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Show BEAVER PRESS V 1 Immense Task of Soil Rebuilding Faces Managers of Nation's Six Million Farms if i if "" j' Robert Ripley's exploiter reports that Eipley is the researcher on it . . . That Herr Goering's first name, Herman, came from a Jewish doctor, Herman Eppsteln, of Tyrol, Austria . . . Goering's father was Governor of German East Africa. A widower, who couldn't take along his Infant son so he boarded him with The physician Dr. Eppstein . . raised the boy sent him through school in Bavaria and paid the tuition until he graduated as a lieutenant . . . Dr. Eppsteln passed on in 1935 . . . No. 2 Nazi Goering attended the funeral . . . When he entered the synagogue, he paused at the door and asked if he should wear or remove his hat . . . Ripley adds: "In case you didn't know, the name Winchell in German means divining rod, the instrument that de- tects truth." the In the foyer of the Barberry Room the other night Raymond Paige took ... A corporal noticthis snapshot ing a colonel losing one of his eagles meekly offered to pin it back . . . "Thanks," grumped the colonel, "the damb things catch on everything." "Gee, sir," was the reply, "I wish I had your troublesl" Bigtown Murals: At the other Monday night phorus and potassium, Land Being Mined by about 8:30 (during a heavy rainstorm) a packed Amsterdam Avenue trolley stopped at 128th Street. The conductor got out went to a bar and grill ordered two sandwiches and a beer while the passengers waited 20 minutes . . . The newsreel theater in the Grand Central Station. It features a clock to the right of the screen . . . The clock is set two minutes fast so spectators won't miss trains . . . CommoThe clock at the near-bdore Hotel bar is set three minutes ahead. Indicating that you can get away from a newsreel sixty seconds sooner than you can part from a drink. Excessive Cropping Will Need Fertilizer American farmers face the most gigantic soil rebuilding job in all history when World War II is fought to a success- ful conclusion. That is the considered opinion of farm economists, soil conservation experts and leading agronomists of state agricultural colleges throughout the country. What this Job will cost, no one knows yet, but it will be consider ably above the 250 to 300 million dol lar expenditure farmers have been making for fertilizer in recent years. Virtually all of the nation's 6,000,000 farms will need serious attention. Two major reasons are cited by soil experts for this situation: I Wartime crop goals necessary to produce foodstuffs, meat, dairy products, oil and fiber crops for victory, are eating up the soil's resources of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash much faster than they can be replaced today. Steps to correct this must be taken immediately the war crisis is over. 2 The e job of soil conservation must be stepped up. e operations, can be postponed no longer. The "fifth column" attacks of erosion are becoming more menacingly serious. Wasteful farming practices over a century and a half have squandered precious topsoil to a dangerous degree. Farmers recognize that the present wartime drain on their soils' fertility level is a necessary contri bution to victory. But they should bear in mind the imperative fact that wealth borrowed from the soil to help win this war, must be repaid later on. Dr. George D. Scarseth, head of the agronomy department of Purdue university, summed things up when ! in various compounds, have been drawn out of the soil by the plants that grew on it. The bigger and better the crop, the more vital minerals extracted. Ordinarilv mnrh nf thpsp elements is replaced by rotation, fallowing, or application of fertilizers, but during these war years when every field must be made to yield to the limit, there is an annual loss. Also, the scarcity of fertilizers, and shortage of help and machinery have conspired to impoverish the farmer's land. There is still another important factor in this present problem. That is the matter of mill lUBjM)MMIIt e rs . . E ... 1 soy-bean- s, self-estee- Lr'r?i The President, they on a three-legge- d stool?" Once William Allen White was attending a Democratic national convention A Senator, smiling, announced: "In looking over the delegates I fail to recognize any clergymen, and so I shall call upon my good friend. William Allen White, to open the convention with a ... prayer." Mr. White arose. Stabbing the Senator with a glare, he sarcasmed: "You will hove to excuse me. I'm a little out of my element, and the fact is, I prefer the Lord does not know I am here! r follows improved rotation practices. ear-arresti- $64 Question: imwml An aerial view of a large Georgia farm on which several soil conser- n say, was asked (by a reporter) to name the member of the United Nations he considered the most important ally. "Is it Great Britain, China or Russia?" 'Til ask you one," FDR said. "Which is the most important leg ll vation methods are used. In the upper part of the picture appears a large meadow strip, which serves as a safe water disposal area for surface runoff from adjoining fields. The curved bands are contour strip cropping, and terracing. The owner, Dr. A. C. Brown of Royston, also y, . uinimjiiMHBlii Big-scal- ," under-the-belte- 1 long-rang- long-rang- house-orga- Wl" whole story, either, for the job of producing livestock and dairy prod-uc- ti requires heavy amounts of plant food, oo. The plain fact is that every time a crop is harvested and hauled to market, or livestock are shipped to a packer's yards, some of the farm's fertility goes with them. Those essential elements, nitrogen, phos Hilly land often considered prac- tically worthless ran be made to yield good returns by proper strip cropping. C. D. ISlubaugh, Danville, Ohio, is shown weighing the harvest from such a field. He is one of the three million farmers now Included in 693 soli conservation projects. Ammonium Nitrate Will Boost Yield of Hay Or Brings Pasture to Grazing Stage Earlier The use of nitrogen as a means of Increasing vitally needed hay and pasture production to meet wartime feed requirements, was recommended by Dr. D. II. Dodd of the Ohio State university. Summarizing the results of a series of experiments. Dr. Dodd declared that: 1. Sixty pounds of nitrogen, equivalent to 175 pound per acre of ammonium nitrate applied to a good Nil JJ waAg-..-r.nkuiiii- i Behind! t DRkW PEARSON THBlfcfl n Washington, D. C. LATEST ON CIVILIAN GOODS The Truman committee is about to issue a report which will be good news to manufacturers, to say nothing of the housewife who has been reworn-ou- t scrimping along with a and frigerator, no washing machine an electric iron that blows out fuses. The Truman committee will recommend that the War Production board go much further than the army has been willing in restoring production of civilian goods. The committee will not urge anything near unlimited production, but it will point out the following important facts: (1) War contracts are being cancelled at an increasing rate. The war department cancelled 10 billions in contracts as of January 31, bilwhile the navy cancelled 2 lions up to February 5. This means more factories and more men available for civilian production. (2) Tremendous stockpiles of steel and other materials have been ac cumulatedfar more than can be used for the war. Already aluminum plants with a capacity of a pounds a year have been closed because the supply of aluminum is so great. (3) The military was slow in curtailing civilian production. Now it is slow in letting the country get back to civilian production. Therefore, the Truman committee recommends that while we cannot e civilian pro"soon resume duction, we can produce limited quantities of a few score additional items classified as essential." SOME REVEALING FIGURES The impending Truman committee report will reveal that 100 big corporations hold 70 per cent of all the war orders; furthermore, these 100 first companies of the nation had only 30 per cent of the country's business before the war and the Roosevelt administration was supposed to help the little fellow! assist-an- t Norman LIttell, attorney general, will get a boost from the Truman committee for hurrying up government payments to the farmers and others whose land was seized by the army and navy. The committee will recommend that all government purchase of land be handled by Littell. American labor doesn't look so bad when contrasted with British labor. The Truman committee will find, despite the national service act, long operating in England, there were 1,638 English strikes involving a manpower loss of 1,676,000 man-dayTaking into account the larger population of this country, U. S. strikes were only .025 per cent worse than England even without a national service act President Roosevelt didn't know it, but the Truman committee had prepaid some devastating evidence supporting him on one of the most controversial phases of the tax bill renegotiations of war contracts to recapture excess war profits. Nevertheless, all the members of the committee except Mead of New York, Kilgore of West Virginia and Wallgren of Washington voted to over-rid- e his tax bill veto. half-billio- n One-Twelf- th ham-heav- HIIIIIUII V'-c- increased acreage. In order to produce the extra crop quotas, not only do existing acres have to do a bigger crop yielding job but more and more acres have to be tilled. Much of this land represents a lower strata of fertility level and hence it is not able to bear the burden of heavy The defacing of St Patrick's cropping effectively. A glance at Cathedral and other churches by acreage figures tells the story. In some crackpot reminds us of what he said: in the Middle West and 1941 the total harvested acreage of "Farmers de at in the Place Paris happened la Concorde when the Nazis marched elsewhere throughout the nation are principal crops in the United States in . . . Ten German army bands making a sacrifice in the war pro- was 334,130,600. In 1942 it rose to held a concert and 8,000 Frenchmen duction program to an extent not 338,081,000 and in 1943 to 347,498,000 were forced to assemble . . . fully realized by the world. Soils acres. New production goals for 1944 that have had to produce war crops propose the use of some 380 million Through the microphone the assem"Who was doesn't by fertility exhaustion practices will acres. asked, blage not have dividends to pay after the of Land Ruined. speak German?" The whole crowd war, but will require their own kind When we turn to the raised their hands, and a picture was taken . . . Which showed up in of taxation in the form of fertilizers. job of soil conservation that has been "In reality, farmers are in the accumulating since the pioneer setSouth America via the Goebbels business, the same tlers' plows first broke America's manufacturing with machine capthis propaganda tion: "French crowds acclaiming as munitions makers, or steel pro- virgin farm land, we find an even German army in Paris with Nazi ducers. They are turning out essen- more serious situation. salute" . . . Dismiss this incident tial products for our armed forces. Hugh H. Bennett, chief of the U. S. at these worshipping shrines as the They are manufacturing foods, soil conservation service, is authoriJob of those desperately trying to feeds, fibers and oils out of the raw ty for the statement that 50 million materials of the soil the nitrogen, acres of the nation's 600 million tillcause disunity and trouble. phosphorus, potash and lime. able acres have been completely ruall our soils are not ined for agricultural purposes. "Fortunately The Wireless: "The Song of exhausted of their inherited riches. An additional 50 million acres, he so beautiful to read and But exhaustion is on the way even are seriously damaged estimates, see, suffers from the slows on the with our best soils, and we face a and a very large further acreage kilocycles. It comes to the ears as future where these raw materials has suffered a marked decrease in which it never is be- must be to the soils as fertisoil fertility. As a result of the tween covers and on the screen . . . lizers in added greater amounts than in soil conservation service's work and The west coast comics "localed" you the past. Unless we do this, the the efforts of agronomists at state dizzy with their jibes at California's productivity-o- f the soil will sink to unusual weather. What you might a agricultural colleges and experiment dangerous level." stations, significant steps have been call jcomedy, strictly for Concerning the future outlook, he taken in recent years in combating the family . . . One coast announcer said: trend. But the major this got a mouthful of esses, and it came "Our war debt won't be only a task menacing lies ahead. out: "Upton Close on the Noose" matter of taxes and bonds. maturing Six principal factors are responsi. . . The guffaw of the month was Our farmers are asked to mine their ble for the foregoing losses, accorduttered by a Berlin radio expert soils because fertilizer materials are to Mr. Bennett. They are eronamed Von Hammer, who whim- scarce. But on ing must be made crops pered that "the Red Army is using the fat of the soils. This means sion, leaching, the removal of fertiunmannerly military tactics" . . , that a farmer of the future will have lizer elements by harvested crops, livestock and livestock marketing, Fulton Lewis' blast at certain con- the handicap of a more exhausted oxidation of soil organic matter, and was gressional soil and smaller crop yields to pay fire. . . . John B. Kennedy the taxes that will follow this war." also Erosion is the worst offender, reback was aroused into slugging Tremendous Drain. at them. annually 2,500,000 tons of nimoving Just how big a drain on the soil's 900,000 tons of trogen, resources does this extra and 15,000,000 tons of phosphorus fertility potash the Ethel crop production Quotation Marksmanship: impose? foods which make three Smith: She was the light of his life, The answer is plenty! Take one the major plant of crops possible. productions but it turned into an awful glare . . . single crop corn for example. Ambrose Bierce: Woman would be Agronomists estimate that the 1941 more charming if one could fall into corn crop In ten midwestern states her arms without falling into her removed 2,645,404.730 of nihands . . Eleanor Roosevelt: No trogen, phosphorus andpounds from potash feel one can make you Inferior with- the soil. Increasing wartime yields out your consent . . . Mme. Deluzy: boosted this tax to 3,093,123,334 A coquette is a woman without a in 1942 and 3,227,393,770 pounds heart, who makes a fool of a man pounds in 1943. who has no head . . . D. R. HenLarge as this removal was, it repderson: The V for Victory is only resents but a portion of the fertility W . Christopher half the for Work 3 loss from a single region. Add to Morley: There is so much for me it the fertility drain caused by proto say, but your eyes keep interruptJ of wheat, B. Lytton: A stiff man. ducing huge yields ing me potatoes, alfalfa, oats clover, . . . Garry starched with and other and you have some Moore: He sweeps women off their idea of thecrops of fertility depreciation ?2&.." VifcVJl feet a Beau Broomel. resources. But that doesn't tell the y Harvested crops rank r.ext in depleting the soil and are in normal years responsible for taking out an additional 4,600,000 tons of nitrogen, 700,000 tons of phosphorus and 3,200,-00- 0 tons of potash. top-so- il Nearly a third of the fertile of American farms has been lost due to erosion, floods and the damaging effects of overcropping, according to a statement issued by the Middle West Soil Improvement Committee. Six Inches of Topsoil. "A century and a half ago," says the statement, "there was an average of nine inches of topsoil spread over the entire United States. To- - News rtf sod of timothy or other grass by April 1, will on the average produce an extra ton of 6 to 9 protein hay if cut at the proper early hay-typ- stages. e 2. A similar application of nitrogen applied to a good grass pasture sod will bring the herbage to the grazing stage two to three weeks earlier than without the nitrogen. By the time untreated pasture is making sufficient growth to carry its nor day this averages only six inches in depth. "The present war emergency, as well as the future of American agriculture itself chlls for a determined fight against the forces of soil depletion. The effectiveness of the individual farmer's soil management plan in wartime as well as in the peace era to follow, can be aided by the cooperation of agronomists at state agricultural colleges and experiment stations. Through research and experimentation over a long 6pan of years, these experts have developed information concerning fertilizer needs for various crops and soils that is helpful to the farmer who is striving to rebuild his soil's productivity." In combating the destructive effects of erosion, individual farmers and organized agriculture are conn fronted by a stealthy, enemy. Erosion's damage is gradual and in the first stages, barely noticeable. But once it gains headway, winds and rains not only carry away valuable topsoil, but also remove needed fertilizing elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potash. Conservation methods are the surest means of reducing these losses of valuable topsoil and plant nutrients. It has been found that soils having a cover crop suffer only a fraction of the losses from erosion that other farm areas experience. Not only will grasses and legumes provide effective vegetative cover for holding topsoil in place and furnish a balanced ration for farm animals, but they promote nitrogen fixation, improve the soil tilth and help increase crop yields following in the rotation. This is particularly true where adequate fertilization is undertaken. Bonds Will Provide Funds. Fortunately the means for accomplishing this soil replenishment job are in the hands of virtually every American farmer. Dollars invested in war bonds now that farm cash income is at the highest level in history and farm debt at the lowest point in many years, can provide the ready cash to pay for the purchase of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash needed to restore the fertility level of farms later on. "It is not too early to begin planning for this agricultural reconstruction job, any more than it is premature at present to lay plans for future political and economic peace," a statement by the Middle West Soil Improvement Committee concludes. "For it is becoming increasingly clear that the whole structure of future security will rest on the productivity of the soil. While every encouragement will be given to soil rebuilding projects by the federal government and by state agricultural agencies, the major responsibility for getting the Job done will rest on the shoulders of Individual farmers. By earmarking part of present war bond purchases now for peacetime soil rebuilding expenditures, farmers can be ready when the materi-al- s and manpower become readily available in the postwar era." fifth-colum- mal load, the nitrogen-treategrass will have exceeded it by 700 to 1,000 pounds of herbage containing 175 to 250 pounds of protein per acre, figured oh a dry basis. 3. The Inclusion of 20 to 30 pounds of nitrogen with phosphorus or phosphorus and potash in a first treatment for general pasture improvement, may be expected to increase the returns the first year by 50 to 75 per cent instead of 25 per cent, which is a reasonable expectation for the first year for the mineral without nitrogen. d full-scal- hard-hittin- g s. LOUIS BROMFIELD, THE PROPHET Secretary of Agriculture Claude Wickard Is chuckling over a letter he has receivel from the Reader's Digest, signed by William Hard Jr., associate editor. It is the last, pathetic note of a correspondence begun last summer when the Digest published the Louis Bromfield article, "We Aren't Going to Have Inough to Eat." At the time, Wickard wrote to the Digest, refuting Novelist Bromfield, offering to write an article to tell the ether side of the story and saying we would have plenty to eat But the Digest declined to hear the other side. They confided privately to Bromfield that they were embarrassed by reactions to his story, but publicly they stood on his gloomy forecast. He had said: "I would rather not think about next February. By then, most of our people will be living on a diet well below the nutrition level." February has now come and gone. People are eating well despite Bromfield. American farmers have written the refutation. Actually, we have a greater accumulation of stored foodstuffs than at any time in history. Wickard couldn't resist the temptation to rib the Digest, and recently sent to Editor DeWitt Wallace a few figures about the overflowing granary. In reply, he received merely a short note from William Hard Jr., saying, "Mr. Wallace is home, fighting off a cold." MERRY-GO-ROUN- CEach day, White House reporters are given a list of the President's appointments, beginning usually at 10 a. m., with cabinet officers, military and navnl advisers, diplomats, congressmen or other callers. Recently, reporters were startled to note on the calling list: "2:30 p. m Mrs. Roosevelt." Reports from Bolivia Indicate that the new government, which the state department refuses to recognize, Is becuming more and more by PaulMallon Released by Western Newspaper ' TRILLION DOLLARS 'IS A LOT OF MONEY 12 f WASHINGTON. Harold Icket multi-Jo- b administration handJ has sought to soothe all iw doubts about the war ture we are coming into by wr.piece for a magazine saying country is worth 12 trillions of t lars. "We are every one a Crw he says (your share would t j. lie prospective fei; $00,000. debt of 200 to 300 billions of debt-ridf- - (now $145,000,000,090) he consicj to De onset already by weaim. Ickes' article this 5 demonstrates he got his fabulous figure of lion dollars mainly by havin; in the various nsi experts branches of his interior departs compute the amount of coal, if and oil they think is still jji ground. All we have to do to re. V it, he suggests, is to maintain freedom Americans have enjejf Jinan lad. Ickes has clearly miscalciil bond . ! 1 ..2' lit. ,ven ms u vise! wnai is weaiin. lion dollar figure is not so fab apu as his story, his woefully false r I aganda story, that resources riches. 12 i j u WHAT IS WEALTH? What then is wealth? The; worth of ore in the ground ii profit someone can make out by digging it up. Unless it is rf able to dig it, and use it, no will do so. So also with Ged I Motors, and all other factory sources. Their only worth it rf profit someone can make out of J by using them. If taxes are too high for prof operation, if government reguli are too confusing, if no labc available, if wage costs are too J if, for any reason at all, it becc: unprofitable to dig Mr. Ickes' 11 lion dollars out of the ground ores have no value. Good jobs, good pay for won security of livelihood for themst and their families, all depend A maintaining the profit incecs Profits do not alone go to the ; or the owner. They determint V wage rate. They furnish mone; They reserves. and S?ua expansion distributed to stockholders who tA. the products and thereby cres Bible i n larger market. But most important, they fcri the taxes through which this debt must be paid and fmar Taxes are levied on net earr not gross. Without profits, the f ury would not collect a cei taxes. But from general widesr profits, the treasury can collect rf sums from a lower rate of taia The debt must be paid froa sweat of our brows. The can only be paid by profits, pt for all, for the working cian. the manager, for the stockhc Only when all are making c does money pour into the Tre: of the United States. You cannot pay the debt witt in the ground, or with idle factsor even with unprofitable wv ment of both work and capital. Mr. Ickes does not know f wealth is. If he had wanted to out 2ood propaganda to fi country some assurances fortti ture. he would have said W' ministration proposes to create 1 national wealth in the countrj maintaining profits for al stands, his statement is reauj couraging propaganda. CHILD DELINQUENCY 94 AND THE SALOON Evidence is mounting In tht 1. news columns that parental traceable is child delinquency saloon. To me, this liquor phase Ii ferent than any of the othert 1, is onlv an effect, not a cause' trouble. The drinking of alcot a custom to which man r.n te scribed since long before Chn--r dns: the of itv. The handling ness problem through all the has been founded on scorn, popular disgrace such regulatory influences-i- w hibition. lK; Obviously, for the average consumpW a moderate person, ,1 alcoholic beverages never harmful by a cnai; of the people in this world- -1 lieve by all medical men. Overt nnt nnlv are hnrmful but pOisr as harmful as an overdose of1 cine wnicn kuis. ,j Primarily, what we need j ership and discipline-alo- nj lar lines. When prohibition was rcP: most of our political leaden V ised there would be no re""11" saloon. We not only returned we Invited females Into it. Th'ties provided for man's fai'W w thereby been extended to V The institution of separate might be corrective. If artf are necessary at all. tfurV,e eration could be adjusted drunkenness, as In Eng'aIJ CheflD dives Canada. ' road, known as roodhousci. r - tod-ag- 1 j 1 - 1 . .1 without prohibition. !( 1 |