Bismarck declares that one of the j chief regrets of his old age is that ho 1 cauuot ride a bicycle. Success has attended au effort at banana-growing in Fitzgerald, Ga., where a plant reached the height of twelve feet and put forth satisfactory fruit. The noble animal, the horse, has by no means lost his usefulness. During seven months of the present i year 3038 horses have been imported into Germany from America and util ized for the manufacture of sausages. Judge Gebhard "Wilbrich, of St. Paul, who lias just returned from Germany, says: "Beet sugar has he come a great industry in Germany, , and many of the large estates have been given over to raising sugar beets. The large landholders employ cheap labor, including many women, 1 in the cultivation of the beets." The Czar of Russia has bestowed six orders of St. Stanislas upon the gar- ! doners of the Hotel de Yille, in recog nition of their services when he was in Paris. As tin tax for wearing a decoration in France is 100 francs a year, it is probable they will have to keep them iu their pockets, where ; they would much rather have half of : the tax. • Dead of insane fear of robbery, with $30,000 of Klondike gold under his pillow—such is the fate one Alaska argonaut. The glittering treasure but turned a brain and extinguished a life. The tragedies of the direful journeys across the frozen passes do not cease even when the goal has been ! reached and the treasure trove. The j story and the song of the arctic aurifer- ! ons gulches, yet to be written, will 1 thrill with tragedy. The Cripple Creek scheme to run a monthly gold train conveying the pro duct of the mines there to the United ! States mint is a brilliant one, offering a challenge to brigandage surpassing that of the most stretching Indian caravans ever looted by Barabbas. The output of the mines is now about $1,000,000 a mouth, euough to justify a special train and a sufficient guard, thus advertising the district in a grandiose manner correspondent with its true deservings, says the New York World. ' Says the Chicago Times-Herald; Gold production in the United States has increased with marvelous rapidity {luring the current year. The craze of the Klondike River regions should not obscure the great facts as they exist. Klondike's total yield for 185)7 seems roughly, to be about $8,000,000. That is a comfortable sum, but it is a mere nothing when compared with the wonderful output of the yellow metal in the United States. This gold from Alaska is all what is called placer, a Spanish word meaning au open space where pure or nearly pure gold is found. What may be the production of Alaska when machinery and mining engineers have done their work there is no telling. But it does not matter much—the human raco can stand all the gold Alaska can produce for some time to come. A pure food exhibit in Chicago fur nishes occasion to the Times-Herald for reminding citizens of the efforts that are jiow being put forth by the Federal Department of Agriculture to investigate the character and extent of the adulteration of foods aud drugs in the United States. This is one of the most important inquiries, remarks the Times-Herald, that can be inaugurated under government auspices, and is without doubt the most valuable ser vice that the Agricultural Department can render to the people. Many of the States have enacted laws to pre vent adulteration of food, but they are but indifferently enforced. The only effective way to stamp out adulteration is through Federal laws, and one ol the objects of the present Federal in quiry is to ascertain to what extent the State laws on this subject have been enforced. Adulteration of food and drugs is carried on much more ex tensively than the people imagine. 11 is a question in which the public h deeply interested, because it aflgpets health, morals and legitimate trade. The European governments are severe in their punishment of those who adulterate food and drugs, and theii supervision of all food products is rigid. It was only recently that the people of Switzerland voted for an amendment to the constitution which will provide for government surveil lance of all food products, and heavy penalties for adulterations. The de partment at Washington solicits the co-operation of all citizens of the United States in gathering positive data with reference to adulterations. WHERE IS THE WORLD? Oh, whore ts the world thnt we used to kuow, In tho good Kind days of the long ago? And where U the smile of the broad, blue skies, As they bent down low to our youthful And where are the songs of the birds and bees, And the oft-told tales of the whlsp'rlng trees? Where are the voices soft and low. We know in the world that we used to know? Oh, whore is the world that we used to know? And where urn the roses that used to grow About our paths; and the fragrant phlox, And the dear, okl-fnshioued hollyhocks? Aud where are the friends whoso songs with ours Wo blended as blonds a wreath of flowers? Yes, where are the ones wo cherished so. In the dear, old world that wo used to know? Oh, where Is the world that wo used to know, And the murmuring brooks that used to flow Through dew-kissed meads of clover bloom, Where bees were drunk with the sweet per fu me? And where are the joys that the snow would And where is the charm of the new-born spring, Aud the summer's gold and the autumn's glow— Oh, where is the world that we used to know? —Nixon Waterman, "Home-Made Poems.'' | THE TREGONELL | INHERITANCE. 1 nT PAULINE MONTAGUE. feeiO! /. 'M oft', papa! Tell ' Bay 111 e afc y° u w i ß h me good UC | C " iet! My wishes cannot weigh one way or the other. I realize I am only a forlorn remnant of the good old times. Go on, Juliet, since you pet rust iu going." And with a smile, anil a merry little threatening of her finger, Juliet Ches ter turned away and went out into the crisp October morning—a lovely, deli cate girl of twenty, with a pure, pale complexion, and eyes and hair of jetty black, and whose cheap dress of dark blue flannel set off her slender, supple figure as charmingly as a tender green leaf sets off a rose. Sixteen-year-old Dell Chester fol lowed the retreating figure with proud, glad eyes for a moment, then began clearing away the remnants of Mr. Chester's late, solitary breakfast of broiled chicken and soft-boiled eggs, with muffins and coffee, whereas Juliet and Dell had breakfasted two hours earlier ou oatmeal and toast. "You're not sorry Juliet has secured the position, papa?" she asked, won deriugly, her wonder increasing to see Mr. Chester close his eyes and lay his head forlornly back on the chair. "Child, child! How fortunate it is you are not old enough to appreciate the torture of my sensitive feelings!" "But, papa, dear, I cannot see what difference it makes whether Juliet uses the caligraph at home, or exhibits it in the elegant office on Broadway. Where is the difference, papa, as long as she makes just as much money?" Mr. Chester shook his head forlorn ly and solemnly. "I little thought to live to see the day when a Chester —a daughter of mine—would be obliged to work for he* 4 living—and in a public store on Broadway, too! I wish I had died when your poor mother did!" "Oh, papa, don't!" "It would have been so much better —so much hotter!" he groaned. "I know I am in the way with my old fashioned notions, and the pride of station I cannot overcome. I only hope that Percy Tregonell sleeps peace fully iu his bed of nights, that's all! I kuow I never could if I had cheated my relations out of their inheritance, as he has done!" "But, papa, you know the law gave the estate to Cousin Percy, instead of us. He couldn't help it." "Couldn't help it? Nonsense—when your grandmother had brought me up, aud taught, me to believe, all my life, that Tregonell and all its belongings were to he mine, aud not to go to the Tregonell branch. And to know a Tregonell stepped in—a selfish, heart less, overbearing—" "Oh papa, you should not talk that ▼ray! You have never seen Cousin Percy." "And I hope T never may! If he had the lirst iustinct of a man, a gen tleman. lie would have invited us back to Tregonell, where I lived all my young days, and had us make it our home for the rest of our lives." Dell smiled as she straightened the table-cover. "Would you have invited Cousin Percy to live at Tregonell if you had gained the lawsuit, papa?" "I wish you would drop the subject, Dell," lie said, petulantly, "and bring me thishnorning's paper, if it has come." Dell obeyed, silently. I r While fair Juliet was hurrying to | the office on Broadway, trying not to feel discouraged because of the lack of appreciation her father expressed at her earnest efforts not only to gain a livelihood, but to keep the elegant, sel fish gentleman supplied with all the luxuries to which he had been accus tomed in the palmy days of old, before all his suhstauce vs spent iu lighting the law about T mil. "All the same, I am doing only my duty. lam just in the groove where God means me to be, and all I have to do is to perform the work of the present moment as best I can." And strengthened by tho honest, womanly thought, Juliet was her sweet, happy self again, when she entered the office and took her seat at the marvel ous little labor-saving, brain-resting instrument, the operation of which brought a generous salary to her every week. "I am doing my duty—my duty," she kept saying consolingly to herself, as her fingers flew over the keys, and the little silver bell rang the pauses in her ear. And then a gentleman's voice sound ed beside her, as he and another gentleman paused at her side. "This is what you want, Tregonell. You are interested in these things, if you are really going to introduce them in the counting-rooms of your factor ies." Tregonell! -Tulict glanced up, and saw a tall, manly-looking man, with a full chestnut beard, and grave, hand some blue eyes, whom his friend intro duced to her employer as "Mr. Tre gonell, of Tregonell, Sussex County." It was really and truly Cousin Percy, the man she had been taught to hate ever since she could remember— this grave, manly, kindly gentleman! Her pulses throbbed a little faster as she caught a glance from the steady eyes. "Miss Chester," her employer said, "please be so kind as to show the gen tleman the highest rate of speed at tainable by an expert, also the speed of the average operator." But Mr. Percy Tregonell did not follow the flying lingers as they danced fantastically over the keys. Instead, he was watching the sweet, flushed face bent over them. "Chester!" he repeated, slowly. "I have a cousin by the name of Chester." "Aud I am one of those cousins," Juliet answered a little coldly. "If you have timed me, you will And the speed is sixty words a minute at this writing, and—" "Allow me to claim relationship, then," he said, and he held his hand frankly out to her, with a smile. She hesitated a minute, remember ing how her father would have magnifi cently repulsed the overture of friend ship from tho enemy of the house of Chester; but then, in very many things, she and her father had the most autipodal theories, aud particu larly on the subject of Mr. Percy Tre gonell. And so, after that one instant of sweet, shy hesitation, Juliet laid her hand iu his. "I am most glad to meet you!" Tre gonell said. "I should have met you before, but a letter from your father—" "Yes, I know," Juliet interrupted, her cheeks crimsoning, "I know how papa feels. Shall I explain the ma chine to you now?" "Are you in the habit of exhibiting and illustrating them?" "Yes. lam earning a living." Tregonell's handsome face lightened brightly. "I honor you for it, Miss Chester. Please explain it fully in all its intri cacies. lam about ordering a num ber for my factories." And when he went away, he left an order for twelve caligraphs. "I only wish such customers as your cousin came every day. Miss Chester," her employer said, delightedly. The next day Mr. Tregonell came, and the next, to examine minutely into two or three puzzling points, and the second time he stayed until Juliet put on her jacket and hat. "You are going home?" ho asked. "Yes; it is after five o'clock, you perceive." "Aud I also perceive it is too dark for you to think of going alone. Let me accompany you." She laughed and flushed charm ingly. "So far as I am concerned, certainly. But papa—" Tregonell laughed, too. "I comprehend. I am no favorite of Mr. Chester's, T know; but can I not presume a discreet incognito? Mr. Percival, for instance." Aud Juliet, who was beginning to like her new-found cousiu very much, consented, aud on arriving home, in troduced him in duo form to Mr. Ches ter, who received the guest with most stately courtliness. "I am pleased to meet you, sir— most gratified to know any friend of my daughter Juliet's. 1 only wish I could receive you in a more fitting manner; but we have not always been reduced as we are now, sir, nor should we be so if law and justice were not empty names." And Mr. Tregonell smiled politely, while poor Juliet's face grew scarlet. "Indeed!" Tregonell remarked. "No, sir!" Mr. Chester said, empha tically. "If we had our rights to-day, we should be the rich, influential Chesters of Tregonell, Sussex County, and my daughter here would be wear j ing her diamonds and driving in her coach, instead of wearing out her life |in a common ware room in the city, j You may possibly have heard of the j great lawsuit between Chester and • Tregonell, in which we were deprived ■ of our rightful inheritance by a fiend ; —yes, sir, a fiend iu human form—by name Percy Tregonell." I "I have a faint recollection of it, I think," Tregonell said, gravely. , "Papa, dear," Juliet interrupted, j distressfully, "these—these are family I matters, and cannot possibly inter i est a—" And then Mr. Chester drew his tall, thiu figure dignifiedly up. "Excuse me, I am in the wrong. I am always iu the wrong, according to my daughter's ideas; yet it isn't the pieasantest thing in the world to be reminded of it by one's daughter, and in the presence of a guest." "Papa, I don't mean that —you know I don't mean that!" But Mr. Chester declined to be pro pitiated, and all the evening preserved a martyr-like stiffness and dignity. "He will never come near us again," .Tnliet thought, as she bade Mr. Tre gonell good-night. "Papa is so—so —so dreadful!" But Mr. Tregonell did come again, despite the dreadfulness; and not only once, feat several times dur ing his stay of a fortnight in the city. And on his last day, he took his cousin out for a drive, bringing the carriage to the door of the Broadway office, not a little to Juliet's consterna tion. "Oh, I can't go—of course I can't go, Cousin Percy! Office hours are not over for fully three hours yet, and—" "And what? If you go without per mission, you will lose your situation, I dare say?" "Exactly. And I cauimagino noth ing so terrible." , "Your imagination is not So vivid as mine, then," helaughed. "However, Juliet, I myself asked permission for your leave this afternoon. So put On your wraps and come." And she did, the first time she had stepped inside a carriage iu twelve years, when the Chesters had left Tre gonell. "Speaking about getting leave for you for an afternoon, Juliet, reminds me of something else," Mr. Tregonell said, later. "lain sure you are too closely shut in w here you are, and there's another place I have in pros pect for you, if I thought I could in duce you to take it—could I, Juliet— where you of sacred right belong— where I would spend my life to make you happy. At Tregonell for all your life, dear? AVill you go, Juliet, as my wife—the woman I most honor anil love on earth?" One shy, glad look in his eyes showed her how much he loved her, and she answered him to his heart's content. Mr. Chester was thunderstruck when Juliet told him. "Bless my soul! Quite a romance indeed! And as it should be, sir—. quite as it should be—that my daugh ter should reign in the halls of her an cestors. You have my consent and my blessing." Nor did he ever remember that Percy Tregonell was a "fiend," as, in his latter days, he pottered around the splendid old place, amusing the little Tregonells, and doing only what precisely pleased him all the long days. While Juliet—sweet, brave, gentle Juliet—was happiest of the happy, in her husband's love, in her palatial home, aud in her beautiful boys,' Chester and Percy, junior.—Saturday Night. The "Olil Bailey." The "Old Bailoy" is the name of a street in London extending from New gate prison to Ludgate hill. Immedia tely adjoining the prison is the build ing in which the central criminal court is held, better known as the Old Bailey sessions court. It is the court to which the term "Old Bailey" is usually applied iu literature. The jurisdic tion of this court includes the county of Middlesex as well as the city of Loudon, aud hulds its sittings eight times a year. The present "Old Bailey" building was erected iu 1773 and enlarged in 1808. The name is supposed to lie of very ancient deriva tion and to have originated in the fact that this site was originally outside of the fortification of the city and known by the Bomans as "vallum." From this word came the ballium, applied in the middle ages to the outside wall of defense about a feudal castle. Later the outer lines of defenses of a castle or city were known as the "outer bailey," and the line within, sur rounding the inner wall, was called the "inner bailey." The London prison and court were originally within the ancient bailey of the city wall be tween Ludgate aud Newgate. —Atlanta Constitution. Unique Flection Wager. The soquel to a unique election wager occurred at Shelbyville, Ind., one day lust week, when John Deitzer was buried. About forty years ago, when Deitzer first settled in Shelby ville, he made the acquaintance of Thomas A. Hendricks, who became Vice-President of the United States when Grover Cleveland was first elected President in 1884. He be caine u great admirer of Hendricks, who was then only a poor lawyer, and when iu 1872 Hendricks ran for Gov ernor of Indiana, Deitzer bet every thing he had on his election. The last bet he made was S3O against a coffin with John Cummins, a local undertaker. Hendricks was elected, and Cummins took Deitzer's measure and made him the coffin, which the winner of the bet has kept in his house ever since, awaiting the occa sion to use it, which came last week.— Detroit Free Press. Snro Enough Filtration. The following is a description of a filter which will purify foul water from organic impurities, held in solution, as well as suspended solids; Take any suitable vessel, with a perforated, false bottom, and cover it with a layer of animal charcoal; on top of that spread a layer of iron filings, borings or turn ings, tho finer the better, mixed with charcoal dust; on top of the filings place a layer of fine, clean, siliceous sand, and you will have a perfect tiltez. Allow the foul water to filter slowly through the above and you will pro duce a remarkably pure drinking water. Before placing the iron filings in the filter they must be well washed in a solution of soda or potash, to remove oil or other impurities; then rinse with clean water. The foulest ditch water treated as above is rendered pure and fit for drinking. Any one traveling had better use the precaution of boil ing all drinking water, when possible. —Popular Science News. NEW IDEAS IN SHOTGUNS AMERICAN FOWLINC PIECES NOW IN THE FRONT RANK. Fine Shooting Dono by New Shotgun— Light-Weight €2ll lis in Demit nil—A Square-Massleil Gun—One That Shoots Two Ways at Once—lmproved Sights. Of late years the American fowling piece lias taken rapid strides to tlie front and has overcome the early pre judice of the Englishmen who objected to it on the ground chiefly that it was a cheap gun compared with the $250 or SSOO weapon which every man of means in England twenty years ago considered the only gun worth hand ling. Since then American marksmen have demonstrated what do with American guns in several conn tries in Europe and have proved that American guns are worthy of the high est commendation. In Europe the chief topic in regard to guns this season is still the single trigger idea. Although guns made on this model have been shown here, they do not appear to hnve won favor, possibly because of the more severely practical element iu the make-up of the American sportsman, who shoots almost without exception in the open, with naturally reared and naturally hunted game. The game in the sur roundings of the English coverts, grouse moors and strictly preserved country is easier to bring down, and consequently the sportsman over there is apt to give more attention to such things as freaks and fancies in guns. The principal American improvements made recently have been in the direc tion of greater regularity of pattern—- penetration was always a strong point iu American guns—and some very tine results have been obtained. At a trial of a gun the other day, fifty shots be ing fired and the gun being wiped out after every ten shots, the variation be tween the highest and the lowest re sult in a thirty-inch circle was not more than eight per cent. For many years it lias been regarded as almost a certainty that in ten or twelve shots with any gun there will be at least one weak pattern, and the recorded pat tern of a gun is always averaged on that account. So the showing in the trial referred to may he said to have approached the phenomenal. There is also an increase in the de mand for light-weight guns, and these run not so much to a lighter weight for a given bore as to a smaller bore. One of the prinoipal firms in this country is now making a line which gauge breech-loading guns. The greatest Increase in this demand comes from Texas, the Houston field shots using the light-weight guns al most exclusively. A lti-gange re cently turned out on a special order weighs 7 pounds 7 ounces, is of Damascus steel blued to resemble fluid steel, and has 30-inch barrels and a 141 inch stock, the drop at the butt being lj inches. This appears to point to a straighter type of gun than was used twenty years ago, when few but Americans could shoot offhand with an American gun. To cater to the demand for light guns there has been introduced stocks of spun alum inum. They are hollow, open at one side, and are very neat and wonder fully strong, but the slight difference in weightjwill scarcely affect the de mand for the old stock of finely sea soned, closely inspected wood. Cheap stocks are generally made of Ameri can grown walnut, but fine stocks are seasoned for from ten to twenty years in most cases, and are of English wal nut, worth probably $3 in the rough; German walnut, worth approximately $4, and Brazilian walnut, worth sls. A hand-made stock of the last wood is frequently worth $25. Mahogany is too brittle, and rosewood too heavy. It is possible to-day to buy a really good gun of the finest twist, hammer less, if desired, for from $35 to $27.80. A curious idea is the square-muzzled shotgun, the outcome of a number of experiments by Dr. A. S. Kennedy of Auburn, Me., who sought to secure improvement in pattern and penetra tion. He took an ordinary repeating shotgun, had it made square at the muzzle, and then improved the shape, grading the four sides of the barrel in ward and downward on a bevel. He claims that the result of his experi ments is that the shot is practically shovelled into u compact bunch as it leaves the barrel, and so leaves the gun without the tearing pressure made by a round choke. A novel invention has been turned out by Alessandro Scuri of Liege, the great gunmaking city of Belgium. It is a two-barrelled fowling piece or rifle which can be fired, each barrel separ ately in the ordinary way, or the two barrels at once, at two objects not more than forty yards apart. The gun is provided with a scale which shows the distance of the objeots aimed at and the necessary difference of direc tion of the muzzles of the two barrels. A pull at n ring on the under side of tho gun operates two rods, which slide tho barrels apart to the extent required, aim is taken, and the objects ought to fall. This is the greatest freak gun Liege lias introduced since Herr Pieper, the great gunmaker, produced it gnu designed to be fixed like a modern machine gun on the stern of a boat, to carry an ordinary charge of shot and powder, and to fire 100 shots a minute. In the sighting of fowling pieces there is a general impression that the sight proper is of very little use to the average quick shot. Most gun experts say that this idea is a mistake, and that the sight is seen instinctively in the aot of raising the gun to the shoulder, and that it is of vital im portance. Ivory sights have been long in vogue, but not commonly with a rear or breech point of ivory as well as the one at the muzzle, and a still later idea especially adapted for dawn and dusk shooters is a protected piece of glass at the muzzle under which lfi a streak of self-luminous material. New York Suu. LATE NEW INVENTIONS. For church aiul grave decoration, a hollow sectional cross is used as a fiower holder, the interior being divided into a number of water-tight compart ments, with orifices to support the stems of the flowers in the water, thus keeping them fresh. A new tool case for cyclers consists of a retangular box to be strapped on to the frame of the bicycle, with both sides hinged at the bottom to drop down and bring the tools in view, each of which slides into a rubber sheath to prevent it from rattling. A handy hose holder for sprinkling lawns has a pointed rod to be pushed into the ground and support a revolv ing metal disk which has loops through which the hose nozzle is passed and held by meaus of thumb screws which tighten the loops. A Massachusetts man has invented a tumbler brush and chimney washer, which will fit any size glass, the bristles being set in opposite sides of a double pivoted stem, which lias handles to open the brushes outward until they strike the glass. Fogs on the oceau or navigable streams may be dispersed for some dis tance ahead of a vessel by means of a new in7ention, consisting of an arched distributing pipe with jet tubes set iu one side to discharge water or other liquid in spray against the fog. To draw a measured quantity of liquid from a receptacle a new faucet has a double-acting valve which closes one outlet as soon as the other is open, thus preventing the pouring of the liquid into the measuring glass while the discharge pipe is open. Horseshoes which can be attached to the hoof without the use of nails have a broad steel band attached to the front and sides of the shoe, ending in screw sockets at the rear to draw the band tight over the hoof by means of screws inserted in the rear of the shoe. A California woman has patented a cover for milk cans which is perforated around its sides near the bottom, so it can be closed tight to prevent spilling of the milk and can be pulled up a short distance in the can to allow ven tilation without insects getting in side. Garnet* of .Savage*. Most people are well aware that the popular Canadian game of lacrosse originated, goodness knows how, many centuries ago amongst the North American ludians. When you come to look into it, it is quite astonishing how many games were originally in vented and are to-day practiced by peoples we are accustomed to think of as savages. Wallace tells us how in Borneo, one wet day, he thought to amuse his Dyukboysby showing them cat's-cradle. But he found that they not only knew it, but knew more in tricate figures than he. The Maoris of New Zealand actually have a sort of pictoral history in cat's-cradle fig ures of twisted fiber. The Sandwich Islanders play a kind of draughts; the South Sea peoples nearly all are adepts at kite flying. Polo comes from Persia, and is played magnificently by wild hill tribes from Northern India. Backgammon and parcliisi are both Eastern games, Hat tamarind seeds being used as "lots" in the latter.— Harper s Round Table. A Cart Driver's Politeness. A homely bit of gallantry was en acted in this city a few days ago by a driver of an ordinary, every-day water ing cart. A woman had a fall from a bicycle, just in front of the street , sprinkler, and, although not at all hurt, her hands were considerably the worse for contact with the dirt of the road. The driver watched her from his high seat, and then called out cheerily: ''Want to wash your hands, miss?" She admitted that it would be a desirable thing, so the man turned on a small stream from his cart and held his horses still while the woman washed her dirt-covered hands. Then,. acknowledging her "Thank you" with a smile and a bow, he drove on, and the woman resumed her ride. The driver's action was as true gallantry as ever knight per formed iu olden time—and such as Parisians would never think of.— Springfield (Mass.) Republican. Nino Hundred Tons of Wedding lUce. According to Rev. CI. H. Cameron, vicar of St. Stephen's, Birmingham, England, about two pounds of rice are thrown at brides and bridegrooms every week at each of the seventy-five churches in Birmingham and in its suburbs and the two tons of rice thus thrown away and absolutely vasted last year might have been of very great use in feeding the recently l'amine-strickeu people of India. There are over 20,000 places of worship in England, and, if Mr. Cameron's estimate be true for the other churches of the country, then it follows that nearly 000 tons of rice is yearly thrown away at weddings in that country, and wasted, at a cost of over $20,000. Systematic Study. Getting on in business depends on systematic study, but not on systema tic study of geology or economics or Latin and in very few eases on a knowledge of German, even. How often have you beard middle-aged peo ple say, "You couldn't expect one as long out of school as I to pass a com mon-school examination!" But prob lems iu arithmetic, grammar aud geog raphy are coming up every day in busi ness, and the man who solves them tfke quickest gets into the new field first and reaps the golden harvest. The simplest calculations have led to the greatest business discoveries and suc cesses.—Chicago Record. AGRICULTURAL TOPICS. Koot-ltound Plants. Sometimes a potted plant becomes what gardeners call root-bound. That is, the roots cling to the inside of the pot, or get so entwined among them selves that the growth of the flower is much impeded. In such a ease an ap plication to loosen the roots is re quired. The following directions were given to one amateur florist for the purpose by a professional: Pour hot water on a little tobacco, a little soft soap, and a pinch of salt. Let it stand until it becomes a jelly. Then strain and add a small quantity to the water with which the plants are tended every time that they are sprinkled.— New York Post. Binding: Corn Stalks. Whoever lias tried to bind green corn stalks knows the provoking fre quency with which the green bands will snap at their joint, We have found a bundle of rye straw taken to the corn field the cheapest and most easily procured material with which to do the binding. But where it cau be procured a bundle of osier willow stems, six to eight feet long, will an swer the purpose better- The willow will not break. II can be grown in some out of the'way place, too wet to grow anything else, and, besides the use for binding corn stalks, it may be used for many other purposes on any farm.—Boston Cultivator. Sailing; Cow*. Salting the cows is one of the little things that is sometimes lost sight of antler the pressure of other, aud what is regarded as more important work, out a trial recently made at the Miss issippi Experiment Station, indicates that inattention to this point may he a rather expensive oversight. Three 30ws were kept without salt for four weeks, and their milk record kept dur ing the last two weeks of this ptriod; then they were given the usual ullow ince of salt for two weeks, aud on com paring the milk records it was found that the cows gave 451 pounds of milk during the first period when salt was withheld and 5G4 pounds during the second, when salt was furnished; a difference of 110 pounds of milk iu favor of salting. Massachusetts Ploughman. Charcoal For Fowls. We have found charcoal a very ex cellent thing to furnish our poultry with. It may he given in a powdered jtate, mixed with the soft meal feed, rod a little pulverized sulphur at the lame time may be added to advantage. But the very best way to supply this, is to burn an ear or two of corn (upon she cob), charring it to blackness and ihrowing it before them. They will levour every kernel, and so supply 'hemselves with a grateful and healthy mbstauce that sweetens the crop, and lerves as an admirable tonic to the ftomacli. At this season of the year, the above recommendation will be found a valu ible hint to poultrymen. Hens about ready to lay will devour this prepared jhurcoul eagerly, and the increased freshness and redness of their combs ifterwards, evince the efficacy of this Allowance. For a month or six weeks in the early breeding season, nothing s better than this for laying liens, them daily.—The Fancier. Injuring Tillable LnnU. Trampling laud in the winter and plowing too early in the spring will easily ruin tillable land. Both prac tices are by far too common. It is the 2Ustom of some farmers to allow their stock to rauge over the fields as soon as the latest crops are gathered, and even during the winter, without re gard to the condition of the ground, whether it is water soaked or not. There is no practice so general and uone which destroys the very life of the laud more quickly than the method of plowing the land for spring crops when the water gathers in the bottom of the furrow after the plow has passed. The tenantry system has led the renter into the very reprehensible practice of plowing for crops so early that the furrow slices glisten iu the huu, and when a handful of the up turned soil can bo compressed in the palm of the hand like a piece of putty. It is iu this way that very good clay uplands are so badly injured in a sin gle season that years of clover seed ing are needed to restore them. The clods forming beneath the hoofs of an imals and by too wet plowing are more injurious than the excessive cropping without clovering which is so common in the oldest settled South Atlantic States. —New England Homestead. Growing Hog* Cheaply. We still occasionally find writers on agriculture who believe that clover as the main feed is the best aud cheapest way of growing hogs. We believe in clover as thoroughly as any one can, but it has its limitations. It is not adapted as the prinoipal article of diet for an animal which has so small a stomach as a hog. It is in the fact of the hog's smalljstoniach that its value as a producer of cheap meat largely consists. No other animal has a pro portion of waste as a pure-bred fine boned hog. If it could be obliged to live mainly on clover, the amount of food it must eat would enlarge the stomach, and also, perhaps, increase the proportions of bone in proportion to meat. A very small proportion ol clover given to hogs fattened on corn will enable them to digest it better, because the clover furnishes more oi the material for growth and muscle than the corn does. But this can quite as well be furnished by oats or wheat middlings, with milk if it cau be had. As succulent food in connection with grain, any kind of beets are, we think, preferable to clover. More of them will be eaten than of clover, aud the beets will keep the digestive organs iu good condition better than any otliei feed will do. —American Cultivator.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers