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(C lie fltojjuun ana ,?outgron. Published Wednesday and Sa uulaj _ ?BY? OeTTKKN PUBLISHING COMPAN\ 81MTI.H, 8. O. fjl.50 per annum?in advance. Advert laucacnta. ^>n? Square firat insertion .. . .$10?. livery subsequent insertion.60 Contracts for three months, or leaser will bo made at reduced rates. All communtcatlona which aub aerve private intereata will be charged for aa advertisements. OMtuarleo and tributes of reaped will be charged for. The Sumter Watchman waa found vu In 1860 and the True Southron in leli. The Watchman and Sojthroi. now haa the combined circulation ant. influence of both of the old papers, and Is manlfeatly the beat advertie.n medium in Sumter. In Hrtrard to Nitrate of Sc da. Several lettera keep coming n ranking Inquiry about applying tor government nitrate of aoda. As was publlahed In all of the county papers, the time for making application for the government soda expired on the 4th of February. All of the appllca tlona were aent in to Waahlngton and I was Instructed that no others would be considered later. Thla haa been a aevero winter and vsry little epraylng of orchard4 haa been done, up to thla week. Th a year we cannot acord to fail to spiny all of the peach and apple tree.4 with lime and aulphur solution at the rate of eight gallons of water to oae of the concentrated lime-sulphur solu? tion. On account of my hating to handle the government nitrate of soda applications. I have no; be-m able to visit as muny of tho or chards In the county ss I had planned and I have to be away thla week attending the State agents' meeting at Omaon College. Dellclous fruit will be very much appreciated thla aummer when we are trying to comply wltU Mr Hoover's plana for saving /ood but WS cannot have It without spraying. There are a number of orchards in the county that are in good ah 1 >e at present. I feel aure that the people of Sumter have observed the improve? ment In the quality of the fruit put on the market In the past few yeara, all of which la due to apraylng and better care of the orchards. There la an abundant aupply of the concent trated llme-aulphur solution In Sum? ter end every owner of an orchird or a few trees should spray before the treat bud. J. Frank Wllllan a. County Afcnt. Yon Don't Have to Move to T>wn to <?et City Conveniences. Moving to town 1 to get the MMBOftl of modern home conveniencea la no longer necessary. We have our dnu> delivery of mails, and If we do not have rural telephone service It I* our own fault, for aa long as the pi i ?e of a telephone la only 19 and telephone wire can be bought for three cents I pound, or lese, the coat of Ina** nin? ths telephone la not prohibitive. "I'd like to have water and lights In my home If I were able to Instil! them." ssld a well-to-do farmer the other day. If every farmer had these conveniencea who Is really able to af ford them there wouldn t be much to complain about. a BOrMdS (acety lane) light plant ran be installed for Isss than $150, with rritcion It ,'htlng arrangement. The carbide light is a ??fter light than the electric, and I? Is every way a practical light f m- the country home. An air-tight (com? pressed sir) water tank with connec? tions and a small pumping engine SOU be provided at a coat of $100 and up.1 according to capacity of the tark. It la auid that nn energetic am pro greaalve farmer can get 11 .thing he wanta. but he must hist wmt it enough to make aome effort to get it. I With thouaanda of farmers It isn't a question aa to being able to own these modern home conveniences, but1 It Is a question aa to whether tle v will do without aotnethhig eine A leas eervlre and lens value, and th" only reason they do not own them It bt cause they have not yet realized their J value.?The Progreaalve Farme? London. Feh t: .\< |-or.ling t? a paoadent Of The Dally News facta have become known which1 bring the possibility of a ss purr, la peace between Austria? Hangs rv and the entente allies much nearer, 0 1 II reluetanO. be euya. is ntanlfSStsd In Austria toward the proapect of in ht Ing with the Itittiah and Am Orlens troopa on the western front. Waahlngton. Feh U ThS d< tig ot Private William Kogeis of IllerTnY S I' , Is reported by fjgfl I'ei sbini. London, Feb. It.*?Andrew Bonai Law, chancellor of the exchequer, BU nounced In the House of Commons to? day that action will be taken umb i th* defense of the realm SOt Sgalnst fot itepinir?<?n. prdMtary sorrsspoad? ent of The Morning Post, fOl in ;ir HS$t published In The Post Vond ? ? iflOf the censor had refused permi* mIoii to publish it. Frank II. Klitiouds on (.crrnuiiy'H K?OS| Move. Actually the Germuns will Ami themselves in February, 1918, in much the situation they were In two years before, when they made their great bid for victory at Verdun. Then they had disposed of the Russians for months. Now they have put Russia out of the war. Then they had cared for I'alkan perils by crushing Ser? bia. Now they have attended to Ital? ian threats for the time being. Then, us now, they were able to transfer troops from East to West and to con? centrate their great munitions re? sources In the West. In 1916 Germany struck to avoid the blow that was sure to come when Uritain was ready. Today her of? fensive must anticipate American participation in the war on a great scale, because when America enters In fact Germany will be for all time put on the defensive through infer? iority of numbers. Not to win the war before America arrives is to lost the chance of winning it attall, just as not winning it before Britain was ready would have meant not to win it at all, if Russia had stayed in the war. Russia's collapse restores something of the situation of 1916. Germany has reserves, she has artillery'- Her foes in front of her have no decisive ad? vantage of numbers, it they have any. They cannot attack now, be? cause to attack and to fall might lead to disaster, while to wait is to be as? sured of American help. If Germany, by striking, breaks France, then Italy will be easily put out of the war and Britain and America will be left to fight the thing out. This would not mean a victory of supreme propor? tions, for Britain and America will continue to dominate the seas, but it would mean mastery of the continent and leave Germany as Napoleon waf after Friedland or Wagram. Falling short of a decisive victory, the Germans plainly hope that they will produce such exhaustion in the ranks of their enemies that the foe will consent to talk peace and abandon the task of holding on until Americi gets ready, since America Is pure tc be a considerably delayed 'arrival These are the two stakes of the Ger? man gamble: Decisive success with the mastery of the Continent and the perpetuation of Mittel-europa, If the assault have the success which wa> not realized at the Marne or at Ver? dun; possible peace by negotiation oi reasonably satisfactory terms, if th? assult makes material but indecisive progress on the field but uses up the moral and material resources of the French and brings them to a willing ness to make peace before America I ready Similarly the program has obviom perils. An attack which does no bring victory fairly speedily, an at taek which becomes another Verdun, after the first few days, will unques? tionably awaken protest at home, Just as Verdun did. The military leader* have told a war-weary public that they can win the war if they are per? mitted one more try. The people have been partly persuaded and partly dragooned into giving their consent to the campaign. But It will be watched with suspicion and if It doer not produce rapid results it may lead to a change of popular sentiment aim a far more serious crisis than Gsr? many experienced Just before RttSSlS collapsed last year. Germany has her chance to win the war again. It Is not as good as the chance she had at the Marne. It If not nearly as good as the chance she had at Verdun, but it is a chance. She Is in all human probability, plan? ning to take it and to make the greatest military venture of human history, as great in this world war us Wag Napoleon's campaign to Moscow. In his day. And Moscow had similar stakes. Germany can attack, she must attackq, but to attack and fail means approximate ruin.?From the "Failure of Germany's Peace Offen? sive" by Fran II. ?Himonds, In the American Review of Reviews for February, 1918. Atinomicvmcnt. The many frtsnas of II Im Knthsr? h? Morse will be interested to know of her marriagS to Mr. George Nye. a prosperous bttSJaesi man of Wil? mington. Mm Nye has made her home in Wilmington tOt the past lew I' I i s. Parin Fei?, is Austro*German In radars In northern it.tiy are dally re sorting to increasing sets of vandal Ihen, violence, pillage and brutality according ??? statement! of prisoner! i iBtsjrod by the Italians, i Havas dli P 'b 1? from Home taj I wnb American Army In l\ranc< Tuesday. Fel, ||( Aside from 111 ero??.*rt serial activities the Amen son sector ho* been normal darin* tee last tweniy?foar boms Harrasi ISjg artillery fire ami patrolling opSl it lens have been kept up, bsjt thei ? hni e been I.ISShSS Tlie Aimi i. . runners are growing more acournt is their iiru every day? A PATRIOTIG CROP. HOW CASTOlt OIL PRODUCED IN THK SOUTH MAY gAVE Till; NATION. Manufacturers Record. It is conceded by military authori? ties that the war America and her Al? lies are waging to save civilization is to be won in the air. To this end. the United States is preparing for the the construction of an air fleet of 22, 000 aeroplanes, in which arc to be in? stalled the new Liberty motor design? ed by the best internal combustion en? gineers in America, who pooled their knowledge and experience with the aid furnished from the results achiev? ed by the Allies' engineers in order to assure a type of gas engine that would lurpass anything that could be accomplished through individual ef? fort. Since the development of thla motor experts, after exhaustive tests, found that the Liberty motor, like others of its type which run at exces? sively high speed hour after hour, re? quires a special oil for its lubrication. Without an oil that will thoroughly lubricate every part of the delicately adjusted mechanism, this powerful engine would soon pound itself to pieces. The oil must be one that wll. not carbonize, it must form a thin film over every bearing surface, it must flow under all conditions of at? mospheric pressure and work equal? ly as well under excessive heat at high speeds as under the freezing temperature of high altitudes. The only oil that has so far been discovered to answer every purpose is nothing more nor less than ordinarj castor oil, the kind we all became fa? miliar with in our childhood. Its use as a lubricant is not a new thing, for before it came into service as a lubricant for airplane motors it nil been used on engines of racing auto? mobiles for several years. Upon the decision of the experts that castor oil was essential for the operation of the Liberty motor, it 1 ecame evident that the production and stock of all the castor oil In the world would not begin to answer our needs for the large number.of air? planes we are preparing to construct, much less to supply oil for those of our Allies. So it was up to the United States war department to get busy and develop this agricultural product on a larger scale. To produce castor-oil beans, from which the od is pressed, requires a mild climate and a long growing sea? son. Castor beans have been raised :n small quantities in different parts', of tho South in former years, more! for show purposes than anything else,' though 30 years ago a castor-oil m.ll was operated in Texas, using locally j grown beans. Oil was produced to j the amount of several hundred thou-j sand gallons, but with the development of the mineral oil lubricants th31 planting of castor beans dropped to, practically nothing. In order to ge' the seed for this years' crop we had to import them from India. Hecause of climatic conditions, the government.' has had to turn to the South to fur? nish its castcr-oil supply and the war department has called upon South? ern States to plant 200,000 acres in' castor beans, which will develop an; entirely new industry to this section. I But the problem confronting the war department was how to get BO j large an acreage under cultivation b. , early spring and get farmers to plant a crop that they knew nothing about. As the government could not deal direct with individual growers, who could plant but an acre or so each, it was decided that the whole 200,000 acres required by the war de? partment this summer .mould be ap? portioned to the States most suited for castor-bean production and then lor the department to make a con? tract for several thousand acres each with responsible persons or concerns in the several States. These con? tractors are to subcontract with in? dividual growers. This method of creating this entirely new agricultural development was adopted also with the idea of preventing speculators from driving the price of the beans beyond all reason and to make sure of its supply the needs of the govern ment were contracted for. The gov? ernment has allowed to the contractm $3.GO a bushel for the beans, and Is guaranteeing to the grower or sub? contractor $:i a bushel f. o. h. at the nearest local Weighing and forward? ing center. By some the r?0 cents a bushel Whloh the contractors are to receive front the government If thought to be ?XOOSSIVS. The government, how? ever took into consideration that this Is an entirely new undertaking which requires the establishment of organi? sation! for the purpose of carrying 01 a campaign among the farmers in or? der to get them interested in the growing of tins unfamiliar crop, an Inspection every two weeks of the acreage under contract and reports tim government, cost of superin? tending Die working, picking and haa ling of the beans of individual grow e?s cultivating as low as an acre or ;\vo, until the crop is turned over to .he government after being cured, thraHhcd, weighed Bvttd ?hipped to central point, in order that the government might he protected, con? tractors arg required to give a bond of $1 per acre for the amount of their contract. The grower is pro? tected, if he is dealing through the government's contractor, by the guar- j antee by the government of $3 a hush el for the beans at a local forwarding | point. The South has been asked to fur? nish the castor beans needed to sup? ply the oil necessary for the war de? partment's demands, because, like | cotton, castor beam require a long growing season. The South can do' it. for two reasons: First, it Is a good' business investment, and second, as a matter of patriotism the South must do its duty in this as it is doing in increasing its production of food? stuffs and in supplying cotton and other materials vital to the successful conduct of the war. Whether or* not we can produce the castor-bean oil for our airplanes and those of our Allies might mean the. difference be? tween, winning the war or becoming a slave of Germany. To mention in the same breath castor oil and the great war seems to be turning from the ridiculous to the sublime, but the raising of castor-oil beans to save civ? ilization reminds one of the nursery rhyme that the King was lost, all for the want of a horseshoe nail. We must have castor oil, so the experts say, before we can hope to conquer Gtrmany through the air. This is the patriotic side of Why the farmers ol the South must grow castor beans. I^et us look at the business side of it. The government has contracted for the planting of 200,00t) acres in the South in castor beans. The gov? ernment has guaranteed a price to the grower through the contractors of $3 for every bushel of castor beans raised i on this contracted acreage. The castor-bean plant is said to be about as near a weed as .any plant, and it I grows as easily, requiring little ex-1 pense for seed, fertilizer and cultiva- j tion. The beans for planting are fur? nished to the growers through the! contractors, which are required to sell them at cost, probably $4 or $5 a bushel. One bushel will seed from 15 to 20 acres. The cost of raising the beans runs from $15 to $30 an acre. In return, the government of? fers and guarantees a price of $3 a bushel for the beans after they arc picked and dried r cured. Htfts, It is estimated, wiii i. (-ans probafory $50 to $100 per acre gr ?88. It la savd th*X on the poorest land in the more north? ern States of the South, where the growing season is ihort, a minimum of 15 bushels to the acre can be pro? duced, while in the rich soils and Ul Florida, where the growing season la longer, probably a crop of 60 to 60 bushels per acre e in be obtained. If the plants are got touched by frost, as would be the <;aae in parts of Florida, they continue to grow and can be cultivated fee several years. Owners of young orange groves and other fiuit trees in the South are urged to raise ca: :or beans between the rows, .as the cantor plant will pro? tect the young trees |n the winter and afford a partial shade in the summer without interfering with the growth of the fruit trees. From these figures the South will have added to the value of its agri? cultural products this year from the castor bean development probably over $12,000,000 In a crop entirely new and one that can only be suc? cessfully grown in this section. The farmers who come to the aid of the nation in furnishing castor beans will he well paid for their patriotism. Solve the Fertilizer Problem With MANURE Cost and efficiency considered it's The Cheapest Fertilizer ACOMPARIS N OF THE COSTS OF PLANT FOOD IN COM? MERCIAL FERTILIZERS AND MANURE BASIC PRICE PER UNIT Acid.$1.25 Ammonia.$7.00 Potash.$6.00 COMMERCIAL FERTILIZER Analysis? 8-3-0 cost per ton.$37.00 8-3-3 cost per ton.$54.00 10-2-0 cost per ton.$30.00 MANURE FROM CAMP JACKSON Analysis? Acid. 0.4 5 at $1.25.$ .00 Ammonia. 0.68 at $7.00.4.*6 rot; sh. 0.58 at $6.00.3.4S $8.80 ACTUAL WORTH OF MANURE BASED ON COMMERCIAL FERTILIZER $8 80 OUR PRICE LESS THAN HALF THAT Furthermore the decaying organic matter in the Madura is con? stantly adding available plant food to the soil, is Valuable both from a humus standpoint as well as a land build r Manure wiil show ie*<ilta for time years, and its cost divided through this period will show a much hi wer coat per unit of plant food thin any other fertilizer on the market We are daily making shipments of this pioducl into all sections of the country, and it is being received with e tire satisfaction on account of its ? xeel'ent qua ity and condition on arrival at destination, We will b* g'ad to make credit ar? rangement! with reiLorinible parties, or we will accept wood in exchange for n aniire Wood to be delivered during the summer months. Right now is the time l<> use Ma? nure. Write us today if you are interested in prompt delivery. We already have nume out orders booked for prompt shipment, but w\ 1 use our best efforts to make delivery in ac? cordance with your inatructioi s. V\ e specialize on car lot shipments. Cars average 33 tous. Buy a car in conjunction with your neighbor and save freight. Shipment Made From Either Point CAMP J VCKSON, CAMP WADSWORTH, Columbia, S. C. Spartanburg S. ?. Agents Wanted in Unoccupied Territory POWELL FUEL COMPANY, Columbia. S. C. C. H. DuRant, Local Agent Sumter, S. C