APRIL 15, 1913 



our places when we ai'e dead and gone? 

 The above was suggested by the following 

 brief note from my long-time friend W. P. 

 Root : 



Mr. Root: — I enclose a clipping that is too im- 

 portant to lose. The closing up of it is especially 

 interesting. We are often told that in France, where 

 light wines are used, intemperance is practically un- 

 known ; and yet here we see it threatens to exter- 

 minate the nation. Experience teaches a dear school, 

 etc. It is worth reprinting. I found it in the Leader 

 last night, Nov. 24. 



Below is the clipping. Read it and pon- 

 der. Is there any moral to it for our own 

 United States of America? 



FRANCE HELD MENACED BY DECREASE IN BIRTHS. 



RECORD SHOWS 742,114 BABIES IN 1911 100,- 



000 LESS THAN IN 1901, AND EXCEEDED BY 



DEATHS; LEGISLATION SOUGHT TO BALK 



DEPOPULATION. 



Paris, November 23.^The birth rate of France 

 was lower by more than 100,000 in 1911 than in 

 1901. Louis Klotz, minister of finance, announcing 

 this fact to the commission on depopulation at its 

 fii'st session to-day, said : 



275 



" Military inferiority, economic inferiority, and the 

 diminution of the power of France in the world, will 

 sooner or later be the inevitable consequences of the 

 sterility of our nation." 



The number of births last year, according to M. 

 Klotz, was only 742,114 in the whole of France, 

 against 857,274 a decade ago. In 1907 and 1911, 

 he said, the deaths actually exceeded the births. 

 This was, he continued, a sad state of things, and a 

 great danger to the country, placing France in a 

 situation of inferiority in comparison with the other 

 great nations. The lower birth rate, while a per- 

 plexing phenomenon among all civilized peoples, was, 

 the minister said, a greater problem in France than 

 'elsewhere. 



The births exceeded the deaths in 1910 in Ger- 

 many by 879,113; in Austria-Hungary by 573,520; 

 in Great Britain by 413,779; and in Italy by 461,- 

 771; but in France by only 71,418. 



In the course of further remarks, M. Klotz re- 

 viewed the ineffective government and private meas- 

 ures taken in the past to help parents of large fam- 

 ilies to limit the hours of work of women about to 

 become mothers, and to reduce infant mortality. It 

 was necessary, he said, to study these and other 

 factors, including the evil effects of alcohol. The 

 relation of drunkenness to infant mortality would, he 

 declared, in future be studied in every part of 

 France. 



High-pressure Gardening 



DASHEEN UP TO DATE. 



At this date, March 24, some of my dash- 

 eens, planted about January 1, are nearly 

 two feet high, with leaves a foot long and 

 eight inches wide ; and I find the plants are 

 much the largest at the lower end of the 

 row where the ground is a dark mucky sand, 

 and c|uite moist, although the plants are 

 almost over a tile drain. I am sure our 

 reader's will be interested in the two follow- 

 ing lettere, espeeially the first, from the De- 

 partment of Agriculture. 



U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE 

 Bureau of Plant Industry. 

 Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction. 



"Washington, D. C, March 19, 1913. 

 Mr. A. I. Root :— Your letter of March 1 was re- 

 ceived some days ago, and we are glad to note that 

 you are so well pleased with the dasheen. I thank 

 you very much for the proof sheets of Gleanings, 

 in which your article concerning the dasheen ap- 

 peared. I was personally much interested in the 

 part of the article that preceded the one on the 

 dasheen. 



In accordance with your desire we have arranged 



to send you from our station at Brooksville, Florida, 



"seven pounds of dasheens under our number 15395. 



A sheet of cultural directions is herewith enclosed. 



Very truly yours, 



R. A. Young, Scientific Assistant. 



Mr. A. I. Root: — In re.sponse to your recent com- 

 munication regarding dasheens I will say that our 

 company has a quantity of dasheens for planting 

 this season ; but we have not figured on selling very 

 many, as they are in demand here. Last fall we 

 built a warehouse for them, and have been keeping 

 them stored, and they are now in good shape. It 

 would require about five bushels to plant one-fourth 

 acre. We could spare you five bushels at $2.00 per 



bushel, f. o. b. Brooksville, for seed. Less quantities, 

 $2.50 per bushel. 



Brooksville Development Co. 

 Brooksville, Pla., March 19. 



I was agreeably surprised to find the 

 l^riee already as low as $2.00 per bushel. 

 As Irish potatoes are almost if not quite 

 that at retail here now, it is no wonder 

 that many families at Brooksville are using 

 dasheen in place of potatoes. Our good 

 friend Irving Keck, who has just paid us a 

 visit, ■ says Dr. Kellogg, of Battle Creek 

 Sanitarium, has just bouglit a carload at 

 Brooksville, for their invalids and guests. 

 Now, with all this great excitement going 

 on, how is it possible no great seedsmen as 

 yet advertise dasheen? 



U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Bureau of Plant Industry. 



Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction. 



CULTURE OF THE DASHEEN. 



The dasheen requires rich sandy soil, very moist, 

 but well drained. The plants will not be gi'eatly injured 

 by occasional flooding of the land for a short period. 

 Such lands as the so-called hammock lands of Flor- 

 ida are especially adapted for the cultivation of this 

 crop. Any low-lying, sandy lands fairly well drained, 

 but still too wet for general field crops, can be used 

 to advantage. On these low lands it would be ad- 

 visable to plant on ridges. 



For best results a liberal amount of well-rotted 

 stable manure should be mixed with the soil. Where 

 the soil is very sandy, it is well to add a fertilizer 

 rich in potash. Planting should be done as early in 

 the spring as conditions of soil and climate will per- 

 mit. This may be as early as the first of February 

 in south Florida, and as late as the middle of March 

 or the first of April in the Carolinas. 



For field culture the tubers are planted, singly 



