The Scrap Book.
Some men give aecording to their
means, and some according to their
meanness,
Public gossip is sometimes ‘the best
security for the fulfillment of engage-
ments,
Mauy a man who thinks himself a
“ big gun,” is nothing but a great bore,
and not a smooth one, either,
Isn't it strange that we never hear
of dynamite being used in Egypt,
where there are more Nileists than
anywhere else in the world ¥
Can a man marry his deceased wife's
gister in any part of America ? Not un-
less the sister is willing, and asa gener-
al thing she isn't. She generally knows
him too well.
A burglar who has climbed up to a
garret window on a ladder is arrested
by a voice Shouting, “ Hallo, there,
what do you want #” ‘* May I ask you
for a glass of fresh water ?"’
A paper speaks of a yomng farmer
who ** ran rapidly through his proper-
ty. His property was an open field.
He wore a red shirt and a bull was
in the wake of the young farmer.”
he proprietor of a tan-yard, adjacen)
to a certain town in Virginia, conclud-
ed to build a stand for the purpose of
vending kis leather, buying raw hides
and the like. Debating what sort of a
sign it was best to put up for the pur-
pose of attracting attention, at last a
happy idea struck him. He bored an
angur hole through the door-post, and
stuck a calf’s tail imto it, with the
bushy end flauntingiout. After awhile
he noticed a graveslooking personage
standing near the door, with his spec-
tacles, gazing intently on the sign.
And there he continued to stand, gaz-
ing and gazing, until the curiosity of
the proprietor was greatly excited in
¢urn. He stepped out and addressed
the individual : **Good morning,” said
he. * Good morning,” said the other
without moving his eyes from the sign.
“You want to buy leather ?’’ said the
storekeeper. ‘*No."” ‘Are you
farmer 7’! ‘** No.” ‘'' Are you a mer-
chant?’ “No.” “Are you a law-
ver 7’ “No.” * Are you a doctor?"
“ No." “Who are you, then 2" “I'm
a philosopher. 1've been standing here
a
auger-hole. 1 can’t make it out to
Save my life.”
———— A W] ———
Agriculture,
Many farmers of Western New York
are going out of tobacco raising because
of the uncertainties of the crop, the loss
of fertility and depreciation of the land,
and disappointments in sales. Even
those farmers who have realized the
highest prices and the quickest sales
admit the effect of tobacco raising is to
reduce profits ou general farming ; that
its exhaustive tendency is a:e ious mat-
ter to consider, and that in the long run
it is destructive to more important in-
Lerests,
A horticulturist writing to the Ohio
Farmer, “Nothing is more dis-
tressing to a level headed borticulturist
than to see tomato plants a foot or
eighteen ifiches high and bare of branch-
«8 to the top, swaying and whippin
S4YS :
the cold wind after transplanting. Where
auch drawn-out plants must be used a
small inclined trench should be dug and
nearly the whole stem placed beneath
the soil. No evil will result, but much
good, from such planting, and a vigor-
ous, stocky growth will follow.”
The Germantown Telegraph says that
“‘in seiecting old apple and pear trees
for the purpose of grafting care should
be exercised to take only those that re-
tain their foliage late in the autumn.
“They will insure the growing of the
graft sufficiently long to firmly establish
it and cause it to remain unaffected
during the winter, In every instance
that we have tried to raise fruit from
grafts on old trees which shed their
leaves early we have failed. They grow
for a few vears, bear a few specimens,
and then die.”
The Arerican Cultivator says: *‘Did
vou evér try planting peas in hills ?
Sake a large hill, rich with well rotted
compost or fertilizer ; then take a nail
iceg, or something about that size, and
press it into the ground so as to make
@ deep circle upon the hill; sow your
pees in that circle, and plant a large
g#2 brush in the centre. You can grow
a8 weany peas to the acre in this way as
in drills. They are convenient for the
pickers, and they have a neat and tasty
f@ok iu the garden, which is rot a small
item, especially when you are trying a
Hew method.”
Professor Beal, of the Michigan
Agricultural College, reports an experi-
ment where he planted an early, eight-
rowed, vellow dent, and through it a
single row of yellow flint. Before flow-
ering tie tassels of the flint corn were
all cut off, making impregnation by the
dent on this row a necessity, There
Was 10 trace on the éars of the flint of
any crossing with the dent the first
wear. The next year, however, the
glint corn showed all gradations from
warleties as being less affected with
-
crossing than others, and names the red
est fixity of type.
France receives annually from Eng-
land bout $20,000,000 for butter and
cheese. This is suggestive to the
American farmer. Many of our farm-
ers know how to and do make good
buster, but there are many farmers who
do sot know how to or at least do not
make good, clean butter. If any one
doubts this let him visit any city comw-
mission house, and he will find butter
of every conceivable color, form and
smell, and will lose his appetite for
butter for a week at least, A little
piece of bad butter will ruin the taste
of the best bread that the skillful
miller and baker can make.— United
States Miller,
The quantity of food needed by stock
varies even among animals of the same
age and breed, and it necessarily varies
to a greater extent among animals of
different breeds. Upon this subject a
farmer in England says it is sufficiently
correct to reckon a sheep consuming
twenty-eight pounds of green food, an
ox or cow 150 pounds, a calf forty
pounds and a yearling eighty pounds
daily. At this rate an ox or cow con-
sumes as much as five sheep, The
latter will require 10,220 pounds, or
nearly five tons apiece, the former 54,-
750 pounds, or nearly twenty-five tons
of green food, for its yearly mainte-
nance,
It is often desirable to know which is
the ndost profitable way to sell fowls—
alive, dressed or both dressed and drawn.
To find out weigh the fowl alive, then
after it is dressed and again after being
drawn, Record this weight in each
case, and then a little figuring, with
weight aud market prices as a basis,
will soon tell the inquirer what he
wants to know, Generally, we think
it will be found that selling alive pays
about as well as to dress, particularly
if the owner's time is valuable and he
is not an expert at picking. Those who
buy and dress for market on a large
scale are generally experts themselves
at .this work or bave such '' artists’
in their employ.— National Farmer,
We have often seen trees of the same
variety of apple or cherry, which year
after year differed in shades of flavor or
times of ripening. Professor Beal says:
“I have two lots of Red Canada, one
grown on Northern Spy stock and the
other Early Harvest,
the latter rot first and are less brilliant
in color,” Many instances have occur
red where the stock has shown some
influence, but in none has there been
an entire change in the variety.
on Apples on
and nothing else, A Red Canada is
never changed to an Early Harvest,
And yet there is no doubt that the mo-
dification a sort, ascribed to the
stock, is often the result of a difference
in soil, or other external cause. We
have seen so much change produced
in a pear by cultivation, after growing
under neglect, that a common observer
would not recognize the identity.”
For more than thirty years we have
had to do more or less with the rearing
of calves. Our experience has taught
that scour ih
of
us
calves arises from
many causes. Change of food, unsuit-
able food, cold, wet, bad litter, ete.
We have tried many
medicine, For several years
we proved that from thirty to sixty
according to age of calf) of
chlorodyne, in a little water, given
early, at once stops the complaint; a
second dose was very rarely necessary.
Latterly, we have weaned the calves
gradually from their mother’s milk and
refieeel them on skimmed milk, since
which time we have had little or no
scotr. One calf had scour by its moth.
er8side, three or four days old, we put
it on another cow and saved the calf,
We could not perceive anything amiss
with the mother or her milk, but it did
nde suit her calf, — Farm and Home,
Taner Graves, —If you want large
grapes, break off all the suckers at
once, which are shooting out from the
lower part of the vine, They will not
be found much on old vines, but will
be seen on young stock. If allowed to
remain they will exhaust the energy
necessary to the growth of the grape,
Break off all the new canes that do
not'bear grapes, and pinch off the ends
of the bearing canes ; say within two
leaves of the last bunch of grapes or
blossoms, there usually being three
bunches of grapes on a bearing cane,
and the last or top branch is about one
fdot or more from the main branch,
ep all the growth back to the above
nauce scour.
5 4 §
SOTLS OF
dr ns
fid the bunches increase in size,
eecrimsmaageni———
2 colored womdn, when reproved
for undue expression of grief, said :
“Now, look here, honny, when de good
Lord sends us tribulations, don’t you
pole he 'spects us to tribulate
I MIO. SAIN
~It is said the Vanderbilts will make
Bedford Springs the Saratoga of Penne
sylvania,
a immediate cause of Judge
ack’s death Was pymmia, occasioned
by the absorption of a virulent matter
from the bladder,
Humor,
I'se gwine for ter live in Jerewsalom,
Dem angels am awaitin’ for me to come;
De Lawd am a pardon all my sins,
I'm sllus on han’ when the ‘vival begins!
Come along sister, come wid me,
The best watermilion eber you see,
Plenty long collards and hominee,
I'm gwine home!
De Lawd saves de sheeps; ©'se got dd wool,
De debbil fer my soul gib mighty hard pull,
But my Lawd was strongest, de rope go slack,
An’ ole Massa Debbil went oberon his back !
Come along, brother, come wid me,
De gates open wide fer you so free,
De lame can walk, de blin' can see,
I'm gwine home!
Satan tried hit once my soul to #'pise,
But I took my bible an’ hit him ‘tween the
eyes.
Says I, “ Old Satan, I reckon you are beat,
For 1'se got dem golden slippers on my feet!
Come along, chil’'en, come wid me,
If you want dem golden streets to see,
An’ hear dem angels singing free.
I'm gwine home,
“ Blood will tell ;* so be careful how
you make confidants ef your relations.
“Is Mrs. General Sherman 80 eXx-
tremely homely that the general has to
kiss every pretty girl he sees to get the
ba . taste out of his mouth 2”
No. * Clarence, of Sandusky,” we
does not settle the Indian question by
setting the redskins up in the ticket
broking business, for, as you say, they
ought to make successful scalpers.
“My dear,” said Ratteler at the tea-
table, looking up from evening
paper, ‘this French-China trouble
looks serious.’ *‘Yes," answered Mrs,
Ratteler, ‘Bridget broke the handle off
the sugar-bowl to-day, but 1 didn’t
think you would notice it so soon."
his
A little girl, in coming home from a
party, told her mother she was 8g
less she was bigger,
'
“ Mamma,”' said-a Manson street
four-year-old maiden, ‘‘ do the geese lay
gooseberries ¥*' ** Oh, no, my child,
they grow on trees.” * Well, what are
goose eggs, anyhow ?”' ‘They are the
things, my dear, which the base ball
players make when they don’t make
anything."
An Englishman shooting small game
in Germany remarked to his host that
there was a spice of danger in shooting
in America. ‘* Ah,” sald the host,
“ you like danger mit your spice ¥ Den
last
time I shoot mine brudder-in-law in de
you go out shooting mit me. De
sthomack."
A well-known dry goods man adver.
tised 1 “Something entirely in
flannels at our house !" During the
week following, several of his married
lady customers have asked him if it is
new
is an unmarried man, die don't know
how to answer.
* Captain !"* shouted an Irish soldier
in the Caucacus, ** I've caught a Tar-
tar.” “Bring him in, then,” replied
the captain. ** But, be jabers, he won't
let me!” was the soldier's despairing
ery. General Crook had better luck
with the Apaches in Mexico, The
savages even compelled him to bring
them in, it appears, making their own
terms,
'
“Hullo, Charley |
been 7’
Where have you
“Just down to the apothe-
cary’s for a bottle of medicine for my
wife. What things these women are
for dosing, aren't they ¥"' Charley's
friend this view of the
matter, and at Charley's suggestion the
two step into the nearest for
something to brace up their respective
stomachs. — Boston Transcript.
“Mr. Smith." said a Boston grocer
the other day to an old farmer who had
lofig been a customer of his, “I have
received several complaints in regard
to that last butter I bought of you.”
“No!” “Indeed, it tasted very queer-
ly to me. What could have ailed it ?”
“Well, now, we had a new hired gal
that week, and it might be possible
that she didn’t get the proportions
right.” “Propoctions ?”’ “That is,
she got in too much grated carrot ; but
you kin tell your customers that carrots
are perfectly healthy, and awfully good
for the liver, We allus select the best
and wash ‘em through two waters,’
scsi
in
coincides
aioon
Fashions.
mo—
Sleeves for full dress are still exceed-
ingly short and gloves very long. Skirts
remain short enough in front to dis
play the embroidered stocking as well
as the sandal. Boots are seldom wom
in the evening, and undressed kid is the
which have painted designs on the toes
and on the sides as well. A pretty foot
looks prettier with a flat decoration on
the slipper than with rosettes, buckles
or any other trimming that interferes
with the delicate contour of the foot.
Armure silks, that were formerly
worn only by old ladies, are in fashion
for youthful costumes, especially for
bluek dresses, They are a small erape-
like figure, and are made vj) in con
junction with the real China crape-not
the crepe de cheme which is manufaects
ured in Paris, A wide armure flounce
ble on the skirt. The overdress of
Canton crape is a Watteau pelisse with
Barcelona lace, and jet trimming. The
bonnet 1s of jet and lace, with a white
aigrette ; the parasol is black, with
white lining, and the Suede gloves are
eeru or slate blue,
A becoming wrapper is of blue Eoli-
enne and pink surah merveilleux. The
fronts close in the neck and open over a
There are no gores
to this garment, The back consists of
small side pieces and two very narrow
pieces down the centre, making a
princess back, and so cut as to leave
sufficient fullness for a large puffing on
the upper part of the skirt. . The gath-
ered pocket under the left hip is sure
rounded by lace. Long narrow ribben
loops fall from under the puflings in
the back, They are finished at the
waist with a plaited ruffle, surmounted
by a small drapery. In the neck i8 4
full ruching.
The Suede gloves are worn in very
light colors, Silk gloves come in all
buttoned and losse wristed,
Puffed wrists, with lace inserting, are
new, and much liked from their novelty,
Silk and linen wears better than all
lengths,
not keeping the color so well ; still we
think the fingers peep through the fine
ger-ends of even these before there is
much change in color. Silk gauntle,
gloves are among the novelties for rid-
ing and driving. It is no longer the
tume ; neither are black gloves worn in
full dress as formerly, Girls wear silk
mitts in color usually like the trimming
on the hat: they wear undress kids for
school, Half-gloves and mitts are found
the preference
Greek embroidery is quite modern
work, and is much used for small mats
banner screens and other decorative
articles, It is a description of applique,
and consists in arranging upon a flat
foundation pleces of colored cloth or
silk in arabesque designs, and attaching
these to the material with chain, ber
ring-bone, and other embroidery stitch-
es, and these stitches are also repeated
upon the plain foundation. A
handsome result is obtained by drawing
out the design upon dark Turkey-red
the larger ones in paler blue, Laid
upon the Turkey-red foundation they
must be attached to the material by
laying a silk cord rim on the edge of
each, and catching it down with red
silk, as in couching. Stars and various
decorative designs can be worked in
interstices of the pattern in tete de
boeuf stitch or in raised embroidery.
———————— A
Diamonds of Thought.
Hard work will best uncertain for-
tune mend.
If you would create something, you
must be something. —Godhe,
Happiness is where it is found, and
seldom where it is sought,
line is the shortest in
mathematios, — Maria
A straight
morals as in
Edgeworth,
Flowers are the sweetest things that
God ever made and forgot to put a soul
into, — Beecher,
The mays of happiness, like those of
light, are colorless when unbroken,
Longfellow,
He who loves to read, and knows how
to reflect, has laid by a perpetual feast
for his old age.
A man too busy to take care of his
health is like a mechanic too busy to
take care of his tools,
“ One soweth, and another reapeth,’
is a verity that applies to evil as well as
good. — George Elwt.
Act and speak to your servants as
you would wish others to do if you were
a servant, — Dionysivs the Carthusian,
I do not cali a healthy young man,
cheerful in his mind and vigorous in his
arms—I cannot eall such a man— poor,
True friends visit us in prosperity
only when invited, but in adversity
they come without invitation,—Theo-
phrastus,
Children are travelers newly arrived
in a strange country ; we should there-
fore make conscience not to mislead
them, — Locke.
Great trees, as fig-trees, make shade
for others, and stand themselves in the
glowing heat of the sun. They bear
fruits for others, not for themselves.
These truth-speaking women are
friends in solitude, are fathers in mat-
ters of duty, they are mothers to those
who are in distress, they are a repose to
the traveler in the wilderness, ;
The law of the harvest is to reap
more than you sow, Sow an act and
you reap a habit ; sow a habit, and you
reap a character ; sow a character, and
you reap a destiny. George D. Board.
man,
Like a blind spinner in the sun
I trend :
I know that all § o threads will run
dng wil bring its task;
And, ind. no more I ask.
uxt, in Demorest,
$
———
Tue following directions are given
for removing finger-marks from and re-
storing luster to highly polished but
{ much-defaced furniture, Wash off the
finger-marks with a cloth, or—better—a
chamois skin, wet with cold water, then
rub the surface with sweet oil mixed
with half its quantity of turpentine, A
liberal rubbing of this mixture will
prove effective,
MAHOGANY, walnut, and some other
woods may be polished by the use of the
following mixture ; Dissolve by heat
80 much beeswax in spirits of turpentine
about the thickness of honey. This
may be applied to furniture or to work
piece of clean cloth, and as much
as possible should be rubbed off by
using a clean flannel or other eloth,
Tre suvuser of species of silk-pro-
ducing insects large, probably
more than two hundred, very
is very
few of
kind : on the contrary, that portion of
the caterpiliar family which unite their
silken
have not only defied the ingenuity of
their support by foraging upon fruit.
bearing and trees. The
spidér family, notwithstanding many
attempts to reel their bea atiful threads,
still monopolize their products for pur-
poses of
ornamental
locomotion and snares for un-
lucky insects,
| Prax COURT PLASTER that will not
stick and remains flexible : Soak isin.
glass in a little warm water for twenty-
four hours, then evaporate nearly all
the water by gentle heat, Dissolve the
residue in a little proof spirits of wine
and strain the whole through a piece of
open linen. The strained mass should
be a stiff jelly when cool. Stitch
piece of silk or sarcenet on a wooden
Melt the
jelly and apply it to the silk thinly and
evenly A
second couting must be applied when
the first hasdried, When both are dry,
apply over the whole surface two or
three coatings of balsam of Peru, This
a
frame with tacks or thread.
with a badger hair brush.
plaster remains quite pliable and never
| breaks,
LaxsEep Mean, — It
cently observed by a French scientist
that linseed meal from which the oil
has been eliminated in such a way as
not to effect the other principles present
retains all the therapeutic properties of
the ordinary meal. With equal weight,
it contains more mucilage, starch, al-
buminoid substances, ete. To prepare a
poultice of suitable unctuousness and
consistency, twenty-five per cent, less
of the oilless meal is required than of
the ordinary meal. The poultices pre-
pared with the oilless meal are less
heavy and remain longer warm than
the others. The prepared meal, more-
over, does not become rancid. After
many experiments in eliminating the
oil, sulphide of carbon has been found
the most suitable agent.
To TraxsrER PRINTS TO STEEL OR
Grass. —To transfer prints to polished
steel or to glass, make a varnish as fol-
iows-—-Gum four
mastic, one part; Venice turpentine,
Sandarae,
one ounce ; alcohol, fifteen parts, or any
smaller quantity in proportion. Digest
in a bottle, with frequent shaking.
Moisten the print slightly upon the
back by laying a wet cloth upon it | then
varnish the steel plate or glass with a
thin, even coat ; lay the print with the
face next to the varnish, commencing on
one side, 50 as not to enclose alr-bub-
bles, pressing it down close with the
fingers if the print is small, or a soft
roller if the print is large. Be careful
that all parts of the print are in contact
with the vamish., Lay aside to dry.
After it is dry, wet the back with water,
and cautiously rub’off the paper with the
fingers ; rub lightly towards the last
with plenty of water, and the surface
of the varnish will come up smooth
with the ink of the print rolidly em-
bedded. Then a thin coat of mastic
varnish will give it a finish,
IMPERFECTLY BAKED BRICKS, — It
is often observed that bricks imperfect-
ly baked become friable at the surface,
and in time are reduced to powder.
This phenomenon has been attributed to
the action of moisture, alternations of
heat and cold, ete. ; but recent obser-
vations make it probable that these
merely favor the action of the real cause
—viz., the development of microscopic
organisms, M. Parize observed some
swellings on the plaster coat of a brick
partition ; be pierced one of these, and
a very fine red powder came out, result-
ing from pulverization of the brick.
Examined with a magnifylag power of
{about three hundred diameters, this
powder showed an immense number of
diatoms and silicious alge belonging
of the bricks.
of an inch in thickness of plaster seems
surprising : yet M. Parize found the
same fewer of them
«at & depth of about one inch in the
OI 0.5
undeeayed brick. Allthe deteriorated
bricks showed the same organisms,
These facts seeth to have important
bearings on the durability of build-
ings methods of disinfection of hospi-
tals, ete,
—————————— AA
Floriculture.
The green covering or so-called moss
whieh accumulates on plant pots is al-
ways injurious to the plant. **A bright
pot makes a healthy plant,” is the gar-
dener’s rule. This green covering is
an alga, a plant closely related to the
sea weed, It acts much in the same
way as glazing would ac. in stopping
the pores of the pot and allowing no
circulation of air. It should be serub-
be i off as often as it appears with sand
| and water.
In setting plants make the ground
mellow and rich with manure for a con-
siderable space around where the roots
are placed, so they may have a chance
to reach out. The roots should have
ample room; do not cramp them,
When the earth Is well drawn up
around the plant, place your feet care.
! fully on each side of it, and ““firm’’ the
{ earth down solidly, This will greatly
increase the chance of its living, as it
| prevents the soil frem drying down to
| the roots.
Begonias in summer should have a
cool, shaded situation. The best plan
we have ¢Ver seen adopted was a small
lattice house, made entirely out of laths
placed half an inch apart, sides and top
alike ; benches were arranged on either
side, the same as in an ordinary green-
house ; upon these the plants were
placed, and all the interstices filled with
sphagnum. There the plants thrived
wost luxuriantly ; we have never seen
greec-house plants in summer look bet-
ter, if as well. Not only was this the
congenial home of the begonia, but all
kinds of ferns, coleus and many other
plants grown expressly for exhibition
purposes were here to be seen in the
| best possible condition. This was the
work of an amateur, and when his
plants were placed besides those of the
professional florist, the latter was com-
pletely used up,
Care should be taken 10 see that
plants in pots are given good drainage,
This is best secured by putting a lot of
| broken bricks or pieces of Lroken
i in the bottom of the flower-pot,
i
pots
These
| pieces should be as large as a hazel-nut
| or even larger. Over these pieces some
drie 1 moss, sphagnum or peat should be
placed, or even a handful of dried grass,
if nothing better can be had. This will
prevent the earth from falling among
the fragments and will insure complete
drainage. It is supposed, of course,
that the regular flower-pots are used
with a hole at the bottom for the escape
of the water. If a box or other vessel
be used a hole should be made in the
bottom, Persons who have never tried
the above method will be surprised with
the difference it will make in their
plants, The earth in the pots should
be kept moist, but not wet, soggy, nor
cold. ;
Much care should be exercised in
watering house plants. Most housewives
follow the practice of soaking the soil
once a day or less, and then letting it
dry out until it becomes hard. This
stiff, bard and unyielding character of
the soil tn pots is not usually conducive
The earth
of vegetable mold, such as can be ob-
tained under the leaves in an old forest
or in many neglected fence rows. For
most plants a third or a half of the soil
may be mold, which must be well mixed
with the heavier earth. Then give good
drainage by employing unglazed pots
with holes in the bottom, and by placing
a handful of broken bricks or crockery
in the bottom, and over it lay sphagnum
or other moss or peat. Do not water
heavily. The soil should not be cold
and soggy. Apply water frequently,
but avoid soaking. The leaves of the
plant should also be frequently sprayed,
Sepecially if evaporation goes on rapid-
y.
Probably Untrue.
Two ladies tete-a-tele :
“That Mrs, Brown is just as mean as
she can be! Why, would you believe it,
she told me, right to my face, that 1
dressed too young for a woman of my
years! The idea I’
“Shedid ? Well, if she'd talked to
me that way I believe I'd told her just
what I thought of her.”
“Oh! no, dear ; that would be rude.”
“Possibly.”
“But 1 did better, I told Mrs. Smith