J I THE SNAKE BUFFALO HORSE, j Boyhood Exploit of Montana Pioneer. . I In the spring of 1 Rf4 some Indians from the grent camp of the Blackfoot came to Fort. Benton, Montana, for the purpose of renewing their snpply of powder n.id ball. They reporteil the camp as sitnuted on the Judith river, whore gome was nnnsnnlly plenty, and snid that the chiefs had decided to move in to tho fort an noon as the women could finish tunning the winter's tnke of buffalo hide. The grentest piece of news they had to tell was about a buffalo horse they had captured during n battlo with tho Bnake Indians. Never before had any of tho people neon nn animal no beautiful, swift and well trained. So grent were its powers of endurance that its own or, Owl's Head, had killed 23 buffalo in a singlo run. Without the guidanco of n bridle it would swerve to the right or left, go hero or there according to the swaying of the rider's body or tho pressure of his knee. In those days, when the only com merce of the country wns the fur trade, a good bnflhlo runner was tho most desirable and nseful piece of property a innn could own. The voy agenrs and other employes of the great trading company, thorofore, lis tened with great interest to the stories these Indians had to tell about the horse, and each one determined to try to buy it. lint bad they only known it, they wonld not have wasted their fime flgnring on their chances. Major Bteell, one of the partners of the firm, had himself determined to bny the animal. Not that he had any special Deed for it, but he loved to ride out on the plains with his men whenever his duties wonld permit a short ab sence from the fort, and when he did go he rode the best horse to be found in the land. Ho said nothing of his intentions, however, and bided his time. One morniug the people of the fort saw a long column of horsemen string ing down from the prairie into the wide flat across the river. It wos the advance guard, the chiefs, head war riors and medicine men of tho Black feet, and hurried preparations were made is receive them with the pomp and show so denr to the Indinu's heart. As the head of the column rode slowly clown to the river and across the ford the cannon and how itzers in the bastion began to thunder a welcome, to which the Indians re plied by tiring their guns and singing song of war and triumph. Every one of them was decked out in all his var finery of embroidored buckskin, ermine fringe and fluttering plumes, and they presented an imposing sight as they rode their prancing horses up to the fort and dismounted at the gates. The heavy portals swung open, and the agent, Major Bteell, himself, wearing a blue uniform and sword, stepped forth to greet them. After shaking hands with the whole party he invited them to the council room, where the great stone pipe was filled, lighted and passed from hand to hand around the circle, each in turn taking a few whiffs of the smoke. The agent and the chiefs meanwhile ex changed the news of the day. The Indians told of the prominent mem bers of their tribe who had died of ill ness or who had fallen in battle during the winter; of the successes of their people against the enemy; of the large uniuber of buffalo robes and pelts of beaver and wolf they had brought to trade for the white man's goods. An hour elapsed, and the big pipe bad been refilled many times. At last the women of the fort appeared, bring ing in hnge kettles of boiled meat aud sugared tea, paus of stewed dried ap ples and hard bread. Here was lux ury indeedl Meat was almost the sole food of the Indians and the whites, too in those times; a feast comprising sugered tea, hard bread and dried apples was something to be talked abont and remembered for many a day to come. The kettles and pans were soon emptied, and the the pipe was again lighted, and during the general talk which followed the agent asked Owl's Head for his buffalo horse. The Indian flatly refused to part with it for any consideration whatever, saying that he had risked his life in battle to capture it and that he loved the ani mal as he did his children. Major Hteoll, therefore, said no more on the subject, and presently the Iudians, bav,iug each received a present of to bacoo, went out and remounting their horses rode back across the river, where during their visit at the fort the great camp had moved in. Four hun dred lodges now dotted the plain which had been desolate a few hours before. Thousands of horses were being driven to water or out on the hills to graze. From each lodge arose the smoke of the newly lighted fires. Hundreds of children played and yelled along the shore of the river; women gossiped and laughed with one Another; dogs barked, horses neighed. Early the next morning the great trade began aud lasted for a number of days. The warehouses were emptied of the goods they contained and re filled with robes and skins. The women strutted about in new gowns of bright-hued calioo. Every one had new blanket. The men bought new guns, saddles, belts and knives; every one was 'happy. One day, much to Major BteelPs surprise, Owl's Head entered bis of fice and handing him the end of a lariat said: "Mo-yok ko-taa." (Here's your horse.) The agent went to the door and sure enough fouud that the end of the lariat was fast to the most beautiful horse ii bad ever laid eyes oa. Black as coal, strong limbed and deep chested, with small head and delicately pointed ears, its neck arching gracefully as It pranced about rostlessly at the end of the rawhide rope. It was tho porfect embodiment of a swift and finely bred animal. It surely was of no Indian breed. The Snakes, from whom the Blaekfcct had taken it, had, undoubt edly, got it .in turn from some of the white settlements far to the south and cast, or, perhaps, captured it from some luckless emigrant on the over land trail, The mnjor, however, only glanced nt the animal, for he did not wish to sliow tho Indian how pleased ho was. Ordering a passing employe to take the horse to the stables, he told Owl's Head to accompany him to tho trade room, where he gave him various articles of merchandise far ex ceeding in value any price which had ever been paid for a horse in that conntry. The corrals and stnbles had been bnilt just ontsido of the fort and were commanded by the cannon in two of tbe grent bastions. Here the horses ownod by the company wore sunt up every night. During the doy time they were sent out on the prairie to graze in charge of a herdor, who at this time was a boy of 14 years named Joseph Kipp, now one of tho promi nent citizens and cattlemen of Mon tana. When Joe came in with the herd that evening the major sent for him and said: "Well, my boy, I've finally bought that Bnake horse. We'll call him Bnake. Now, I want yon to take him out with the herd daily and watch him closely until he has made friends with the other horses. Ride him occasion ally, enough to keep him in good trim, foY I'm going to have a buffalo hunt before long. Be careful, now, and see that yon don't lose him, for with out qnestion he is the best bred ani mal this side of the Mississippi river, and I value him highly." "l'es, sir," said Joe. "I'll watch him as yon say. No danger of his getting away from me." About two weeks after this conver sation took plnce the herder corralled the horses one evening and then en tered, the major's office with a most dejected air. "Snake's gone," he said shortly and with a suspicion of a sob in his voice. "Why, Joel" exclaimed the major, "how were you so careless a to lose him?" "I didn't lose him, n-id I wasn't careless; he's been stolen." Then the boy broke down; but the major spoke to hira kindly, and after a little he told how it hnd hnpponed. At noou he hnd driven the herd to the Teton, a small stream three miles north of the fort and given them ample time to drink while he nte his luncheon; he had then driven them back on the bench land to graze. It was a warm day, and along in the of ternoon, becoming very thirsty, he rode back to the Teton for another drink of water. He was gone from the herd perhaps 20 minutes or half an hour, and on his return he imme diately missed Snake. Scanning the country with his telescope he saw the horse, ridden by an Indian, just as they were disappearing in the breaks of the Missouri several miles east of the fort. The major, of conrse, was greatly disappointed at losing his valuable horse, but he was a kind and jnst man, and after comforting the boy the best he knew how he sent him to his own quarters for supper. Nearly all the employes of the trad ing company were married to Black feet women, and hardly a day passed but some of the relatives of their wives visited the fort. Through some of these visitors it was soon learned that Owl's Hend himself had stolen Snake. After the big trade the camp had moved back south a few miles to the Shonkin, where wood and grass were more abundant, and the buffalo horse was running with the Indiuus' herd. But that didn't help matters much. There was no such thing as law. Within the walls of tbe fort the trad ing company was supreme. Beyond the range of the cannon and howitzers the Indians ruled the land; might was right. Also it was the policy of the traders never to quarrel with the In dians. Perhaps the major soon forgot bis loss; ho had great affairs to keep his mind busy; but "it was different with the boy Joe. During the short time be had kopt Bnnke iu his charge he bad learned to love the beautiful animal and longed to regain posses sion of it. Then again tho tanuts of old Four Bears, a great gossip, who was always riding back and forth be tween the camp and the fort, fuirly set him wild. The old fellow brought almost daily reports of the number of buffalo Owl's Head was killing with the aid of bis swift horse. "riuch a horse 1 Never was anything seen to compare with it. What power of endurance, what speed, what sagac ity that wonderful horse has!" With a malicious leer he would say to Joe: "Ah, boy, you ought to see that horse. If once you saw him I know you would want to own him." This was too much for Joe, and, his heart almost bursting with indignation aud injured pride, he would rush from the room out into the cool night air lest he should be tempted to strike the old Indian dead where he sat. One evening Four Bears was more tantal izing than ever in his stories of the wouderful horse, and when, as usual, he drove Joe from the room, tbe boy went straight to the major's oflioe and asked to be excused rout herding for day or two, saying that he was not feeling very well; he did not dare to ay what he really wanted a holiday for, aa he feared a refusal. Of course the major granted his reqneat.and Joe left the office with lighter heart than he had had for many a day. First be went to notify a man the mnjor had designated to take the herd out in the morning, and then he repaired to the quarters of old Baptiste Hondin, the company's hunter, to consnlt with him about his plan, which was no less than tho stealing of Bnnke out of tho Blnckfeet camp. The old voyagenr entered into his scheme with enthusi asm, and bidding bis wife prepare a small sack of food and fill a canteon of water for tho boy ho began to plnu the proper conl-se to pursue, Joe lis tening with the closest attention. When everything was in readiness tho two slipped out of the fort through the small gate, hurried down to the shore of the river, w hore a skiff was, tied, and iu a few minutes Joe was safely landod on the opposite side. Thore is a sonse of location, of di rection, possesseil by nil trno plains men, at once nndcflnnble and inex plicable. Joe hnd been told where the camp was located and hnd often passed tho place in times gone by; so now, ns if by instinct, in the dark est of nights, without guide or land mark, he traversed the six or seven miles of rolling prairie between the two streams and in the course of a couple of hours found himself over looking the great camp, which was pitched by the creek in the valley below him. The lodgos, illuminnted by the fires within, were plainly seen through the intense darkness. He could henr the beating of tomtoms and singing where a party of young man were practising a war dance; the sounds of laughter and scraps of con versation floated up to him plainly throngh the heavy night air; innu merable dogs barked and yolped in answer to tho howling of the wolves skulking abont the neighboring uifls. Joe well knew that somewhere iu the great cnmpSnaJtewas tied close to the doorway of Owl's Head's iodge;'he also kuew that it wonld be certain death for him to attempt to enter the camp while the people were still up and awake. Equally hopeless would be the task of finding the lodgo and the horse after the people hod retired and tho light of their fires died ont; in the thick darkness one horse could scarce ly be distinguished from another. His best chance, as the old voyagenr hnd predicted, wos to follow Owl's Head's tactics and, watching his opportunity, steal the horse from the herd as they grazed abont on the hills during the day. Having made np his mind to do this, Joe crawled into a thick patch of cherry and service berry brush he had stumbled against aud, hoping he was not intruding in the haunt of some rattlesnake, curled hihiself up for a sloop with one hand resting on his rifle, ready for any emergency. When the boy awoke it was broad daylight and, peering throngh the bushes, he snw the horses stringing ont to both sides of the vnlley as the early rising women unfastened their tethers and turned them loose. Taking his telescope from its cnse.be cnrefnlly adjusted it and closoly examined the horses already grazing out from the camp; then he looked among those still tethered in the villnge. His heart leaped as he discovered Snake tied by the doorway of a red-painted lodge. A woman came out, untied tho lariat, and, with long, graceful leaps, the benntifnl animnl hastened to join its mates on the other side of the stream. Joe watched them sadly as they moved up the side of the hill, stopping for a bite here and there as they went, for his chance to steal the horse that day was gone; he could not possibly cross the valley without being discov ered. He cut some of the brush in the centre of the patch and interlaced it in that standing abont him to screen more effectually his hiding place aud then ate a little of the food he had brought along. The hours dragged along slowly. Tbe sun ere; t up in tbe sky and bent down on hira unmercifully. The cau teeu of water was most precious now, and he drank of it sparingly. All day long he lay there in the stifling hont, and it seemed as if night would never come. People came and went over the hills in all directions, often passing close to the patch of brush. Once a couple of men came and sat right at the edge of it and conversed for a long time. Joe scarcely dared to breathe for fear they would hear him, and he gave a great sigh of relief when they finally arose and went down the hill to the camp. At noon all the horses were driven in from tho prairie to wator, and at sundown they were again driven in, watered and tied up about the lodges for the night With his tolescope Joe saw Owl's Head him self catch Snake and after petting it and atrokiug its glossy neck tie the auimal close to tho doorway of the lodge. The boy now knew just where the horse wss to be found. Time and again he hd mapped out the route from his hiding place to the lodge down the hill to the west end of tbe camp, then three lodges to the left, and from there it was the second one toward the creek. When it was quite dark he went down to the creek, some distance above the camp, drauk long and deep of the cool water aud bathed his face and head. The lodges were astir with life and light, aud it seemed as if the people wonld never tire of their dancing, gambling and story tell ing, and go to bed. Finally, lion ever, the lights of the fires died out, one by one, until all that part of the camp about Owl's Head's lodge was dark aud silent. Further away a big douce was still going on, but Joe could wait no logger, Goiilg to the edge of the camp he moved as slowly and cautiously as panther toward the lodge. He trem bled iittle, add there was a choking sensation in bis throat aa he strove to distinguish each dimly seen object in front of and about him. He was afraid, sorely afraid aud scared, as any man wonld have been entering the camp of a hostile people in the dead of night But he would not give way to his feel ings and retire, and at last he stood in front of Owl's Head's lodge and put his hand on Bnako's sntia-ooated side. There was no mistake; no Iudian horse ever wore such fine, smooth hair as that. With trembling bands he placed his lariat avonud the horse's neck and then took out his knife to cut the other one which tethered him; jnst thon bis rifle slipped from his grasp, and the iron -plated butt struck n stone with a metallic clink. How his heart seemed to stop at the sound! But now the rawhide thong was cut, and dropping the knife Joe leaped on Snake's back with a mighty bound. At the same instant there was a blind ing flash of light from tho doorwny of the lodg, a deafening report and the ugly whiz of a ball singing through space. Snako lonped so suddenly at the flash of the gun that Joe was bounced far back on bis ruin), nearly falling off; but heqnickly regnined his seat, and together they wont flying out over the flt and np the hill, urged on by the shots and yells from the awakeuod camp. Long before morning the people ol the fort were aroused by the sounds of yelling and pounding at the gate. With guns and lanterns the men rushed out to lenrn whnt the tronble might be. A well known voice called out to open tho gate, nud when the great door swung back Joe, prond and smillug, rode Bnnke into the yerd. The voyogeurs shouted with jo at the sight, l ushed up and grasped his" hands, asking questions faster than he could answer them. As he slid down from the horse's back, the major came up and patting him on the shoulder said: "Well done, my boy; well done. From this day you shall beavojageur." New York Bun. . QUAINT AND CURIOUS. A strange clock "wos made during the last ceutnry for a French noble man. Tbe dial was horizontal, and the figures, being hollow, were filled with different sweets or spices. Thus, vnu ning his finger along the hand, by tasting, tbe owner could tell the hour without a light. In Japan most of the horses are shod with straw. Even the clumsiest of cart horses wear straw shoes, which, in their cases, ore tied round the ankle with straw rope, and ore made of the ordinary rice straw, braided so ns to form a sole for the foot abont half an inch thick. These soles cost about one cent a pair. A woman out bicycling lost a jew elled scarfpin, which she much valued. She did not miss it till the end of her jmirney, aud as she had ridden twenty miles the prospect of finding it seemed small. She, however, gave notice oi her loss to tho police. On her return journey, when about a mile from home, she puuctnrod tho tire of her machine, and on dismounting to discover the cause found tho piu sticking iu the tire. Willinm Decker of Shepnrd, Iud., nn eccontrio individual who hnd been an infidel for ninny yenrs, was buried a few days ago. Two years ago Decker had his coffin built, and, according tc his wishes, he was buried in his front yard. The coffin was painted a bright red. Ou a headstone nt the head ol the grove was inscribed: "Here lies the body of William .Decker, who al ways paid 100 cents on the dollar." The funeral service were conducted by an attorney instead of A minister. Tho most expensive material over produced for a dress is said to have been purchased by the German Em press last year from Lyons. It was white silk brocade, having flowers, birds and foliage in relief, and cost $125 a yard, the actual value of the raw silk, it is said, being 8100. The empress was so struck with its beauty that she had not the heart to cut it np, and it was eventually turned into curtains. The price paid for this ma terial is abont double ns much as the famous cloth of gold that Louis XIV had made into a dressing gown. A shell-fish known ns tho piannn in the Mediterranean has the curious power of spinning a viscid silk which is made in Sicily into a regular fabric. This silk is spun by the shell fish in the first place for the purpose of at taching itself to the rocks. It is able to guide the delicate filaments to the proper place aud then glue them fast, and if they are cut away it can repro duce them. The material when gath ered which is done at low tide is washed in soap and water, dried and straightened, one pound of the coarse filament yielding three ounces of the fine thread, which, when spun, is of a lovely burnished golden-brown color. Charllabla Spaniard!, Foreign residents of Spanish cities are amazed to find that the relentless butchers of Morisooes, Lncaynns, Netherlander, and Cuban insurgents seem to be tbe most charitable people on earth. The famished oitlzens ol Cadiz aud Havana shared their pittauce with still poorer wretches. Without a poor-tax, Spanish communities of 60,000 self-supporters feel a pauper population of 6000 to 7000. Public hospitals are thronged with ministers of mercy. Nor should we shrink from the confession that iu the land of Tor quemada, minors are treated far mora kindly than in Puritanical Great Brit ain. There are Spanish towns where Charles Lamb's Autocrat of tbe Grammar-school, child-torturing Boyer, would have baeo torn by a raging mob. Felix L. Oswald, in the Arena, UtDEN Rumania Kmnltlnn for Poultry. The kerosene emnlsion nsed as spray for the garden is excellent as a wash for scaly legs of poultry, and nothing is hotter for lice in the chicken house than a good wash of it applied to the sides and roof of the house with a spraying pump. Lengthm Ilia First Milking- Ftrlotl. An authority claims that if yon want your heifer to develop into a profitable cow yon should extend her first milking period ns far ns possiblo in order to promote nnd fix the milk ing hnbit A cow to be renlly profit able must give a good yiold of milk for at least ton months in the yenr, but it will be difficult to got her to do this if you do not milk her the first yenr jnst as long as possible even beyond the period when there is profit from her product. Weekly Witness. Frrtlllirr for nn Apple flrrhnul. A fish and potash fertilizer will do no harm to au old apple orchard on dry bind, but we wonld not put on too much of this mixture, because jt is so nitrogenous that it might force too great a growth of wood. Ordinarily bono and potash, or bono1 menl nnd wood ashes are among the best fertil izers for apple trees of all ages. There Is little danger of the ordinary farmer putting on too much fertilizer in the orchard, as in most cases 200 to 400 pounds is all that is used and twice or thrice that quantity will do no hnrm. It ought to be put on at once, as the trees are already well started and it would have been better had the plant food been applied last fall or on the snow. A little air-slaked lime in the potato bill will do no harm, but we doubt if it wilt keep away the white grub to any extent. The Soy llcan a a Farm Crop. The Turdue nuiversity, Indiana agricultural experiment station, has recently issued a bulletin trenting of this new aud promising leguminous crop, statiug that it has beeu success fully growu in different parts of In diana, nn well as further north in the United Btntes, thriving well iu good corn soil nud growing wherever corn can be successfully produced. We hnve so many other good legu minous crops available for the south ern Btntes thnt this bean hns not yet attracted the attention of our agricul turists that perhaps it may deserve. It is said to yield per acre from 0 to 12 tons of green fodder, from 1 1-2 to 2 1-2 tons of hay and 10 to 40 bushels of seed, according to its variety, the condition of the soil, etc. Iu food vnlue it compnres fnvornbly with clover liny. Tho seed is very rich in protein nnd enn bo fed advan tageously with corn, but they should be ground before feeding. The price of the bean seed is so high, 2.50 (o 85.00 per bushel, ns to seriously in terfere with the development of this as a farming cilip, nnd farmers are ad vised to begin growing it in a Kiunll way nnd thus to lenrn from their own experience what to think of the crop. Producing Keiltop R"1. nedtop seed of fine quality is grown on our prairie soil in large ijnnutities and usually with n fair profit, depend ing in a grent measure upon tho char acter of the soil, writes (J. M. Davies of Wayne county, Illiuois, in the New Englaud Homestead. Very little is growu on the white onk soils. Seed is usually sown iu Februury on corn or oat Htubblo or ground prepared iu the full. Fall seeding after cow peas or buckwheat will usually produce fine seed the noxt year. Spring seed ing is always mowed about the 1st of August, but produces little seed. The gross, when ripe, is out, cured nnd Btnckod as for hay. Threshing is done with a small grain separator, remov ing part of the concave teeth aud shut ting off the blower. A No. 22 screen is used as a rule. Tbe best machine for threshing red top seed has not ap peared. For the best results we de pend on the experience and good judg ment of tho machine manager. The seed is sacked iu five bushel burlaps and sold in tho chaff. Dealers base their prices on the amount of clenu or export seed in a bushel of 14 pounds. Thore are no regular market quotations, tho price ruuning with the supply nud demand. For sowing I prefer the clean seed, 3 1-2 pounds to the aoie. The bny threshed makes good feed, but it is too short to handle easily. One of our growers runs a baler behind tho thresher, one engiuo pulling both ma chines. This saves ull the hay. Bed top is our boat pasture grass, glowing well on thin, dry soils, standing close grazing aud any amount of tramping, la self-seeding, much easier to get a stand of than timothy. If properly cured it makes good hay. It is a sur face feeder, leave i few roots iu the oil and has a poor reputation as soil improver. This comity produces about nil the redtop seed harvested in the United States. The soil aud sur roundings seem especially adapted to the crop nnd farmers have become skilled iu its cultnro aud are looked to for the annual supply. Mutter Color la to lllntua. If oleamnrgariue were put upon the market undisguised and sold houestly for what it is there could be uo grouud for complaiut, oither moral or legal. If people knowing what it is deliber ately buy aud use it, they have a per fect right to do so, and any law for blddiug its manufacture or sale would be not only uufair nud nujust, but in direct violation of the letter and spirit of the rights of American freemen. But there is, we presume, no case ou record where uncolorad olaomm gariae FOR FARM AND GARDEN, wss offered for sale as oleomargarine and sold for nee as a substitute for butter. If it were not colored to re semble butter the amount sold wonld never trouble any butter maker. Id fact, if there were no butter color there would practically be no oleo margarine sold. It is'in coloring it, shaping it and stamping it to resem ble butter that the fraud consists. It Is against the butter color that the law is aimed. In tho same way so-called but ter, ringed, streaked, striped and and spotted, without regnrd to previous condition or composition, is colored and moulded to imitate first-clans but ter. The original stuff out of which this procoss bnttor is compounded is but little, if nny, better than the raw material of oleomargarine. But but ter color cures all defects for the pur pose of sale, jnst as with oleomar garine. Against this nud process butter all real dairymen wnge open and relent less war, but with the utmost incon sistency they take the very same but ter color and nse it precisely as the oleomargarine and process people dc for the same purpose, too; 'that is, for giving thoir butter a uniform nnd attractive color, the color of the best butter when at its host Jersey bnttel from June grass. Tho difference is ol dogree nnd uot of kind of bad, worse, worst. The whole practice is inex cusable! Jersey Bulletiu. Snrrrnafnl Dock Rrerriififf. O. H. Pollard of Massachusetts, who is one of the largest and most successful duck breeders in the United States, in an address delivered recently before the Bhode Island Poultry . school said: Let us begin with the lo cation of the plnnt, and that may be almost anything thnt yon can get. While water is one of the almost necessnry points, there ate mnuy lending breeders who do not have water running through their ynrds nud do not consider it necessary- In establishing a plant, if you could se lect just what yon wanted I should ad vise you to choose a place with a good sizable pond or running stream of water, for in that way you would gain iu the fertility of the eggs. The Pekin duck we advocate alto, gether because of the deep keel. Iu the improved type the breast line shpuld be nearly parallel with the bnck nnd tbe breast should be nearly tbe same length as the bock. The old line bird is something the shape of a Bartlett pear. Of 'course it is . possible w ith the old type of bird to get a heavy weight, but the weight does not come iu the right place; it is mostly bnck of the legs, which is where most of the wnBte comes, and there is no frame to build ou. In selectiug birds for breeding I would choose pre ferably birds that only weigh from six to seven pounds apiece alive, and mate them carefully with medium sized drakes. We used to mnte five ducks to one drnke, but now I should like to mate np in single pens one druke with five, six or seven females. We feed them lightly until about the 1st of November, when we gener ally mnte them. I am trying not to force them this year, thinking that it destroys the vitality of the birds and he fertility of the eggs, nnd so we are foeding what we call "harmless food" largely clover, perhaps one part clover aud three parts bran and two parts coru menl, and we have not fed any meat scraps yet. It is not the question how many eggs they lay, but what we get out of them. I have never kept a very accurate account of the number of eggs, but I do know 4 that they do uot lay anything like 140 eggs, such as the records we often see printed in the papers. As a rulo we get less than 100 rather than over. I think that 00 is nearer whnt we really get. Now if we get only 90, it is a great point to get 60 good eggs, rather than so many poor ones. It is uot the point to get a large number of eggs, but to get fertile ones. By forcing we destroy tbe fertility, yet tbe eggs are quite profitable if it does not take too much out of the breeding stock to get them. I would prefer not to have them begin to lay before some time in l-'elu uary. The first fow eggs laid wi.l not be very valuable, they are al most always infertile; perhaps the first two or three eggs from each breeder, and the first mnchiuefuls do not aver ago more than 40 per cent, fertile. If you hatch 25 per cent, of them it will be doing well. If you try the egg" you will ee that 35 or 40 per cent, comes nearer the average. After starting to hatch with hens aud ma chiuei you will probably find that yon average more with heiisthau machines, but if you average i.i either case 60 per cent, you will be doing fairly well. From the 40 per cent you will natur ally except to raise 85 to 90 ducklings, nud that is nil thnt you can expect, and 75 per ceat. will often cover those ruined by experts. We feed the old breeding ducks, be fore wa begiu to force them for eggs, about n third clover aud sometimes plain hay aud the rest bran and meal. The idea is to fill them up with some thing bulky and when they begin to lay we begiu with five per cent, oi beef scrap and work up gradually, uutil in a week or so we will be giv ing them 10 or 12 per cent. We keep water before them all the time. At season of tbe year when it is possible we let them have it for swimming. AiltmUHtlo ttnllroail Haiti, Berlin's Society of Bailroad Inter ests oilers a prize of 9500 for an ac c ituble scheme for automatio gates at railrcad crossings. The provisions are that the gates n n it be closed by the oucomiug train about two min utes before the train teaches the cross ing aud opeued automatically imme diate y after the train has pussed tba crossing, i be directorates are eager to mm sometuiug better than buuias. employes to depend upou for the pro- lauuou ui meir taiaoau crossiusjs.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers