Mi nister Woodford, our Minister to Spain, says lie never wants to see an other bull-figlit. The number of pupils in the schools of the United States last year was lfi,- 415,197, an increase of nearly 5,000,- 000 since 1890. Chicago is justly proud of her new public library. It lias taken ten years to build anil the actual cost was 1 $1315.07 less than the $2,000,000 originally appropriated. The statue to Frederick Douglass, which the Park Commissioners will place in one of the public squares of ; Rochester, N. Y., will probably be the ; first public statue ever erected to a colored man in the United States. Here is an opportunity for John Bull and his inevitable umbrella, though he may not covet it. A Ger man professor, in giving his experi- , ence us an explorer in the wilds of Africa, Rays that the best protection against tigers and lions is an umbrella, as the beasts are especially afraid of one when opened suddenly upon them. On all the new ships of the navy the American shield has displaced as a fig ure-head the designs carried ou the older vessels. This is carved out of solid brass, with the stars and stripes anil the shield proper fitted close around the slender bow, while scroll" work extends backward on either side for a distance of four or five feet. The New York, the Minneapolis and the Philadelphia have possibly the most elaborate designs, some having cost four thousand or five thousand dollars each. Novelties in advertising are not lim ited to America. In some of the for eign cities enterprising firms watch the papers carefully for records of births and promptly send the mother pres ents of soap or toilet articles. One London house, keeping its records carefully, waits fill the child is a few years old and then sends out—the sex being noted—the following: "Madame, as your little child's birthday ap proaches, aud, thinking that you may require some present for her in com memoration of the event, we enclose a catalogue of our toys." A medical man in London lost his dog; 2t was not a beauty, but hand some euougli to be stolen, and it was a great pet of his wife. He hit upon an ingenious device for recovering it at a cheap price. He put the follow- 1 ing advertisement in the paper; "Lost, a small black dog from Stay Fair street. It is of no value even to the owner, but kind-hearted persons who may have been moved to take it in are warned not to do so, as the animal Ims been much experimented upon for scientific purposes, nnd may become involun- i tarily a source of great danger." The dog came back the same day, in time for afternoon tea. A special service for old people was held in a Philadelphia Methodist Epis- ; copal Church on u recent Sunday morning. The sermon was f'-om the text, "Cast mo oft in the time of my old age; forsake me not when my strength f-.iileth. A general invita tion had been issued to the old folks j of the congregation and others were linked to spread the word among the aged and infirm of the whole commun ity. Carriages were sent for those who . were unable to walk to the church, and special arrangements were made for their comfort throughout the service, j Great, comfortable, easy chairs and rockers for the old people surrounded the pnlpit, in a semicircle, and on two tables were several bouquets of fall flowers, which were afterward dis tributed as souvenirs of the occasion. A "stereoptico-mnsical aggregation" from San Antonio visited a neighbor ing Texas town. To entertain the in. habitants they impressed au old grand piano which had lain long unused in the put,bo hall. The "professor"' opened the lids and found that the keys responded pleasantly to his touch. He launched into Wagnerian melody, and the pianissimo prelude gently awakened a colony of wasp 9 that had built n nest in a recess of the instrument during the months of its idleness. The pianist plunged int 0 fortissimo and was startled to find the rumble aud roar of his basso-profundo notes accompanied by a strange, high, angry hum. In another second, with a vicious whir of wings, the yellow jackets were out and upon professor "aggregation," and audience. There was a howling Htampede for windows and doors; and in current history it is written that the San Antonio train, which was flagged at the crossing that night, carried away a little band of men who looked as if they had had an unvictorions enoounter with a thresh ing-machine. AM AUTUMN MORNING. The frost's agleam where the dew was drip pi"* Just in the space of a day agone; The rose-deep edge of the sun is slipping Through mellow mesh oT the autumn dawn. Song of neither ttie thrush nor the linnet Wises and sweeps iu a broken flow; Only the breeze on a sweetbrler spinnct, Shivers a pensive adagio. The frost's agleam on the path I follow; Scarlet velvet the witch-hazel spreads A1 own the slope of the old mill hollow. Where dodder tangles its lustrous threads. What is there left of the summer's story— The faded roses, the daisies lost What of her opulent glow and glory, Quenched iu the fllni of an autumn frost? Deep in the fringe of its willow cover, Where javelin-points of sun are thrust, The stream that sung to asummer lover Echoes the song of uu ended trust. —Hattie Whitney, iu Woman's Home Com panion. •*' ....... , /y . , ~.s , . , • > .,y<y'y/y/v/y.y/ ALL'S W ELL TIIAT ENDS WELL. 1 P... —; — . 4 •SpSSf®- HERE is a r. ew | - • laughter-iii-law at | k° me the Van Andens in the vil ——l lage of Islip, L. I. j All agree that she is a winsome and that young Frank Van Anilen made no mis take when he fell in love with her, but that is about the only point upon which the busy tongues of rumor can agree in the pretty little village of country homes. If one should wait in the village long enough, he could hear almost any romantic story he chose, for every yarn in that quiet summer resort unravels with marvel ous rapidity. But the fact remains that the many j friends of the Van Andens received a i surprise when they heard that Frank Van Anden was married, and that with out any announcement or cards the bride had been received into the home anil hearts of the family circle. William M Van Anden is Vice- President id the Eagle Warehouse and Storage Company in Brooklyn. He lias a house on l'ierrepont street, on the Heights, in Brooklyn. In a place where ground is very valuable he has a large lawn surrounding the house and a summer house in the garden on one side. His four-story brownstone front is one of the most conspicuous J in the block. He lias retired from active business, but has an ofllce in ' the Franklin Building, at Montague j and Clinton streets, Brooklyn, for he j still occasionally puts through some ' big deals in real estate. The summer home of the Van An- i dens is at Islip. It is on Ocean ave-! nuo, six doors from the corner of the j main street. The grounds are large, j the lawns beautiful and the trees back | of the house and surrounding the stsi- j ble are as dense as those of a forest. ! Mrs. Vau Anden and her two daugli-1 ters, Misses Estelle and Louise, have | always been lenders iu the society of • Islip, anil in Brooklyn the family I moves in the best circles. They come ; from the original Dutch Van Andens. | The family took a pleasure trip to i Europe in June of lust year. Frank i \ an Anden, a Cornell student, one of ! the handsomest boys whoever entered j the freshman class and a clever uth- | lete, went with them. Iu Cornell ho j was a member of the Psi Upsilonfra- ' ternity. While lie was in Berlin ! Frank told his father that he would j like very much to remain in Germany j a year, so that he could acquire a I speaking knowledge of Gorman. He j had made up his mind to go into bitsi- j ness and thought that a knowledge of German would enable him to get a j better place on his return. The fam- I ily cun ■ jiiteil, and went on with the i remainder of the trip in Europe with- j out the son. They traveled through ; Russia, and as they were about to re- j turn to America they went through I Berlin to give the buy another chance to come home with them. But Frank told them that lie had become ac quainted with a young physician, who was an intellectual companion, and that he would therefore stav his year out. Letters were received regularly by Mr. Van Anden from the young stu dent. They came promptly in response to generous remittances, for young | Aan Anden told his father that the j very best way to speak German fluent- | ly was to associate with people who i knew how to speak it. lie also said ! that he was getting a general knowjedge ! of human nature which would prove ! invaluable when he returned to Amer- j ica. He returned to America about two i months ago. The family were then j living at their town house in Pierropont . street. Frank astonished his sisters with the fluency of his German. They | had been to Vassal' and had learned j 'German from books. They luid to think hard when they spoke in Ger- ' man, but Frank could answer tliem ] right off the reel so fast that it made ; his sisters dizzy trying to understand I him. "It is easy to speak German," he ] said to his father, "but to write it is j another thing. That requires a teaeh- ! er. Now, father, if I could only write 1 German I could get a much more re sponsible place in the office of the Realty Company than I now hold. Mr. William Zeigler has promised that when I can write German he will make ine head of the German department, j I think it would be a good idea for you to advertise for a teacher who could instruct me in German composition." I Mr. \V. H. Van Anden, the father, said to the Evening Sun reporter that no sooner did he hear the suggestion than he acted upon it. He ordered an j advertisement put in the paper, ask- I ing for a competent instructor in I German composition. He hail ex- peotod to receive a reply from a man, but before he got home that his •laughters hail engaged a young woman who presented herself in response to the advertisement. The young Ger man woman had suggested that, in addition to teaching the young man of the house to write, she would be pleased to help the young women in their German conversation. That struck the girls as being a good plan, and the young teacher made herself so agreeable that she was engaged on the spot. When Frank Van Anden came home that night, anil was informed that a young woman was engaged as his writing instructor, he pretended to be very much upset. He said he had hoped that a man would answer the advertisement, so that he could act with more freedom. But his sis ters said that the young German woman was very sweet, and they begged him not to ask his father to dismiss her. After that the young woman, who said that she was Miss Ida Kessberg, recently from Berlin, went, to the home of the Van Andens about three night* every week to give the son writing lessons iu German. Chivalry required that some one should take . her home after the lessons, but Mr. ' Van Anden senior always pleaded that he was too tired, and urged Frank to go home with the teacher. Frank al- ' ways returned promptly from his mis- I sion and the lessons went on. Miss Kessberg seemed to be a little older than her pupil, and the suspicions of the family were not aroused. While the summer home was being put in readiness Frank Van Anden decided to discontinue his writing les sons. Besides he had made such rapid progress that there was little use of continuing them. He took up his residence at the old Domineo House at Bayshore, the next station to Islip on , the Long Island Railroad coming to- j ward this city. The family moved into the Islip house about a month ago. They had not been there long when Mr. Van Anden was passing through the village and met au old friend. She said to him, "Allow uie to congratulate you, Mr. Van Anden." "You are very kind," Mr. Van Anden says he replied, thinking that i she was congratulating him upon hav- , ing recently recovered his country home by means of a foreclosure. He had sold it, two years ago, but the purchaser had not paid up and Mr. Van Anden lmd been able to get his old country place back only by fore closing the mortgage. He had already received the congratulations of half the villagers at being once more back iu Islip. "Frank certainly showed good taste," the friend went on to say. "She is a nico girl." "Who's a nice girl?" said Mr. Van Anden, taking a renewed interest in the conversation. "Why. your new daughter-in-law." "I have no new daughter-in-law." j "Then Frank must be joking, for yesterday he introduced me to a charm- j ing young German girl who, he said, was his wife, lie told me not to tell papa, and, of course, that is exactly why I drove over to tell you." Mr. Van Anden lost 110 time in get ting over to Bayshore. There he met his son. Explanations were iu order. It turned out that Frank Van Anden had married Miss Kessberg in Berlin. She was two years older than he was, and he had not asked his parents' con sent. Ho was not yet in receipt of a salary of any kind, but ho did not in tend to lose sucli nil excellent oppor tunity. There were girls in America, but there were nme who talked such 1 sweet German or who played the piauo or sang exactly to suit him. When his father wrote for him to come home anil fill a place in a real estate cou- j corn which had been secured for him lie had jumped at the chance. He felt that if the family could only once get acquainted with his wife they would learn to love her. But it took . money to keep up a home in Brook- j lyu. By getting liis wife a pluce as his ' German instructor he accomplished a double purpose. Ho had quietly iu- ; troduced her into the household and i at the same time she received good ' compensation for teaching him and his j sisters. "Why didn't you tell me before?" j asked the father. "Well," answered the young man, with American independence, "I wanted to wait until I was making enough to snap my lingers at the world and separate from home if they didn't like my choice." "It isn't quite time for us to separ ate yet," replied the father. "To tell you the truth, I was thinking when Miss Kessberg was teaching you what an excellent wife she would make for you and how you had quieted down since you came from Germany. Bring her home. Your mother and the girls will be delighted, I know. But I want to tell you right now that I think that was an unkind and very shrewd piece of work on your part to rope mo into paying for your Hat on the pretext that you needed to learn to write Ger man." Mr. and Mrs. Frank Van Anden in tend to spend several months with his father and then build a neat home in Brooklyn. The new daughter-in-law has captured the hearts of the entire Van Anden family just as she did the heart of the young German student. New York Sun. Cowi Swim to Pnnture. A milkman of North Bath has per ! haps the most unique pasture of j Maine. It is an island, and when the tide is high the cows have to swim for it. The Bath Enterprise says that the cows have become so accustomed to this that they will strike out with out a moment's hesitation, and re marks: "It makes a spectacle worth looking at when the fifteen cows all , plunge into the water and swim for ! their feeding ground. J BULLETS OF PUKE GOLD. AN OLD WHALER'S EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF ALASKAN RICHES. , Captain John Reynold*, of Omaha, Civet* an Account of a Native Who I T ecl Cold Bulleth for IIU Utile—A Very High Lodge Full of the Precious Metal. Captain John Reynolds, of Florence, a suburb of Omaha, Neb., has con ! tributed a story of Alaska riches that | is more extraordinary than are the { startling reports from the Klondike. : The captain, writes a correspondent of the Chicago Record, is a Nebraska character of much fame. He is an old whaler who lias sailed all over the globe and in his wanderings made two , expeditions through Bering Straits in to the Arctic Ocean. On the first of , these ho met with an adventure which in replete with romance and which reads like a tale from Mexico or Peru in their balmy barbarian days of gold and silver. 4 'ln August, 1879," he said, "we nailed from New Bedford on a long : voyage. Our vessel was the first to pass through Bering Straits into the ' j Arctic Ocean. We went first to the Azores, then to Teueriffe, the Cape Verde Islands, Falkland Islands, ( through the Straits of Magellan to Ju an Fernandez and the Sandwich Isl ands, and thence up into Bering Sea. "During the whaling season as many as thirty men deserted the ships for the gold fields of Alaska at tho Yukon. Our ship was beset with ice at Cape Prince of Wales and while we were tliero an old native came aboard. We were breaking up some boxes that day and he asked us for the leaden labels which w\ero ou them. We asked why he wanted thorn, and he showed us an old-fashioned Russian gun which lie treasured very highly and said he wanted the lead to make bullets for it. In our idle curiosity, having little to do while lying there, we questioned him as to where lie usually got his bullets for it, and he told us there was a place 'one sleep' (one day's j journey) away where ho found the j material for bullets. We were anx ious to make a little trip out into tbe | interior and one day started off with i him us our guide. "Wo traveled about forty miles up the country through a valley easy to , traverse, and at, length reached a ledge at which tho native stopped and began picking up pieces of gold. Tho ledge i was full of it and crumbling away. Here was the old fellow's bullet field. He was shooting gold bullets from his old Russian gun. Tho party of us carried away thirty-nine pounds of the ore and when we had it assayed in San Francisco, it turned out $.700 a j ton. "Captain J. N. Knowles, a wealthy resident of San Francisco, fitted out a ship and sent it back in charge of one of my crew, a Swede, to investi gate. As near us we could learn he loaded his schooner with sixty or •seventy tons of tho ore and started back. That was the last heard of him, and it is supposed that his ship went down in a heavy gale. Since then no one lias visited that place and yet it is as rich as any mine discovered in Alaska, and far easier to reach than is the Klondike. Tho ledge was 800 feet high and was crumbling away when we were there. It is only forty miles from the coast and there are no difficulties whatever in reaching the place." Ginaeng Culture. The secret of raising ginseng has been discovered at last. It is being ; grown on Missouri soil and cultivated by a Missouri farmer. China lias an unlimited demand for the ginseng root, and, because of its scarcity, pays the handsome price of $2.00 for a sin gle pound of it. Heretofore the niar j kofc has been supplied from certain sections where the herb grows wild. Repeated attempts to cultivate it have : proved a failure. But, according to . Waldo Parks, a guest at the Laclede Hotel, Spencer Brown, a farmer down in Texas County, is cultivatingau acre of ginseng. It matures in six years. From the product of that acre lie ex pects to realize the modest sum of | $20,000. He will limit the product so ; as to keep tho price up. I Mr. Brown says that the ginseng ; flourishes in rich limestone soil, shaded from the sun. It requires eighteen months to germinate and six years for full growth. He is making no secret of tho discovery, but explains its mysteries to any one. By the Chinese ginseng is consid ' cred a medicinal ingredient of wonder ful powers. A liquor is distilled from it which is supposed to cure all dis -1 | eases. They have never been able to find the secret of its culture, and have depended upon the wild roots found ' | here and tliero for their supply.—St. ; j Louis Republic. The Oldest Plow-Mulcer. , Chicago lias the oldest plow-maker ' in the United States. His name is ' : David Bradley, and he is at the head ' j of a big manufacturing company on the \ west side. Mr. Bradley first worked | at the business in Syracuse, N. Y., in * ; 1832. In 1835 he came to Chioago, 1 j which then numbered about 2500 in habitants and a camp of several tliou ' sand Indians, to help erect the first 3 iron-fonndry established here. Mr. Bradley was the first man to bring pig-irou into Chicago. In connection with the foundry which he helped build was a machino-shop, and the • establishment soon began along with ( its other business tho manufacture of ) plows. Mr. Bradley, by the growth r of his business, was finally forced to t build a little town of his own, which 1 is known as Bradley, 111. Mr. Brad - ley haß pasßed his eighty-fifth birth - day, but is still hale and hearty, and r thoroughly enjoys the prosperity which 1 hard work has brought him. The r activo business has been surrendered to his sons. —Chicago Tribune. Vibration on Kail way* it ml Its Effect on Health. Annoyance and temporary discom fort are small items in the schedule of ills chargeable to vibration and noise on railways and the unceasing and ter rific racket of many of our cities. Tho noise of the elevated railways has caused convulsions in children and what is equivalent to nightmare in adults. One lady of somewhat delicate'organiza tion has frequently sprung from her bed on the approach of a train, and found herself standing upright in the middle of the floor when she awak ened. It seemed that the engineer on this train had a sweetheart liv ing in that neighborhood, and lie managed so that the locomotive made a series of peculiar noises whenever he aproached the dwelling of his inamorata. This was the only train that so affected the sufferer, nnd she was obliged to leave the neighbor hood on account of it. In ordinary railway travel speed is the most im portant item to be looked after, and the noise attending the great rapidity with which the train moves is really a secondary consideration. Medical scientists who are giving attention to this subject are beginning to demand for their patients, especially those who find it necessary to take long jour neys for their health, accommodations in which due regard is had for quiet and freedom from that vibration which affects tbe nervous system. Special routes are mapped out, nnd certain lines are avoided because of the irri tation by the clatter and swinging of the trains. —New York Ledger. Peaches Without Down. Mr. William P. Winter, a retired car penter, lias entered heart and soul in to the wizard business with remark able results. In a cosy little yard back of Mr. Winter's home grows a peach tree that has produced annual crops of luscious fruit for ft number of years. Two years ago Mr. Winter grew tired of the conventional cover ing of the peaches in his limited or chard, and determined at least to pro duce a peach minus that objectionable nap or down. Ho began a series of experiments, and that year produced a peach clothed in the ordinary raiment of the banana; but, not. satisfied with tho result of his startling assault on nature, he has succeeded in producing a crop that looks for all the world like a tree of apples. The skin of the fruit is per fectly smooth and of a dark red hue, shading gradually into a yellow that Mr. Winter claims is a remnant of the banftna skin. "Next year," said he, "I will have an orange skin on them." The method employed by Mr, Winter to produce these startling results is a profound secret, nnd he is preparing to copyright the scheme. Grapevines, as well as peach trees, tremble before the skill of the ex-carpenter, and among the curious thiugs that thrive in the rear of Mr. Winter's yard is a vine of this sort that bears at this time ripe grapes, aa sweet as honey, and un usually large, half-ripe grapes, blos soms and buds, which Mr. Winter ex pects to ripen by Christmas.—Balti more American. Irrigation In Africa. When the River Nile is high enough, at. the time of its annual overflow, dams in its banks are cut, allowing tho water to flow in canals which carry it into the country. From the canals ditches and gutters distribute it among tho farms, which are divided ' into squares by ridges of earth a few inches high. The peasant regulates the flow of water with his feet. By a skillful use of his toas he makes an opening in a ridge or closes it up, aud thus causes tho water to go where it is needed. This was a very ancient way of irri gating the land, and Moses probably refers to it when he contrasts tho rains and dews of Palestine with the artificial watering of Egypt. "For the land where thou goest in to pos sess it is not as the land of Egypt from which ye came out, wheVe thou sowest thy seed and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs; but tho land whither ye go to possess it is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven." Deut. xi. t 10-12.—Mission Band Lessons. Thin Tree Sleeps. Near tho western border of Dupont Circle, in Washington, D. C., stands a tree that goes to sleep promptly every night at 7 o'clock. The tree is known as the Albizzia Julibrissan, having been christened so by an Ital ian botanist in honor of the Albizzi family in Florence. The tree, how ever, is an original of Japan, and is known there as the Japanese silk tree, probably 011 account of the silky ap pearance of its blossoms. Soon after 7 o'clock in the evening a general mo tion is noticed in the foliage, a quiver or trembling of the bipinnato leaves. Each leaflet begins to stand up on odgo and pairs with the one opposite. They clasp each other tightly and then close up with the other 011 the petiole, so that each becomes a coverlet over half of the preceding one. The en tire transformation takes place in about twenty minutes, and usually at about 7.30 the respiratory organism of this tree hangs limp or droopy on the blanches. Small branches kept in a dark room promptly close at 7 p. m. A Curious Superstition. Among the superstitious of the Seneca Indians was one most beauti ful. When a young maiden died they imprisoned a young bird until it first began to try its powers of song; and then, loading it with careßses and messages, they loosed its bonds over her grave, in the belief that it would aat fold its wing nor close its eye until it had flown to the spirit land and delivered its precious bur den of affection to the loved and lost one.—St. Nicholas. Profit In SqiiuHlira. H. A. Wilcox, of Uxbridge, lias for several years made a specialty of squashes. He says: ' 'ln 1894 I thought I should not be able to attend to them, so did not send for seed until June, and did not iinish planting until July 1. On September 25, after a light frost which killed the vines, I har vested from forty-eight hills of Hub bard and Essex Hybrid, three one horse loads in bulk—from one and one-half to two cords in all. Single Hubbards weighed twenty-one pounds, I and Hybrids as high as thirty-one pounds, in eighty-six days from seed. | This crop was raised on old pasture, I which had not been ploughed for thirty : odd years, and which I considered j worn out. It was manured with fresh, coarse horse manure, broadcasted and | ploughed under, and about a pint of I high grade phosphate worked into | each hill. I consider the Essex Hybrid | the best main crop squash, although some consumers and some dealers will have nothing but Hubbard. The mar j rows for fall use, aud the Fordhook, • Gocoanut and Low's Bay State have I been satisfactory. With me the Essex Hybrid is the best cropper, and the i Hubbard next. As most of this crop ! was retailed from a milk wagon at from j two to three cents a pound, I found it : profitable."—New England Farmer. The Shepherd'A The training of a sheep dog is a mat ter of considerable importance to the shepherd. The American Sheep Breeder gives the following hints: "Begin training in the most cautious, natural rvay at two months old, or as j soon as tile puppy is able to follow you ! among the sheep. If he comes of good stock ho will take naturally to sheep, I as a duck does to water, and will be | very quick to interpret your wish and ; ambitious to execute it. Your main trouble will be to restrain aud teach : liim moderation. Like all puppy kind | he will be impetuous and inclined to hurry aud worry the sheep too much. I Deal gently with him. Don't whip j him or show your displeasure by dra i matie tantrums, yells, and threats. "If of the right sort the young dog : will catch your meaning with a word, motion of the hand or head and even the expression of your face. The young collie is intelligent, tractable, and im pressionahle to a wonderful degree, anil anxious to please beyond any otheranimul. Common sense, patience, aud moderation on the part of the shepherd, will soon make his charge a valuable shepherd dog. j "Especially do not allow different 5 persons to he mixed up in his train ing. Do that yourself, anil the little fellow will soon come to understand | you and your flock. Good blood in the puppy aud good sense iu his man agement are the main tilings to con sider." Grading (lie Amite. Grafting the Apple is the subject of Bulletin (15 of Kansas station, which contains many photographs of trees, one, two and three years from the graft, taken up with ad their roots in tact, showing tue root systems and unions resulting from various methods of grafting. The controversy which arose several years ago over the relative merits of whole roots and piece roots, and long or short root pieces, long or short sci ons, and grafting low or high on seed ling stock, etc., led the Kansas station to enter upon a series of elaborate ex periments, which have been carried through the intervening years. Judge | Wellhouse, of that State, the most ex | tensive apple grower in the world, hns also experimented for many years iu ! the same line, and this bulletin gives j the results reached by him also, j The conclusions arrived at are as i follows: Whole root grafts possess no J advantage over piece roots. On the ! contrary, unless the whole root stock j is very hardy, a severe winter freeze or | drouth may kill it. Especially is this | true where the graft is set above ground on the seedling stock. In the ! colder, extreme Northwestern States j the hardiest trees are made by graft ing a hardy scion of ten inches long ! upon a short hud. The short root [ piece keeps the hardy scion alive until I it throws out a good root system of its j own, like a cutting, nnd these roots '■ strike deeper than the lateral systems | of whole roots. Judge Wellhouse finds | the two-inch root piece best, hut at the station pieces five inches long gave ! slightly better results than those half I that length. j The longer the scion, up to two feet, ] the stronger the growth, probably he cause of a larger lenf surface; hut the difference is not sufficient to cover the extra expense on a large scale. Prob ably eight to twelve inches are best. The proper and judicious use of lime is often an item of profit on the farm. Lime enters into the composition of plants and is an element necessary to their growth. The fact, however, that there is nearly always a sufficient sup ply of lime in the soil to serve as plant food proper, renders it seldom if ever necessary to apply lime to make np a deficiency. On the other hand, the aim in giving the soil a dose of lime is usually to improve its physical condi tion. If the soil is sour, lime will sweeten it; if it is light, lime will make it more compact, if it is too compact, lime will loosen it. An object, lesson as to the effeot of lime upon soil is il lustrated in the following simple ex periment. If two pieces of heavy clay soil, one of which hns had lime sprinkled over it, are placed side by side, and allowed to dry in the snn, the one which has no lime on it will hake, become hard and crack, while tho other pieco on which lime has been sprinkled will become more porous and friable and crumble easily when sub mitted to a slight pressure. The lime has permeated the pores aud brought about this condition, which is desira ble in soils and which adds so much to their productive capacity. On an average it will be found ad visable to apply lime about once every live years. From thirty to forty bushels per acre of air slaked lime would be a sufficient quantity. It is best to broadcast tho limo over the plowed surface of the field. Do not work it into the soil, as it will soon permeate of its own accord. Besides its action in improving the physical condition of the soil, referred to above, the lime also liberates some plant food, notably potash. If potash previously existed in the soil in an in soluble state, the lime will make it available as a plant food. It would be poor policy though, to continue to ap ply lime alone, since the soil would soon become exhausted of its natural supply of plant food which the lime has liberated. An economical plan, there fore, would he to keep up the soil's natural supply not only of potash, but also of phosphoric acid and nitrogen as well, since these are the elements which usually become exhausted first, and which the farmer has to renew in the shape of manures, etc. —M. J. Shellou, in Home and Farm. Poultry Notes. It is not, luck, but pluck and persis tent, applied concentration to all the minor details in tho care of poultry that brings success. Don't give vermin a chance, and tho only way to prevent their getting a start is to use remedies that are known to he beneficial in ridding u place of their presence. Burn all old nesting material and replenish with clean, new hay. Then see thai the nests are saturated with coal oil or whitewash that is strongly impregnated with carbolic acid. But the brood coops you are through with in complete repair sorno rainy day, whitewash them or give a good soaking with kerosene oil, and then store away under cover for use next season. Give the late broods a chance to run by themselves. They will not get their, share of food, nor will they amount to much if they are jostled around by the older aud stronger chicks and fowls. If a pnultryman does not get tlio most good, the most profit, out of his market fowls, it is because ho lacks knowledge of feeding for best results. Right feeding is a science. Poultry men should study how to feed for best results. Keep the turkeys and geese grow ing by not overfeeding them, nnd giv ing them plenty of exercise in seeking after insects, grubs and worms. Iu another mouth begin toleed corn meal dough mixed with milk and fat scraps and corn, nnd they will then put on fat quickly. For a breeding pen of ten or twelve fowls, a rooui Sxl2 will be large enough for perching, and a laying room, at tached to which should be a yard the same width and from twenty to thirty feet long; a number of these breeding pens may of course he made under the same roof of a poultry house, and for tho most successful treatment of this breeding stock, tho grounds should ho so arrauged with a grass plot adjacent, that each yard may alternately bo turned upon it for exercise, green food and tho search for insects. The supposition that common fowls are hardier than pure breeds is not borne out by the facts. Those who hatch chicks of the common kinds lose a large number of them, only the strongest surviving, aud every year they are more and more inbred. The pure breeds suffer from being pam pered [.by their owners in many in stances, in which cases they do not compare favorably with common fowls; but common are of but little value compared with the pure breeds, which have been found to be more profitable in every respect. To prevent roup is something not very easily done, as the fowls are af fected by the weather. In cold, dry seasons, the roup "does not prevail as much as in the fall, when the rains are frequent, the gitjund wet, nnd discom fort exists in the poultry house. To guard against tho disease, the win dows should be so arranged as to per mit plenty of sunshine in order that the iloor and walls may be warmed and moisture evaporated. While the pure air , may be admitted when desired through the doors and windows, it should not be overlooked that draughts of air on the birds are liable to hasten an outbreak of the disease. By keep ing the door well dusted with fine air slaked lime, the disease may be check ed in the beginning and the room made dry.—Poultry Keeper. Anti-Squeak Shoes. Boots and shoes are prevented from squeaking by an air channel placed between the filling pieces at the sides of the heels extending forward in the sole of the shoe, the air chamber being fitted with a valve for inflation.
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