—
Agricultura.
Improving Wheat.
Before he can be successful in mak-
{img the best better by crossing, the
-ggperimenter must ve thoroughly &o-
- gquainted with his wheats in every
mespect. Bhould he wish an offspring
vowith harder grain than either of
its parents, with stronger straw, ete,
he must cross varieties that possess
elements that will make them so in
groper proportions. For instance,
should be cross a hard fiin'y bearded
wheat, that makes very poor flour
‘but has fine straw and grain well
' wslothed, upon a smooth weak-sirawed
svheat with fine grain, the «fly ring,
the first year after crossing, will be of
all colors, shapes and qualities—a
diversi'y of forms. The heads will be
sof various lengths—some bearded and
some smooth, some poorer in eveLy
mespect than either parent, and some
far superior, to all outward appear-
anges, After the crossing, and after
she first crop is ripe in the feld, selec
tion begins. In the first place the best
Meads are picked that are found on the
best straw and possess the best chaff’;
mext, after shelling, head by head, the
beat kernels are taken just as the stock-
saan selects his best pig, pup or
<hicken to breed from. Now, it m:y
be, and often is the case, that none of
& hese offspring are wortl y or as good
as either parent: if so try again and
again untilsuccess attend: your efforts.
If the proper rules are observed success
is sure to follow, at least in half the
% rials made by an experienced hand.
EE
Breed Up.
Ifs common cow has the marks of
= good milker it is wisdom to breed
from her. Whether or not her calf
will inherit her good qualities time
alone can tell, It is right here toat
the value of improved stock is greatest.
Its charscieristics are fixed and will
be reproduced. It is here, 00, Where
the value of a registered pedigree is
apparent. The fact that a book cup-
tains the brief statement of the ances-
troe of an animal is nothing of iteelf,
8B ut the fact that it tells that an ani-
mal has certain’y come from a long
iime of ancestors which have regularly
transmitted their characteristics is
very thing, for it not only shows th ©
t he animal itself possesses the fami y
characteristics to a greater or less de
gree, but that it in turn will be able to
transmit them. The common COW
may reproduce herself, and she nu y
not. The purely-bred cow will repro-
duce herself, with possib y slight vari-
ation, under proper breeding. It is
seo often the case that the owners of
~SOmMON COWS get an erroneous impress.
salon when their attention has been
salled to the desirability of improving
“their herds. They are convinced, per
haps, that it would be to their inter.
est to breed up, or rather to improve
the character of their herds; but,
thinking that the on’y wi y to do this
is to purchase outright, they may mot
feel hike going to the expense, Some
of the best cows im the country are
crosses of our common sto 3k with the
improved breeds, and If a man owns
& common cow that has proved her
self & valuable dairy animal he has
excellent encouragement to use her
for croseing. It is eve y¥ man’s duty
to breed up. It is throwing aws)
mmony to Keep an inferior Animus
when we can just as well kave a bet
Ger one. ne
Value of the Poultry Business.
Every business that incresses na
* gional wealth and promotes indiyidaal
. somfort and prosperity possesses an
4 nterest to the philanthropic commen-
surate to its importance. It Is im-
practicable for census reports to fair y
« epresent every industiy. Should it
fd» e done In the simple matter of poul-
try and eggs the figures would aston-
sh those who have given the subject
«only » mere passing thought. Iam
= ertaln that the value and importance
of the poultry business as a source of
astionsl wealth has not been fully
appreasted. Judging from the census
r eports of the State of New York I amo
1 od to believe that the actual value of
poultry in the United States 1s scarce
1y realized. ;
There can be but little if any less
r&b an three million farmers’ families
An the United States that keep poultry
hens simply. It is reasonable to
wu ppose that on an average each fami
Ay keeps at least ten hens, and that
+onch hen lays 100 eggs annually. This
awould give an aggregate of 250,000,000
«dcsen eggs, Which at a net valuation
.o 1 10 cents a dosen to the producer
would make the net proceeds to the
~Iarmaers $85,000,000! Does this startle
«the reader 7
In New York alone, twelve years
report set down the
$8,000,000, making the enormous sum
«of $5,000,000 expeuded In a third-clase
for poultry and eggs. I have no
estimate of $25,000,000
pl
A Nonsensical End.
To call a laundress a bosom friend is
flat-irony.
Once upon s& time, when General
Ney, the Duke of Elchingen, who
died last year, Was commanding the
cavalry at Versailles, a circus MANA-
ger was introduced who came to ob-
tain a dozen culrasslers to take part
in the grand entree of his circus.
Oh, I suppose you can have them!"
answered the Duke, What'll you
pay them?’ ** Three francs a head!"
“ Three francs!” exclaimed the Duke,
who was very prudent in money mat
ters ; ** why, man, I'll go myself!"
A man named Dunlop requested
Theodore Hook to make a punning
allusion to his name. ‘‘ Well, just lop
off the lust syllable,” responded the
wit, ** and it’s Dun.”
Time and again, without any gain
to himself, however, has an Austin
tailor, Mr. Pinkney French, dunned
Dr. W. R. Rodes. The latter has Leen
owing the former a tallor’s bill for the
ast four years. * Doctor, | am losing
a great deal of time trying to collect
that bill,” said French. ** You will
get all your time back. Iam going to
pay you in time.”
Heinrich Heine, when he was a stu-
dent, once wrcte to a friend: Bend
me fif'y thalers right away, or 1 will
starve myself to death at your ex
pense,”’
The London World has statistics to
prove that lawyers have less sickness
as a class than physicians, but as an
offset physicians can get their medi-
cines for about 50 per cent. off.
“The Pullman train hadn’t run more
than ten miles before the robbers
headed it. ‘* You're lucky,” said one
of the passengers tq the leader of the
gang, * the porter hasn’t been througn
the car yet.”
The use of iron cannot increase the
running qualities of a dog, but tin can.
A City of London policeman before
Judge Maule, sald ha was in the Lien
(N) division, ** Do you mean in the
Poultry?” the Judge asked.
An Arkansas editor, in retiring from
the editorial control of a newspaper,
said: “It is with a feeling of sadness
that we retire from the active control
of this paper; but we leave our jour-
nal with a gentleman who is abler
than we are, financially, to handle it—
a gentleman well known in this com-
munity. He is the sherifl.”
“What are the nine muses, pa?”
asked a little boy who was reading
mythological lore ir the lower class
“It is when the home ‘nine’ is beaten
in a game of base ball, then the nine
muses over it,” was the reply.
Matches,
—
The fiftieth anniversary of the in.
vention of matches by three Austrians
was recently celebrated in Vienns.
The inventor of the lucifer match
lives in every country under the sun,
and Agstnia will do as well as another.
Fifty years ago, in England, matches
had only reached the stage known as
“lacifers,”’ and were clumsy and in-
onvenient, Fox sad Barne and Dr.
tohnson used to light their candles
rrobably made them more skillful
than we would be at such an operation.
About the beginning of this century
long brimstone matches took the piace
of the tinder, They were about six
inches long, tipped with sulphur, and
caught fire easily from the spark of
the flint. In 1825 an elaborate appara-
tas called the “eupyrion’’ was in gen-
eral use in the cities, This was a
large mouthed bottle containing sul-
phauric acid, sosked 1: fibrous asbestos,
and the matches, which were about
two inches long and sold for a shill
ing a box, were tipped with a chemi-
eal combination of which chlorate of
potash was the principal ingredient.
When the end of the match was
dipped into the acid and rapidly with.
drawn fire was produced. But the
acid was inconvenient, the matches
were likely to be spoiled by damp and
the eupyrion seon went out of use,
Another instrument ealled the “pyro-
phorus,” the pneumatic tinder box,
and the hydrogen lamp of Doberelmer
were successfully used for short pe-
In 1832 the first friction mateh
te only
chemically pre-
A novel'y in lsce curtains is an-
nounced, which consists in the peca-
‘Hari y of the design rather than in
anything special in the fabric itself.
It represents, within a border of floral
design, & window with drape y and »
view in perspective bi yond. The idea
gtd 2 4 dps
‘the wall and on the
Horse Hints,
Road horses should have thelr front
feet stuffed with flax-seed meal twice
a week.
When light shoes are needed, par-
ticularly hind ones, have them made
of cast-steel.
* Don’t hook your horse to the sleigh
the same a8 to your wagon, but give
him more trace,
Horses wearing boots should have
them loosened while under the shed
at the road house.
If your horse should pull on one line
or throw his head up and down and
fight and pull on the bit have his
mouth and teeth examined, *
The hand-pleces of driving reins
frequently become smooth from use,
causing the hand to shift. In such
cases rub the lines with powdered
rosin,
If you wish to drive your horse with
an open bridle have him tried with
one before putting him fo your top-
wagon, otherwise ke might get away
with you.
When horses overresch lengthen
the hind shoes; when they hit the
front of the hind feet haye the toe of
the front shoes made narrow and con-
caved on the inside,
Some horses when trotting in put-
ting their hind feet to the ground
strike principally on the twe. Buch
horses should have the heels lowered,
and should wear shoes without heels,
Skunk-cabbage is sald to be good for
heaves in teaspoonful doses night and
morning, Moilsten the hay and grain.
Be careful with the dier, Never work
a heavy horse on a full stomach,
Mteel biws should be kept In a warm
piace until they are placed in the
horse's mouth, Any person can real
ize the sensation of placing a cold bit
in the horse’s mouth by first touching
it with his own tongue,
Tar is one of the most useful articles
to be kept about a stable. Internally
use a teaspeorful night and morning
for chronic coughs ; externally it Is
particularly useful in thrush aad ali
diseases or wounds of the foot, Mix d
with fish-oll it is one of the best reme-
dies for hard or brittle feet,
An excellent remedy for mange is:
Oil of turpentine, 1 pint; add cau
tiously 2 ounces of oil of vitriol, stir.
ring tue mixture constantly ; ten add
8 ounces linseed oil; to be rubbed In
with a brush twice = day,
If your double team did not work to
suit you to-day, one crowding to the
pole while the other would pull his
head to one side, see that the reins are
right, and in hooking them to your
wagon to-morrow put the off horse on
the near side.
When heels and toes are required on
a hoi se’s shoes, instead of having the
shoe turned down for heels have the
heels and toes of cast steel and welded
on, The heels should be put on half
an inch from end of shoe and placed
lengthwise,
For a horse that ** pulls’ use the over-
check with strap attached over the
nose and under the lower jaw. For
an extra hard-mouthed horse use a
four-ring bit, Have a alide-loop on
the front of the over-check, so that it
can be moved up and down, as may
pieces and over-check attached to the
to the large rings.
Iofluenza is one < f the most preva
lent diseases at this time of the year,
The first stage of the disease is gener
ally mild and will readily vield to
careful, nulritious diet, such ss warm
mashes, oatmeal gruel, suitable cloth-
ing and proper ventilation, If the
respiration is troubled and the ex-
tremi les cold, give asedative medi
cine, rub the legs with dry mustard,
bandage with flannel, and send for an
expert
———————— A ———————. _ —-
What Parisians Dine Upon.
Paris is no longer the gastronomic
paradise that it was of old. The Paris
fans dine on the architecture of set
dishes on damask linen, en the brik
liancy of the glassware, on the flowers
that are on the table, on the white
oravats of the walters, but on butter
at thirty cents a pound, and on ordi
nary wine from the wineshops round
the corner, on fish with the bones
painted in bistre on the fillets by one
of those mysterious and ingenious ar
tists whose specialty it is to do *“kitchen
painting.” The inventor of this In
dustry wss one named Chapellier, who
inyented the trade of ‘painter of tur.
key's feet.” He had noticed that the
poulterers had lost largely om stale
tock. The sign by which the stale.
ness of 8 turkey, for instance, is be
trayed 1 the incressing paleness of
the legs and feet. Chapellier invented
a varnish to tone up the color. His
Upon the Misses in the
Public Schools.
She ran up against an iron ralliog
at d looked scared.
“Pll eall a policeman,” she sald,
panting 'y, “if you insult me.”
She was only fourteen, and her
pretty, thin face, with a spot of carna-
ticu In each cheek, and her little
flaxen curls hanging over her pale
forehead as if trying to look into her
blue eyes, gave her the adolescent as-
pect of & French doll. She had a
bundle of books that must have
weighed thirty pounds,
“But I don’t want to insult you,
my dear,” sald the reporter. ‘‘I only
want to interview you.”
“Interview me?” she exclaimed.
“Oh, don’t please. I haven’t done
anything, Go and see pa.”
“Oh, nousense,’”’ sald tie reporter;
“we've been interviewing pa for years.
He doesn’t know anything about it
We've wasted our time interviewing
sohool superintendents and principals
and all the other people who won't
know anything about it. Now we're
going to interview you. Don’t your
head ache 7’
“Mine? No!” (with a little astonish.
ment.)
“Not when you have got to get all
those books into it 7"
‘On, they don’t make
ache; it's ny arms.”
“Ah! I see. You carry them in
your arme—not in your head.”
Here the reporter made a mental
exclamation, Wonderful feminine
justinet, to carry the best things of
life in its arms and not in its head!
“Will you let me read thes titles of
the books?"
“Yes, if you will strap them up
again,”
“Trigonomelry !
that 2"
“Oh, yes.”
“And surveying 7’
my head
Do you study
La
“And navigation ?
Another nod,
“Will you excuse me while I swear
a little? ©
“Well, turn your head away."
voice). What's this, French !
study French ?"’
Do you
man classes,’
“You don’t say so! But you haven't
got inte the Italian and Portuguese
classes !"’
“I don’t think there are any Porta.
guese, sir.”
“Well, if there had been, you'd have
got into them, wouldn't you ?”’
“Yes, air, I hope so.”
“Physiology—do you study that?"
“A little, I've only just commenced
that. Afier fluxions we talk half an
mechanics and telegraphy. I'm golog
to commence organic chemistry on
Monday, after my music, but Ma
thinks it will interfere with my paint
ing in ofl.”
“I should think it would
you ever sleep or play 7’
‘Oh, yes. Iplay the whole of Cz 1.
ney's exercises for the piano es?
ga
Don't
morning, and I am learning the over-
ture to Tristan and Isolde. I used to
was awful mean, and I got over iL
Miss—, our principal, says that if we
knew what the mission of women Is
in the nineteenth cenfury we will not
be caught napping. Besides, 17] went
to sleep 1 wouldn't pass.”
“Pass what?"
‘The examination,”
“But you might pass some other
things.”
“What other things ?"
“Wy, vertigo, nervous exhaustion,
premature decline.” :
“Oh, I don’t study those yet.”
“No, 1 see you don’t.”
“Let me go now, please.”
“Wait a moment, I want to ask you
one other question, Don’t you ever
feel tired ?"
“0, what's the use of feeling tired !
1 haven't got time. If a girl got tired
she wouldn't pass, would she ?”’
“I suppose not. But after you've
passe | you intend to leave this world,
don't yeu?”
“QO, no. When I pass I'm golug to
study for the stage, and get a yacht
and live in Chicago, but you musn’t
put that in the paper, because 1
wouldu’t like Pa to know it.”
Then the American infant ploked
up aer boks, gave her head a little
toss and went off with a saucy sir.
De humblest man in de world
ain’t de man dat is fixin’ to be hung,
but de man what hab jist got over &
drunk. He feels like eb: rybody is a
p'inting de finger ob scorn st him,
his fren’s speaks of
Mark Twain as a Horseman.
Joaquin Miller sys: I remember at
a dinner at the Garrett Club, which
he had given to Mark Twain and my-
saddle, almost to the verge of anger.
You see, Mark Twain was then lectur-
ing, or about to lecture, on ** Riding
the Mustang.” Trollope began to talk
riding with the soup, and endeavored
hard to draw the great humonst out
and get the advantage of his long ex-
perience with the mustang in the Far
West, But Mark wae silent and very
thoughtful. He essayed ence or twice
ts talk about Jerusalem, and even
made some faint allusions to the old
masters; he went off eloquently cn
the weather two or three times. But
he left the discussion of the question
entirely to Trollope and myself, great.
ly to the disappointment of the
former.
After dinner, as we ssuntered back
to Mark's Hotel (the Elwards’, St
George's square), where he was living
in great state on the same firor with
Disraeli, Mark pulled me up suddenly
under & lamp post, and said, in his
eh ?”
»* Didn't know you wanted any
help, Mark.”
weather and the state of future pun-
jshments? Why, look here.” A d
dozen of little bits of pasteboard, ‘3 e
them ? Tickets for that riding-schor 1]
all.
as I live. I've used one.
of the old mers there and she scraped
mcre.”’
“ What!" said I, * don’t you know
| how to ride?” * Never was on a horse
| befc re, and never will be again, Bat,
| ride & mustang, I thought I ought to
But 1
| know enough.”
| ing about horses?"
ing st all, and don't want to. You
see’ I'm a steamboat man.”
m——— AI WATT
Noble Thoughts,
as good manners. —[ Don Qaixote.
it. Happiness was born a twin.—
{ Byron.
As the rolling stone gathers nd
moss, po the roving heart gathers no
affections. —{ Mrs. Jameson.
Little minds are tamed and subdued
| by misfortune, but great minds rise
above it.—[ Washington Irving.
| Itis in vain to gather virtues with-
| out humility ; for the Bpirit of God
{
| delighteth to dwell in the hearts of
the humble.~ [ Erasmus.
harmless creature, or of that class of
selves.— | Maria Edgeworth.
The true grandeur of humility is in
— [Charles Bumuper.
The true test of civilization is not
the census, nor the size of cities, nor
the crope—mno, but the kind of man
the country turns out.— [ Emerson.
He who does not respect confidence
will never find happiness in his path.
The belief in virtue vanishes from his
heart, the source of nobler actions be
comes extinet in him.—[ Auffenberg.
"Tis a rule that goes a great way in
the government of a sober man’s life,
pot to put anything to hszard that
may be secured by industry, consider-
ation or clroomspection.— [L's
(range.
Itis when our budding hopes are
nipped beyond recovery Ly some
rough wind that we are the most dis-
posed to picture to ourselves what
flowers they might have borne if they
had flourished. —[ Dickens.
There are moments when the pale
and modest star, kindled by God In
simple hearts, which men call con-
solence, illumines our path with truer
light than the flaming comet of genius
on its magnificent sourse.~ [ Mazzini,
The character of the publican and
sinner is not always practically in-
compatible with that of the modern
Pharisee, for the majority of us
scarcely see more distinctly the fauiti-
ness of our own conduct than the
faultiness of our own arguments or
ih dullness of our own jokes —[ Geo.
Drapery, as the means of modifying
the stiff and oold appearance of the
entrance hall, Is not made as much
of ss might be. Whenever it oan
be employed either as a portiere over
a door or soross an archway, as well
aa for hangings for the staircase win-
dows, it will, If made of mutable ma
terial and harmonising in color with
ligaten the hall and give it » much
The Religions of the World.
A Btatement of the Besl Facts in Regard to
Their Deaominational Strength.
The Southern Cross, of Buenos Ayres,
has the following :
There is probably no other topic
which isso often warmly discussed
in religious circles as the numerical
strength of ths warious Christian
bodies in the country. Oae will
maintain that the denomination fo
which he belongs is larger than any
other. His statement will be prompt-
ly and warmly contradicted, sod
neither party will be convinned that
the other is right, and it is certain
that hard feelings are thus engender-
ed. Editors not unfrequently sre ap-
pealed to for a statement of the real
facts in regard to denominational
strength. It is partially to answer
some of these inquiries and partizlly
to enlighten the general public on this
topic that the statistics contained in
this article are given.
The patient investigation of the
pumerical strength of the various
: Churches of the United States up to
January 1st, 1881, being the Iniest ree
listle statistics, furnishes instructive
material for reflection snd study,
Many persons who have believed that
the Methodists headed the liet havet
The Catholics, though
having only 5670 churches and 6613.
priests, have 6,174,207 members,
There s in the Methodist Church
2 786,498 There are 2,260,431 Baptists,
It will thus be seen that there are
about three times as many Catholics
as Methodists or Bapti:ts, and Lhat
there is & close rivalry between the
iast two.
been in error,
Taking the Church proper, the Bap-
tists exceed the Methodists in num.
bers, but reckoning all in each de
nomination, which is as falr for one as
another, the Methodists rank next to
the Catholics. There are 801,458 Pres.
| byterians. The Lutherans number
| 684570; Christians (Disciples of
Christ), 567 448; Ceng’ gtionalists,
353 685: Protestant Episcopalians,
328 876: United Brethren in Christ,
| 155 473: Reformed Church in the
United Biates, 154 742; United Evan-
| gelicals, 144,000; Mormons, 110,877.
Having given the numer'cal strength
of the various religious de: omin tions
in North America, it will probably
| interest the reader to be briefly in-
| formed concerning the creeds and the
| distribution of the various religions
| throughout the world. The estimated
| population of the earth 1s 1.848,709,000
| persons. As to their creeds, the Budd-
| hists, Shintos and followers of Confu-
| cius numbered 482,600,000 ; Christiaos,
| 882 200,000 ; aboriginal tribes, practio
| ing fetichism, and other pagans, 227,
000,000 ; Mohammedans, 122,400,000;
| Brahminleal Hindoos, 121,000,000;
| Jews, 7,000,000, and the Parsees, 1,000. -
1000. As to the distribution of the
| religions, the Catholics, the largest
| body of religionists in the world, are
| greatest in number in France; baving
| there 85 500,000 ; in Austria, 27904.
| 306 ; South America, 26,754,000 ; Italy,
| 26,648,679; Spain, 16 825,000, and Ger-
| many, 15,871,227; and sre to be found
| all over the world, numbering in all
202 367 858,
| The Protestants of various sects
| come next, and predominate in the
{ United States, which has 30,000 000 ;
| Germany, 25 835.5568; Great Britain,
| 26,000,000; Sweden, 4,313 800; Russia,
| 4,000,000 ; Austria, 3,568,000; South
Americas, 2 000,000—-aggregating in all
108 629 509, or about one-half as many
as the Catholics. The Greeks have
54,000,000 in Russia, aud the rest are
to be found in Turkey, Austria Greece
snd Germany, aggregating 70,482,000,
The Armenians and Abyssinians
number 8,000,000 respectively; the
Jacobites, 950,000 ; Nestorians, 170,000
and the Maronites, 150,000. These are
all of the Christian religions of the
elvilized world, and the total mem-
bership Is 388 240 704 As there are
1,848,700,000 inhabitants of the earth,
and 888 240 704 of the above class of
Church mesabers, there are 960 430 236
individuals who manifestly have a
religion of their own or their fathers,
#0 to speak. These ar? the Buddhists,
Shintos, Aborigines, Pagans, Pareces
Mohammedans, Hindcos and Jews,
whose numerical strength bas been
given.
ni AA AG
A Man of Considerabls Tact.
“I declare,” exclaimed Rogerson,
“] never saw a man of such come
summate tact as Plogleton. You
know what a bore Clinger is? Why,
he has come into my office day after
day, and hung sround unill [ have
been half a dosen times on the point
EEEFEE
2 x
HE
EEr ">,
thes