THE 8EMI.WEEKLV TRIBUNE, NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA.
MACKAY'S GENEROUS GIFT
Hoheti n.Houlion
77? most jwted agricultural
expert of this generation as
been laboring for many years
to show farm people hozv to
raise crops scientifically
'P 'I'IMrt titnumit Hum ii'lmfi ttrlf-liu lf
J J .rn Ill ll.MV. "IIMI I"
nil foodstuff liuvo reached thu
highest figures known In this coun
try In n generation, It Is Interesting
to consider the efforts of those; who
have labored long and unceasingly
to no Improve our agricultural re
sources that this very condition
should ho avoided. Among these un
selfish workers for the common
good the figure of one man stands
out conspicuously. TIiIh man Is Professor Terry
G. Holdcn, undouhtedly the most noted agricul
tural expert of our time.
A few years ago Professor Holden trehled the
lvalue of the corn crop In Iowa. A little later he
put millions of dollars Into the pockets of the
farmers of Oregon, Washington and Idaho. As a
final achievement, he Induced the farmers of
'.Arkansas to adopt a system of crop diversification
which remitted In an Increase of the wealth tf the
Htnto of moto than $30,000,000 In a single year.
And Professor Holden says ho has only stnrtcd;
that It Is his ambition to do as much, or more, for
very state In the Union, and tho chances are lie
will accompl'sh tils purpose, for ho Is today the
leader In a movement for agricultural revival
nd rural uplift, which In Its scopo and signifi
cance, Is without parallel In this or any other
country. What Is of equal Importance, ho Is nt
the heart of nn organization with practically un
limited facilities for carrying on the work. , Dur
ing tho Inst three years he and tils assistants have
co-operated In organizing and conducting flfty-llvo
campaigns for agricultural educntlon, have spoken
nt nearly 10,000 meetings, and In order to meet
theso engagements hnvo traveled approximately
3,000,000 miles hy railroad and over 250,000 miles
by automobile, whllo their activities have reached
the enormous total of 0,000,000 people.
Professor Holden has, been described as tho
llurhanlc of tho soli tho man who set King Corn
upon Its throne and crowned alfalfa queen, lie
lias been called n missionary, a preacher, a philoso
pher, n prophet nnrt a teacher a professor In tho
university of tho great outdoors. More than any
other man lie lias set agricultural America to
moving, and to moving In tho right direction.
It was whllo professor of agronomy at the Uni
versity of Illinois, from 1807 to 1001, that Pro
fessor Holden's work 'first attracted attention.
Other men hnvo allowed their energies and activi
ties to bo bounded by the four walls of the school
room, but to Holden such a thing was Impossible.
Ho looked upon corn culture as a sourco of pros
perity and happiness to humanity. He bad a vi
sion of mora generous fields, more golden harvests.
Ho pictured big red burns, lino dairy cattle, hap
py homes.
Hut ho beheld theso things as posslblo only
through tho united efforts and Intelligent co
operation of the peoplo and organized tho Corn
Growers' association. Ho recognized tho agricul
tural possibilities of tho sugar beet, and the Sugar
Meet Growers' association caino Into being.
Alrendy ho had done much for tho farmers of
Illinois, but ho was not content. Men of achieve
ment hnvo ttttlo tlmo for retrospection, lie saw
tho need of Improving tho qunllty of tho corn and
organized both tho Corn Growers' association and
Anierlca'a first corn-Judging school. Ho placed
corn upon a higher education piano than Latin
nnd Greek, organized tho Illinois club for the
dissemination of agricultural knowlcdgo among
young men, and revived and broadened tho farm
ers' Institutes of tho state
: Then tho Iowa Stato collego beckoned him. As
professor of agronomy and as 'Jlrector of tho agri
cultural extension department of that Institution
lio continued tho work ho began In Illinois. Ho
did more. Ho "bent his own record," which Is n
motto he has held beforo him since ho was a boy
In a llttlo country school house In tho backwoods
of Michigan.
He Inaugurated n bettor-corn campaign that 1b
Unlquo nnd majestic In tho history of agriculture.
IIo shntterod all traditions of oxtonslon work by
refusing to rely upon bulletins and other printed
matter to carry his message to tljo people. Ho
went In person to tho farmers at their homes aud
taught them hy word of mouth. Ho Inoculated
commerco and transportation with tho bacteria
of more nnd better corn and set a precedent for
ovory stato of tho Union by conducting the first
rnllwny trnln ever run for the purpose of trend
ing tho gospel of profitable farming.
"Add what would equal a three-ounce nubbin
to a hill," ho said, "and the gain will bo ten bush
ids to tho aero. About nlno million acres are
planted to corn In Iowa each year. That llttlo
nubbin more In each hill will mean an Increaso of
ninety million buKhols."
In 1012, after Professor Holden had talked nnd
demonstrated and labored for ten years, tho nub
lln was added to the hill. Tho total Increaso In
tho yield thnt year was 03,1)1-1,557 bushels, which
nt .10 cents a bushel, tho avornge prlco of corn
that year, meant that tho market valuo of this
yield Increnso was $15,000,2-10.
All Iowa was proud or Holden, hut nolden's
fnmo sprend far beyond tho borders of the stato.
IIo becamo a prominent figure In- national
progress.
Thero wero thoso who refused to bellovo that
Holden's activities should be confined to oven ono
nntlon, so ho was placed at tho head of a mighty
: !'"" ... r.lTin,
i 1 1 mil n
Jt . Mil
M VJ , I
TYPICAL HZZrtffG 'ATA
nlng meeting of agriculturists was to be held.
Even the schoolchildren got their lesson from
this campaign; not, only a lesson on alfalfa, but
on history and geographical subjects. It was a
diversified program that the versatile speakers,
who traveled with the alfalfa special, were able
to offer at each stop; but, underlying every talk,
whether It was to the boys and girls, or to tho
men and women who had grown old on the farm,
there was the same lesson to be learned: "Ferti
lize the soil with brains."
The result of this campnlgn was thnt over 200,-
000 acres of land In the Inland empire, never oe-
Tho first Iniportnnt contribution
to tho United States government from
a private source to bo devoted to tho
furtherance of wartime olllclency ono
of the llnest gifts of tho kind, In fact,
ever received by the government was
learned of when It was announced thnt
Clarence H. Mackay nnd his mother,
Mrs. John W. Mnckay, who resides In
Paris, have Just made a joint gift of n
completely equipped hospital base unit
of COO beds for servlco either in this
country or abroad.
Tho hospital, which will bo known
as the Mackay unit, has already been
accepted through the National Hed
Cross. Through the patriotic gener
osity of Mr. Mackay and his mother
provision hns been made for n staff of
22 surgeons, 75 nurses, 150 orderlies,
and others necessury to operate such n
unit.
Dr. Charles M. Peck, ono of tho
surgical chiefs of Itoosevelt hospital,
has been selected as director1 of tho unit. Dr. James I. Russell has been mado
chief of surgical service of the halt nnd Dr. Itolfe Floyd is chief of medical
service. Their respective surgical and medical staffs also have been chosen,
together with oral surgeons, pathologists, Roentgenologists, ophthalmologists,
and aurists, anesthetists, nnd a staff of nurses, which will be headed by Miss
Mary L. Francis as chief nurse.
Although organized as the Mackay unit of the Roosevelt hospital, tho
unit will bo known olllclally as "Red Cross Base hospital No. 15."
APPEALS TO FARMERS
Farmers of America were nppealed
to hy Secretory Houston to join In ag
ricultural" preparedness measures so
tho country may not be hnndlcnpped
fore In any kind of grass crops, wero put Into by food shortage In Us efforts to meet
nlfalfa the following year. Otlier inrmers weru uie international crisis, lamination
quick to see the benefits received by those wlio of waste, conservation of surplus, and
tried It first until today there Is hardly a farm attainment of maximum crop returns
I.. iiu ....,, .KM-ipiiltnrnl section that docs not were outlined as imperative for
rnnfnlti nt least a few acres of the wonder plant, strengthening resources.
Thousands of farms which had been ueserteu nu- "iiotn ior economic ana patriotic
cause of the soil, worn out from constant plant- reasons," the secretary said, "the
Inc to one crop, uiu not American inrnier snouiu strive tins
yield returns of nny sort,
were reclaimed, rojuv
ennted, and tho land
given n value which It
did not possess even In
Its enrller prime.
Having accomplished
so much for the farmers
of tho Northwest, Profes
sor Holdcn turned his
eyes to the South. The
state of Arkansas Imme
diately Invited bis atten
tion. The need here was
similar to that of the In
land empire crop diver
sification. The farmers
nf Arkansas had been
year for tho highest standnrd of effi
ciency in the production and conserva
tion of food.
"Under tho conditions In which
this country now finds Itself, It is
iniportnnt that everything practicable
bo done to Increnso tho efllclency of
agricultural activities during tho coin
ing season. It Is desirable that through
out tho country farmers confer among
themselves on matters affecting the pro
duction of needed crops, and thnt they consult freely with county ugents,
state agricultural colleges and the department of agriculture."
The secretary's appeal was part of the campnlgn undertaken by the
department of agriculture to mobilize the nation's agricultural resources.
Mr. Houston urged particularly that as a means of preventing "con
spicuous production wnste" of Important staple cereals, proper attention bo
given to selection nnd safeguarding of seed for nlantlne. the nrenaration of
growing cotton for nenriy the land, and tho care of the crop,
forty years growing u
agricultural extension department, with headquar
ters In Chicago, organized for world-wide teaching
of agriculture. After n period of great work in
Illinois, nnd uven greater work In loivn, Profes
sor Holden entered upca tho world's work.
Rut first thero was nioro work to do at home,
and Professor Holden was not long In deciding
whero to turn first. Ho had long known that the
agricultural problem of tho Northwest was tho
one-crop system. Great tracts of land hnd been
seeded to wheat year after year until tho soil
was becoming worn out robbed of tho elements
necessary for tho growth of plant life. Ho de
cided at once that tho remedy was tho growing of
alfalfa, that wonderful plnnt which is not only
a money-making crop In Itself, but possesses tho
magic power of putting nitrogen and organic mnt
tor into tho soli. Thereupon Professor Holdcn
organized tho Inland empire campaign, and, In co
operation with six great railroad systems of tho
Northwest, started tho campaign for alfalfa on
every farm.
While tho agricultural demonstration train In
uugunited by Professor nolden In Iowa was a
mighty step forward, ho believed thero was a still
better way of reaching tho farmers. At last ho
hit upon It; the automobile In conjunction with
tho railroad train. The farmer could como to tho
towns whero the trains stopped, nnd thousands of
them did, but In many Instances this meant a long
trip to and from tho meeting places and perhaps
u whole dny's absence from work. Tho thing to
do, then, was to go to the farmer, to meet him In
tho fields, on his own threshold. It wns planned,
therefore, that at every place whero tho alfalfa
special stopped automobiles should meet It nnd
whirl tho speakers to prearranged meeting places:
In schoolhouses, churches, town hnlls, theaters,
barns, out In the open Holds, by the roadside.
When a meeting wns hold In an alfalfa field
thoro was no question of Its success, as many
good lessons were easily driven homo by Illus
trations from the growing crops. In tho fields,
too, tho lessons of Inoculation, uso of lime, eradi
cation of weeds and time of cutting, could all bo
very plainly Illustrated. To supplement this work
tho speakers used huge charts which told somo
Interesting stories In n manner that was Indisput
able. Tho big comparative figures shown on tho
charts gave every farmer plenty of food for
thought. The results of various tests showed thnt
alfalfa, whether alono or In combination with
other feeds, was far and away tho best food for
tho production of pork, beef, dairy products nnd
eggs.
Ono of TvOvor Holden's strong points vas
that alfalfa wtl ht t.: t. land reclaimer. Ho de
clared that onco It Is given a chance It will refuse
to bo kept off of land thnt Is now considered prac
tically valucliMs. Alfalfa Is known to put back
Into tho soil what other crops take out. Ry a pe
culiar process, tho nodules that form on the roots
of tho plant extract nitrogen from tho air and de
posit It In tho soli. And nitrogen Is what other
crops need,
Tho regulnr schedule of tho alfalfa special In
cluded from six to eight stops a day, thus allow
ing for from 00 to 120 meetings, according to tho
number of spenkers employed. After tho dally
stops It was headed for some town whero an ovc-
to sell for money to buy
for man and nni
ninl. The practice of this
system had placed the stnte at the mercy of the
North nnd East, both In buying nnd Mlllm J,1
,.. t mis for SOa.000,000. This
amount nnd $12,000,000 more were sent out or
the state to buy foodstuffs which should have been
nroduced on tho Arkansns farms.
Professor Holden realized that It would bo n
tremendous undertaking to change a one-crop
BVBimn nf fnriv vonrs' stnndlnc to n safe system of
agrlculturo whereby the farmers of on entire
state might bo Induced to raise tneir own iceu
mill thus mnke cotton a cash crop. Rut the great-
xi- Hin mills, tlm creator the Incentive with him,
nnd ho entered unon tho work with enthusiasm.
With n staff of sixty men tho campnlgn was
carried on for a period of thirty-five days, approxi
mately 1,500 meetings being held in forty-nlno
different counties, covering tho entire cotton belt
of the stnte. The speakers were not eloquent
orators. They were men who had given their
lives to the study of ngrlculturnl problems and
knew their subjects from A to Z nnd bnck again,
Thev nolnted out to tho farmer the folly of buy
lug food nnd paying a big profit to someone else
when ho could Just ns well ralso that food at
home and save this big profit. Likewise they told
him that if tho fnrmer up North could raise grain
nnd beef nnd pork nnd sell them to tho Southern
GUARDS PUBLIC HEALTH
"After the war, what?" is the ques
tion which thrusts Itself beforo many.
What will flow from tho maelstrom to
uffect the health of the world?
Dr. William O. Rucker, one of tho
assistant surgeon generuls in the Unit
ed States public health service, who
has just won a Wellcome medal nnd
money prize offered for tho discussion
of this subject hy mllltnry surgeons
of the United States, has told why va
rious diseases have flourished at tho
lines of conflict; how the military san
atorium men met their tasks; the ef
fect of tho changed conditions upon
tho health of men and women, the sol
diery nnd home workers; tho weaken
ing of the "vicious chain" of Intem
perance, vice nnd pauperism ; tho caro
of tho human wreckugo; tho hope for
the future, and the need of watch
against making this country a dumping
ground for the left-overs.
"In this country we nre Interested
in tho health of Europe In pence and in war, because we have been forced to
learn tho Interdependence between America nnd foreign nations. We must pay
tho prlco for the privilege of wntchlng tho tragedy. We know that we hnvo
farmer nt a profit on hinds valued at from .$100 to drifted near to the maelstrom, and we know that unless wo are very careful
$200 an acre, tho Southern farmer could make
nn even grentcr profit by raising theso commod
ities for himself.
According to the Llttlo Rock chnmher of com
merce this campaign added $30,7-11.150 to the
value of tho agricultural products of Arkansns, a
fact which Is proved hy government stntlstlcs.
Rut there were other benefits of that campnlgn
which nre not so easily measured. This hugo
Increaso does not take Into nccount the money
saved and kept In the state by tho farmer who
raised his own food at home money which In
otlier years had gone out of the stnte, never to
return. Nor does It take Into nccount tho fact
that by raising his own food, tho farmer enjoyed
a better living than ever before.
Thus ono by one tho states of the Union nre be
ing covered by Professor Holden nnd his army of
expert talent, the campaigns In each Instance be
ing pertinent to the direct needs of the people.
They tnlk about soil Improvement, crop Increase,
sanitation, better homes, better roads, "swat tho
fly," fruit nnd vegetable canning, nnd n multltudo
of other subjects whatever, In fact, thnt will tend
to the advancement of the health and homo com
fort for the farmer, his wife, his children, house
servants nnd farm help.
disease In Europe will mean disease In America. We have bulwarks in the
immigration and quarantine stations. Sanitary education is advancing by
leaps and bounds; the public knows the dangers of epidemic diseases and
Insists upon prompt action If an epidemic gets past quarantine.
PLEASED AT BANKS' ACTION
EQYPT'8 OLD CIVILIZATION.
As early as 3500 B. C. Egypt Is known to have
first come under tho rule of n single dynasty, but
before that dnto stretch centuries of progress,
When tho Romans swept over Britain nfter Road
Icon's rebolllon they destroyed villages of wig
wains nnd reed built over circular excavations;
when they camo to Egypt tho pyramids of Glzn had
Tho 12 Federal Reservo hanks
oversubscribed on 24 hours' nottco a
00-day loan to tho government of $50,
000,000 at tho rnto of 2 per cent a year.
Tho money wns borrowed on 00-
day treasury certificates of Indebted
ness to r-elp tide over the government
till June, when the great stream of in
come nnTl Internal revenue taxes will
flow Into tho treasury. An additional
$50,000,(K0, It was announced, may
be borroived In tho same manner be
fore tho iloso of the fiscal year.
Teiuoorary financing of tho gov
ernment 'n this manner wns made nec
essary bj the depleted condition of tho
balance n tho genernl fund of tho
treasury, reduced to approximately
?5S,0O0,O0d and facing n further reduc
tion of $25,000,000 when tho govern
ment would Issuo a warrant for thnt
amount In payment of tho Danish
West Indies.
Tho Issuo of certificates of Indebt
edness to run not longer than ono year and to hear interest at a rate not
exceeding 3 per cent hns been authorized by congress up to $300,000,000, and
tho recent Issuo Is tho first to bo made under this nuthorlzntlon. In addition
Secretary McAdoo has authority to Issuo $47-1,000,000 In bonds for variifua
purposes. "This Is extremely gratlfvinc." snid Sorrninrr. MnAfi in nnnn.m,.-
been stnndlng for nenriy 30 centuries, and Caesar ing tho action, "nnd shows not only a fine spirit on tho pnrt of tho reservo
borrowed tho Egyptian calendnr, which was 13 cen- banks, but Is nn additional demonstration of tho usefulness of tho new
tunes oiuer man mo pyrumius. reservo system to uie country,"