Agricultural.
A Word About Silos.
So far as silos constructed and used
«ast season have come under our obser-
vation they have not withstood well
the combined action of acetic acid and
water and moisture. This relates
to silos constructed of stone under
ground and plastered with hydraulle
cement. The cement, under the com-
bined action of the acid and external
water, will crumble and fall off, leav-
ing wide areas of the walls in a de
nuded condition. In all silos acetic
acid is developed to a greater or less
extent, and this in the form of vapor
comes in contact with the lime in the
cement and forms a fixed salt, an ace-
tate. When this occurs the wall Is
weakened and falls as soon as the
contents of the silos are removed, It
should be known that vemented walls
are not impervious to the irflow of
water. Although cisterns will hold
water, if left empty in wet places, wa-
ter will find its way through from
without, and numerous silos con-
structed on the sides of hills where
there are springs were found to haye
several feet of water in them last
spring. Considerable loss resulted
from this cause. All silos should be
constructed with drains, and it is
very important that the drain s should
be trapped #0 as to prevent a current
of air from passing in under the con.
tents of the silo. As a rule, where
silos sre constructed underground it
will be better to plank them inside of
a rough, dry well. The planks will
last nany years and need but few re
pairs, If ensilasge 1s to hold its place
in popular estimation, much is to be
learned in regard to the construction
of pits and in methods of ensilaging.
There is little doubt but that the cut-
ting process, which is so expensive
and laborious, may be dispensed with,
and it will be found that it 1s better
to partially dry the fodder in the
field before putting it into the pits,
If 25 per cent. of the walter Is re
moved it will eost much less to hap-
dle the fodder and the value will not |
be in the least diminished. |
Btraw iu Place of Hay.
Colonel F. D. Curtis bas been ex- |
perimenting in feeding farm animals
npon straw in place of more costly
hay, and finds a profit in it, provided
a suitable amount of grain be given |
with the straw. Last winter he found
himself short of hay,but with plenty of |
straw, and he gives in the New York
Tribune his experience in substituting
the cheaper for the dearer fodder, The
straw was fed chic fly in cold weather,
as the animals had a better appetite
then than after the weather became
warm in the spring. A horse ate 54
cents worth of meal and 60 cents
worth of straw in seven days, that
would have eaten $2 worth of hay in
the same time, if hay alone had been
his food, thus making a saving of
more than one-fourth, Milch cows
working oxen, and young cattle all
did weil with straw and corn fodder
as a part of their ration. The butter
made was of excellent quality, and
the milk yield higniv satistactory.
He found that bright straw far horse
driven on the road Is superior to hay, |
as they will not so readily overfill |
themselves as with hay. Plenty of |
graic must be given with siraw to
animals of hard work. He believes |
that farmers can sfford to sell a por |
ron of their hay, and then purchase
grain to feed with their straw, and
make a profit by the exchange. 1
i# no new thing to feed s'raw in win-
ter to farm animals; but it was not
until such experiment rs as Professor
Sanborn and the agricultural ehem-
{sts showed the philosophy of the
practice that farmers have felt free to
adopt it as sound policy.
Home-Made Fertil'zers.
The following directions for making
home-made fertil'zers are fram the re.
port of Dr. Catting, Secretary of the
Vermont Board of Agriculture : “Take |
500 pounds of bone meal (dust), the |
finer the better, Bift if you ean get a
fine sieve, 80 as to save 100 pounds of
the finest, Pat the coarse part of it
into a tub or box, and wet with water
until it is moist ; it will take three or
four pailfuls; then slowly add two
gallons of sulphurate secid, which
weighs at least 14 pounds {0 the ga'-
lon. Btir continuously ; it will foam
and boil. Let it stand twelve hours,
then add another gallon of acid as
betore, and while it is hot, so that the
lumps break easily, add the other 100
pounds of bone meal, This will then
weigh about 850 pounds ; add to it im.
mediately 1650 pounds of dry loam,
woods dirt, muck, or, if these are in-
convenient to get, you may add sand,
though I like woods dirt or muck best,
This, of course, has been previously
pulverized and sifted. Should you
choose, put all together, mix perfectly,
and you have a ton, It has cost you
about $8, and as far as my experiments
go, and others that have tried the
sume way, it is equal to any ton of
nitrogenous fertilizer used, I Dee
about two hundred pounds of this to
the acre, and find it =a good as any
fertilizer I ever used costing $45 a ton,
I find it better than bone cut with
sulphurate acid until it contains 15 per
as Prof. Babin in his addresses hos put
dewn as the most valuable superphos-
phate, I rrrived at this formula by
experiments against reason, as the
chemist would say ; but as I have ex-
plained, it is just the mixture that is
acceptable to the little rootlets of vas
rious plants, Next to this I find from
75 to 100 pounds of bone-dust to the
acre, without any preparation except
to mix with dry woods dirt, so it can
be evenly distributed—say 150 pounds
of dvst’ to 500 pounds of loam—and
then apply broadcast, as before, put
ting this amount on two acres.”
oo
Forms and Habits of Fishes.
Professor Bickmore Tells About Spinal
Development.
formation, coloring and
curious spinal development of:
the pumerous vaneties of bony
fishes were illustrated and de-
goribed in a very entertaining man-
ner by Prof. Bickmore at the Ameri-
can Museum of Natural History. A
type drawing of a fish's vertebrse was
exhibited on a screen, showing that
all the different bony paris of a fish
are essentially the same. Alteation
was called to the variation in the
forms of fishes, and Prof, Bickmore
explained at some length the various
combinations in the formation of fins,
From the common dorsal and caudal
fins this part of a fish's anatomy 18 so
developed as to form wings which en-
able fish to fly, and legs which enable
fish to creep on the earth.
A drawing of a flying fish was dis-
played on the screen and its charac.
teristics wera bric fly described. The
Professor said he had seen flying fish
The
was a8 fmooth as glass and fly a con:
siderable distance, The dolphins, he
said, exhibited great sagacity in ochas«
ing the flying fish. A dolphin can
usually jaodge a flying fish's power of
remaining in the air so accurately thal
the former can swim under water and
come up to the #r riace just in time to
exhaustion.
fish,
The dolphin is a vera.
and often hunts sround
Hatteras some time ago, one of Prof.
attracted their attention by
The body
color. While dying the dolphins
eolor changed from yellow to silver,
then from silver to gold. The gold
and silver hues then alternated, chas-
ing each other like fleecy clouds,
Fishes have a very keen sight, bu!
their senses of hearing and smelling
are not so acute. Any sudden changes
of light are qickly noticed by the mem.
bers of the finny tribe. The eyes of
fishes vary in siza, Bome fishes, which
swim down near the deep bottom of
the sem, where there is little, if any
light, have large eyes and are also pro-
vided with a phosphorescent appen.
dage looking som:thing like a bundle
of rags, which apparently lights their
pathways through the dark and mys.
terious depths, There Is a class of
upward instead of onward. Another
Fishes
that lie on one side, like the flounder,
something in the form of legs,
This flash, he said, frequently made
long journeys over the grourd in
search of water when the stream or
lake In which it was originally had
been emptied by drought, The pecu-
liar shapes, colors and habits of angel
flashes were touched upon. Not only
the bodies but the fins of some angel
fishes are found to be completely cov-
ered with glistening scales, Bands of
various colors encircle the bodies of
moat of the fishes of Lhis class, and
the variegated appearance of some
angel flashes remind a beholder of the
top of a Japanese box. The angel
fishes swim around in quiet lagoons,
and procure a large part of their foo
by knocking insects off from over
hanging bushes along the shore.
Toeir peculiar shaped mouths—some-
thing like a bird’s bill—enable them
to shoot tiny drops of water, with fatal
force, at their prey. Fishes have a
great many nerves but very few
brains, There is in each fish a ret of
muscles and a set of nerves for each
set of vertebre —N. VY, Times,
Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co., pub-
lish for Robert H. Smith, Professor of
Engineering in the Mason BSclence
College, Birmingham, an excellent
little hand-book on ‘Catting Tool
Worked by Hand and Machine,’
which contains fourteen folding plates
and fifty-one woodcuts,
The customs collectors at Boston
New York, Baltimore and Portland®
have been lnstrusted to reseive pro
posais for the construction of sheds for
imported cattle at the quarantine sta.
cent, of soluble phosphoric acid, such
tions t be established at those ports,
Kemorable and Eloody Com-
bats between Canvasmen
ard Townsfolk,
“1 was jost reading,” said an old
showman, *a letter from Billy Cole,
and it set me thinking about men
being killed with circuses, I’ve been
with shows many a year; used to
travel with old Dan Rice and Uncle
John Robinson and Forepaugh, and
I've seen many a tough battle between
the jeople and the showmen, When
I joined they used to hire canvasmen
ss much for their ability to fight as to
work. A canvasman watching the
tent is just like a man watching his
home. He will fight in a minute if
the outsider cuts the canyas, and if a
crowd comes to quar‘el he will veil
‘ Hey, Rube!’ That's lhe circus rally-
ing cry, and look out fr war when
you hesr it. Almost eyery man about
a show, no matter what he is doing,
will start and rush fcr the place that
ery comes from ; and he will take any
weapon he can lay his hands on, too.
Sometimes the parties that cause the
trouble are knocked down and the
matter ends, and sometimes others
take their part and the fight lasts a
long time. I've heard them yell ‘Hey,
Rube!’ many a time, and seen as bad
fighting as I did in the war, 1 was
with the old Van Amburgh party
when they did tough work, I tell you.
Thera was the fight at Bteubenville,
Ohio, in 1857, when they killed three
of the outsiders, and lost a man in
Murfreesboro, Tenn., when John Lins
got killed. In 1858, at Toledo, a boy
tried to get under the canvas and a
showman struck him. Some one
reieed the cry of ‘murder,’ and thers
was a fight, and finally they arrested
the whole show. In 1855 we had it
hot at Rockland, Me, A party forced
themselves into the pideshow, and
tried the same game at the circus door.
They were crunk. Billy Simpson,
the
big show de
order. The gang thought they could
way that gang was done up was a cau-
tion. Beven corpses, I think,
show,
had another just like it.
“In Patcrson, N. J.,
Dick Bands was told the gang was go-
ing to tear his show to pieces, so he
goes over to New York and gets Tom
Hyer, the fighter, who then kept the
Punch House in the Bowery. Tom
got a gang, and when the fight began
it was & stunner, Hyer had about
twenty; men from the Bowery
they went at it with « will
never
What was the worst fight? Why,
the Robinson show in 1875
show had a fight there ones and
were killed, and the Orton show
cut to pieces there,
night there. Onedrunken fellow goes
into the Robinson
threw him out bodily. He went up
town and got a gang.
gang waited around until
on the e:ri they commenced, Gil
Robinson asked Uncle John what to
do, and the old man says: ‘Let 'em
swear all they want to, but if they
ghoot, give ‘em the best you've got.’
A shot was fired, and they went st it.
The show had about fifty carbines,
and they were all in good hands, The
fight began about halt-past 8 o'clock
in the afternoon and lasted until 11 at
night. They charged and fought in
the streets and about the cars, and
twenty-three were killed and more
than fifty wounded, It was a regu.
lar battle. The show lost seven men,
They finally got the train away, but
the people undertook to saw down a
railroad bridge just out of the town.
As the train passed It a volley wap
fired and one man killed. The next
day they were at Crockett (then
Huntsyille), Houston and Galveston.
The suthorities took the show bills
and sent out warrants for all the men
whose names were on them, but they
were lost by the Bheriff, and that
night Robinson got his people and the
most valuable part of his show on
poard a boat and went to New Orleans
leaving 8 good deal of property be
hind him and giving up a dozen
towns where he was billed to appear,
The show has not been in Texas since,
“The reason {he show loses so few
men is because they are prepsred for
fight, As soon as it commences they
seize the first weapon that they can
find, and fight as bulldogs fight. No
run there. They have to stay. If they
run, they are simply going away from
home and sesistance, Then, you see,
practice makes perfect, and they are
generally cool and sober and know
what to do. Forepaugh got into a row
in Kentucky, and had a running fight
for three days, aud they finally sent
a regiment from Louisville to protect
and get the show out of the Mtate, John
O'Brien used to have what wes called
the “Irish brigade,” and woe it was
to those they battled with, There have
been several cases where the militia
have been cslled out, and the whole
show arrested. Cooper & Bailey's eircus
had a fight at Quincy in 1872 and a ne-
gro policeman was killed, The flre-bells
wera rung. the militia came, nr d every
man belonging to the show was ar
rested and held until the following
day, when it was shown that the
policeman was in the wrong and the
circusmen right. Harry Gise, the
boss canvasman, was fined $400, how-
ever, for hitting the policeman De.
Mott & Hilyard’s cirous was surround
ed after a fight in Iowa, a few years
ago, and all arrested. Besides these
general rows I've to d you about there
have been a great many cases in which
& revolver has been drawn, usually by
a drunken man, and the showman has
dropped dead or mortally wounded.
Many an owner of a show has died at
its door, some drunken brute who
want«d to force his way in firing the
fatal shot, John May, a clown with
Mabie's show, was shot in Missouri in
1855 by a party who did not like his
jokes,
James McFarland, of the Spanlding
& Rogers party, was killed at Liberty,
Mo., in 1858
er for Buckley's exuibition, had his
cause he was drunk.
Robinson’s eircus in Crittenden, Ky.,
other lives were taken.
game way at Lincoln, Ill, in 1860
That was a bad yer for do rkeepers
and proprietors, Bill
tor, was shot down st his
Grandby, Mo. Den Orton,
show, was killed at the door
showing at Boston,
Whitby, of the
dox r
while
Harry Whitby &
Colonel C. F. Ames was
Bill Lake's
Wild Bill, and he
mar ried
to stand
hand, but they
cus door, especially in the Bouth., It's
wild boys come in fill up with
In Texas it's not unusual
-—nw
Domesticating the Partridge,
We believe that the partridge can be
An attempt was made
partially successful. In seyere
heavy
feed in common wilh pouliry.
tion.
One evening we found a full grown
It was a strong, floe bird, and did not
seem afrald, sithough, after the habit
of its kind, it was quite wate! fal. We
it, but its effort to release itself was so
severe that we resolved to give it its
liberty, Strange to say, it seemed
s rateful and allowed quiet handling
We had seversl broods of young ehick-
en, and at feeding time it regularly
appeared among them for its portion of
food, At night It made its home on a
low grape trellis, and on occasion of
any one passing beneath it would
make a alight nose and would permit
a touch of the hand. A bit of red
color iu a dress or in any other shape
always seemed to execlie it, and it
would chase the children up sod down
the garden walk as long as the offen.
sive color was displayed.
As cold weather approached the
bird sought warmer shelter, and found
a roosting place in the chicken house
very nesr the fowls, He had remained
with us nearly the entire summer, and
suddenly disappeared, the probability
being that he was stolen.— Catekill
Examiner,
At a recent sclentific meeting in San
Francisco snnouncement was made
of the discovery In Bouthern Oregon
of a large deposit of nickel cre resem:
bling that dis: overad in New Caledo-
nia in 1864, the development of which
by the French has so greatly extended
the economical use of this metal. Tie
new Caledonia minerals are known as
garnierite and noumeite, both hydrat
ed silicates of nickel and magnesia,
occurring with chrome iron, stestite
and other minerals fouod only in
serpentine. There are, likewise, two
of the Oregon minerals, one dr rk aod
the other pale apple-green, like those
of New Caledonia, and closely corres
ponding with them in hardness and
pool fle gravit,,
Literary.
i
Mr. Arthur Nicols, F. G.B.,, has
written a book ent'tled *'Zologleal
Notes,”’ which tales up the structure,
affinities, habits, aud mental faculties
of wild and domestic animals, and in
cludes many anecdotes conceraing and
adventures among them, as well as
sketches of some of their fossil repre-
sentatives, Mr, I. Upcatt Gill, Ne,
170 Btrand, London, is the publisher,
Dr. George Macdonald’s new volume
name of “Orts,"” is worthy of far more
consideration than its title is likely to
obtain for it. Among the topics dis-
cussed are * Phe Imagination,” “The
Art of Shakespeare,” “The Elder
Hamlet,” Wordsworth’s Poetry,”
“Shelley,” and “True Christian Min
Istering.’’ Bampson Low & Co., Lon-
don, are his publishera,
“The Vezir of Lankurau’ will be
the first m«dern Persian play ever
printed in Europe, The volume will
comprise the Persian text,explanatory
notes, a glossary, a grammatical in-
troduction, and an English transla-
tion. The work will be out shortly,
and will be used by Mr. Charles Schel-
er, the director of the school of living
course in the second half of the win-
As a brief account of English authors
-y
Special marks of kindness and at-
tention should be received with dis
cretion, for it Is far better to refuse
privileges which were never intend.
ed,
It is not now considered correct (o
introduce visitors whe are calling at
the same time, and considerate viei-
tors will obviate any awkwardness by
taking their departure Immediately
upon the arrival of & stranger.
When at a dinner.party a gentls.
man is introduced to the lady whom
he is to take in to dinner, he should
converse with her until dinner is an.
nounced, when he should offer her
his right arm and conduct her to the
dining-room.
A new frame for small mirrors and
pletures has the top and left side about
vne-half the width of the botiom and
right side. It is covered with plush,
and a small owl placed on a perch or-
naments the upper right hand corner
lhe
To Explore the Everglades,
There is a prospect that the Ever.
glades of Florida, celebrated in poetry
and in history, yet withall a compara.
tively unknown land, are now for (he
first time to be thoroughly explored.
The novel work isto be done at the
expense of the New Orleans Times
Democrat, and a number of thoroughs
ly compitent gentlemen, eugineers,
Dr. J. Beherr's condensed * History of
English Literature,’”’ translated from
the Germam by M. V., and published
ssme attention. Dr. Bcherr praises |
M. Taine's work highly, though differ.
ing from him on many points. His
work on English lit rature that has
recently come from a German author
Miss Anna Buckland has written a
a book named “The Btory of English
Literature,” which is one of the most
fascinating works of its Kind ever
written. Its'rikesthe happy medium
between critical and narrative writ.
ing, and happily combines blograph-
ical and deecriptive accounts of the
great English writers, with a fair esti-
mate of their chief works, Jtis jus
the book to put into the hands of the
16 year-olds, Petter, Galpin
& Cn, are the publishers,
Mr. Grant Allen's slender volume
on “The Colors of Flowers,” which is
published by the Macmillans in the
Nature Series, is expanded from an
Cassell,
the Cornhill Magozine, and was
warmly commended by Mr. Charles
It is writ.
Mr. Allen heartily believes,
Bar>n de Malortle has written a
the interference of foreigners in Egypt
a free hand, He enforces the
with the blunders of their patrons,
and that their mistakes are mainly
Much valuable information is packed
into the vealume, which is the latest
LY piisn politics,
os
Points of Euquette and
Decoration,
Gentlemen do not wear gloves at
dinner«parties,
The finger-nails should never be cut
or cleaned in public.
The custom of removing the glove
before shaking hands is no longer
obligatory.
The latest thing out in table covers
are of coarse netting over bright-col
ored silk.
Make your leave-taking short, and
do not dally, but depart gracefully and
politely.
Spun-glass napkins costing $100 a
dozen are a recent addition to the sup-
ply of luxuries.
A unique clarct jug is In the form
of an upright cockatoo in beautifully
enameled glass,
New shades for the westibule are
seen in white and ecru linen embri.
dered in Kensington Jdesigns.
Exquisite curtain draperies of Ma-
(ras silk have a plain center, and bor
ders of satin with gay floral designe.
There ia a great demand for brass
portrait plaques and placque pictures
done on porcelain for hail and library
decoration.
New brass candiestioks to set nag sre
made like censers, with a socket in
the centre, and are accompanied by »
tray and snuffers,
Lustra painting is & new art, and
ean beapplied to every fabric from
velvet to linen and also to wood and
the warious articles made of terra
cotta,
Pretty and inexpensive screens oan
be made by covering an ordinary
clothes horse with dark felt or plush,
upon which Chinese crape piotures
may be mounted.
In buttonholestitching the bottom
of a flannel skirtt, first double the
flannel as if to hem it, and baste it In
place. This will give firmness to it,
and it will last twice us Jong.
draughtsmen, writers and guides are
The
known as early as the time of Ponce
de I.eon, and it is insisted by some
writers that he referred to this beauti-
ful and poetic, though decidedly myes-
terious, miasmic and swampy region
when he gave (o Florida ils name,
“The land of Flowers.” They first
came prominently into public notices,
however, when the Government went
to war with the Beminole Indians,
commanded by the wily chiefs Oscecln
and Billy Bowlegs. It may still be
remembered that the cor fliet in ques
tion was a long, expensive, and, fora
time, 8 most disastrous one, The In-
dians knew every foot of the wast
swamps and dense forests into which
led our troops, while
more mystified and discouraged a: the
unequal contest went on.
Many yesra have since gone by.
The Seminole war has passed into his.
tory, and the once heroie band of sav
ages has, in the Indian Territory settled
community, but the Everglades stil]
remain silent and unknown, The ex-
pedition which is now to explore them
has started from the mouth of the
Kissimmee R ver. snd it Is expected
that it will descend that stream ings
the much-talked-of Lake Okeechobea,
which is supposed to be in the centre
of “The Dark Peninsula.” Having
fully explored the lake snd the char-
acter of the lands in and around is,
the trip is to be continued by way of
the Caloosahatchie River and other
smaller streanis and the eanal of the
Dieston Company to the Gulf of Mexi-
at Punta Ross, the point from
which the telegraph cable now leaves
the mainland for the West Indies, and
from which it is expected that sa rego-
ler line of steamers to New Orleans
will ultimately be established. As
has been intimated, the primary ob”
give the world some account of a
region which, for all practical pure
poses, is less known than Central
Africa, Incidentally, however, iti is
expected that exploration will result
in the opening of the rich lands of the
Everglades to the cultivation of rice
and sugar, and it may bein the es
Tablishment of extencive settlements
and commerce,
WEA
The Love ofthe Eagles.
The largest birds of the eagle species
are found in the Wood River Moun-
tains. They have often been knowm
to umit devouring weakly rabbits and
squirrels, and to bave shown almos,
human kindness, An event which oo
curred ten days since at Foster's ranch
above Hailey, fully establishes this
trait of the Wood River variety. One
of the ranchers saw a huge eagle flutter
over the barnyard, interested in a fad
turkey, snd immediately secured his
rifle, The first shot broke the eagle's
wing, and in its crippled condition it
wobbled and flopped around uttering:
screams of pain, The naan wae walch-
ing the result before firing again
when he discovered another eagle
eying from a distances, It was evi.
dently =» mate of the first one. Like
an arrow it flew to the rescue, and,
examining the wound snd secing its
mate could not escape, it took nold of
it by ite claws and beak and flew ilo
the monntain side, where it laid down
the vietim of the sportive hunter.
During the past seven days the men
on Foster's ranch have noticed each
day that the mate carried food to the
wounded bird regularly, and is yet
feeding it upon rquirrels, rabbits,
birds and mice. Mr. Foster could kill
the birds any day, but hss refrain ed
on aocount of the affection displayed
between them. A small Ameriosn