December 28, 1918 



HORTICULTURE 



G-ir, 



work will always challenge the skill 

 of trained workers — although of near- 

 ly all industries this may be said of 

 other than chemical lines. In our 

 own industry there is a large field of 

 exploitation open — needing coopera- 

 tive action and sure to yield large 

 results, both for the advancement ol 

 the profession, and for the pocket 

 books of the practitioners. 



THE ALSATIAN POTASH DE- 

 POSITS. 



The mere loss of a manufacturing 

 ndustry, no matter how highly devel- 

 oped, is far less serious than the loss 

 of a supply of raw materials. Manu- 

 facturing industries based largely on 

 foreign raw materials may be easily 

 transplanted ; the productive forces, 

 the capital, the enterprising spirit, the 

 technical training and commercial 

 connections involved are comparative- 

 ly mobile and may be restored after 

 overcoming a certain amount of dis- 

 turbance during the period of transi- 

 tion. The loss of raw materials, on 

 the other hand, is final and irreplace- 

 able. The mere mention of ore, pot- 

 ash, and petroleum is sufficient to in- 

 dicate the significance of Alsace-Lor- 

 raine' in the German outlook as re- 

 gards to raw materials. 



As to petroleum, Alsace produced 

 prior to the war 42 per cent of the 

 total amount of 120,000 tons of crude 

 oil produced in Germany, and while 

 the yield has increased somewhat 

 lately, it is still of slight importance 

 as compared with the total German 

 consumption of petroleum. The pot- 

 ash deposits are of far greater im- 

 portance, both from an economic and 

 politico-economic standpoint. It is 

 true that the potash deposits in the 

 other parts of Germany are more 

 than suflRcient for domestic consump- 

 tion and export. But the loss of the 

 Alsatian deposits (about 10 mines be- 

 longing mostly to the German potash 

 syndicate) will deprive Germany of 

 the world monopoly which it has 

 heretofore enjoyed and take away 

 from it one of the few weapons of 

 economic defense. While the state- 

 ments in the Allied press to the effect 

 that the Alsatian deposits will be suf- 

 ficient to provide potash for all coun- 

 tries outside of Germany may be ex- 

 aggerated, the fact remains that the 

 loss of these deposits is of extreme 

 importance. The potash monopoly, 

 the Berliner Tageblatt asserts, en- 

 abled Germany not only to fix the 

 prices for foreign markets above 

 those for domestic consumption, but 

 also to offer an important product In 

 exchange for raw material produced 

 by countries depending on German 



potash. The loss of the Alsatian de- 

 posits will therefore put an end to 

 the independent export policy of Ger- 

 many as regards potash and will 

 force it either to cut prices or enter 

 into an agreement with the new own- 

 ers of the Alsatian deposits. — U. S. 

 Commerce Reports. 



RECONSTRUCTION COURSE IN AG- 

 RICULTURE IN OHIO. 



Agricultural reconstruction prob- 

 lems are to be given careful consider- 

 ation in a special eight weeks' course 

 at the College of Agriculture, Colum- 

 bus, beginning January 6 and ending 

 February 28. The subjects taught 

 will be live-stock management, soil 

 fertility, farm crops, dairying, fruit 

 growing and gardening, poultry rais- 

 ing, farm management and farm me- 

 chanics. While this course is in 

 charge of the same faculty members 

 as the four year course, it is distinct- 

 ly different and especially prepared 

 for the busy farmer who wants to get 

 the last word in agricultural informa- 

 tion and as related to current condi- 

 tions. 



In commenting recently on the ad- 

 visability of enrolling in such a course, 

 Major W. S. Pealer, of the State Draft 

 Headquarters said, "I personally from 

 my knowledge of the agricultural con- 

 ditions existing in Ohio would urge 

 every agricultural worker to avail 

 himself of the opportunity offered by 

 such a course. This country must 

 prepare for the readjustment and re- 

 organization that is going to follow a 

 signing of peace and one of the prob- 

 lems ia. going to be that of agricultural 

 production. The scarcity of labor 

 must of necessity be made up by the 

 increased efficiency of those engaged 

 in such work." 



INDIANA'S GARDEN RECORD. 



During the spring and summer or 

 1»18 approximately 640,000 gardens 

 were planted in Indiana, which pro- 

 duced products of an estimated value 

 of $15,000,000, according to the report 

 of the Indiana county agent leader. 

 This number includes both city and 

 farm gardens and is based on repoits 

 obtained from 175 cities and towns. 

 The increase in the number of gar- 

 dens over 1917 was 28 per cent and 

 the increase in value 50 per cent. The 

 higher percentage of increase in value 

 can be explained in two ways. The 

 size of the individual garden was in- 

 creased in many cases, thus produc- 

 ing more vegetables, and the larger 

 number of people who gardened for 

 the first time in 1917 were more pro- 

 ficient gardeners during the 1918 sea- 

 son, and consequently were able to 

 produce more food on a given amount 

 of ground. According to the report of 

 the county agent leader, people living 

 on farms planted one garden for 

 every four farm dwellers — those in 

 towns of less than 2,500 population, 

 one garden per 4.8 inhabitants in such 

 towns, and those in cities of more 

 than 2,500, one for every 5.1 citizens. 

 Approximately 100,000 acres were de- 

 voted to growing vegetables for home 

 consumption in Indiana during the 

 past summer. 



Philadelphia. — A fine showing of 

 Belle Washburn and Merry Christ- 

 mas was a welcome sight in the 

 carnation market on Saturday. Four 

 inch flowers and thirty inch stems, 

 remarkably well grown from two- 

 year-old soil, and a credit to Mr. Get- 

 ter, grower for the liickley green- 

 houses at Chester, Pa. The Merry 

 Christmas is a darker shade of crim- 

 son than the Washburn. 



