L FOR THE YOUNG FOLKS, THE TUPTED TITMOUSE, Wis coat is like a wintry sky When once the sun haa set And in the west a single line Of red is smouldering yot. Above his black, courageous eye He wears his soldier's crest; No bitter, rnde, nor screaming wind Can daunt his martial breast. I met him in a leafy dell— A brook ran sweet and clear, As if he called from paradise, He shouted, ‘‘Here, here!” In busy thought the moments flew; I pondered, ‘Then so near?" Far o'er a hill his voice replied, *“'T is here, here, here!” In winter's frost we met again, When every leaf was sear. “Where is your heavenly country now ?" He answered, ‘‘Here, here!” W. C. M'Clelland, SNAKES THAT LIKE THUNDER, One of the wonders of the bare, sandy plains of New Mexico are the thunde~ snakes. They are by no means common, yet they are often en countered by prairie travelers, es pecially before and after thunder storms. Flashes of lightning and claps of thunder, which are so terrify ing to bipeds and quadrupeds, seem to have the greatest charm and de- ligkt for these members of the serpent family. Whenever a thunderstorm comes up they have a regular picnic g out of holes, from behind rocks and rotten stumps, and enjoy the fun while it lasts. Their nature 1s quarrelsome, their character ierce, and they are aggressive in a high degree, although their markings are very They are not their bark mm 5 I hey cone crawiina beautiful. however 18 poisonous, worse than their bite. MEN It seems funny enough to read of men who actually make nests like the birds. Yet such men actually exist both in Africa and Australia. The bushmen of Iatter country, who ere among the lowest orders of men, snough to build even 8, 80 they gather grass ¥ as a big bird would a thicket in the jungle and m or themselves com fortable Here families curl up together like so ma y little puppies and sleep very snugly. As up around the nest the ¥ often o« together head and form ter, but further has n There are the “‘bu but WHO MAKER NRSTS m lie «10 not know £ the simplest hat and twigs, exact ROY do, and carry tl t RL RO 1Ke I« I whole nest 10Mes, the bushes grow me over- a kind of natural shel- than this the bushman f the rain, irom ndreds of these nests in O roweciion a called in Aostralia, although very ig- norant, never ils to find his home again, nor mistakes some other nest { And if he is taken away blindfolded for miles and allowed to go he straight for home as un cat that has carried from her old home in a bag Indeed, possess this 1 the own or 1t erring!) heen } remarkable de oming it tit w Bd i al spect they are far man with all his ning power, gree BLeR i intellec US COMMUNITY. brated naturalist has been antain Australia, and he tells onderful stories of what il. The Australian ants in comparison with the ants that we know, and certainly are very much more gent than the ants of our dooryards They belong to the as termites, They are white strong. This naturalist tells us that if they attack 8 hwwman being they can injure him per ! Their homes are like Mammo slabs of stone, and look very like sandstone. The homes are always built running from north to south, and a close study of the ants showed that the points of the compass had a great deal to do in governing their movements. These ants are found in North Queensland, in the interior. One mound examined was a groined colnmnar construction eighteen feet high. This student of natural history tells us that originally be believes this mound was in the shape of a cone. The doors through which ths ants went in and out were about a footand half from the top, and the grooves made in the side of the column, this naturalist believes, wera made by the incessant traveling of the ants up and down the same pathway; and it is this, he believes, that gives the columnar formation. It was evident on close examination that at some time there had been dif: ferent points of entrance to this home of these ants, and that they had been walled np. When the interior of the mound was examined, it was found to contain a large central court, with hundreds of tiny cells built in regular order on the inside, resembling galler- ies terraced one above another, Con- | nection between these galleries was made by stairways, which, on ex-| amination, were found to be built with arehitectural exactness. The cells were uniform in size, and the interior as hard and smooth as marble, At] the bottom of the mourd were found ithe storerooms, It was evident that! this colony of ants had all gone to the | cellar for their provisions. Another! strange thing was discovered. On| one side of the monnd the rooms, or | cells, were very much larger, and from their construction it was decided | that they were intended either for the | dignitaries of the ceclonies or for wisitors. The floors of these rooms were perfectly smooth, but the ceil- | ings were round, and at one end was f. h i intell . 3 class known the and ver 18 IOUSKLY. ih ta coury. Here thore was no evidence of any preparation for the entertain- ing of officials or visitors of distine- tion, but the storercoms of the second pyramid or mound were at the bottom, just ag in the mound where it was evi dent there was a difference in the social standing of the inhabitants, A great deal can be taught little children who are willing to study these tiny oreatures that are to be found wherever we go in the conatry, A group of little children, now big children, formed a colony of white aitts in the center of a little miniature lake on the lawn of the house where they were living in Connecticut Probably if yon should meet these young ladies and gentlemen now, you would be ustonished to find how much they know abofit ants-—the various kinds, how they differ in habits of and what different things they as little their father encouraged little mound in the center of a pond about three feet wide, No dolls, or tennis-racket, or express wagon, or dolls’ dishes ever entertained this little group as their ant friends did for two and three hours morn ing. They can give you of how the sn leaf anid floated their house-buil of the each dav, and that which the ¥ All thus these little people discovered for them aid of be for en they came the winter t the books every descriptions + _ ¢ ts made boats out of a ACT the water; of ling and bridge-build selection of the food which IRS ing, the Y ate stored aw ay for winter use it New y began , 4 \ \ speives without the OKS, back t TRACK LO uat the told y under od them b 3 i 8d was wh York in reading ants, cause they ha that abou th hi anid ing to, all su KITTEN AND T1 camping (revser Sergeant the 1 & pair o letied the worl in particular, Hs i When the latter approached, uld el every wouid e ghee ner glow levate bristie on back, her eves wonld nd up threateningly . y 2 Drave iiittlie ike live coals, a her ta t Swell proached too near, bit the usual and exhi slaught was sud was enough for Bi f fear, Bran hot tree, a sho MISe unt hair still bristling with righteous in- tail would now ficant little was dignation, while her and then give a signi as if to say, “That's the way I settle impertinent bears.” > meanwhile ponred forth their tents, oc SCArce iy believe their eyes; hint was the bear in the tree and the kitten nd there were the =e who had seen the affair from beginning to end, And perhaps the strangest part of it all was that the bear would not stir from his safe position in the branches until the kitten had been persuaded to leave her huze enemy a clear means of retreat! Then he slid shame facedly down from his perch, and ambled hastily off towards the moun- tain, — Lieut. Charles ID. Rhodes, U. 8. A., in Bt. Nicholas. i ae soidiers, who from there below, Turf Monument. A turf monument over 1,000 years Engiand. It is on the almost perpen- dicular side of a hill, and lies like » patch of snow on the grass. It meas ures 350 feet from head to tail and 120 feet from ear to heel. The whole de- #ign bears the stamp of barbaric crude. ness, but resembles, however, a con- stantly recurring iype on Gallic and British coins, which is a guaranty of its age. Tradition deciares it was carved there in the turf by the soldiers of Etheldred and Alfred after their horse was the emblem of the Saxons ‘there are innumerable other whites horses to be found throughout Eng land, all noted in history and gigantic in size. The eye of one is twenty-five feet in circumference. Francis Warlop, the cook of the Lakeside Club, Grand Rapids, Mick, thought he could prepare toadstools to make them dainty eating. He ate a few of them and died. Though for (fty years a lumberman and much of the time in the dee: country, a Ma: hias, Maine, man never shot a deer until this season. Infant schools began in New Lanark, Bcotland, in 1815; in England not until EE THE FARM AND GARDEN. ITEMS OF INTEREST ON ACRICULT: URAL TOPICS. Buckwheat and Corn-=Stunting Pigs Be- fore Birth-.Crowing Beet Seed--Ths Eumelan Crape---Ete., Ete. BUCKWHEAT AND CORN. From my experience in growing buckwheat it is a bad crop to precede corn, a8 not only does the buckwheat come up thick as a weed, but the land seems unfavorably affected for the crop. If I were growing buckwheat, | would always seed If possible to clover with the buckwheat, and I would sow both crimson and common clover, so a8 to have two chances for a stand. Waldo F. Brown. STUNTING PIGS BEFORE BIRTH. ! It is not so generally appreciated as should be that the breeding sow while she is bearing her young needs | just the kind of nutrition that the growing pig will require. it Sows fed heavily on corn fatten, and bring thin, | pigs, with wery little ability | for themselves. Such pigs will never do #0 well as those whose dams | fed and wheat bran with some kind of roots while bearing their YOUung will have good diges- and will grow rapidly, while the stunted pig will never fully improper nutrition it received | Was stunted 1 10 Care were milk These tion recover from the before {t farrowed. SEED that |t believe ROWING Beet seed ways BEET grown Yet their is 80 easily we own beet the best the planting s for that spring stringy ce A great produce lke ots de- their ETOWw produces » or fr ih any time pin are GRAPE tires {ELAN dy at ' hang Eraps an and i RUG the ture the v and {ru $ rit ton Cultivator ine the to grow layers fre AMMONIA IN PLANT CULT While the sion and solution proved an immense vitor of fruit air, Mechan's Monthly the statement that they are ordinary kerose of boon & and trees in Jectionable to the small amateur er g whom something clean and easily appiied to small plants is a greater advantage. For these the vari. ous irascticides and fungicides for sale by the florists offer some good recom- mendation. Where these ot to be had it is said that a wash ammonia is affective. As the ammonia bottle is now one of the supplies of well ordered household it may be into use readily. All these articles, how- ever, require some little in their first application. always | ower to are n of every put care One should try a little at first on some plants that are of no considerable value before risking them in a wholesale way. For instance, the scale on orange leaves and the leaves of oleanders, or the leaves of some similar plant affected with any kind of insect, can be tried first. If no injury follows, then it may be applied on a somewhat more ex- tensive scale. A few plants and a brush to paint with, a considerable quantity can be gone over im a short time. PEAR BLIGHT. The following on treatment for pear blight is incorporated in the report of | the New Jersey State Horticultural So. clety: First, aim to put the tree in a! condition to render it the least Hable | to attack. This means to so manure | and cultivate that the tree will not grow rapidly. Thus, the more a. tree is fed the worge it will fare when at. | tacked by the blight. Trees that are] aighly fertilized with nitrogenous ma- | dures are especially liable to blight. | In short, overstimulation with manures | is to be gvoided. Good tiiiage in the! same way, while it makes a tree bear, | algo tends to incredse the susceptibility | to blight. Anything that retards the growth is beneficial so far as the dis sage i8 concerned. The orchardist must | stimulate by manures and cultivate sufficiently to give a good crop and x shun that which will do more. Boll and situation will determine largely whether sod or cultivated may be best to resist the blight. The second method is the extermina- tion of the blight germs, which seems to be the only direct remedy. This fs done by cutting out and burning all blighted portions of the trees. Every tree of the pome family, including the apple, pear, quince, crab, mountain ash, service berry and hawthorn, should be treated In the same manner Particular attention should be paid to the active blight of late autumn, cut- ting it out and burning the branches before spring arrives. It is important to cut out the blight whenever but all should removed before next growing season begins To put the treatment in small com pause, all blight should be removed as goon as seen while the trees are grow- ing. A thorough Inspection needs to be made in the late fall for any branches showing blight After these are cut out a sharp outlook should be kept for the disease in the orchard the next spring In connection with pruning and hurning the trees should not be stimulated beyond what is re quired for a fair growth of the production of a profitable crop seen, ba the wood and THE PURSLANE We have heard TREE farmers to profane in co it was pursiane, whic in cult i f ivated lke be very emphatic without ndemning soi ti clare meaner than h Is indeed belds. How slane pusiey a n ii Wout the pu; Bam and the but weed laca which ian desert, where other plant and recommends its If you want horse radisi frost is ring or soil out of the the dig it and sand where it will not frees have bean poles stan up ng the ground pull them gud somewhere under shelier if worth using they are worth caring for It is said that the hydrangea, grown out of doors permanently, instead of the usually found on it An poles Eastern gardener pulls that any beans up have on vines and all, where frost the beans fresh for some time loots will keep nice and erisp till late in the spring if pitted. Those In- tended for use by the far-ily through the winter may be put in barrels or boxes. Pack them as closely as pos- sible and fill all the spaces with fine gand or earth. A new gladiolus, recently exhibited by J. L. Childs, is Canary Bird, and is reported Yo be the best yellow sort yet obtained. It is very slightly tinged with red deep down in the throat, where it is hardly recognizable. The flowers are of excellent size, also. Even the wild flowers are subject to about by A plant of Lobelia car. dinalis—a plant famous for its intense red—was recently found at Wynne wood, Pa., which had pale pink bloom, Pure white flower spikes have some- times been found. No two flocks can be fed alike, and no two feeders can feed alike. Be- cause our way of feeding gives us suc- cess, it is no guarantee that it will give our neighbor success. Every little de- tall counts for much. After ail, it is not so much the food as it is the whole method of handling. The ornamental varieties of aspara- gus need an abundance of nutriment while making their growth After such a period, which may be two months or more, the plants should be repotted in very rich soil: then, as they are grow ing, supply well with water av? ~ or twice a week give lig” THE FROG INDUSIRY, NEW YORK EATS MORE FROGS THAN ANY PLACE ON EARTH, A Tank Filled Witn a Thousand Big Bull. frogs---Used For Scientific Purpostse. Where the Croakers Come From and | How They Are Caught. Frequenters of Fulton Market have | been much interested during the pat week al the sight of nearly one thou sand big bullfrogs swimming content edly in one of Commissioner Black ford’'s big tanks I chanced to umong the spectators, and with others conceived the popular belief that the frogs had been brought to the market to be killed and eaten Commissioner Blackford set this idea all awry when | “frogs” to him “The live frogs that ut there,” said the Commissioner, “are brought to New York solely for sale among the and The fr a very popular ‘subject’ In the 64 howeyar, sald You Bee © schools colleges OF 18 used to demon H ind ¢ unaer ao ways in which he is the blood Yery vitality is great, and ekillful kn‘fe you can see the complete working ot his heart B¢ him for experinionting or ike nt i IBLE 1a Students i€ also the frogs meggengers tt: away kettles boxes £ or 3 a doze n The shipped That frogs to N tha means suspended from There the red rod abot length ¥ iascinatio about croaker can girange that resist a annel t the The a few inches wild leap and is and carried on mo at it is dangled rithin with jaws hooked big the akes a open leased promptly placed in the back Te a of inter Sometimes the frog is found to be sleeping. Then the hook is placed un der him and a quick jerk lands him When the basket is Slied the frogs ar a pen in one corner of the pond near the huts of the hunters and are kept there until there is a demand for them from New York They are then scooped out of the pen with a net and killed and dressed. Thiz operation is very simple. The frog is stunned with a blow on the head and immediately the head ji severed. The saddle is separated from the body with one blow, and the legs are folded together as one would fold his arms. They are packed in boxes of chopped ice and are ready for skip ment. During the summer months the New York market receives from S000 to | 10,000 pounds of dressed saddies dally. The retail price then reaches the low. est notch Of twenty-five cents a pound At present about 2 000 pounds pass through the market every day. As it is impossible to take the frog during the winter immense quantities of the saddles are frozen during the early autumn and stored in ice boxes. The | ment retaing ite full Savor, and is as | good as if it had beem killed the day | previous, i A great many attempts have been | made toward the artificial propagation | of frogs from the eggs, but none has ever succeeded. Seth Green, one of the most successful fish culturists (n the country, made many tests several years ago, but met with failure. Dur. ing the past summer Commissioner Blackford received sc—-al orders from France for live bulirmogs, which were to be used in stocking the ponds in that country, as the supply was found to be falling below the demand New York Herald, Chinese Wheelbarrows. The wheelbarrow man wears across tached to the shafts on each side. Boxes, bales of goods, or whatever the wheslibarrow by ropes, There are pie, two on each side, and a cushioned generally sits with one leg resting on the front of the barrow and the other hanging over the side in a rope loop, which serves as a foot rest, On the Great Plain wheelbarrowd are oc. caglonally seen with a sail set, when a falr wind proves to be a great help to the trundling of the barrow over a evel way Sines the institution at Bhanghal! the wheelbarrow extens ly as a pecially CArrying from the mills glx women miles, charge being ls » average earnings of a ud. per "issued mills has passenger work- One of cottor Deen ive tied vehicle, « for women man to and can whee] dis- of evening for a morning od. about three . wy month licenses are ' mt pumsi Ii ettiements at 8 wer of whes re in the streets hanghal, ipal reg- in siti nuunnder 14 ane DEINE unger: He muni they re De best perhaps Lhe Sometime 4s many Making Wax does it OLE has a some is be wax properly beeswax, slightly are put on in Transcript. tints and flesh ~ Boston Collar Buttons for insomnia man A it th 4 Li ine MIDE to take 1 was recently troubled He peka Mn medi thought that some would be glad he practice there was in it ; small fee, if any. He sought out a medi student who seemed to have the proper appearance and | his case before him “1 think this prescription will be just what you need,” said the coming practitioner “Three at a dose” “Pills? gueried the invalid “Yes, but just the kind you need.” “How often shall 1 take them?” ‘When you ag if you needed them.’ The patient took the prescription to a nearly drug store and had #t filled. The pills were placed In a small box and wrapped up. The man took them home, and, absent-mindedly, tossed them on top of the burefu. He went to bed that night forgetting all about his ailment and the pills. He was unable to sleep, and thought perhaps the pills would bring Morpheus to his rescue. He got up in the dark, groped around for the box, found it. un- wrapped it, and was surprised to find but three. He took them znd returned to bed and fell asleep in a few minutes, He met the young student in the street the next day and told him of the wonderful effect that his remedy had produced. The young hopeful was Tha Dur. conversation his ia cal aid fool ing the evening's she had purchased the day before. “1 - put them on top of the bureau” she said, “but the box has been opened and they are gone.” A juror in Worcester, Mass, recent- ly asked to be excused on account of deafness. The Judge refused to ex- cuse him, and he sat patiently through a trial lasting several hours. At ils close the other jurors were for convie- tion, but he voted persistently for ao- quittul, on the ground that as he could not hear the testimony he could not vote for conviction. :
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers