LIVE STOCK J*AGRICULTURE
SAVE YOUR TREES
Life of Infected Chestnuts May
Be Prolonged For Years.
DIRECTIONS FOR THE WORK.
Federal Department of Agriculture
Recommends Cutting Out of Diseased
Spots and Treatment With Coal Tar
or Good Paint.
Where valuable ornamental, shade
or orchard chestnut trees become in
fected In one or more spots with the
chestnut bark disease that has been
killing the trees in several states and
is spreading rapidly the life and use
fulness of such trees can be prolonged
for several or for many years, depend
ing largely upon the thoroughness with
which the recommendations given in a
bulletin issued by the United States
department of agriculture for cutting
out tho diseased areas (lesions) are car
ried out.
The essentials for the work are a
gouge, a mallet, a pruning knife, a pot
of coal tar and a paint brush. In the
case of a tall tree a ladder or rope or
both may bo necessary, but under no
circumstances should tree climbers be
used, as tlioy cause wounds which are
very favorable places for Infection.
Sometimes an ax, a saw and a long
handled tree pruner are convenient
auxiliary Instruments, though prac
tically all the cutting recommended
can be done with a gouge with a cut
ting edge of one or one and one-half
inches. AH cutting instruments should
be kept very sharp, so that a clean
and smooth cut may be made at all
times.
By cutting with the gouge into a dis
eased area a characteristically discol
ored and mottled middle and inner
bark Is revealed. All of this diseased
bark should be carefully cut out for at
least an inch beyond the discolored
area if the size of the branch will al
low It. This bark should be collected
1n a bag or basket and burned. If the
cutting is likely to result in the re
moval of the bark for much more than
half the circumference of the branch
or trunk It will probably be better to
»r->y v -i - v: *
W' . i
,-v
■ i- : ' r<
Photograph by United States department of agriculture.
CHESTNUT TREE PARTLY KILLED BY BARK DISEASE.
(Upper Branches Dead, Lower Living).
cut off the entire limb or to cut down
the tree, as the case may be, unless
thero is some special reason for at
tempting to save the limb or tree. The
fungus usually, though not always, de
velops most vigorously in the inner
bark next to the wood. When this is
the case not only all the diseased bark
and an inch of healthy bark around it
must be removed, but at least two or
three annual layers of wood beneath
the diseased bark must also be gouged
out. Special care should be taken to
avoid loosening the healthy bark at the
edges of the cut out areas. Except in
the early spring this is not difficult
after a little experience in manipulat
ing the gouge and mallet, provided the
gouge is kept sharp.
Small branches which have become
infected should be cut off, the cut be
ing made well back of the disease—at
least two or three inches, if possible.
All cut-out areas and all the cut ends
of stubs should be carefully and com
pletely painted with coal tar. A good
grade of paint has been recommended
by some authorities as superior to tar,
but it is more expensive. If the tar is
very thick the addition of a little creo
sote will improve it for antiseptic pur
poses as well as for ease in applying.
If the first coat is thin a second one
of fairly thick tar should be applied
within a few weeks or months. Other
coats should be applied later whenever
it becomes necessary.
The entire tree should be carefully
examined for diseased spots and every
one thoroughly cut out and treated in
the way already described. In case of
suspicious looking spots a portion of
the outer bark can be cut out with the
sharp gouge as a test. If this cut
shows the characteristically discolored
bark the spot can be considered as dis
eased and cut out accordingly; if the
cut shows healthy bark it need merely
be treated with tar or paint, as other
cuts are treated. In examining a tree
for diseased spots it is always best to
begin at the base of the trunk and
work up, for if the trunk is girdled at
the base it is useless to work anywhere
on the tree.
When the spores of the fungus are
present, especially in the form of
X "ANIMALS WITH GOLDEN %
£ HOOFS." £
£ "When I was n boy," writes a
•J* correspondent of the Denver
!j* Field and Farm, "my father sent %
v me to drive a large flock of £
sheep from the stockyards to a |
X pasture. The sheep were hun- £
pry and we were unable to keep 4»
X them off a field of fine fall T
T wheat. The owner with his sons
| and dogs came running as he %
* would have done were his house *
X on fire and ordered us to 'Get X
X those sheep out of his wheat!' T
❖ After the first burst of wrath •£
X was over I explained we did not T
112 have bridles and lines on the ❖
X sheep and that it had been im- X
£ possible to keep them off: If he 4j
X would help us we would get X
X them off ns soon as possible and ¥
that my father would settle for X
X any damage done. We worked ¥
4» fast and hard and so did the X
5 sheep, eating as they went. The X
¥ field looked as if it had been *
mowed its full length and for
¥ several rods back from the road. *
% A few days after the owner of X
% the wheat came to see father, T
claiming damages, which he X
X agreed to pay. The amount, T
♦j 4 however, was to be determined y
% at harvest time. Nothing fur- .£
¥ ther was heard about the matter ¥
.♦« for nearly a year. Then, instead X
¥ of wanting payment, there came T
♦> a frank acknowledgment that
112 the best wheat was harvested X
•I* from the land the sheep passed
X over, and the owner agreed to X
112 take some sheep, pasture them +
.j. on his wheat fields and care for X
X them free of cost." ¥
.j..;. .J. *l* •! ••' •> -V *s* *l* V *i*
threads or horns, they are readily
washed down the branches and trunk
by every rain and thus carried down
to or toward the base of the tree. As
a result the base of a tree, the crotches
and other places which afford easy
lodgment for the spores are particular
ly subject to infection.
Although spraying with any of the
standard fungicides appears to have
no effect whatever in stopping the
progress of the disease after it has
once started in the inner or middle
bark, there is little doubt that it is of
use in preventing infection from spores
washed down by rain from the upper
part of a tree or from Fpores which
have been transported from other trees.
For this reason the spraying after each
rain of the parts of a tree below a
spore bearing lesion is recommended,
but only on an experimental basis. If
no spore bearing lesion occur la the
tree there is less apparent reason for
spraying. The scattering of slaked
lime about the base of a tree and the
whitewashing of the trunk and larger
limbs have shown apparently bene
ficial results in preventing infectious
and perhaps also depredations of bor
ers.
A tree which is being treated for in
dividual infections must be carefully
watched and the diseased spots
promptly cut out as they appear. For
this purpose each tree should be ex
amined very carefully two or three
times at least during the growing sea
son.
French Care of Stallions.
The Frenchman's method of work
ing stallions makes the animals very
obedient, which is due to three things.
The Frenchman is very severe on his
horses. lie breaks them to work ear
ly, and he works thein steadily. His
horses are usually of a good disposi
tion. When a team of several of these
stallions is halted only the lead horse
is tied, and all usually stand quietly.
Forms of Nitrate to Use.
The best form of nitrate for orchard
or vineyard is a cover crop of clover
plowed under. If you feel that you
must buy nitrogen I would suggest
some preparation of barnyard manure
and would ndd potash also. Nitrate
of soda is all right to use now and
then if your pocketbook will stand it.
—Professor U. P. Iledrick, Experiment
Station, Geneva, N. Y.
Dry Seed Corn Won't Freeze.
If seed corn is thoroughly dry there
Is but little danger of the germ being
destroyed by freezing. Corn for seed
is easily dried out at storing time.
THE CHRISTMAS TREE.
Inexpensive Decorations Which Will
Look Artistic.
The cost of decorating a Christinas
tree is largely a question of choice.
Nothing makes so much show for
the money invested as tinsel, and it
should be used on the Christmas tree
as extravagantly as the purse war
rants. An inexpensive but exception
ally artistic decoration was worked by
one mother to whom expense was a
great consideration. It consisted of
chains of cranberries and popcorn in
terwoven with gilt and silver tinsel.
The red of the berries, the white of
the corn and the glitter of the tinsel
against the green of the tree were won
derfully pretty.
Another mother who had to evolve
her decorations had only cotton bat
ting and tinsel as her stock in hand.
The tree was first flecked with bits of
cotton, as if a snowstorm had passed
that way, then sprinkled freely with
epsom salt, which produces the same
effect as diamond dust and costs next
to nothing. Then yards and yards of
tinsel were draped over and among
the branches. The result of this sim
ple decoration was charming. The base
of the tree was banked with cotton.
Paper Christmas bells make effective
and inexpensive decorations for a tree.
If the children of the household are
kindergartners their fingers can fash
ion the trimmings of tissue or gilt and
silver paper. Apropos of the children
lending a hand, it is a mistake upon the
part of the mother, after the children
are old enough to assist, to take upon
herself the entire task of trimming the
tree.
Then, too, it is really depriving the
children of a great pleasure, for the
fact that they had a hand in the mat
ter will add rather than detract from
their joy. Of course the gifts, tlie real
surprise feature, if hung upon the tree,
j must be putin place after the children
; are off for the Land of Nod. The bet-
I ter plan is to arrange the gifts around
I the base of the tree, for if hung upon
it tlie decorations will be more or less
disturbed when detaching the gifts.
RULES TO GET WEALTH.
Rothschild Said It Took More Wit to
Hoard Than to Earn.
Rothschild commonly ascribed his
early success in a great degree to the
: following rules:
"First.—l combined three profits. I
| made the manufacturer my customer
j and the one I bought of my customer—
[ that is, I supplied the manufacturer
with raw materials and dyes, on each
of which I made a profit, and took his
manufactured goods, which I sold at
a profit, and thus combined three
profits. ,
"Second.—Make a bargain at once.
Re nn offhand man.
"Third.—Never have anything to do
with an unlucky mnn or place. I have
seen many clever men who hnd not
shoes to their feet. I never act with
them. Their advice sounds very well,
but fate Is against them. They can
not get on themselves. How can they
do me good?
"Fourth.—Re cautious and bold. It
requires a great deal of boldness and
a great deal of caution to make a great
fortune, and when you have got it it
requires ten times as much wit to
keep it."
The last idea was one which Roth
schild frequently expressed.—Life.
r— n ■"« inn «... «« ■ ~,1. mn o
SCRAMBLED PROVERBS. 1
<J— <5
Never look a gift horse on the bright
side of things.
Early to bed and early to rise; vine
gar never catches flies.
The whirligig of time makes the
world go round.
A barking (log never makes two bites
of a cherry.
Fools rush in while the iron is hot.
It is a poor rule that has no turning.
—Chicago Tribune.
I Bits of Good Fun For Everybody |
❖ •!*
Being More In Earnest.
The Itev. Sylvester Home, the Lib
eral M. I*. from London, was talking
about religion at a dinner in New
York.
"Too many of us in our religious ob
servances," he said, "are like a little
Tottenham court road girl.
"This little girl said one night to her
new nurse:
" 'Oh, must I sleep in the dark?'
" 'Yes, miss,' the nurse answered.
" 'Then wait a minute,' said the lit
tle girl. 'l'll get up and say my pray
ers more carefully.' "
A Formidable Foe.
"Rome o' dese reformers," said Til
de Rasberry, "makes me think of Ras
tus IMnkley's dog. I says to Mm, 'Ras
tus," I says, 'is dat dog good foil rats':'
An' he says, 'No; lie's mighty bad foil
rats.' 'Does he ketch 'em an' kill 'em?'
"No," says Rastus; 'he don't ketch 'em
ncr he don't kill 'em. Hut tf dey come
fooliu' aroun' him he'll mighty near
skeer 'em to death.' "—Washington
Star.
No Absentees.
"So you actually went to church last
Sunday?"
"1 really did."
"Excuse me if I seem skeptical.
What was the text?"
"Aha, I have you there. The text
was. 'He giveth his beloved sleep.' "
"Good work. And who was there?"
"All the beloved, it seemed to me."—
Cleveland Plain Dealer.
TWO YULETIDES.
Greek Catholic Church Still Cele
brates Christmas Jan. 7.
RUSSIA OBSERVES THAT DAY.
Only Great Nation That Clings to the
Julian Calendar Made Up According
to Time Measurement of Julius Cae
sar.
"Christmas comes but once a year,"
wrote somebody, and everybody ac
cepted the statement as truth. It is
not true, however, for Christmas
comes twice a year. Those of us who
reckon by the Gregorian calendar cel
ebrate Dec. 25. Those who still ad
here to the Julian calendar observe
Jan. 7. Russia is the only great na
tion which still holds out for the Ju
lian calendar. The Greek Catholic
church sticks to the time measure
ment adopted by Julius Caesar forty
six years before the birth of Christ.
Thus the Greeks and all the adher
ents of that church, including the Rus
sians, of course, hold their Christmas
on the 7th day of January.
In the city of New York both Christ
mas days are celebrated. New York
city has a considerable population of
Greeks, Russians, Armenians, Syrians,
Servians, Poles, Bulgarians, Montene
grins and Vlaehs, all of whom observe
the Julianic Christmas. For forty
days prior to Jan. 7 they observe a
fast, eating no meat, neither beast,
fish nor fowl. They eat fish eggs or
caviar, but draw the line there. Their
principal diet for the forty days' fast
ing is made up of olives, beans, caviar
bread and crackers.
Hut at C o'clock on the morning of
Christmas day, Jan. 7, the Julianist
fast is over. Julianist friends goto
church early on their Christmas morn
ing, but not too early. They eat break
fast first. High mass is celebrated in
the Greek Orthodox church at S o'clock.
The forty days' fast having ended two
hours before, the Jullanists are joyful
ly full of the good things of this world
before they enter the house of wor
ship. The chief viand, so far as its
symbolic character goes, is a spiced
loaf of rye broad covered and filled
with walnuts, with a cross cut on top.
This is called the christopsoma—
"bread of the Christ."
The Greeks, many of them arrayed
in gorgeous new clothing, bring their
feast to an end with the cups of Turk
ish coffee and the Turkish cigarettes,
mixed in with songs and toasts. It is
highly interesting for a plain Ameri
can, with a plain name like .Tim Jones,
to sit in a cafe and hear the songs of
the foreign gentlemen with seven
jointed surnames, observe the satis
faction depicted in their countenances
as the feast goes on and receive the
impression that this is real Christmas
cheer, though it be thirteen days late,
according to our method of counting
time.
Regarding Color Blindness.
It is a curious fact that color blind
persons are not often aware of their
defect of vision. Even scientific men
frequently fail to detect this defect in
themselves.
The following is a favorite theory to
account for the cause of color blind
ness: The eye is capable of four dis
tinct color sensations—blue, yellow,
red and green. These arise, however,
from only two sources, each of which
has a double action, producing the
sensations of two complementary col
ors. One of the sources of sensation
corresponds to blue and yellow, the
other to red and green. Most color
blind people are deficient in the latter
source of sensation and can distin
guish, therefore, only blue and yellow
with their compounds, but sometimes
the reverse is the case. Harper's
Weekly.
Hunting.
Jones—My wife was hunting last
week:
Smith—ln (lie mountains for rabbits?
Jones—No; in the stores for Christ
mas bargains.
Sonny Was Wise.
"You'll be late for supper, sonny."
said a merchant in passing a small boy
who was carrying a package.
"No. 1 won't." was the reply. "I've
dot de meat."—Llpplncott's.
CHRISTMAS IN SHETLAND.
Islands Have Curious Yuletide Cus
toms.
The festival of Yule, as is well
known, dates back to prehistoric times,
when men worshiped nature rather
than nature's God.
The inhabitants of the Shetland isles
are descended from Norsemen, who
were zealous in religious belief, and
"Yule" to them meant a season of
great importance, says Madame. The
"Gammel Norsk Hjul" signifies, liter
ally, "wheel," and the festival so called
was held in honor of the sun at the
winter solstice wheeling round toward
the equator. The return of the sun
important period of the year
as being the beginning of renewed life
in nature, which only could be revived
by the light and warmth of the ascend
ing orb.
The course of the sun was observed
in all things as far as possible. Every
thing was turned from left to right.
The boat was so turned on the water,
the corn stacks so built in courses, the
mill so turned in grinding and the
wheel in spinning. In fact, everything
went with the sun, even the round of
the drinking horn.
Many superstitions included in na
ture worship had full scope at the
"Hjul" time—or more modern "Yule"
—when a vast multitude of "trows,"
or fairy folk, who at that season were
not only active, but maliciously dis
posed. had to be propitiated.
To give the fairy folk no opportunity
of playing tricks the fishing creel and
lines were removed from the wall, the
spinning wheel taken out of gear and
its integral parts laid aside and every
thing suspended from ceiling or walls
lifted down, as if left in their usual
places the übiquitous elves were sup
posed to set all going against the sun's
motion, which of course would mean
serious trouble. The time of Yule was
and still is rigidly observed as "helly"
—i. e., a time of rest from all manner
of labor.
V MISFIT CHRISTMAS GIFTS. j|
Now the women so a-shopping y
& Every week day without stopping,
<s> Buying thin gifts for the stout man |L
<|> and fat presents for the gaunt,
'£ And we reckon that's the reason y
'f Why at every Christmas season y
J, All the married men and single get
X the things they do not want.
<J> When a man with whiskers flowing i|>
y Gets a razor, then he's going <?>
SJ To emit ejaculations that would not
look well in print,
«?> And If hand soap Is presented
y He'll be sore and discontented,
For his feelings will he harrowed Ǥ>
® by that most suggestive hint. *£*
V A
& For tobacco, then a brier
A Or a meerschaum for his Christmas y
'■> would be sinful and absurd. y
'f Tou might just as well give blub- t?
2 ' >er %
To a whale, for Yuletide grub or y
■5, A bushel of canary seed to a chap y
<?> who has no bird. «?»
«x>
•j* But It doesn't really matter
If the women widely scatter
All their tokens of affection on tho Jf,
A men In manner rash, <|>
fFor the luxury of living
Is enhanced by Christmas giving '4*
'j' When the presents are not misflts
that you can't exchange for
.*» cash. «3>
•*» —New Tork World. <l*
<s> <P>
Where Clay Is Food.
In the colony of Upper Senegal and
Niger, near a place named Diekuy, ex
ists nn edible clay, of which the na
tives are very fond. It is found in a
layer between strata of limestone, and
a gallery lias been driven into the
earth for the extraction of tlie sub
stance. It is not only eaten on the
spot, but, broken into pieces a few
inches across, is sold to the inhabitants
of the surrounding country over a ra
dius of some twenty miles. It is said
by French explorers that some natives
consume several pounds of the strange
food every day. A similar custom is
found in the Sudan and in other parts
of Africa.—Youth's Companion.
The Danger In Flattery.
The curtain had fallen on the per
formance of the amateur theatrical
company, and compliments wise and
otherwise were flying freely. The well
meaning young man approached his
hostess.
"You played the heroine's part mag
nificently, Mrs. l'ortleigh," he said
gushingly as lie bowed before her.
"You're too kind, Mr. Unsleigh," re
plied the good lady, who would never
see forty again. "Rut I'm afraid you're
only flattering. A young and pretty
woman should really have taken the
part."
"Ah, madam," he sighed, "with your
skill you proved quite the contrary."—
Philadelphia Ledger.
A Lost Race.
"Oh, yes," Mrs. Smith told us, "my
husband is an enthusiastic archaeolo
gist. And I never knew it tfll yester
day. I found in his desk some queer
looking tickets with the inscription.
'Mudhorse, 8 to I.' And when I asked
him what they were ho explained to
mo that they were relics of a lost race.
Isn't it interesting?"
Black Diamonds.
"I want to provide for my grandson,
but stocks may depreciate. How do I
know what will be good a few years
from now?"
"You might leave a few thousand
tons of coal in trust," suggested the
family lawyer—Washington Herald.
CHRISTMAS MINE.
By J. WILBUR TAIT.
This is a true story. It happened in
1805.
"It is now nearly Christmas, Brokaw,
and I see no way for us to keep soul
and body together till spring except to
go into the mountains and cut wood."
"And freezo our fingers and our
noses and our feel. We may as well
starve to death."
"It won't be long. The spring 'll be
along in a few months, and we can go
to prospecting again.
"Prospecting? How many years have
I been digging holes in the ground for
nothing? I tell you, Trimmer, I'm
through with prospecting, and as soon
as I can get a regular job I'm going
to take it."
"Rut you can't get a job just now,
and we've nothing to eat. Come; cheer
up. It's always darkest before day."
The two ragged, discouraged men
climbed the mountains of Calaveras
county, Cal. There was a chance of
their making some thirty or forty dol
lars a month, on which they could eas
ily live and buy some clothes, but it
was a sad comedown from the roseate
I dreams with which they had begun to
hunt for a fortune. They found an old
j abandoned miner's cabin, in which
I they made their home, a dispiriting
1 place in which to live, for it was a
j perpetual reminder of another's fail
; ure. But they were not hunting for
gold in this region. They were keep
ing themselves alive.
[ Every morning as soon as it was
| light the sound of their axes rang in
i the wood and continued till the early
winter twilight came on. Cord after
j cord was stacked up, each cord repra
| senting days of hard labor. Mean
while a snowstorm came down on
I them and covered the ground to a
! depth of two feet. The prediction aa
to frozen members was not verified.
"We've got such a pile of brush hero
from chopped off branches," said Trim
mer to his partner one afternoon, "that
we'd better get rid of it."
So they touched a llame to it, and it
was soon roaring and crackling, send
! lng out a pleasant heat. It melted the
snow beneath it and left an area of
hot ground.
"Here's a good chance for n roast,"
said Brokaw. "I'm going to make an
oven in this hot earth, and we'll cook
our deer meat, and as today is Christ
mas we will have a befitting meal if
wo never get another one."
So Brokaw began to dig a hole for
the baking. At the depth of two feet
he struck a bed of rock,
j "Good!" he exclaimed. "It's hot stone
and will keep its heat. Give me the
meat."
The venison was brought in a bak
ing pan, and Trimmer was about to
place It in the hole when Brokaw stop
ped him.
"Hold on till I chip off a piece of the
j stone to see what it's like," he said.
' "I thought you were through with
prospecting," Trimmer remarked satir
! ically.
"So I am. This isn't prospecting;
it's only a habit. Any man
who has been hunting in the earth as
I long as we have will want to see ev
erything he takes out."
He broke off a bit of his oven bed,
the venison was placed in the hole and
covered over, and (he two men listened
' to the welcome sound of its sizzling.
Brokaw took the piece of rock into hla
cabin, where he lighted a candle, for it
was now dark and the brush had
burned to cinders. Trimmer was over
the oven basting the venison and hum
ming a little Christmas ditty when he
heard liis partner call.
! "Come here, Trim."
Trimmer went to the cabin where
Brokaw was holding the chipping of
rock to the candle.
"What do you think of that?" asked
Brokaw, his eyes standing out of his
head as big as butter plates.
"What do I think of it? Why, great
Scott, man; it's live rock!"
"That's what it is," replied Brokaw;
"nothing more nor less—that is, if I
know live rock when I see It, and t
think I do."
"Shake!" shouted Trimmer. "We'vo
struck it, and struck it big!"
It was a supper of another kind from
roasted venison that the partners par
took of—a probable realization of their
vanished wild dreams. The meat wns
savory, but (heir minds were not on it.
They were laying plans. Experience
had taught (hem what to do. They
would keep their secret. They would
pre-empt their claim. They would
learn (he dip angle and the length and
breadth of their newly discovered
ledge.
Spring came, and the partners wer»
still ostensibly cutting wood, while
they were really gathering informa
tion. One day Brokaw went down into
the valley, appeared at an assay office,
handed in tlie chip of rock he had bro
ken from the floor of his improvised
oven and left it to have it assayed." He
went back to the assayers the next
day, got his report and started up the
mountain. Trimmer saw him coming,
but so cautious were the men in guard
ing their secret that he withheld in
quiry till both were in the cabin and
the door closed.
"Well?" ho asked impatiently.
"Six hundred dollars to the ton."
"Bleb, by thunder!"
Such is the story of the discovery of
the famous Christmas mine. Before
the next Christmas came around from
the time when Henry Brokaw dug ao
oven in which to cook a haunch ol
venison for a Yuletide meal he and
John 1.. Trimmer had more than real
ized their wildest dreama.