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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 8, 1914)
16 TTTF SUNDAY OREGONIAX. PORTXANTJ. NOVEMBER 8. 1914. To the Western Stockman and Farmer The TJ. S. Government supply of bulletins on the subject of 'feterita, the great new forage plant WHAT MORALE MEANS TO RECRUIT IS SHOWN BY INCIDENTS AT BEGINNING OF THE EUROPEAN WAR Joseph Medill Patterson Views Combat From Psychological Side Younger Men With More Years of Life to Lose Are More Willing to Lose Them. Emotional Possibilities in Time Become Exhausted Lust of Conquest Helps Men to Endure Dreadful Ordeal of Battle. BY JOSEPH MEDILL PATTERSON. , o N BOARD STEAMSHIP ADRIATIC, at Sea, Oct. 17. Confession is grood 1 for the soul I I intend to state as briefly and as honestly as I may, how, being in a battle affected "my psychological pro cesses, concealing neithe r the great fear that I felt in the firing zone nor my great Joy on emerging from It, nor the morbid, inexplicable curiosity that I have since sometimes experienced to know how it would feel to return, briefly, to that zone. Occasionally it seems to me. even now, that the whole world is divided into two equal parts, 'the firing . zone and the non-fixing zone; and as if a normal life should consist of brief ex cursions from the non-firing zone into the firing zone and back again. The first time I heard shots in anger was one sunny afternoon in late Sep tember, near Lierre, which is near Ant werp. We. Weigle, the cinema photog rapher, and I, were returning in an automobile from a visit to the Bel Irian outposts when . we heard rifle .fir ing and saw half a dozen Belgian sol diers running across a field in open order- AVe at once Jumped out and ran with them. Spirit Seems Indomitable. They seemed to be so -victorious, these half dozen. They were running In the direction of the enemy, eager ly, ardently. One would not hesitate to join them because it was so clear that they were bound to conquer; so we ran along with what we supposed was the extreme advanced skirmish line to attack the Germans, having in our hands our cameras. It happened so quickly that there was no chance to think at all. We simply Joined these skirmishers be cause we had confidence in them. We saw that they were terribly eager to iijrht and shoot and kill. Their con fidence bred confidence in us. It turned out that soon they were shooting at a German aeroplane about three miles off. They had as much chance to hit It with their bullets as I had to hit it with a rock. However, it went to show me some thing of what morale means to a re cruit. If he thinks he is on the win ning side, he is worth several times what he is if he thinks he Is on the losing side. Distant Firing Shocks. Two or three days later we found the battle we had traveled so far to Jind. The afternoon before it began a strange premonition passed over Antwerp. It wasn't that Antwerp knew there was to be fighting within a few hours; the secret was too well kept by the Belgian staff for that; but Ant werp sensed it. I went to the beau tiful Cathedral of Our Lady that after noon, and it was crowded with solemn, passionate people begging God for raercy and victory. War was in the air laden with hope and hatred and fear. Greatly to my surprise, I slept well that night. I wasn't surprised at Weigle's doing so. He is Just ten years younger than I and imperturable. And it is well known in war that the younger man with more years and life to lose is more willing to lose them. In the morning we tcok the custom ary road to Termonde, over the long pontoon bridge across the Schheldt. past the road patrols who stopped us for the word. The word that day was "France," and It was whispered to each patrol, who said "Bon," and the automobile shot ahead. After an hour we heard distant firing. It gave us all a shock. The car passed, we looked at each other. listened for the directions, then went in that direction. We were all rather silent. Firing; Heard Five Mllea Oil. The firing was then about five miles off. I think. As we traversed that five miles it seemed to me that gradu ally everything was being stripped from me. My possessions, my 'edu cation, my friends, my family sue cessively departed from me and all that was left in the world .was my self. Weigle. who sat beside me, grew far off, the pictures he might or might not take of slight consequence, the story I might write of little import ance, and the stories I might tell to friends afterwards, if there was to be an afterwards, of no importance at all all that was left on earth was myself and that accumulating noise of firing. When I left America to see if I could see something of the war I meant firm ly not to get in range of bullets. meant to stand on a convenient hill with a pair of powerful field glasses, to one side and in the rear of the officers of the staff, and see the battle unroll before me as one would see a sublim ated football came. But in that part of Belgium there are no hills; the country is flat and cut up by many rows of high trees. There was no place to go with field glasses. Then we came to the staff officers of the third division sitting In wicker chairs around a table. Nearby was a covered wagon full of cllckinf tele graph instruments. The shooting was still far off; and if we stayed there we would be almost sursly safe, but we would see nothing whatever. Yet had agreed with myself to go no fur ther than staff officers' headquarters. Car Move on Toward Front. My mind seemed to clog and work very Blowly and stiffly. Should I tell Weigle I would get out here and that he might go on and take as many pic tures as he wanted. Whether he wanted or should I ? The question was settled for me. While slowly debating it, the chauffeur gave the word ' to the patrol, and tlve car moved on. toward the firing. That seemed to be the turning point in my psychological processes. Previous to that, as I said, myself seemed all there was left in the world. But now when . we left the staff officers and passed beyond them into that supremely my s terious region where death was play ing tag, myself as I know myself and hs every ohe ordinarily knows himself changed. It seemed to become a bluish, smoky flame about IS Inches high, not clea and ot steady and not very strong. It was IS inches tall, perhaps a foo across, but without thickness, like flame from an old-fashioned gas fix ture. " I think It was because I am growing fat and past 35 that the flame was no stronger, clearer, whiter and more beautiful. Age and fat seemed to clog it, it did not leap, it guttered. It wa a sluggish flame. Will Seem Paralyzed. And as the firing got always louder and the soldiers whom we passed were ever in an attitude of greater readi ness. 'all there was In the whole unl verse was this sluggish flame and on particular bullet. And the only ques lion in the whole universe was whether that bullet would meet that flame and extinguish it. I tried to force myself to think appropriate thoughts what would become of my family and that probably in the long run they wouldn be much if any worse off, but to mi ft metaphor terribly, I could think such thoughts only with my lips. Inside couldn't think at all. I could only won der, wonder with a depth of emotion didn't believe any human capable of, whether the bullet and the flame would meet. My will was paralyzed I couldn turn to Weigle and say, "Look, here. never intended to go on the actual fir ing- line and that's where we are going as fast as this car will take us. I leave you here." For some reason shame, I suppose I couldn"t say that. simply sat in the car helpless and ilent and listened to the ever lncreas- ng roar. . It was a mad and hideous world, and for some reason I didn't know why, the other two people In the car were axing my flame to the very edge of blackness, and for some reason I didn't know why it was altogether beyond my power to ask them not to do it. Noise Is Continuous. Suddenly the car made a turn be hind a small brick railroad station. hadn't actually stopped "when five freshly wounded Belgian soldiers seemed to fall or be shoved into it and we were shoved out. I don't know how it happened. I remember taking the leg of one of the wounded men to lift him into the car and he screamed. had taken the wounded leg. Several people frowned at me, one struck me. think. The car was filled with wounded and then drove off. We didn't see it again for two hours. The noise now was continuous. The horrible shrapnel screamed and wailed over head and the rifles never ceased. It was not volley firing but "at will." In different directions could be heard the rattling of machine guns. which sounded like automatic riveters at work on the skeleton of skyscrap ers. The rattling would last about two seconds, then pause two seconds, then rattle two seconds, and so on for erhaps a minute in all. The Belgian soldiers were passing back over the road we had come, and finally the last of them passed the rail road station. Weigle meanwhile was arranging his cinema camera. How I hated it, the Frankenstein, for it weighs 50 pounds and the bag of Im- edlmenta that goes with it weighs 40 pounds, and I had agreed to carry that How could a miserable flame like mine be burdened with 40 pounds more? Armored Auto Cover Retreat. I said that the last of the Belgian soldiers passed us going back. . I didn't know it at first, but finally realized It hen a Belgian armored automobile carrying a machine gun took position n the road directly opposite to us to cover the retreat. From them I learned that they were the last of the Belgian forces. The next field was where the fighting had been until within 15 min- tes and where the . wounded man had come from and taken our automobile away from us and left us afoot between the lines. Xow the armored automobile backed up a quarter of a mile and we were in position that even now, a good many days afterwards, I can see was not par- lcularly safe. A few slight vestiges of my mentality returned to me. ' "Weigle," said I, "do you know that one of the first princi ples of warfare is to follow up a re- reat vigorously? Well, If the Germans follow up this retreat vigorously the first people they'll reach will be yon nd me, and you look like an English oldier in that filthy khaki.' He made some idiotic remark about I taking pictures and then every oath I had ever heard in my life gushed from my lips. Then we both retreated in good order. That is, we didn't run: we couldn't carrying the cinema camera and its bag of impedimenta. At one point I proposed to Wiegle that he throw his camera in the ditch. promised to buy him another later out of my own money if he would. He miled at me. .1 beliuve it would be easier to separate him from his hands than his hands from the cinema cam era. So we trudged along that half mile of exposed road, he carrying his 50-pound camera and I carrying the 60-pound bag of impedimenta. As soon as we got well started on retreat my "WAR IS !; ; , xv : 7::. L'f : f-w ' - '$ V: :;v , m "-w r ' . iu-k: - . 4.y - .... - lllgSS: I - photo Copyright by Underwood Ac Underwood. PR1NCK HENRV OF PRUSSIA. If Prince Henry of Prussia were Just plain Henry Hohenzollorn, with no connection with the royal family of Germany, he nevertheless is the kind of man of whom men say "He is every inch a prince." He is the genial brother of the sedate war lord of Germany and has been entertained both In this country and in England, where he is a great favorite. Many British subjects (among- whom are some who have entertained the Prince) have appealed to him during their detention in Germany, for facilities to send them home. His reply to all those re quests is: "War is war. We did not want it." The photo shows the Prince in a Jovial mood, seated with the captain of the Kaiser's yacht Meteor. Prince Henry is aenerai inspector of the German navy. mind left me again. It was the flame and the bullet as before, except that the flame was lower and more turgid, and whenever a shrapnel " shell screamed- by . the flame seemed to be blown .over to the oblique. A shrapnel case holds 152 bullets and the case it self also breaks up. A shrapnel burst ing SO feet above ground is supposed to kill everything within 20 yards for ward and .10 yards sldewlse. Enemy Dorm Not Have Hanse. Whenever one burst pretty near me within 200 or 300 yards the flame seemed to blow over until it was quite flat and horizontal. Almost to my sur prise then It. would right itself again and several times I had strength enough to say viciously to Weigle, "You said you wanted to hear shrapnel burst near you. Well, you heard that one, didn't you?" If the German artillery had had the range on that road filled with the re treating Belgian column- they could have done enormous damage. But they were "searching." - I suppose they thought the Belgians were deployed in the fields on each side of the road for it seemed to me that the shells were bursting in the fields bordering the road, but not in the road itself. At least I didn't know of any that burst on the road, yet a few minutes after wards I saw a number of branches from roadside trees that had been cut off by bullets and dropped leafy and green on the granite paving blocks, but I don't think that 30 consecutive sec onds went by. when a. shrapnel wasn't exploding somewhere within half a mile. My emotional possibilities by this time were nearly exhausted. It seemed as if I had been walking for all eter nity carrying a square black suitcase weighing 40 pounds, and . that so I would walk for all eternity. A shrap nel explosion, if not too near, now hard ly caused my flame to flicker. Myself said dully to my flame at each explo sion. "Well, that one didn't get you anyway" but the flame didn't seem to care very much.' It was exhausted and low and even more than ever sluggish. Minor Difficulties Seem Small. The half mile walk was over. I came to where the road turned and saw that at the turn were masked Belgian trenches, equipped also with machine guns. If . the Germans came up that road they would be drenched with lead. I followed the turn In the road to a little village. There the Belgian troops were resting. Where had I lost Weigle? I don't know. Simply he wasn't wifn mo any longer. The suitcase weighed beyond the weight of Pelion and Ossa now. I got a drink of water from a peasant. All I know of him is that his house was number 26. I left the suitcase there and I was safe almost. I only had 28 miles to walk to Ant werp and 10 dozen patrols to pass, but what were such minor difficulties? I was free and I was safe. Then it -seemed that all the heavy burdens - of all humanity descended slowly to crush me, as if all the woes I of all the ages were accumulating themselves upon my sick and weary spirit. For where was Weigle? "What do I care where he is? I asked fierce ly of myself. "Why hasn't he walked?" But the answer wouldn't do, try as I would to make it. Ages of conven tionality in me spoke and said that I could not go away and leave him. I wanted to I tried to but as every thing that had happened to me in the last hour had come from below the plane of reason, so this mandate also came from below the plane of reason, and it was imperative. I must find Weigle. I must return into that hell zone of fire and find Weigle because he had been base and criminal enough to remain there. I took up the labor of Sisyphus once WAR," SAYS GENIAL BR.0THER OF more; my poor sluggish flame took the place of me and with slow short, un certain steps I passed back along that road. The fire had slackened and seemed farther off. If it had not been for that I could not have gone back to find Weigle or my eternal salvation: for the effort that I made took all I had to the last-milligram. . "Good Place tor Plcturea." Weigle was about a quarter of a mile from the bend in the road, taking cover behind an empty chateau, doing some thing to his camera. "Weigle," said I, "your bag is in No. 26 around that bend in the road. Of course, you know that you're still be tween the lines?" "Yes," said he, "but this is a good place for pictures." Then Weigle appeared to me as a huge, hideous, and devouring ogre and I hated him with a hatred inexpres sible." Why should I have anything to do with an insensate clod like that? Why had I ever seen him? "A good place for pictures." It was impossible even, to attempt to reply to 'words so abominable, so callous, vile. and monstrous. I veered and talked uncertainly about looking for cover. O where should I go if the Uhlans or a German mitrailleuse came up the road? Where could I possibly go that they couldn't see me? I didn't believe there was. Then happened the miracle the Bel gians returned. . They passed us---the whole entire brigade were taking the firing line beyond us. I sat in the grass by the roadside sweating, panting, and gasping, . no longer a bluish guttering flame, but once more & human being. As I afterward learned the Germans were struck on their left by a flank ing force almost at the instant their fire had prevailed over the Belgians In front of them whom I was with. This accounted for their not following up vigorously and for the gradual diminu tion of their artillery fire. . Battle Depends on Killing. : But a novice on the firing line knows nothing of such things as flank move ments miles away. He knows only his own side and the enemy (who Is almost always invisible nowadays) shooting at each other as fast as possible. But whether the enemy be visible or not, the battle depends today precisely as it always has, on which side will give and take the most killing. The , automobile came back. The driver of it whom I didn't like, nor ever shall, had pluck. He would go anywhere to pick up one of his wounded countrymen. A fog gray. thick indeed a regular . ordinary. looKing log seems to cover up what happened for the' next half hour. I don't remember much but flashes here and there when the fog briefly blew away, the troops deploying across the field, the lancers cantering in single file. . silhouetted agafnst the setting Bun. They evidently expected fire to come from the bit of woods they were approaching. I wasn't approaching it. I stayed exactly where I was all but one eye behind, a wall and that eye behind it, too, 29 seconds out of the 30. Fear Forgotten la Helping Wounded, Half a mile away, probably further, the soldiers disappeared into the wood and the cavalry had disappeared some where into the sunset. The Germans weren't in the edge of the woods, after all. Then another Interval, while I wan dered slowly in a vast and hostile void. I think I would walk back, a distance and then retrace my steps, as if drawn by two great cables, first in one di rection, then in the other. The automobile reappeared, coming for more wounded. One or two they got into it while I stood vacantly by. The noise of firing was still almost con- KAISER grown so sucessfully in the Lewiston country by practical farmers, is exhausted. Practically none is to be had and in order to supply the very ereat demand this bulletin is reproduced, except a small tabulated portion of no vital interest, in The Oregonian. Copies of same may be had, also other matter pertaining to feterita, and a sample of seed by sending 10c for mailing expense. "Will send by mail, postpaid, 1 lb. for 20c; 2 lbs. 30c ; 3 lbs, 40c. E. Ralston, Lewiston, Idaho. SEE FETERITA BOOTH AT LAND SHOW Bulletins ready tomorrow afternoon. No more free samples. (Clr. .122 C.) Br H. X. VINALX Assistant Asrrostolotrist, x HISTORY. The name "feterita" is used for a variety of aorgbum first obtained In 1901 by the Office of Foreign Seed nd Plant Introduc tlon as "Feterlte" from B. Nathan A Co.. Alexandria. Egypt. Only a small quantity of seed was secured, and this was distribut ed under Seed and Plant Introduction No. 6391 to three persons In Arizona and Kan sas, but no records of the results obtained are available. It Is certain, however, that the variety did not become established at that time. The second Importation, assigned S. P. I. Xo. 19C17, was received November, 1906, from V. F. Kagrgiar, of -Alexandria. Egypt, who obtained the seed from Sudan. In 1908 an additional supply. S. P. I. No. 22828. was secured through K. Hewi son from Khartum. Sudan. In which re gion It is commonly grown under the name "feterita." As It is a member of the durra group of sorghums, the name "Sudan durra has also been applied to it. The value of feterita as compared with the other sorg hums of the Sudan Is indicated by the fol low In or Quotation from Schweinfurth : t Voth varieties of the common sorghum, which here abound in all their minor differ ences of color, shape and size of grains, yield well-nigh a dozen different descriptions for the market at Khartum. The standard of value la fixed by the Fatareetah, a pure white thin-skinned grain, which .also is grown by the negroes in the Seriba. Fltzgeraldt also speaks of feterita as the most valuable of the varieties grown by the natives of Sudan. It has been tested for six years at the Chllllcothe Forage Field station and for nve years at the A ma rill o Cereal Field Station, both In Northwestern Texas. It has also been tested during shorter periods "at other field stations in the southern plains area. For the last three years there has been an lncraslng acreage grown by farmers in that sect! cm. The account of the crop given here is based on the results of these station tests and upon the experiences of farmers. DESCRIPTION. Feterita is an early-maturing, drought escaping sorghum of considerable promise both for grain and forage. It has rather slender stems, varying In height from 4 to 7 feet with locality and season. They are somewhat juicy and very slightly sweet be fore ripening. Suckers are produced freely when moisture is sufflclnt and are usually taller and later than the main stalk. The plant also branches freely under favorable conditions, and the branch heads are late in ripening. These habits result. Jj considerable unevenness in maturity. Feterita resembles mllo In habit, except that the heads are uniformly erect and the seeds are larger, softer and chalk white or slightly bluish white in color. It differs from the ordinary white durra (Jerusalem corn) In having naturally erect heads; black glumes, and plumper seeds. The seed shat ters more than mllo. but less than common white durra if the crop Is allowed to stand in the field until overripe. It is as early or a little earlier than Dwarf mllo and two to three weeks earlier than standard Blackhull kaflr. In drought resistance it compares favorably with any sorghum yet Introduced. In generaf, the yields have been equal to those of the other grain sorghums and In some cases better, for reasons which are fully discussed later. PROBABLE VALUE, From the foregoing description It will be seen that feterita is more like milo than kaflr. It resembles milo In earllness, in the size and height of stalk. In the relatively dry pith, the few leaves, the shape of the head, and the large seeds. It differs from mllo most sharply In having the heads all naturally erect and In its larger white seeds. It has become quite popular In parts of Northern Texas, because In 1911, a year of severe drought, it produced good grain yields when both mllo and kaflr gave low yields. In that year much of it was planted on land where the corn crop had been de stroyed by drought. In the vicinity of Chll llcothe. Tex., many farmers are planting in creased areas to feterita in preference to either milo or kaflr. There is no satisfactory evidence that fet- terlta is inherently more drought resistant than other grain sorghums. The Chllllcothe results p.bove referred to may have been due to thinner stands, concerning which no exact data were taken. It often happens that thin stands of feterita are caused by failure of the seed to germinate, especially If planted while the ground is cold. Fur thermore, the larger seed of feterita would give thinner stands if planted at the same rate as mllo or kaflr. At Amarlllo, where feterita was grown- under identical condi tions ss to stand, it showed ho greater drought resistance than mllo or kaflr. Much interest has been aroused also in feterita by the extravagant advertising it has recently received from persons either not competent to determine its merits in comparison with other grain sorghums or from those wiio bad s:eu to sen at iancy prices. Experiments so far indicate that its earii- nees, its rather low water requirements, its satisfactory yields, and the ease with which It may be harvested give it a real place among the sorghums either for grain or com bined grain and forage purposes. No farmer should discard milo. Dwarf mllo, or Dwarf kaflr for feterita. however, until he has determined with certainty that on his farm It will outyield these staple crops when grown under Identical conditions. The data at hand are limited, but they do not Justify the claim that feterita will outyield Dwarf milo. PLANTING. Like otner grain sorgnuma, lateru anuuia be planted In rows 40 to-44 Inches apart. tinuous, but I no longer heard shrap nel bursting; and whining near me. Then they seemed to have difficulty with one of the wounded. A terrific anl startling revelation burst over me, something amazingly new and orig inal. Why not help them get 'that wounded man in the car? I ran out through the heavy field, but I ran, as ever, sluggishly. There was the evidence of shrapnel. Four dead in utter and horrible disfigure ment and three wounded. cSeemingly it all came from one burst, the men were huddled bo closely together. I took one handle of the stretcher. The wounded man's face was gray, his fingers were plucking at the brass but tons of his blouse. Just as they say dying fingers pluck at the counter pane when people die in bed. Dytnsr Left for Leaser Wounded. The Red Cross youth said H was no use to bother with this one. so we laid him down behind a hedge to die and took in his place on the stretcher an other who might live. But this little activity, this little do ing something, seemed to revive me. The fog had lifted again and I could see the world I knew, because I had been doing something besides thinking of myself. The idle rich, the idle poor, and the idle scared all get the worst of It. I have since been told by officers that except for people of unusual and singular coolness of temperament, which I have not, it is only the activity and passion of combat, the lust to con quer the enemy, that makes it possible for men to endure battle. I don't know whether thin is true or not, but it seems probable. To be in a battle with no chance to kill in return for your chance of being killed is like staking all your earthly possessions against nothing on the turn of a card; like going into a prize ring handcuffed against the champion. The automobile disappeared aain, the fog descender!, and after a time I found myself again beside the inex plicable Weigle. He had been taking pictures of & Belgian battery in action. It seemed so hopeless to see with my own eyes and know with my own heart that there were such people - in the world as Weigle. Why should any one wish to take pictures of a Belgian bat tery In action? It grew dusk. The explosive from the Belgian cannon looked like long red FETERITA, A NEW VARIETY OF SORGHUM. Office of Fprag-e-Crop Inveetlgatlons, and Cereal Invest lg at tuns. or about the same distance as for maize, or Indian corn. The time of planting will vary greatly, but. in general. It should be two to three weeks later than for Indian corn In the same season and locality. In sections affected by the sorghum midge very early plantings axe recommended. It is not well to plant too early, while the ground is still cold, since feterita, like other sorghums, is naturally a warm-weather plant. Owing to the soft seed there Is liable to be consid erable loss through decay before germina tion unless the soil is warm enough to sprout the seed at once. Difficulty in obtaining a stand has been experienced in some locali ties, the poor stand probably being due to planting In cold ground. On the Chllllcothe field station. In 1912, plantings of March 19 rotted In the ground, while plantings from the same seed on April 4 and 26 and plantings from a separate lot of seed on May 2 germinated perfectly. At Amarlllo a planting on May 11 resulted In a poorer stand and lower yield than plant ings on May 22 and 27. about the normal time. Feterita may be planted either In a fur row with the lister or surface planted with the ordinary corn planter, according to the local custom with related crops. When plant ed In cultivated rows in this manner 3 to 5 pounds of seed to the acre will be required. The seed should always be sown in a good, firm seed bed and covered with 1 to 2 V Inches of soli. In only exceptional cases will it. pay to sow feterita broadcast for hay. However, if put in with a wheat drill for this pur pose 1H to 2 bushels per acre will give the best results. CTJLTTYATION. Feterita should be cultivated In much the same manner as corn. If the ground Is In good shape the harrow will be found the most economical tool for the first two or three cultivations. A thorough and rather deep cultivation should be given when the crop is about 12 Inches high. Two later cultivations will be necessary to conserve moisture properly, and in case the ground Is foul with weeds still more may be re quired. In these later cultivations care must be taken that .the surface feeding roots are nut broken. - In order to save all possible moisture It will be found best to cultivate or harrow ' after each rain as soon as the ground is dry enough. When the crop has attained such a size that a 2-horse cultivator can not be used, a 1-row, 6-tooth cultivator will b found a very efficient tool. This is also used In many cases to stir the surface quick ly after a shower when It would not be practicable to cultivate with a C-horae plow. When the cultivation Is finished the ground should be very nearly level. It does not pay to "ridge the rows as Is often done with corn or mllo. HARVESTING. For combined use -as forage and grain the crop should be cut In the late dough stage. When planted in rows the .crop can best be handled with a com harvester and put In shocks of '20 to 40 bundles each. In sections where there Is little danger of rain the shocks may be larger. If desired. If these shocks are allowed to stand for some time before being headed. It will allow more complete maturity of the heads borne on the suckers. When the crop is Intended solely for grain It should be al lowed to stand until the earliest heads are fully mature, but If left until all the heads on suckers are completely ripe considerable seed may be lost through shattering. Some follow the practice of cutting the heads from the bundles at the time of shocking by holding the bundles across a chopping block attached to the side of the wagon box. The heads fall Inside the wagon box and can be hauled at once to a storage shed preparatory to being thrashed, while the bandies are set up in the field to be used later. If this practice is fol lowed, the grain should be fully mature at the time of cutting. Another method fol lowed with the grain sorghums where large acreages are grown is to harvest the heads by means of a grain header so remodeled as to place the cutter bar at the proper height. At lower elevations, when the season is favorable and the seed has been planted early, the first crop can often be harvested with a binder and later a good crop of 'heads obtained from second growth. In an ordinary year the second growth will fur nish abundant pasture even though a second grain crop Is not produced. Where the heads are cut from the stand ing stalks In the field it is best to pasture the remainder of the crop. Should the crop go down on account of a storm before it Is harvested It can be utilized by pasturing with hogs or cattle. Owing to the fact that the head of feterita Is quite heavy In pro portion to the stalk, the crop aometimes lodges badly in wet weather If left in the Held until "overripe. This makes It desir able to harvest as soon as the crop Is mature. THRASHING. Feterita can be thrashed with an ordinary grain separator by decreasing the speed of the cylinder and removing some of the con caves. If a foot or more of stem la left attached to the head, fewer grains will be broken In thrashing. TIELDS. The yields per acre at the State sub station, Lubbock. Tex for 1912 are as follows: Bushels. Feterita I 67.71 Blackhull kaflr 43.9C White mllo 42.40 The rainfall for Lubbock from January 1 to October 1, 1912, was 11.40 Inches, and pencils. I have used this figure of speech before, but I can't help it. All that those explosions will ever remind me of in this world will be long red pencils. Then another blur; then we were giving cigarettes to the gunners, who had Just ceased firing. I remember how black their hands were. Then the order came for them to lim ber up and retreat. I think that was the lowest moment of the day for me. It seemed that wherever I went the Belgians retreated and- left me behind. Besides, they had horses to go with and I was afoot. At that moment I saw the whole de sign of my existence, like a piece of embroidery. Every since the moon was nebulous it had been ordained that I. Joseph Medill Patterson, at the age of 35. should be buried In a potato field near Antwerp. The guns rumbled away from me on the canter. It was a battery of four guns, with limbers and caissons. I walked slowly over the potato field that was to be my bed that night and all nights. The illusion of being a flame 18 inches by 12 had departed, and the fog had vanished, too. I was. In a way, normal, but very tired and discouraged. The potato field was soggy with rain and I sank In an inch or two at each step. So closely are our spirits the spirits of some of us Intertwined with our bodies that my fate seemed additionally cruel be cause the potato field was wet. I should have preferred to lie In it dry. Then another miracle, completely un believable. Here were the automobile, the chauffeur, Weigle, and I, all in the same placer at the same time in the darkness, with no wounded to carry off our places. Apparently I wasn't to die I who had counted myself dead al read. We drove rapidly back to Ant werp. The following day we were in the firing zone again. In and out of it all day long. Again we heard the shrapnel break and shriek near us, we saw it knock tiles from roofs in Alost within 60 yards, and again I was much afraid. But I was not on the second day re duced to quite the state of pulp as the day before. Elks' Memorial Committee Xamed. ALBANY, Or., Nov. T. (jelal.) To make arrangements tt.r the annual Revised edition. Issued January 10, 114. CARLE TON R. BALL, Agronomist, Office of for the entire year 34.CO Inches. Lubbock is situated south of Amarlllo on the plains, and the climatic conditions are similar. At Chlllicothe, Tex., in 1912, a plat el feterita gave a yield of 4S00 pounds of dry fodder per acre, while a plat of Dwarf tntlo planted at the same time made 8210 pounds per acre. The grain yield on these plats was S0.4 bushels for feterita and 2S.4 bushels per acre for the Dwarf mllo. These station yields in most cases are not widely different for the two crops, feterita and Dwarf inllo. and more data are neces sary before definite conclusions are reached regarding their comparative value. The yields on farms about ChlllSoothe, Tex., look more favorable for feterita. In one case feterita planted on June &. 1911, yielded 22 bushels to the acre. On this same farm, after corn had failed on ac count of dry weather, the corn land was listed and 1.5 acres of feterita planted on July 26. Every stalk produoed a mature head, and this field made about 80 bushels per acre. Milo and kaflr planted at the same time only partially headed. The rain fall from March 1 to December 1. 1911. was but 14.72 Inches, and as the distribution was decidedly unfavorable the season was a severe test on any crop. In 1912 the same farmer planted 8 acres on April 13- A rep resentative acre of this field, topped and thrashed by hand, made a yied of 51 bushels by actual weight. Headed feterita will thrash out about the same percentage of grain as milo or kaflr. On the Chllllcothe field station one lot of heads, weighing 1216 pounds, thrashed and cleaned 77. 9 per cent, and another lot of 255 pounds thrashed and cleaned 78 per cent of grain. FEEDIXU. The forage value of feterita Is at least equal to and probably superior to milo. For strictly forage purposes, however, it is excelled by both kaflr and the sorgos. or sweet sorghums. The hoavy proportion of grain makes it a very efficient foed for horses, cattle, or sheep when used in the bundle. It also makes a good roughage when fed In connection with concentrates for fattening. Like the other sorghums, feterita is not particularly efficient as a milk producer. For use as silage, feterita will probably be found equal to any other sorghurri. The grain Itself is undoubtedly comparable to milo or kaflr, 10 bushels of It being equal to 9 or more bushels of shelled malse in feeding value. Whether the softer grain of feterita Is an additional advantage In feeding remains to be deter mined. The seed coats apparently contain no tannin. SEED SELECTION. Home-grown seed Is generally more pro ductive than seed brought from a distance. This makes It desirable for every farmo to select and save seed for his own plant ng. This practice Is important with feterita. because it is a new crop, somewhat vari able and not fully adapted, and also be cause much natural crossing occurs with other sorghums. Seed selections should be made at a distant of 1U0 yards or more from other varieties. In all selections care should be taken to avoid hybrids. Exceed ingly large heads are generally the result of hybridization or of some local variation In stand or in soli conditions and are not usually desirable. The largest head from the least row space Is what determines the yield. Selections are best made In the field as soon as the first heads mature. Only leafy, erect plants that have no side branches and little tendency to produce suckers should be chosen. The head should be entirely free from the boot, large, and well filled from butt to tip. Such plants. If seeded thickly enough, will produce as much seed as the stoollng type and will be much easier to harvest on accoun t of the m ore un if orm maturity of the heads. The field should be rogued consistently each season to re move other types of sorghum If the grain Is Intended for home planting or for sale as seed SUMMARY. Feterita Is a sorghum from tne British Egyptian Sudan, In Africa. It Is a durra. related to white durra and to mllo, with slender stems 4 to 7 feet high under vary ing conditions, erect heads, and large, rather soft, white grains. Extravagant claims have been made for feterita by uninformed or interested per sons. Experiments show It to be a good grain and forage crop, but not In any way meriting extraordinary praise. It has proved about equal to. mllo In yield. All cultural operations are much the same as for mllo and kaflr. though certain differences are pointed out. Feterita Is newly introduced and quite variable. Therefore seed selection and Im provement should be practiced In each dis trict where it is grown In order to obtain adapted strains. Issued April 19. ll13. Much of the material for this publication was collected st Chllllcothe, Tex., by G. E. Thompson, formerly connected with the office of Forage-Crop Investigations. Te publication as now presented was completed by the writers after Mr. Thompson's resigna tion from the Department of Agriculture. t Schweinfurth, Georg. The Heart of Af rica. Tr. by Ellen E. Frewer. New Tork, 1874. v. 1. pp. 245-240. tFisgerald. W. W. A, Report on the Im provement end Possible Development of the Cultivable Products of the Sudan. Cairo. 1903, p. 25. NOTE Since the first edition of this cir cular there has been considerable advertise ment in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas of a sorghum under the name of "Schrlbar Corn." An examination of samples sub mitted to the Department of Agr'culture has shown this to be nothing but feterita. bany lodge of Elks has appointed a committee consisting of Walter M. Parker, J. J. Collins, L. M. Curl, W. C. Tweedwle and A. W. Bowersox. EYE-STRAIN A CRIME Many children arc forced into careers of crime because of eye defects. These defects in children are rarely discovered -without a scientific examination. Children who do not pro gress in school, who are in clined to play truant, who have headaches and stooped shoulders, who are hard to control the eyes of these should be looked after with out delay. "A child who is slow to learn is ridiculed by his mates. Ridi cule breeds bad temper and dislike for Bchool, and some times leads to worse. A scientific examination . may chang-e the course of your child's life. THOMPSON Optical Institute 209-10-11 Corbett Building Fifth and Morri'.on f-
