he has made a careful study of the subject. The yield in wheat, for instance, has fallen off heavily, says Mr. Hill. While Minnesota soil yielded 13.12 bushels to the acre on the average during the first five years of the past decade, during the last five the average was 12.18. In New York the figures are 18.4 and 17.4, while in Kansas there has been a drop from 15.14 bushels to 13.18. Similar findings arc made in the other states. Mr. Hill makes his point clear by citing the average yield in Denmark 60.19 bushels, which he says is due to the scientific cultivation culti-vation and enrichment of the soil. Although the land has been tilled for centuries, it has five times the yield of the practically virgin soil of America, simply because the Danish farmer looks after the soil instead in-stead of leaving it to chance and the elements to sec that it, docs H not run down. H The intelligent among American farmers are learning and the I less intelligent will learn, that the prodigal exhaustion of large holdings H of soil is not the most profitable method of agriculture; the intensive II cultivation of small farms, scientifically cared for and periodically fer-H fer-H ilizcd, is what American farmers must come to if they want to get I the most the soil has to give and want to keep the soil giving it. H H ABOUT SOLDIERS. H Considerable comment has been made recently regarding a rule MJ prevailing in various resorts in and about this city refusing admit- Ul tancc to United States soldiers in uniform. H A specific instance of the uniformed soldier being barred from III the floor of a public dance hall has brought the subject to public noil no-il tice. There can be no question but that such a rule is highly incon- II sistcnt in a country that boasts of liberty, freedom and equal rights U for all men. In this age one of the mainstays of support of any H modern government is its military department and right here in our H own nation there has been much debate, discussion and argument in M official circles about increasing the size of our army and navy. H Time was when we boasted about our ability as a nation to dell de-ll fend ourselves ; we loved to tell how much more vigorously, zealously 11 and patriotically all our soldiers would fight for their country than IE would the soldiers of other nations, because in this land of ours the sol-H sol-H dicr had a deep sense of patriotism and loyalty for the free institutions H and laws of the land that make all men equal. Yet in times of peace we II find that there is a certain amount of mockery, and emptiness in those IV high sounding phrases, regarding freedom and ccmal rights when the II men who are ready to protect our interests and are engaged in the II honorable vocation of being ever ready to fight for their country, are II excluded from public resorts, for no other reason than that the' arc ll wearing the uniform of their country's army. II No one is foolish enough to suppose that it is because of any II scruples that a saloon keeper or resort manager may have about ac- Hj cepting the money of a soldier, nor is it because they think his moral I tone would lower the prevailing standard of the place of business. B The reason is that there arc some shallow minded, brainless fellows Hi I who are enjoying all the protection and all the privileges of citizen- I ship, in this republic, who have gotten the idea from some source that H a soldier in his uniform is an inferior being and that if he is allowed I to mingle with people indiscriminately in public places that it will rc-H rc-H fleet against the standard of this brainless fellow's class in the com-H com-H munity. The fact is that any man who feels that he is too good, too H great and too perfect to be seen in a public place with a man whose H - only offense is that he wears the uniform of a soldier in the United H States army, is unworthy of enjoying the rights and privileges granted HI . by the constitution and laws of this country. If this pernicious idea H and vicious notion should spread and become general it docs not rc-1,1 rc-1,1 quire much strain of the imagination to foresee that by thus ostracis-I ostracis-I ing and making social outcasts of our country's defenders our methods II of defense will be sadly demoralized. |