The Commercial Appeal from Memphis, Tennessee • 45

THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL MEMPHIS SUNDAY MORNING MARCH 31 191VL SHOALS DEVELOPMENTS Wat They Are and What They Mean to the United States in War and in Peace True Loijallg Demands For Conservation For Economy For Better Results you SHOULD FEED Pilot Wheel FEEDS BY GEO DEVEIjOrMIiXTS faMrenching 1 imiMrtane) to the we'fari of the L'ntttd States In tinu'i of berth war and pmp ra taking i at UiiHnl Shoals Ala dtvrlopinuiU that must xwowsullx have trcciMdoui hearing on the vital question of lUfcwsfJl military offense and defense and that will confer such esonwiie benefits tlst these cannot now be gauged with any degreo of accuracy The government Is already constructing two Mnenroncy nitrate plants there that wil extract mtroeen fiuu the air for use In the preparation of ammonium altrue Uhe form in which nitric acid is shipped) so essential In the manufacture of gun cotton snokeltM powder and explosives during actual war snd fur com-nton with Ifmrst'tnn coke srd pno- phorie acid Into a high-grade fertiliser u'leiiry to rcsloratUsi of roll fertility in war and peoca They are being mailed to-completion with all pcH si fie rapelltr l'remdeRt Wllron has already authorised ronitrkcuoR of power and navigation nam on the Tennessee River at Mussel Miosis at which I'nited Slates army en-gir e-fra have reounniended ultimate in-stailaMon of hTdro-eloctric machinery for generating 4to000 horsepower The Mlisie Pliala Nitrate plsnt No I is locatei on a government owned reservation of 17U) scree It- will use the synthetic ammonia process of air-nltrarwi fixation which has never been employed on a large wiue Only on Lnu le new boine wietrtcrvl It will 1 roe between and lfi000OW and if it proves ouwessful four additional units will be ins-'slled A 6WV horsepower team Plant la being built In connection v-ith ka oi-d the entire contract Is In the hands of the White Englneerinr Corporal! a of New York wrtalch is doing the work on the rest-plus plan Han-t No 1 will begin producing ammonium rate this Himnier Nitrate plant No 2 Is being built on A tract of Xbi acres the government has soffuiml on the south side of the Tennessee I liver at Mussel Shoals It will uae tl-e cyanamid proceea which has proven so successful In Germany England Franca Italy Austria-1 1 unhsry Japan 'and Canada It will cost 8VjCC0 ard I'-a output wilt be quite 30 times ae large as that of the single unit at No 1 Of exceptional interest is the care taken to -provide comfortable and sanitary accommodation for every workman Houses for the most humble negro and nia family are models of their kin 1 The only requirement made of or au pants Is that thev keep their premises neat and dean Between 8000 and hWJb are now employed snd this force will be increased to maximum of 16060 The buildings are similar to than at the various cantonments In the sooth Frotision is nleo made for fowling these workmen at the ncmlnal rate of IS cents a meal Two men halls have bean constructed to accommodate 71508 men each in the short apace of 1 minutes without confusion lIsnt Ncx is being constructed by the 1 Air Nitrates Corpmhtlon ar organisation wlthoit capital stock but financed by tbs government and officered by experts of the American Cyanamid Company This arrsng(Tient has been perfentv-d with a view to eliminating official red Utw and expediting the building of this plant The Weetirahmisa Church Kerr company of New York has the main contract doing ihe work under the direction of the Air Nitrates Corporation The White Engineering Corporation Is building a rteium plant tlmt will furnish flnono horsepower while the Alabama Power Company will transmit 4)wi horsepower from its auxiliary steam plant on the Coosa Ban Patch SPECIAL HOBSE FEED The Champion Horse Feed AND Arrow Horse Feed A Good Strong Snappy Straight Grain Feed at a Popular Brice AXLE I-K3 Three or four years will be required for its completion Tho probable initial ln- stallatlon will consist of two units of 20000 horsepower each and three of 40000 each giving 163000 hydro-electric horse- power Building of dam No Insures early 1 construction of lock and dam No 1 which will bo for the sole purpose of providing navigation on the Tennesee iUver between Florence bridge and dam No XL This will cost but little ss it is to be only 800 feet long and 15 feet high and it is expected that the funds will be furnished through appropriation by the rivers and harbors committee of congress Dam No 3 will increase navigatloi through the Mussel Shoals stretch about li) per cent while It will afford only a part of the potential hydro-electric en- I ergy at Mussel Shoals And Just now when President Wilson Secretary of War Baker and Director General of Railroads McAdoo are urging development of inland i waterways for both power and navigation 1 purposes on a scale never before dreamed of it is confidently expected that the ad Wired LTa PILOT WHEEL FEEDS River thus insuring 100000 horsepower for the operation of Nitrate Plant No I until power dam No 3 has been completed This plant It is announced will employ up wax'd of 4000 men when ip operation Power Development Col Hugh Cooper who built tbs Keokuk dam on the Mississippi Kiver 'ho has been Identified with some of ths most Important hydro-electric developments In tho United States and South America and who is an engineer of both ratlorul and international reputation has been recalled by the War Department from France for the specific purpose of building this dam He is already at Mussel Shoals and is now working out preliminary plans for this great engineering This dam jss now scheduled will be built by the government to the point where hydro-electric power will be delivered on the switchboard for ths operation of nitrate plant No and for such other purposes as may be deemed expedient It will be 4500 feet long and 104- feet high snd will be equipped with a triple-lift lock It will be the largest concrete dam in the world requiring 1304000 cubic yards of this material Preliminary estimates place the cost at about 910000000 50 per cent of the cost of the low-grade product now being ueed The American Cyanamid Company has recently completed a 94000UU) plant in New York harbor at Waraeys for the manufacture of ammonium phosphate This plant obtains Its fixed nitrogen in the form of cyanamid from the company's cyanamid factory located on the Canadian side at Niagara Falls and its phosphoric from phosphate rock shipped by water from ltd own mines In Florida This company located in Canada because no cheap hydro-electric power was available In the United states for operating electrio furnaces which are essential In I the cyanamid process The power development at Muesel Shoals however I makes successful operation of this pro- ceM possible at this point and since there are plentiful supplies of nitrogen limestone coke and phosphate rock im-' mediately at hand it will be possible to produce a complete fertilizer containing from 60 to 70 per cent plant food at one-half the price which American farmers are paying for the Inferior fertilizer containing 32 to 24 per cent plant food which they are now using In such limited quantities Just what this vastly increased supply of high-grade nitrogenous fertilizer at such greatly fTUuced ccst really means can only be approximated now It is known that production of cotton and wheat- Is steadily decreasing despite the stimulus of an advance in prices of approximately 200 per cent within the past three and a half years The per acre by rapid 4-11 The per acre dropped ds of lint In 3814-15 pounds in J917-1S The per acre yield of cotton has stages from 2G62 pounds to 151 pounds in J917-1S TTTE guarantee prompt ship- ments cor lots or less- on -wire notice We draw our supplies from the Memphis mill and can fill your order 20 days quicker than foreign brands The Big Rush is on the Spring Farming Campaign must go forward Be loyal to your customer and fill his order I Cole-Mclnlyrc-Mcel COMPANY Wholesale Distributors MEMPHIS TENN a yield or wheat la sharply below what It IF M-0UWE8 was when the war began What Experiments Prove Experiments conducted tn England over BUY SSL be adopted in due course The latter will be located 15 miles north of No 2 and the -rltlal Ir Jtallatlon at this dam recoimrenjod by the United States army engineers is Id units of 18000 horsepower each thus furnishing ISOOuO additional horsepower It will be 6425 feet long and 40 feet high Ultimate plums Involve not only maximum hydro-electric power on the Tennessee River but also linking these power dams with those to be metalled on Little River and on Tallapoosa- River Both these streams have very large storage capacity while navigation requirements preclude storage in the Tennessee Kiver Thus during ths months of low water and reduced energy in the latter supplementary power will be transmitted rroro the other two sources The tleing up of these enterprises will not only Insure the maximum of 660000 hydro-electric horsepower but will also render this available commercially throughout the year -This will exceed by 85000 horsepower the amount available on both sides of Niagara Falls It is estimated that this power can be produced on the switchboard at one mill per kilowatt hour with a return to Ihe government of four per cent Interest annually on tho sum Invested In the dams locks and power houses after charging off 10 per cent each year for depreciation of machinery and two per cent for all other depreciation It Is also estimated that it can be profitably sold at 17 to 99 per horsepower yecr The industries using this power can ur located not only at Mussel Shoals but within a radius of 240 miles the present established limit of commercial distribution Navigation Improvements Its construction will not only Insure this large Increase In hydro-electric power tut it will also canalize the Mussel Shoals stretch of the Tennessee IUver Its total distance of 82 1-2 miles and remove the one overwhelming obstacle to navigation on this stream through Us entire length of 652 miles It will provide six-foot navigation with a possible increase to nine feet if this becomes desirable It will thus open for easy and rapid development the rich natural resources of the 44000 square miles comprised in the basin of this stream The Mussel Shoals Hydro-Electric Power Company and ths Alabama Power Company have -donated to the government all the riparian property they had acquired on either side of the Tennessee River at Mussel Shoals and arrangements have been made with practically all owners of lands which will be overflowed ss a direct result of the construction of dams No 2 and No 8 for compensation on a mutually satisfactory basis The way Is therefore regarded as perfectly clear for power and navigation developments on as large a scale as may ba deemed expedient The foundations for them dams snd their power houses have been thoroughly tested through diamond-drill borings mode by United States army engineers and hsye been officially declared wholly satisfactory Pi Early White Dent Early Yellow Dent Mosby Prolific North Carolina Straw- berry Bloody Butcher Blue Ribbon Early White and Yellow Dent Mexican SJ June County White Johnson County White White Pearl etc Seed Irish Potatoes All Varieties ElISiSjET SOY BEANS COW PEAS HO 25- OLIVER 4 IH 1 RIDING HO 25 A Slossage: The olil single hone cultivator wag very good In ita day Hut how can we now with the scarcity of labor anil high jifices a ford to wasto that time when a Riding Cultivator wil take the place of two men and two mahope cultivators and do the work better and in less time? For goodness sake make some figures and com-' pare No 35 Oliver Disc Cultivator is perfection itself any boy ten years old or colored man can learn to use it Just as he can learn to -miss a stump with his wagon or driva an automobile Then why not investigate? Oliver Disc Cultivators are used for making ridges bedding or listing for cotton corn and potatoes It cuts stalks can be converted into a Disc Harrow the best In the world for early or lata cultivating It destroys ths early grass snd wesds without cutting the tiny roots of plant which stunts the plant growth right at the start No 25 Cultivator Is furnished when wanted with four or six rhovel spring tip and spring tooth (aids harrow) gangs hence four In one All of the above gangs are quickly adjusted to suit any ridge or level cultivating without leaving seat Write or call on ns for further Information WE SSIX THE BEST SEEOS THAT GROW Alfalfa Clovers Grass Seeds Rape Garden Seeds Flower Seeds Etc Sorghum Kaffir Corn Milo Maize Plant Tuekma Brand Seeds Plants All Kind Benefits Ti a period of 60 years show that each pound of nitrogen per acre Increases the yield of wheat 1-3 bushel of grain and 40 pounds of straw corn 6-8 bushel potatoes 12-s bushels tobacco 10 pounds and cotton five pounds This formula applied to the current acreage in cotton even on the present low per acre yield would increase the crop by 360000 bales for each pound of additional nitrogen used adding approximately 1000:000 hales for every three pounds per acre The results with wheat would be equally stupendous and in the case of each there would follow quite as Important a difference In price as in yield difference between normal and current famine quotations 85 cents vs 9320 per bushel for wheat and 10 cents vs 83 1-2 cents per pound for cotton basis middling upland Ter acre yield and per acre fertilization are very intimately related Frank 8 Washburn made the statement in 1915 that Tf the United States had an adequate supply of cheap fetilizer and used this at the German rats per cultivated acre and secured thereby the same increase In production obtained by the use of fertilizer in that country there would be a net gain in crop yield in the United States over and above ths cost of ths fertilizer of 81000000000 a On the basis of present prices the result would be a net gain of approximately $2000000000 Nitrogenous fertilizer lz not being used now because its efficacy Is not fully proved but because It cannot be secured except In a most limited way and because when It is available thp price therefor is practically prohibitive The cyanamid process plant Mussel Shoals will not only produce a dependable supply but It will also reduce the cost so greatly as to make Itp use profitable and therefore more universal Transportation Saving In addition to cutting first cost to the farmers GO per cent this process at this plant by virtue of central location and navigation facilities at hand: -will greatly cheapen transportation and other handling expenses Mussel Shoals is at the head of all-the-year navigation on the Tennessee River which flows into the Ohio at I'a-ducah Ky This fertilizer can therefore be handled on 14C00 miles of inland waters at approximately one-half of the ail rail rate now in effect without taking into consideration the difference in plant food content The ratio of plant food in the fertilizer to be produced at Mussel Shoals Is fire to one compared with that now being used It may be conservatively stated that the combination rail and water rate on the output of this plant will be only one-fifth per ton of plant food or the entire Mieeissippi basin compared with the rate per ton of plant food on the product row being used This will mean a vast saving to the farmers In that area as well as in all parts of the country Fifty per cent of the fertilizer used in the United States under normal conditions is applied within SCO miles cf the location of this cyanamid process plant and 9 rer cent within mile As a result there will be furtb-er large saving In transportation cost aside from that Involved In difference in plant food content Saving la Labov This nitrogen eons fertilizer is the only known effective agency for Increasing per aero of cotton wheat and other farm products without requiring increased Ifcbor and it therefore closely touches the cost of food which can be reduced cnlv through increasing the per acre yield Tests made at the Ohio Experiment station have demonstrated that such a fertilizer in the case of corn and oats effect a labor saving of 50 per cent and In the case of ICO p-r cent Tests made at the Missiesippi Experiment Station have proved that in the case of cotton labor efficiency increased per cent cn the fertilized farm since one man can produce nn such a farm as much as three men eon produce on an unfertilized one cf equal natural richress The fertilizer bill of the farmers in the United States in 1314 the lart yesr whet supplies were normal was ilSSd'-distributed as follows: Nitregen th- sr-rcric R-jI S-l? rrfk and p-i "VO If this cyanamd pre-ce-s IU nothin more than cut this it would save the farmers STT-Tt-1 per annum on the nitrogen and phosphoric acid certzInel therein Eliminating an Extravagance Rut it will do much more than that because It will release tons cf o't-irecd meal nw usd fertilizer' he -v'se of its ccn'e'jt for rt u--h urrj'4e of frwi-j cvt'Ie stok The: waste in th country today r- '3ilv "Aorr'iri-d a- the rf thi highly rijaVe and very ev-i ivualve iivduca scii fertilization Xt Vegetable rn rvji MSI nl tv 5 Ph nn Jyk 69 Scuth Front SL Memphis Tens The Mail Order Seed house iSg8Bg Ths principal Immediate military benefit to be conferred by these nitrate planes will be to render the United States forever Independent of the natural beds of nitrate of soda in Chile the present sole source of supply These deposits are SM miles distant they belong to a foreign government export rates thereon are high and steadily Increasing ocean snipping space Is practically unobtainable and exhorbitantly high and there is the ever-present danger that these beds may pus under the control of an enemy Power These plants will furnish a thoroughly dependable supply of ammonium nitrate and they will do this under the most favorable conditions because tl) they are situated well within the safety zone estabiisaed by the war college they are located in the -heart of a section of country which Is difficult of enemy attack and which lends itself readily to successful military defense and (3) they are within comparatively easy reach of tho majority of powder and munition plants and government arsenals which require largs quantities of ammonium nitrate the most important single element i entering into their products And in the event the government i -early defined policy of cor-1 certrating its rowder and munition plants 1 with-n inis safety zone as instanced by i the powder plant at Nashville Tenr and the Mg munitions sstablish-' menus at Charleston Va it is re-i garded as wholly within the rinse of probability that some rf the present arsenals in t-xpotr-d territory mav be concentrat'd on property adjoining there? nitrate plant In this cornecti-n may to rotid that addition ro the ummo- T'jrr iil fate available at Mussel there are vast quantities uf other cs-e-ntial munitions materials ti 1 rud'- of t- four hundred miles tetton and Paters ce'se and etevl cr rltto Is ad zinc srd sulphuric arid I outstrip its principal competitor In ths I north snd east The hitherto para llelot hirdwood tins-i her for ests In the lowor Missloippi Valley art japilly aiwin aarinir zu have I thv In Illinois Indiana Ohio ird other great state virgin tracts are difficult to find giant trees are becoming i scarce hauls are increasing and prices for hardwood lumber are higher lhaa ever knewn A ew region must ts fo ist The greatest virgin hard- 'vH(4 foirtt'a in tills oomitry ay Iri the upper ixn of the Terresee iuir and ns trlnutaries Theo irnc-rs si Me iiow bit they trill he rrr-Ierei a veil Able ov the navirttir-n improvement row Msf made at Mivrd nhoals ar-i with water for logs snd with hydro-ci tra power for operating cniiis hardwood pris-m of the future will it Is ex limestone the iron ores and all the other essentials in the way of raw materials However it has but lew electrio furnaces those modern giants of efficiency vrnlch easily overcome ititch-pkorphcroua cr high-sulphur content because cheap electric energy with whicn to operate them is lacking The developments now under way will supply tills energy and the prediction Is confidently made that ths Birmingham district vU beqome by virtue of this new power eieat-st iron snd el-el producing district in the United States labor is cheaper there than in any of tne other big districts the necessary raw materials are at hand and the cheap electric power is in procees of being developed at a far lower cost than In any other steel manufacturing district in America The textile Industry in the south has seen its greatest development In the two Co retinas not because they can secure either cotton or labor more cheaply thn other southern stares because water power has fce-n available therein cn a very large scale Georgia Alabama Mississippi and Teri-have had to rely largely upon expensive steam power snd this handicap has been so great that tby have made comparatively small progress Tnse states can be provided in large measure with cheap hydro-electric power from Mussel sihoais which is now lacking and when this Is obtainable they will be at as great advantage over th Carolines as they are row at disadTasl ge The south is now consuming mure of its cotton than all other gland divisions of the United rttt-a cosrblned and it 1 not illogicel to tfcut the south with tn's new impetus will even more raplolg has been demonstrated that on tho basis of cotton at 39c per pound and cotton seel at 13 per ions there vaa a ios in 1911 of S3 70 cn every acre of cotton on which cottonseed meal suhetltutej for other fertilizer of equal nitrogen content that on ths bazlz of cns-half of the i50col aero in that year there vtt an absolute css to ths farriers rf Tim per acre yield of cotton nd fool-etuff crops i rot keerirg race wth growth poj illation ti: 1 the cczt or i la moujitirsu Though pricit were rot advancing so Dt t-e same condition prevtlle before the war as Indicated by the tart that population this country increased 21 per crt from tv 1810 as asolnat an increase in food pro (Suction of otiy per cent The cost of in the United States Increased K'( per cent from It'S to D12 and a large portion of tk-a increase was attributable to food alone Tiiiia the economic benefits which experience 1:3 proved will fallow this- supply of high-sraoe fertiliser at HufcKel Shoals wiT bo share-1 wherever bread is eaten and wherever clothes are worn A Soatiiera Industrial Impetus The hydro-electric' power to be produced at Mussel Saoain will prove a powerful stimulant to the development of the vast raw material resources in the Tennessee river basin and within the entire area In tl-is electric ener-gy can be successfully distributed Vl-e v'il suffice: The I'-irminghsm di'trlct is already the third larg-st pred cr of iron ore in America IiJt it 1 only in its infancy It has tiie coking coal the OLIVER WALKING FE a Good cultivation Is the next best proposition for Increasing tle crop yield The ground must be stirred often with good cultivators if you expect a good strong healthy stalk and big fruit Oliver Walking ard Riding Cultivators are the bsst general purpose Southern Cnltivstcrs made Perfect in design and workmanship adjustable to any shape ridge or level cultivating: can be supplied with four or six-shovel spring trip or spring tooth side harrow) gang also Disc gangs on riders or all the styles if wanted All kinds of shovels and shapes These cultivators run steady light easily handled and do the same work better In same time than two men with two one-horse cultivator The above combination is the best deal for every farmer this year Writs or call on us OLIVER CHILLED PLOW WORKS PLOW MAKERS FOR THE W0FLD i No 29 Hotel Street Memphis- Tenn i erted show material rwernon AM it is r'eo logical to antimpate that woodworking sttru will rollcw this rew ti-n-lcr anl liiThers-Jpciy J-rt they are -loirg tolar in the llissllppi Yaly and that both water intirmtition and cheep elertrlc (vrey v-iil play an inyeriMt part in brtiirg down rrices of Ivignes rntomohiies asri-ixtiursl ltpements ana the other rnhl-s frolLCts into which hsrdwcod lumber crttm Economy la Fnel labor Ths fre! caving that will f'Vlorr there devnlopments as Mussel Shotis wI3 ran lmo millions of tors of coal ancuaYy how much it wil he dei-erds cn xfc efflricnry of ergltes and toleni now Stea T7r exlrailnr er-eray from co1 friinncfl inch equip-me In ibis pr of the onrtry seeurei iCoctlnued on Pace 14 Third Coiuma Whst It Meant to tSie Karxaert In times cf war ruarly all the rltro- lien fxed fren the -sirr- f'-here hy r-imts will he re? Mired -n y-rod'K-tlcm of rif-tie rr purely military St times of a irrsl- re cf eurri-t e-j sfeV re-ir av-il- 1 fo- t'-'c I- v-i- ii vita o-'her riemcrra st se yt a terv'-'zcr iina hart the 1 farmers the country at.