112 JAMAICA, A SECOND SIBRALTAB.g Interesting Facts About Great Britain's Chief West Indian Possession. ;f||jg KINGSTON, Jamaica (Special).—As part of the scheme to convert King ston Harbor into a great naval station in view of the expected early building of the Nicaragua Canal, the Admiralty has just bought Greek Pond, at the western end of the town, where the best equipped dockyard in the British ORINDING ARROWROOT AND CASAREEP. dominions is to be constructed imme diately. A naval authority says the inten tion is to make Jamaica "another Gibraltar to command the canal and be a rallying point for the naval and military forces of the Anglo-American alliance, when, by dominating both oceans, it holds the political and com mercial balance of power in the hol low of its hand." Jamaica, the chief island of the British West Indies, lies ninety miles southwest of Cuba, 600 east of Porto Rico and 700 northeast of San Juan or Greytown, the eastern end of the Nicaragua Canal. Kingston Harbor is a large land locked basin, available for the largest ships and capable of being impreg nably fortified. The island has a coast line of 500 miles, indented with many excellent harbors. It is traversed by lofty mountains in all directions. If Jamaica ever entertained any real hope of rehabilitating her industrial condition by political annexation to the United States, the aspiration has been finally quenched by the action of the imperial authorities. There was a time when it seemed as though the British Government was disposed to abandon Jamaica as a naval station, concentrating the military and naval forces in the West Indies at St. Lucia. It was even mooted that the War Office was prepared to dispose of the imperial real estate interests at Port Boyal to the municipality of King ston. The decisive and obviously prac ticable plans of the United States to secure a waterway across the Isthmus into the Pacific have completely changed the policy of the British Government as to the strategic posi tions in the Caribbean—supposing that the modifications indicated were really contemplated. One thing is certain: Great Britain never for a mo ment credited the bona fides of Count de Lesseps's Panama tide-level canal scheme, and after the collapse of the undertaking she apparently did make the precipitate mistake of contemplat ing the execution of certain strategic changes among her West Indian strongholds, which eliminated—or did not account for—the element of the Isthmian waterway. These plans were, however, suspended, in view of the movement in France to begin work again at Panama on a lock sys tem. If executed that would alter the aspect of affairs. Meanwhilo the American war with Spain occurred, one of the issues of which is the recognition of the necessity for a canal conti oiled by America, and the prob ability, amounting to a certainty, of its prompt construction. In either event, Jamaica becomes the key to the canal in so far as actual strategy is concerned. Port lloyal itself for some time past has been the scene of busy operations BARRACKS AT NEWCASTLE, JAMAICA, 4000 FEET ABOVE THE SEA. iu the direction of strengthening the old fortifications and extending new ones, •which gives color to the present assurances that it was never really the intention of the imperial authorities to abandon the station. Fortifications of the most powerful modern type, equipped with all the recent develop ments in military defensive art, includ ing electrical submarine mines, disap pearing guns, etc., have been erected during the last year or two at all the salient vantage points commanding this, the safest and one of the largest harbors in the world. As it stands, Port Koyal itself is one of the strong est strategic points in the Empire. But this is not all. Additional naval improvements are announced by the Admiralty on the lines suggested by Admiral Colomb. The ohief point in this scheme is to •stabliah a. naval daunt and donkvard inside of Kingston Harbor, and dis tinct from and independent of Port Boyal, which is destined to be one of the most extensive and fully equipped in the British Empire, and worthy to command the Isthmian waterway when it shall have been completed. To this end Government engineers have been busily surveying the foreshores of the inner harbor for months past, boring to considerable depths at all likely places to ascertain the geological con ditions most favorable for laying the necessary foundations. It has now been announced that a satisfactory site for the proposed dockyard has CULTIVATION OF SUGAR CANE, JAMAICA. been located at a place known as Greek Pond, to the westward of tho oity, a short distance beyond the rail way terminus. The selection of the site was, of course, necessarily dic tated by geological conditions. But, as it happens, none better, from a strategical point of view, could have been selected. The position is unique CABIB GIRL. for defensive purposes in every re spect—even in the remote contin gency of an enemy landing on the outcoasts, marching on the capital, defeating the military forces and at tacking the dock on the land side. More than this, the selection will prove a boon to the city of Kingston in two respects. In the first place, it will do away with a mischievous ma larial swamp, and in the next conduce to the extension of the city westward. The negotiations for the purchase of the requisite land having been com pleted, it is expected that the work of construction will bo begun early in 1899, thus solving in a measure for some time to come the labor problem, for it is said that the works will entail the expenditure of over §1,250,000 on local labor alone. What a good and timely thing this will be for the island only thoße can realize who are acquainted with its present condition of general industrial depression and social unrest. The aborignal inhabitants of Ja- maica, the Caribs, practice a few of the aborigiual arts, hewing out great canoes, from the gigantic forest trees, after the manner of their ancestors, making waterproof baskets from canes and rushes, lining them with wild plantain leaves, and many other little things from the bark and roots of trees and shrubs. They labor ou the sugar plantations for the white proprietors, go fishing in their dugouts along the coast, be ing expert fishermen and sailors, and greatly in request in the "sugar sea son," when the lighters and droghers have to be loaded in the tremendous surf. In their hillside gardens grow coffee, cassava, arrow root, maize, sweet putatoos, yams, plaintains, bananas, the various fruits of the tropics, pineapples, oranges, sweet and sour sops, sapadillas, etc., but their chief cultivation is the cassava and arrow root. The cassava may have been brought by their ancestors from South Africa, but it is apparent ly indigenous to the We3t Indies, having been found in use by the na tives by their first discovers. It has almost as many uses as the cocoa palm, which waves above all the huts along the coast, and the Caribs make it available in a variety of forms. The Carib, by the way, was the in ventor of the casareep, which forms the basis of the famous West Indian pepper pot, that concoction sought by all gourmets in the tropics. The juice is evaporated until all the poi sonous quality is driven out, when it becomes an ! antiseptic capable of preserving meats of every kind for a long period. This is placed in a big jar or earthen pot, and into it are thrown odds and ends of meat from time to time, which the juice of the manioc preserves and to which it im parts a peculiar and agreeable flavor. In Jamaica the chief cultivation of the Caribs is the arrow root, which roaches perfection there on the slop ing hillsides overlooking the Atlantic and Caribbean waters. They grate the tubers 011 a big wheel, driven by water or hand power, and their little root mills may be found in every ravine and water course ou the wind ward side of the island. The Carib type is that of u strong, well-shaped individual, with robust body, small hands and feet, pleasant countenance, somewhat flat nose, high cheek bones, coarse black hair, aud a complexion rather yellow than red or copper colored. It is probably the lightest in tint of any of our aborigines, being a clearer yellow bronze almost, aud in certain individuals approachiug "old gold." The men are said to pluck out whatever vestige they may have of a beard or mustache, but the hair of the girls and women is long, glossy black and abundant. They take great pride in their coiffures, aud almost any time some maiden lady may be seen seated on a rook in midstream, with sunlit water sparkling around her and tree ferns interlaced over head, intent on arranging her shining tresses. Queen Victoria's Crown, Queen Victoria's crown, or, to give it its full name aud style, "The Im perial State Crown of Her Majesty Queen Victoria," was specially made in the year of the Queeu's accession, and as it contains so many of the SS IMPERIAL CROWN OF JIEIt BRITANKIJ MAJESTY VICTORIA. jewels of the older historic crowns, it may fairly claim to be the representa tive emblem of English sovereignty. In sheer costliuess, if not in magnifi cence of design, it is uurivaled by any other diadem in Europe. Its weight is exactly 39 ounces, 5 pwt., troy, and its value has been varioualy estimated at from $1,000,000 to 81,500,000. The body of the crown consists of a crimson velvet cap lined with the finest white silk and finished with an ermine border. There is 011 the crown a grand total of upward of three thousand one hun dred jewels. Moreover, unlike many European crowns, the stones are really precious stones and not glass imita tions. The Koh-i-Noor, the most world-famous of all diamonds, is not, as many people suppose, set in the English crown. It is sometimes worn by her Majesty in a bracelet and on other State occasions as a brooch. In tl»e Weatlicr Hureau. The youthful prophet was plainly mortified. He had just been ap pointed and his first prediction had not been verified. "The reason wo didn't have that •term," he explained, earnestly— "Hush!" interrupted his aged supe rior. "In this business we never stop to apologize. Just guess again." —Puck. Each of the thirty-two oities in Massachusetts has one or more publio libraries, and only eighteen of the 321 towns are not so suoslied. [FOR FARM AND GARDEN! Wluit Calve* Want. If a calf has a ration of half oats .nd half corn and half a feed of it or t little more—that is, a little more lian half of what it would eat up clean 112 it had u chance—and if the place of he grass is taken by good clover hay, vith shelter from storms and protec ion from excessive cold, with plenty ■f salt and pure water, the calf will my for it all, even if corn were 40 :euts a bushel. We would not feed .n all-corn ration, because the calf oquires muscle-forming material, and >ats and bran are the cheapest foods if this kind. We would not feed all •ats or bran, especially in severe feather, because corn is needed to • eep up the heat and round out the uuscles.—Wallace's Farmer. Fatten Ins Food*. Buckwheat is very fattening and eems to have a whitening effect upon ho flesh. It is much fed by the Trench, who are quite successful tur ;ey growers,and it is thought by them hat this grain imparts to the flesh a lelicious nutty flavor much liked by heir epicures. Barley is also a fattening food, but honkl not be given iu as largo quali fies as corn, nor fed as often, as it is tot so easily digested, but it is very iseful to feed occasionally for a •hange. Sweet potatoes contain sugar .nd are consequently fattening and .re a valuable addition to the fattening ation when fed in moderate quauti ies. When fed in large quantities it s said they will impart a yellow tinge 0 the flesh. Warm th<« Milk. At this time of year it is often a dif icnlt matier to churn cream and ex ract its butter fat. Warming the uiilc to 140 degrees is an effective •einedy for this. It will also enable lie dairyman to get a greater amount if cream from the same milk than he itlierwise would. But the milk should tot be allowed to become much varmer than 110 degrees or it will uake the butter soft. As the warmed uilk is cooled pretty much all the ream will rise at once. It should be skimmed before the top hardens into 1 crust, as it speedily will. When put iwav to await churning at this season •ream should bo stirred once a day,so is to mix all its parts together and >reveut mould forming on the sur aee. Colt Trnlniiig. The training of colts should Begin A'hen they are quite young, when they ire easily handled and submit more eadily than when loft until older. I tee]) small halters which I put 011 hem when they are from one to two rears old, and begin by leading them iboilt; or, if working the mare, I tie hem beside her and it is very seldom .hat they fail togo along without any irouble from the first. There is 110 irouble about their getting behind and •tinning back when meeting other earns. A colt broken to the halter vhen yottug never forgets it, aud is lalf broken to work. After it becomes icoustomed to the halter a bit can be ;ied to the halter and the colt will 10011 become bridle-wise before it is >ld enough to work! This will save irouble for both man and beast.—J. IV. Shup in the Epitoniist. Spwflm lui'l Farm Drain*. While the under Irain 011 the farm if deeply laid is seldom liable to get >ut of order, it is very different with .he city sewer. Yet in the latter the jreatest care is taken to lit tho pipes ittto each other, so as to allow no ivater in the soil to get in. The city irain pipes are always glazed for tho tame purpose. We think litis is a mistaken policy iu those who lay the tewers. They cannot keep dirt from joining into the sewer through the gratings in the streets,and unless this aas enough water to flush the pipe frequently, some of this material will remain and obstruct the flow. The idea seems to be that a connected and glazed pipo is necessary to keep the .vater from coming out ut the joints if ihe pipe is full. We have had ex perience with many underdrains, and ire sure that there is no such danger 10 long as the sewer has a fall through out its entire length. Where the fall is greater the tile will not be full. When it comes to a small fall the pipe nay bo full, but it will not run out through the cracks, as there is a strata soil or gravel that holds it back, [f there were such joints between sewer pipes water would flow into them at other times than when the sewer is flushed, and it would bring with it enough air to help purify tho sewage, which, as it contains the refuse of houses iu cities, is often very offensive. If the city sewers wore made porous they are deep enough to irain much land 011 each side of them. —Boston Cultivator. Is Sweet Clover Valuable? To answer this question something must be known of the character of the plant. It grows spontaneously along tramped roadsides, even to the wheel ruts iu abaudoned roadways, and in tramped or sodden land anywhere. When found in meadow lands it ap pears not to occur except when the ground has been tramped by stock when wet. It grows by preference 111 old brick yards. It may be grown in fields by proper tillage. Viewing it in no other light wo thus see that sweet clover grows luxuriantly in places where few or no other plants flourish. But it belongs to the great class of logu minous plants, which are capable, by tho aid of other organisms, of fixing atmospheric nitrogen and storing it iu tho plant tissues (Ohio experiment station). IA belongs with the clovers •ud it may thus be used to improve tlio land upon whicli it grows,and this appears to be its mission. It occupies lands that have become unfitted for good growth of other fornge plants. Its rank then is as a useful plant, capable of increasing fertility of land. How shall sweet clover bo treated? The plant is the farmer's friend, to be utilized and not to be outlawed. The plant grows and spreads rapidly. So do red clover, white clover, timothy, blue grass and other forage plants, but sweet clover grows where they do not. Its presence indicates lack of condi tion for the others. Viewed in this way it is to be treated as preparing unfitted lands for other crops. It may be mowed a short time before coining into bloom and cured for hay. Stock will thrive upon it if confined until accustomed to it. The' roadsides, if taken when free from dust, may be made almost as profitable as any other area in clover by cutting the sweet clover and curing for hay. If this is regularly attended to while stock is kept from other lands that it invades, sweet clover will be found doing al ways the good work for which it is adapted. —American Agriculturist. A(lvjintaj;«s of l>lf*liorrilnjr. The losses from abortion, directly and indirectly caused by the useless and dangerous horns, is enormous in the aggregate. The lessening of dan ger to the attendants is an important factor in favor of dishorning. Scores of accidents have occurred where per sons ljave been badly injured or killed by cattle, not always bulls either, but young cattle and even milch cows have been known to turn on their at tendants and injure them severely. It is unwise to run auy risks when the instruments of danger can be HO quickly and easily removed. In the matter of saving of space in stabling there is much in favor of dishorned cattle. Milch cows need no stalls, even when fastened with chains, and certainly not if fastened with stan chions. As they do not quarrel, they can be placed closer together. Young cattle can be turned into a stable loose, and will be as peaceablo as so many sheep. The same may bo s>ud of fattening cattle. I have seen over a carload of fat cattle, averaging 1700 pounds each, eating peacefully togethei at mangers, all loose. Stockmen are beginuing to see the advantage in handling dishorned cat tle. Dishorned feeders aud fat cattle sell higher than horned cattle of like quality. While it is advisable to have all cattle dishorned, .it certainly is much more necessary to have all bulls dishorned. When thus disarmed there is no danger in handling them. They become ol> dient and tractable. A horned bull is a dangerous animal, al ways liable to be treacherous. He may be safe one moment, but angry and furious the next. Calves can be dishorned very easily when a week or two old. Trim the hair from where the horns are beginning to grow, wet it, and apply caustic potash. This will blistfcr it and kill the embryo horu. If carefully done, no scar will be noticed afterward. The potash comes in sticks, and should be handled carefully to prevent injury to the hands. If the blistering is done dur ing the summer, apply pine tar to the wound to heal it quicker aud keep the flies from it.—O. .T. Vine in Practica' Farmer. A Winter Attnck <lll tlip line*. The winter months aiford a good opportunity for the busy fruit grower to give his orchard a sort of"house cleaning." And unless he wishes to be overrun with all sorts of insect vermin, this should not be neglected. First, sharpen the ax, aud use it freely iu cutting out all peach trees that have shown signs of yellows, which trees should have been marked before the leaves fell; plum trees af fected with black-knot, peach trees tunneled by bores, and any trees cov ered with the gummy exudations of the little fruit bark-beetle. Upon old trees it will be well to give the bark a good scraping and iu this way catch many of the chrysalids of the Codling moth, hibernating pear psyllas, oyster shell aud scurfy scales. When pruning, all the cuttings should be burnt, as the crotchets and buds of the small t\yigs harbor count less eggs of the plant lice, especially the apple aphis on apple, and the hop louse on plum trees. The eggs of several orchard pests are quite conspicuous in winter and they may be easily picked by hand aud then burnt. The hard, gray mass of the tent caterpillar's eggs, the pen dant cases of the bag-worms, and the flat, white cluster of the Tussock moth's eggs, may all be readily seen, and these pests are best controlled bj such attention in^viuter. If auy trees are badly infested with the oyster shell, scurfy or San Jose scale insects, the winter is the best and almost the only time to advan tageously destroy them. Spray the trees thoroughly with a solution of potash whale oil s.iap, two pounds to the gallon of hot water. Kemembei that the scales will not be killed un less they are hit, aud the trees should therefore be carefully sprayed from all sides. Lastly, don't forget to rake up al) the leaves and rubbish around the or chard. Many an insect, like the plum curculio, hides in such refuse over winter and could be easily caught. l)on't wait until they are upon you. to do battle with the bugs; but steal a march on them and clean them out by a winter attack. —E. Dwight Sander sou, Maryland Agricultural College. Customs receipts of the 'United States treasury department now amount to one-half the ordinary ex penditure of the government. ARGENTINE'S LOCUST PLAQUE. Many Believe That the Country Can Nevei Be Free From Thein. The Argentine Republic is subject to droughts, and the crop rises and falls according to the weather. The worst thing, however, that the far mers have to contend with is the lo custs. The pest that infests the Ar- THE ARGENTINE LOCUST WHICH t ESTROT3 THE WHEAT CROP. gentine is fully as bad as the locust plague with which the Lord afflicted Pharaoh. Many people believe that the situa tion is such that the number of locusts will increase from year to year, and that the country cau never be free from them. They argue this from the loca tion of the Argentine. It is, you know, situated in the tetnperale zone, with a delightful climate aud a fairly good soil. Just above it lies Brazil, which is covered with tropical vegeta tion and vast areas of which will never be different from what they are now. Iu this country it is claimed that the locusts have their breeding grounds. They are produced by the millions there every year, aud as r swarm thinks nothing of a flight of 500 miles you can see that an army starting out from there is a dangerous enemy. They say that the locusts breed in Brazil aud annually start out for the south, eating up everything as they g°. It is hard to realize what a terrible thing such an invasion is. The locusts appear in great swarms, which ofteu darken the sun if they fly between you ami it. Tliey light on every thing green and begin eating. The branches of the trees bend down with their weight and you can hear the snap ping of their iaws as they cruuch the leaves. They often eat the flesh from the fruit, leaving the atones of the peaches hanging to the bare brauches. They will clean the crops from the fields, eating the grain down to the ground. Sometimes they will take the green wheat from one side of the road and pass by that 011 the other, and they sometimes fly on aud on for days over rich fields to feed on those beyond. The next swarm may eat that which is left. This pest of the locust has been sd great that the Argentine Government has been spending large sums of money to get rid of them. Among other things, they have sent to the United States for Professor Lawrence Brunei - , of the University of Nebraska, to investigate the subject aud to give them advice. The Argentine locusts look very much like grasshoppers. They are very prolific, and the greatest damage is caused not by those which come in swarms, but by the young locusts which follow. As tlie locusts move over the country they lay their eggs in the ground. Each female locust makes a hole in the ground and lays about 100 eggs, aud a month or so later these turn into 100 young locusts, who crawl out aud begin their march over the country. Their parents have pretty well cleaned up the crop. The babies start out to eat what, has grown up in the meanwhile. They cannot fly far at first, and they crawl along, eat iug up everything as they go. They cover the ground, crawl over the fences aud sweep the aouutry of everything green. In a few weeks they grow wings aud then fiy onward to other feeding grounds. No couceptiou can be formed of the enormous numbers of these lo custs. In one year sixteen tons of eggs were destroyed in one place. Billions of eggs are now being dug out of the ground aud crushed, aud to-day the Argentine farmers are fight ing for their life with the locusts. The methods for exterminating them are mauy and costly. Thousaads of dollars are spent every year to kill them. At the time of an invasion all the farmers must turn out and destroy them. They are caught iu traps of corrugated iron. They are scooped up with scrapers and killed; poisons uOCuST AT REST . pfflS PSP: ""KM W,'"' each q ' UOCUST U,/£V //>«! v UAYS ' > 100 EQGS are used, and the grass, plants and weeds are sometime" sprinkled -vith arsenic, kerosene aud creosote. They are caught in bags, driven into ditches aud are killed in all sorts of ways. Nevertheless, in 1896 it is estimated that §80,000,000 worth of wheat was thus destroyed iu two States of the Argentine. This impoverished the farmers of those States, and the Na tional Government spent $10,000,000 that year in giving them seed wheat. Two hundred thousand families, it has been calculated, are living in Lon don on >5 a week.
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