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.