tit is born beneath the shadow ot
a field or waving corn f[ Mw\
From a flower whose golden color
outshines the glow of morn, // Sfemiill
Where the bumblebees are work- 11|
backs all jJ x
And we learn tho wondrous secret '/ v-^/^T x v!V
their busy hum has told. I \^ v - m\
They say this flower sometimes ||\. K
Will take a different form w
And be the yellow pumpkin I I /
When autumn sunshines warm. // jjju il \\ W/
When the skillful housewife turns / --Wrt .||J I
it by some necromancy keen I 'Mil /
Into the pie so toothsome, with a Ujnf I
As the yellow of the pumpkin as Mnff 1 1 Ejjjf >
Has a flavor sweet whose richness 'J jjjjj'
i With the good old-fashioned pie. EKi.
All hall, all hall King Pumpkin,
Live ye long and never die. Ar
00000000000000000000000000
1 THE BOER AS 1
i A FIGHTER. |
00000000000000000000000000
The Boers are born fighters, a na
tion of sharpshooters, they never waste
a bullet; each Boer selects his man
and kills him and keeps on doing the
same thing all day and every day un
til the war is over. It is a common
boast with them which they have made
good in more than one olash with the
British, that one Boer i« equal to ten
Englishmen. They do not come out
and fight in the open, but swarm all
over a mountain side, hiding behind
trees and rocks, and woe to the thin
red line or hollow square that comes
within range of their unerring Mar
tinis and Mausers. In fact, the Boer
victories over the British soldiers are
largely accountable for the British
feeling against them, and in the bitter
warfare against the nation the success
of the Boers has been extraordinary.
Fewer than 450 Boers resisted 12,-
000 of the fiercest Zulu warriors on
December 16, 1838, and 3000 natives
were left dead on the field, and this
with old flint locks. President Kru-
FIELD CORSET'S MESSENGER HANDING
OVER COMMANDOS TO BOER FARMERS
TO BE READY FOR WAR.
ger, as a boy, helped the forty Dutch
men hold off 2000 of the men of Mose
litkase, then the most renowned na
tive captain in South Africa. The
bravery of the men is shown by the
attack that 135 of them made on 10,000
Zulus on the Marico Biver, driving
them out of the Transvaal.
These are simply better-known in
stances of the fighting abilities of the
Boers. Every man has handled a gun
from infancy. In the old days, when
a Boer was not fighting the fierce na
tives he was defending himself from
savage beasts. Every Boer has been
trained in warfare. They discovered
the method of laagering their wagons,
placing them in a hollow square, which
the British generals have adopted as
the most successful way of fighting
the natives. The Boers have shown
themselves masters of strategy, the
result of constant warfare with a cruel
and treacherous foe.
U Po T Lpt£ V OFFICER AN(^PRIVATE
STATE- ARTILLERY
TYPES OF BOER INFANTRY, CAVALRY AND ARTILLERY.
The Government of the South Afri
can Republic is empowered to call
at any time the bnrgkers for armed
servioe. The Field Cornet of each
distriot goes round and serves a no
tice on the conscripts, who, mounted
and fortified against hunger for ten
days by a errulj of buck cr besf,
cured in the sun, and called "bil
tong," concentrate in the specified
"dorp" or village, where they invaria
bly meet in the market place—the
church, iron gated, iron steepled, in
the background. Arms are distributed
I . V \V
112 X \ |\
INSPECTION OP A "COMMANDO" OF BOEES IN THE MARKET TLACE OF A TOWN.
to those who are without them; and
as for forage, the velt is trusted to
supply it at need. The commandant,
who is the Dutch equivalent of the
English colonel, drills his forces as
best he may; and a certain amount
of military discipline is eastly ac
quired, despite the rather slouchy ap
pearance, due in part to the absence
of uniforms, except in the case of the
commandants, the other oflicers, and
the"State Artillery."
The Boer much resembles our Amer
ican Apache in his ability to live on
the shadow of things when in the
field. A writer of South Africa, in a
contribution to a London paper, calls
attention to the ability of the Boer to
live ou rations which an ordinary
trooper would not endure and his ca
pacity to travel great distances with
horse in incredibly short time.
The Boor knows every road and
trail of the Transvaal; as a hunter he
knows the devious ways of the wastes
beyond. He is an agriculturist and a
hunter. By the law of self-preserva
tion he has learned the wily ways of
the savage whom he displaced in the
Transvaal. The secret recesses of the
mountains are at his command. As a
horseman he much resembles our
American cowboy. He can ride on top
of the saddle, or over his horse's
neck, or Cossask fashion, with one
foot in the stirrup, one leg on the sad
dle and his head and shoulders ou the
ground. His horse is part of his fam
ily life. The beasts are very hardy,
sure-footed and affectionate. Then,
too, the Boer is inured to the hard
ships of the mountains, to long horse
back journeys, scant allowances of
food, treks on which the water supply
is scarce.
In the campaign of 1881 against the
English the Boer took good care that
his forces never faced the enemy in
the open field. He never offered open
engagement. He chose his eyrie in
the mountain gorges, and from that
vantage point ho picked off the foe at
his will. Even when he assaulted Ma
juba Hill he came up rock by rock,
squirming like a snake, twisting in
and out and not flriDg until he bad a
mc.vk to hit.
An English correspondent who went
through the 1881 campaign wrote at
that time of the fighting qualities of
the Boers:
"We never are able tc see the
enemy. Except before the fight at
Majuba Hill, ] never saw but a hand
ful of them at any time. And when
they thought we noticed them they
and their horses disappeared as if
swallowed up by the earth. I think
we all feel that they can shoot. Our
losses at Hatley and Laing's Nek
showed that. We were very much in
the open, but not a blessed Boer was
to be seen. But every once in a while
there was the crack of a rifle, and
then one of our poor boys would go
over, the line would close up and we
would begin chasing again for the
enemy we could never find. I was
taken prisoner just after General
Colley was killed, and I can say that
I could not have been treated better
by any people. They were kind to
our wounded, did not molest the dead
nor insult us of the living. I think
they are a very brave people, and, as
for fighting, they seem to know just
as much about it as we do."
The Boer loves his country with a
passionate patriotism. He is not a
miner, or an engineer, or a railroad
constructor. He is pre-eminenly an
agriculturist. In Cape Colony nearly
the whole of the wheat growing
is done by the Dutch farmers of
the Western province. In the in
terior the bulk of the grain used is
supplied by the Dutch farmer of the
Transvaal. The whole of the fruit
crop is produced by Boers. Eveu far
up in Bechauaualand you will find
Boer wagons l'vom the Bepublic
loaded up with fruit, oat forage and
other products.
The Boers, in short, are a pastoral
folk, stolidly content to be that and
nothing else. They shun towns, shop
BOERS RECEIVING AMMUNT" pN.
keeping and gold minin ask
only to live in a nK degree of
comfort, in a rude to provide
for their child 1 * .j grow up and
to be let alo.
Germnn Viceroy in the Cnrollnes.
A correspondent of the Berlin
Tageblatt calls attention to the fact
that a German was Viceroy of the
Caroline Islands thirty-five years
ago. His name was Teteus, and he
was captain of a ship which exported
snails to China. In 1805 he married
one of the daughters of the "King"
of the Carolines and bought of him
one of the islands.
Mule Goats Aino»e Sheep.
A correspondent of the Charleston
News and Courier sends the following
information, based on personal ex
perience, to the farmers of South
Carolina: "If you put among a flock
of sheep from three to four male goats
the dogs will rarely attack them.
Sheep always run to the goats for pro
tection."
Novel Sport In tli« Far Kant.
The eflete Parisian has just taken
lip the sport of fish contests. Oriental
sporting men in Siam, Cochin China
and some parts of Japan have long
taken great dulight in the lively con-
SIAMESE FIGHTING FISH.
tests of the little fighting fish which
are bred in the East for thin particular
purpose. The little finny belligerents
are prettily colored red and blue fish,
and when it comes to a matter of flght
f. > io it the death.
WHEN JOHN BULL LEFT US.
A Monument in Botton Will oOinmein
o rate the Historical Event.
"It is with the greatest pleasure I in
form you that on Sunday last, the 17th
inst. (1776), about 9 o'clock in the
foreuoou, the ministerial army evacuat
ed the town of Boston, and that the
forees of the United Colonies are now
in actna! possession thereof. I beg
leave to congratulate you, sir, and the
DOBCHESTEB IXEIGHTS MONUMENT.
(Marks the spot wtiere Oeor«e Washington
stood ami watched the British soldiers
sail away.)
honorable Congress on this happy
event, and particularly as it was effect
ed without endangering the lives and
property of the remaining unhappy in
habitants. I have great reason to im
agine their flight was precipitated by
the appearance of a work, which I had
ordered to be thrown up last Saturday
night on au emiueuco at Dorchester,
which lies nearest to Boston Neck,
called Nook's Hill." Thus wrote Gen
eral George Washington to the Presi
dent of Congress March 19, 1776. The
City Council of Boston has approved
plans for the Dorchester Heights
monument which marks the spot where
General Washington stood and watched
the British sail away. The plans show
a type of tower common iu colonial
times, with fountain aud memorial
tablet on the most conspicuous side.
It will be built of old-fashioued brick
with dark headers. The trimmings
will be of Indiana stone or white terra
cotta. The height of the monument
to the base of the steeple will be aboul
seveuty-five feet. The original appro
priation for the monument was 525,000
Ukeri Them in Grotipde
Albeit an attractive young miss in
most ways, like man}' other youug
animals it was her habit to wolf hei
food. Of this her mhther tried tc
break her, and on this particular oc
casion was remonstrating because ol
the number of peas Alice seemed tc
thiuk it necessary to consume at s
mouthful.
"Take fewer peas on your fork,
Alice. Why should you want to tak«
so many at one time?"
"They taste so much better whec
eaten in groups,"' was Alice's uuex
pected explanation.
Altered a Trifle.
One small girl says to another
"They are not saving rubberneck any
more."
"Why not?" asks the other with
some joy.
"Because they are saying peuin
sula," says the one.
"And why peninsula?" says the
other, innocently.
"Because it stretches out to sea,"
says the one.—"Worcester (Mass.)
Gazette.
A Kemarkuble Girl.
Helen Keller, the deaf, dumb and
blind girl, whose acquirements have
attracted the attention of all students
of educational methods, spent last
summer at Wrentham, Mass., as
the guest of Mrs. J. E. Chamberlain.
She keeps up her study of Greek and
Arabic, and writes her exercises on a
typewriting machine especially de
signed for these languages, with inter
changeable cylinders. By way of ex
ercise she delights iu climbing trees,
and she is an excellent swimmer,
HELEN KELLER.
(The deaf, dumb and blind girl.)
which she vastly enjoys. Helen puz
zles new visitors by telling the color
of the flowers they bring. She cau
even distinguish a white aud yellow
pansy from a purple one, aud a red
from a white rose. Her explanation
is that th'j petal of the darker colored
flowers are thicker than those of the
lighter ones.
She Caught Illm.
Patrice—"You know, Will said he'd
like to be caught playing golf."
Patience—"Yes."
"Well, I caught him on the links
this f'jry ofteruoon. We're engaged."
—Yonkers Statesman.
_ t FARM AMD GARDEN. £
Have Thin?* up to the Handle.
A well known writer on agricultural
subjects says that especially in seed
ing should there never be any hap
hazard ways. Even in giving milk to
the calves should the process be the
rule. The calf should have its ration
statedly, should have it sweet, and
should have it warm. Over feeding is
| injurious, but feeding cold milk is
j worse.
Weed* on the Koadflide.
I Not many farmers bother tliem
| selves about the weeds that grow
! alongside their farms on the roads, and,
as a rule, not • many road overseors
care whether the weeds grow on the
roads or not; but these same weeds
produce seed and keep the farm well
supplied with weeds every year, which
cost the farmers large sums to destroy.
The wise farmer will keep the weeds
down at his owli expense if they grow
on the road.
I)l«l>o«al of Potatoes Inclined to Hot.
Potatoes from fields affected by
blight should be kept by themselves,
so they cau be disposed of first aud
in ways that might not be open to the
disposal of the whole crop. Where
blight has appeared inn field, except
it be the early blight, the tubers from
that field will rot, to some extent at
, least, when placed in an ordinary cel-
I lar and exposed to about all kinds of
I temperatures above freezing. The
1 first care is that none of them be
; saved for seed, as they carry the my
j celium of the diseases over from year
to year. In disposing of them two
! ways are open. One is to sell them
for use at once, even if they have to
'bo sold at a small sacrifice. If they
; goto hotels or other places that use
large quantities of potatoes they will
probably be used before the rot be
gins to make itself manifest,
i If the potatoes must be kept, it can
only be in cold storage of some kind.
If dug late in the fall and the weather
remains cool this may sometimes be
accomplished by putting the potatoes
into the cellar and keeping the cellar
cool by opening the windows nt night
aud keeping them shut during the
daytime. This will keep the temper
ature down to a poiut where the con
cealed fungus will uot develop. Later
the tubers may be pitted.
Too >1 well Pollen for Winti rins.
It has been claimed by apiarists
that have tested the matter to some
extent, that bees will winter better if
u it allowed to partake of pollen, but
i con lined on co nbs of honey alone. I
think some attention should be giveu
to this matter in arranging hives for
winter. lam satisfied that in some
cases where a large amount of polleu
I tilled the combs which the cluster of
bees occupied during the winter, did
nit winter well. Dysentery showed
itself to some extent iu almost every
; case in such iustauces, but we nrght
attribute this to the fact that they
were confined to the combs contain
ing polleu, and we e obliged to par
take o;' it or starve.
I believe they should not be con
j fined to such combs, but I do not be
ieve it necessary to entirely remove
; hjm from the liive. The frames of
comb that generally contain pure
honey are found on the outside of the
brood nest, and those that contain
pollen are always found next to the
; brood, aud as this is the case the tees
i are likely to occupy the combs con
j taiuing pollen for their winter quar
' ters. This can be coutrolled to quite
: nu extent, and ell I think really nec
essa y is to remove the centre combs,
i or those combs containing pollen, and
, place them at the outside, aud the
; combs that cou.aiu lioaey next to the
I bees.
If this is done aud the bees con
fined 011 combs of pure honey, we
; thiuk no damage will be done by them
I partaking of the pollen at their p'eas
ure. It is very necessary that bees
have a good supply of pollen in enrly
! sprint, and if possible we prefer to
! have it in the hive where they have
i access to it when needed. It is true
j that we cau furnish a substitute in
the shape of meal, etc., but cau only
do so on days that they cau fly and
work 0.1 it. It often occurs that a
large amount of pollen is stored on
i the combs, anil as it is exclusively
' used for food for the young bees, it
! naturally is stored near the brood
| nest. The amount of polleu stored
| depends on the supply. Bees seem to
j be us eager to gather pollen as to
' gather honey, an I o ten a large re
i serve is 011 hand.—A. H. Duff in farm,
! Field aud Fireside.
Sac«- 11* it Market Cr p.
Almost all farmers grow some sage
for home use iu making dressing for
roasted turkey ami chickens. Iu the
olden time, when cheese making for
home use was common, sage was
usually put iu one or more of the
cheeses to improve the flavor aud
make variety. There is no more
wholesome seasoning than sag®. Most
others, especially the boughten spice-',
pepper, allspice and the like, brought
from the tropics, are too constipating
for health. Sage is uot so, or at most
only in very slight degree, aud as it is
always used as condiment with fresh
meat, which is laxative, it does good
rather than harm. Those farmers
who grow sage have generally au
active demand about holiday time
from their neighbors who have been
less provident, and they have euougli
demand in their own neighborhood to
lake all their surplus. Sometimes,
however, the well-to-do neighbors are
ashamed to take so little a thing as
this for a gift, and what peunies th«y
give for much more than pays
the expense of carina for the bod.
The market gardeners grow celery
as an annual, and by taking th«
thriftiest plants and allowing them to
seed, they have developed several
varieties of large-leaved sage, wbicli it
is always better to use as seed when
setting out new plantations. Sage,
may, however, be spread from the
root. This requires no annual plant
ing of the seed, and of course keeps
the large leaved variety pure, though
after being grown in a clump the
plant will be less vigorous and have
smaller leaves. .The layered sage
stem, with its lower leaves stripped off
and covered, roots very quickly, and
this can be done any time in midsum
mer and secure a well-looted plant
next year. Most of the old sage beds
in the country are grown from layers.
This is why they grow in clumps, as
the layer has some dormant buds
which send up shoots the following
season. The sage plant is best grown
from seed which may be sown now,
aud get growth enough to live through
the winter if the top is cut down in
the fall, pretty close to the ground,
aud coveied with a forkful of manure.
This winter covering is important to
keep the sage roots from heaving out
in winter by alternate freezing aud
thawing.
New Way of Planting Strawberries.
It has been found that it costs more
to cultiva'e a spring-set strawberry
bed during its first sii weeks than for
any other period of its life. Atten
tion must be given at the very time
that other items of farm work need
looking after. If this care is withheld
the bed will become a mass of weeds
and will be so checked that it may
never recover. The following method
which is in use in some sections of
New York state and which the writer
has tested in a small way, will be
found as practical as it is simple.
The young plants are removed from
the field in the usual manner, but are
taken to a previously arrange ! 1 ed of
good soil where they are planted, after
being trimmed of old leaves aud in
jured and superfluous roots. The
shortening of the remaining roots is
rapidly done as follows: The plant is
held in the left hand, leaves up, the
collar grasped by the thumb aud first
linger, the hand is closed around the
roots, which are snipped off by means
o:' A pair of shears. In the bed the
plants are set in rows about a foot
apart and an inch apart in the rows.
They are shaded until they have be
come established and a mulch of well
rotted stable manure that is free from
straw is applied. The plants are
sprayed with Bordeaux mixture every
ten days or two weeks, aud watered
if necessary. The ground is soaked
just before they are to be removed to
the field. They are then lifted, set
closely upon trays aud carried to the
field. They are remarkably well pro
vided with roots aud suffer no check
when set in the permanent rows.
While the plants are in the beds the
field is beiug prepared. It is plowed,
harrowed aud thoroughly fined by
means of a weeder run over it once a
week or ten days, aud after each rain.
It not only pulverizes the surface but
kills weeds and turns up any grubs
and worms for the birds to remove.
The plants have, by this method, a
warm bed to start in, which is very
different from the usual cold comfort
forced upon them in early spring,
wheu, in order to be ready, the
ground frequently has to be plowed
before it should be touched. The re
maining treatment is the s.me as for
other beds.
This method permits of easier spray
ing of the plants for disease, which
operatiou occupies less time aud re
quites less fungicide by far than is
used in the open field. A double
saving is thus effected. No sprayiug
is usually needed in the field after the
plants are set, unless the germs of
disease are already present in great
quantity in it. Much more time is
allowed for transplanting since it may
be done wheu the greatest rush of
spring work is over. Shipments of
plants that arrive late cau sometimes
be saved from utter loss by this plan.
Lastly, plants grown in this way are
in every respect equal to pot growu
plants.—M. G. Ivains iu the Epito
mist.
Poultry Notes.
It is possible to improve the egg
laying qualities of any flock by careful
selection.
The farmer who tries two colonies
of birds this winter will want four
next winter.
It is a good plan to give laying hens
nu occasional feed of corn that has
been burned until it is charcoal.
The color of an egg has nothing to
do with its nutritive value. A white
egg is just as good as a brown one.
A party gave a dollar for a horse,
killed it, sold the hide for $1.25 aud
had the meat for his chickens for his
trouole.
If yon havn't got a bone mill feed
chipped meat scraps or sausage to the
fowls —meaf, is just about as good as
bone, anyhow.
The hen is the most profitable of
ail birds kept on the farm, but it is
well where one cau to have ducks,
turkeys aud geese.
If the hens are too fat to lay or
moult well, feed them but once a day
if yarded, or not at all if free, until
reduced in weight.
The first three days that a lien sits
on her ej?gs she should attend faith
fully to business in order to start the
"ileck" to growing.
One brood at a time is best for the
farm unless the farmer has money and
time to build the yards aud houses to
keep the birds apart.
Ground oats, when made from a
good quality of grain, is one of the
best parts of the moruiug mash. It
produces muscle, boue and feather*-*
not fat.