Show a T I 1 I 1 a V a no I 1 it I 1 shakespeare plants plant the above term isajew la a new one to us as and Is hi doubt doubtless I 1 aas new t to 0 most 0 of f our rea aera the writer was look looking ing over some dome pot experiments being conducted 0 at the university of illinois a by professor cyril G 11 hopkins akins when ha be came which to one pot in which was seen an unusual condition of 0 plant growth the pot contained soli soil in which was a large amount of alkali so much so that plant life could make but little headway in it while in other pots nearby where the soil sell was good the plants stood two feet high in this pot most of the plants were of spindling growth and not over ever tour four inches in height there were ten plants la in each pot that the results might be better compared but in this pot was one plant that towered above its fellows professor hopkins remarked that Is what the boys call a shakespeare blanc the writer measured it and found the height beight to be 28 inches moreover it had steeled out and had bad three large stalks in addition to the principal stalk the volume of the plant was at least thirty times that of the average plants in the pots now as to the cause of such a development in an unfriendly medium 0 professor hopkins did not wish to express his bid opinion as to the cause for the true scientist does docs not like to get the reputation of being a guesser ho he wishes to send out to the public only opinions that have a strong array of facts behind them and in that he Is right but the ordinary mortal cannot help reaching tor for possible interpretations ions of unusual things it II may be that this plant nas has th power to resist alkali to such a degree that it Is able to develop in spite of it if this Is so its ILs seed may be saved and be planted in subsequent years to got get a variety of wheat that cares nothing tor for alkali the probability Is that there Is much in this plant that Is ot of value to the world for such plants have hava already been found among other economic plants such as cotton we have no doubt that the seed of this plant will be saved and further experiments made with it there are of course other possible though not probable explanations one Is that the alkali Is not evenly distributed in the soil sell in which the plant Is growing and another Is that the water used ln in the pot has caused more leaching out of the alkali in ono one 0 part of the pot than in other parts such explanations will not however receive much weight till they have something more than mere conjecture to back them doubtless the roots of this big plant ramify all over the pots pot egyptian clover within the last fow few years there has bas been an important addition to our list of clovers in the tonn form of egyptian clover it Is one of the great forage plants of at egypt and has become beckma adapted to that country and to many of tho the other countries bell at border the 1 1 ai I 1 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 d d y IA CLO there are many situations in this country where cli climatic matle conditions are similar to those of the mediterranean lands and much Is hoped tor for from this plant its northern limit of 0 growth in the united states has not yet been defined staking tomatoes Tom loe I 1 think that it pays to stake tomatoes though I 1 have not made any experiments comparing staked with un staked vines I 1 have however obtained such good results with the staking method that I 1 can heartily recommend it to all especially those that want to produce good ripe tomatoes in the shortest possible time I 1 set the vines about lour four feet apart and train the vines to stakes each of which Is about five feet high this is 1 a good height but not too great as the vine should be trimmed to one or two stems this permits the sun eun and air to get to all sides of the vines and the results are correspondingly good one thing thine that thai wo we avoid la Is rot which results when the tomatoes rr are permitted to lie on the ground then too when the vines are thick and are not staked I 1 find that tomatoes are frequently missed in the picking this missing amounts to a considerable item when there are many vines tines when the fruat Is if hanging on the I 1 stakes every individual fruit Is la in full sight eight and Is picked when it Is ripe I 1 enough the picking also Ls is facilitated find and this I 1 think will more than offset the I 1 cost an and d trouble ot of setting tho the stakes I 1 I 1 have more than once when I 1 was growing tomatoes by the old me method t hod I 1 gone over the vines at picking time I 1 and hero here and there found halt a doze dozen good fruits rotted on the under side an and d far beyond their prime tor for eating the only thing that could b be e done dona 1 with them was to throw them away I 1 notice that where they grow tomatoes in agoes in the green houses house they always I 1 stake them as in that way only can a they make the most ost out lit of the area planted to tomatoes I 1 do not see why by the principle that la Is good in elio green houses Is not good in the fields field sHelen helen jones calhoun co ill I 1 in n farmers review |