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I g j;ese are hardy and profitable.
I Ly are especially hardy, requiring
Lgin special care and feeding when they
to feather. They can be picked
[everal feathers times during also the valuable warm and weather; sala-
heir are
>le at good prices at any season. Some
leople ciaim they cannot raise geese be¬
aus e the supply of water is not sufficient
or their demand. It is not necessary
hat they should have a pond to sport
D) and they are just as easily raised
without.—New York Independent.
reviving partly exhausted land.
Much partly exhausted land is far
icher than is commonly supposed. What
t has lost is the humus or vegetable mat-
jer that by decomposing furnishes heat
td helps make mineral fertility avaiia-
fie. In all heavy soils expecially there
e stores of plant food that the roots
t get unless they have the
bnot L at ap-
re nt stimulus of a little nitrogenous
Utilizer to set them loose. This ex-
fains why light dressings of composted
[anure or of commercial fertilizers of-
GRASS FOR A PERMANENT PASTURE.
I The one best grass tor a pasture is or-
grass, as it remains in the soil
years, and makes an early and late
rowth. The seed may be sown in the
pring at the rate of two and a half
to the acre, and it is desirable to
common red clover with it, as the
affords plenty of feeding while
gras? is spreading over the ground.
it is vain to expect really good
of any grass unless the land has
well prepared by thorough plowing
manuring. In general it is best to
two or more kinds of grass, and to
some kinds that will make a later
that will lurnish feeding while
others are renewing the herbage.
it is desirable to add to the or-
grass six pounds each of timothy,
oat grass, and meadow fescue. All
kinds may be procured of seeds-
Alfalfa is not a grass, and is a
of the clover family and resembles
in many respects, except that on
land and in the right climate it
in the ground many years. But
here clover will succeed alfalfa is a poor
ibstitute for it, as it requires a hot dry
to grow to perfection. It is a na ■
of countries where it is necessary to
the crop.—New York Times.
MU
TDE COST 0P FEED>
There is little accuracy or approxima-
to accuracy in the usual estimate of
■ie cost of pasture. In fact, a good many
practically think that pasture
nothing. This sort of recklessness
considering the cost of summer feeding
pasture alone furnishes the food,
a part of the extravagance of our sys¬
of agriculture, which is the direct
of having plenty of land. When
time comes in the history of the
States that our farms will be small
every acre will be compelled to yield
its utmost—and that time is coming
shall know better what pasture
But even now the careful dairv-
and farmer realizes that pasture
something worth while to consider.
butter and cheese take subitance from
so ii. How much do they take? While
toiy not be able to determine that,
e lact that something is taken is sufli-
.
cient to remind us that it costs some-
estern Rural.
conditions for cauliflower.
Cauliflower delights in coo!, moist
^aditions °uld be of rich, soil and deep climate. and sufficiently The soil
lo retain moisture. A heavy clay
^ parts suited of to the the country extensive that cultivation are nat-
, cauliflower, and so little general
ex * s fs °f its requirements,
it has gained the reputation of be-
ing an uncertain and difficult crop to
manage. In fact, if given proper treat¬
ment it may usually be grown almost as
easily and cheaply as cabbage, and there
are few localities where spots favorable
to its cultivation may not be found. One
does not want acres of cauliflower, for
its marketable condition only lasts about
two weeks, and the demand in this
country is yet limited, not being as good
as for cabbage. However, in spite of
the light demand, it is a profitable crop
near a large market. From 10,0C0 to
12,000 plants may be set to the acre;
these should average ten cents a head at
harvest time. The young plants will
grow in midsummer, but will Dot form
good heads. Where the winters are
mild the early varieties may be started
in cold frames and made to head before
the advent of hot dry weather.
Where the springs are late it is best to
plant the late growing sorts, so as to
have them head in the fall. Cauliflower
is quite hardy and will endure consider¬
able fro3t. If the spring crop is properly
hardened off in the cold frame,it may be
set in the open ground much earlier
than tomatoes and such tender things.
To get the best results the young plants
should be kept in vigorous condition
during the growing period; a puny,
spindling plant cannot produce a fine,
large cluster of flower buds. Water is
necessary in continued ury weather, and
good cabbage soil is rich enough for the
plantiet3; when set out to head, a soil
rich in nitrogenous matter is needed; if
too rich for cabbage it will be right lor
cauliflower. Some gardeners tie thin
white muslin over the heads when near
maturity, to blanch them more perfectly.
Two principal points require attentiou
for success with this desirable vegetable
—forethought in planning for the head¬
ing season so as to miss the fatal hot dry
weather; and abundance of food and
moisture; if the latter may not be had
naturally, or artificially without too
much expense, better not attempt culti¬
vation of cauliflower.—New York Tri¬
bune.
FARM AND GARDEN NOTES.
The hotter the climate the thinner the
fleece of sheep.
It is well to know exactly what each
cow profits you. Make inquiries at
once. *
At least until grass makes a start to
grow it is usually best to feed the poul-
try regularly three times a d3y.
In ordering seeds get a supply of sun-
flowers and plants so as to have the seed
next winter to feed to the poultry.
should have *
Ducks ry s raw on
floor oi their quarters every mg r es -
pecially after tuey begin o ay eggs g-
ularl J-
If the hens get “off their . feed” let
them do without one or two meals and
then give them a decreased ration for a
day or two.
If the snow stays long on the ground
it will pay to clean off a place near the
poultry house so as to give them a spot
for exercise.
The best profit in raising poultry for
market is in hatching early, pushing the
growth as much as possible aud thus
marketing early.
It is of more importance to supply
plenty of grit during the winter than at
any other season, as the fowls are then
confined more closely.
Push the young chickens now by giv¬
ing them all that they will eat. A quick
growth is essential in making early
broilers most profitable.
T. II. Hoskins thinks the time will
come when apples will be generally sold
on the tree, thus relieving the gro wer of
the trouble of marketing.
W. Werner says that the mealy bug
may be destroyed by dipping a brush or
rag in alcohol and saturating the insects
and infected part of the plant.
When the hens are well fed and com¬
fortably housed, and yet do not lay, a
little cayenne pepper in the food a3 a
stimulant will often be of benefit.
It was told at a meeting of the Mas¬
sachusetts Horticultural Society that ap¬
ples grown in grass land keep longer
than those grown in cultivated land.
All kinds of stock should be housed.
It is said to be difficult to get blood out
of a turnip, but they furnish a much
greater supply than au east wind in win-
ter. farmers’ meeting in
A speaker in a
Boston noted that many of our wayside
shrubs and vines, which we call weeds,
are sent to Europe, there grown in hot¬
houses, and highly prized.
An icehouse ought to be ventilated at
the ends, toward the top, so that hot
air, which always rises to the top, may
escape in summer. Iu the tightest ice¬
house more or less hot air will always get
in. trotting-horses and
The drivers of
roadsters feed well-ripened timothy hay.
Unless the cows and sheep are to bo ex¬
perimented with as trotters and roadsters
they had better be fed on something
else.
B0SH LIFE IN AUSIMLIL
STRANGE TYPES OF MEN THAT
ARE DEVELOPED.
Sheep Shearers and Their Improvi¬
dence—“Rouseabouts” and “sun¬
downers”—Small Bush Farmers,
j f TIE tralia characteristic is be life only of in Aus- the
to seen
“bush.” In this indefinite lo-
* f a My, whose name suggests to
the uninitiated an expanse of dense and
tangled forest, the native Australian
recognizes practically everything that lies
outside the cities. The “cockatoo” far¬
mer, who has cleared a modest planta¬
tion in the midst of the woods of eu¬
calyptus and wattle, and surrounded his
demesne with a “cockatoo” fence of
logs, (I have sought in vain to discover
the pertinence of the name that is at¬
tached both to the man and his work;)
the woodman, who hews the iron-like
wood of the blue gum into timber for
house frames, harbor piles and railway
ties; the gold miner, who rocks his
cradle in the hollows of suu-smitten
creeks; the squatter, who grazes sheep,
like the sands of the seashore for multi¬
tude, over vast plains where for miles
not a tree is to bo seen—all these are
brought together in the broad classifica¬
tion of dwellers in the “bush.”
Old residents rarely speak of the coun¬
try, but always of the “bush;” to the
districts more remote from the cities the
term “back blocks” is applied, the word
“block” referring to the holdings which
have been purchased from the Govern¬
ment, and are generally laid out in rec¬
tangular form. Australians have a strange
nomenclature of their own, which much
confuses the “new chum” (synonymous
with the “tenderfoot” of the American
Northwest). In certain districts the
jargon of shepherds, woodmen, and
shearers is as incomprehensible to those
unlearned in strange tongues as Choc¬
taw.
, The shearers represent one of the most
characteristic communities to be found
in the bush. They are a nomadic race,
following the course of the seasons as
unerringly as the birds. Beginning
their operations in the North, where the
spring comes on earliest, they follow the
Bun southward from station to station,
until the closing season finds them com¬
pleting work in the stations nearest the
6ea. Work for three months is brisk,
and thousands of men find ready and
lucrative employment. Some stations
carry over 300,000 sheep, and employ
hundreds of men,who,in the brief period
of their engagement, acquire money
enough to carry them through the rest
of ^e y ea r jn a condition of elegant
leisure. Comparatively few of the
shearers, however,make a frugal or corn-
mendable use of their money. After the
arduous labor of the shearing sheds, the
mind of man naturally turns to means of
recreation. In the bush these means
are practically restricted to the “pubs,”
as the hotels or public houses are in¬
variably called » Australia. These in-
| stitutions usually consist of a bar exclu-
! gively, it evidently being considered that
the wants of the traveling public are
su fg c i en tly met by plentiful supply of
w hisky and gin. The regular course of
procedure with old and seasoned shear-
ers is to resort to the nearest of these
establishments, hand over their checks
—olten amounting to more than £100—
md take up their quarters until the
money is exhausted. This, with the
landlords to fix the prices of lodging and
spirituous refreshment, is soon accom-
plished, and the muddled victim of
“shepherd’s delight” is turned adrift to
shift as best he may until the next shear¬
ing season begins. dissolute
j Throughout the year these
characters may be seen wandering about
the country, rough of clothing and man¬
ner, uncouth of speech, shambling aloDg
with hat slouched over their eyes and
short black pipe m mouth, their “swag,”
composed of a blanket rolled up with
such scraps of food as they may possess,
tied over their back with a string, and
the inevitable “billy,” or tin pail in
which to make tea, carried in their hand.
Occasionally one comes across a couple or
trio of them squatting about a fire, over
which mutton is roasting and tea boiling,
while the “damper” of flour mixed with
water lies baking upon the coals. They
are civil enough, though rough in man-
ner, and for the stranger whom they
accost to refuse to alight from his horse
and take a pannikin of tea with them is
a breach of good breeding which is like-
ly to be commented upon by the gang
in language which includes his eyes,
liver, and^other useful organs in general
and eternal condemnation. Not a few
of them are men who have enjoyed a
good education and early social pnvi-
le*es in the “old country,” and who,
having been disappointed in obtaining
in this new and practical land the posi-
tions for which they were fitted, have
gradually passed slowly down the scale
of employment, and found bottom at last
in the great armv of shearer-tramps,
“rouseabouts,” and “sundowners.”
The names above furnish us with some
additional gems from the inexhaustible
mine of the Australian bush vernacular,
“Rouseabouts” are those who collect,
dip and wash the sheep at shearing
time and generally carry on the miscel-
laneous work of the station at this im-
nortant juncture. “Sundowner” is but
another name for tramp, and is applied
to the wandering shearer out of work
from the cleverness with which he times
his movements so ss to arrive at a sta-
tion at or about sunset. Thus arriving,
ha claims hospitality and receives it un-
GSSttSSXS3ES!
house over night, the owners well know-
ing that refusal would probably be fol-
lowed by the firing of their barns or the
slaughter of the fattest sheep in some dis-
taut “paddock/’ this word being ap¬
i plied in Australia to any field, whatever
its dimensions, instead of signifying a
restricted enclosure, as in England,
There is no more careless, irresponsi-
ble, jovial chap than your shearer in
Australia, and through his system of
modest blackmail upon sheep owners
manages, in spite of chronic impe-
cuniosity, to pass a comfortable time be-
tween seasons, and to come up fat snd
smiling for employment the moment the
sheds are opened for work. He forms
something of a burden upou station own¬
ers, however, one of whom has informed
me that he has to entertain some six
hundred of his kind annually.
In striking contrast with the life of
the free and independent vagabond
shearer is that of the small bush farmer.
Few states of existence could be harder
or less desirable—what with struggle to
subdue the iron-like i orests; to erect
buildings with unassisted hands from
materials which he himself may have
hewed out of stubborn logs or dragged
with slow teams from a railroad a hun¬
dred miles away; to gather his crops with
the costly and unsatisfactory labor which
is afforded by wandering “swagsinen,”
a class of tramps who are to the shearers
what canaille are in aristocracy, and who
are fully impressed with the principle
which seems to animate all classes of
laboring men in the colonies, viz., to
make a bargain, and then, when the work
is half done and likely to be ruined if
neglected, to raise their price and quit
work unless their demands are acceded
to. The life of our western pioneers is
idyllic when compared with that ■ of the
Australian bush farmers; happy are they
who have a large family of stout boys and
girls to assist them in their struggles
Those who are thus independent of irre¬
sponsible tramp labor usually make
success out of their unfavorable surround¬
ings, while others lead a precarious
existence or fail altogether.
WISE WORDS.
There is never any music in a gloomy
heart.
Rogues always feel most at home in
the dark.
Look straight up aud you will always
see sunshine.
People who have to live alone never
find out who they are.
The world is slow to believe that a
sin is black as long as it pays well.
There is no greater fool than the man
who is too foolish to find out that he is
a fool.
People who can talk much about
themselves to the satisfaction of others
are scarce.
How much easier it i9 to tell others
how they ought to walk, than it is to
step right ourselves.
There are spots on the sun, and yet
there are people who expect a ten-year-
old boy to be perfect.
People who have th3 least to eat at
home very often find the most fault with
the fare when they travel.
No matter what you may say or think;
if you know that your scales or measures
are wreng, your heart is not right.
A woman will eat anything without
complaining, while a man will begin to
backslid whenever the cooking goes
wrong; but when it comes to the fit of a
garment that doesn’t suit her, she has
opinions that can no more be held in
check than you cau put mittens on a
landslide.—Indianapolis (Ind.) Rum’s
Horn.
Testing a Government Clerk.
“Farmer” Edmunds is an indefatigable
worker in behalf of his constituents,
Last Saturday he called upon Secretary
Rusk, of the Agricultural Department,
and asked as a special favor that the See¬
retary make an appointment for him.
Mr. Edmunds had a worthy constituent
whom he was desirous of placing in the
Government service. Secretary Rusk
sa id, “All right,” that he would find a
place for a constituent, particularly if he
were as good looking as “Farmer” Ed-
munds himself. The farmer telegraphed
to Halifax County, requesting Mr. James
VVatlington to hie himself to the National
Capital without loss of time. Mr. Wat-
lmgton arrived in due time, and this
morning Mr. Edmunds accompanied him
to the Agricultural Department. Ad-
mitted to the Secretary’s presence, Mr.
Edmunds said: “Mr. Secretary, per-
m it me to introduce Mr. James Watling-
ton, the constituent of mine for whom I
asked a place. He is capable and hon-
e st, and you may see for yourself that he
fc goo d looking.” scanned Watling-
Secretary Rusk Mr.
ton from head to foot, and addressing
him as if very serious, said: “Young man
if i should tell you to catch a mule by
the ears and pull his hide off, would you
do it?”
The young Virginian, just as seri-
ously “Well, Mr. Secretary, I can’t
promise that I would pull his hide eff
but either the ears would give way o
something else would snap.”
“You’il do, laughed the Secretary,
and tinkling his little bell he directed
the messenger who reported to show Mr.
Watlington to the chief clerk, with
orders to put him on the roll at once.
“That young man will make his way,”
remarked the Secretary to “Farmer" Ed•_
muads.—Richmond (Va.) Times-
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL.
Aluminium is. the best conductor of
heat and electricity.
Porcelain is being made from asbestos
in Paris, France. It is said to be a su¬
perior article.
It has been discovered that colors when
passing through a prism can be made to
produce sound.
It takes eight times the strength to go
upstairs than is required to walk the
same distance on a level.
The theory that diamonds owe their
origin to volcanic eruptions receives sup¬
port from eminent scientists.
Flanunarion, the French astronomer,
is of the opiuion that before a great
while we shall be able to talk with the
inhabitants of Mars.
Mr. Haly, of the Colombo Museum,
has discovered that carbolized oil is one
of the best preservatives of the colors of
fish and other animal specimens.
Equal parts of ammonia and turpen¬
tine will take paint out of clothing if it
be hard and dry. Saturate the spots as
often as necessary and wash out in soap¬
suds.
A quarry of natural cement stone has
been discovered in the Province of Natal,
South Africa. Near by are extensive
coal deposits, which supply the fuel to
burn the stone.
On a farm in the suburbs of Provi¬
dence, R. I., there has been located what
is claimed to be one cf the largest and
richest veins of granite east of the Black
Hills, if not in the entire country.
The British Museum has discovered
that the two alleged etruscan antiquities
which it recently purchased at an enor¬
mously high figure are mere Italian
“fakes,” and are absolutely worthless.
A Paris electrician has suceedi d by
means of his battery in forcing violets.
It took four hours to grow his first batch.
The bunch was plucked, tied with a rib¬
bon and sent to the ex-Empress Eugenie.
Lick Observatory in California has just
been notified by telegraph of the new
discovery of a new star near Chi Aurigae.
It is of the fifth magnitude and there¬
fore easily visible to the naked eye. It
has a specturm with bright lines.
Dried sulphate of copper in soap hasr
valuable aptiseptic aud healing proper¬
ties, almost entirely neutralizing by its
use the ordinary dangers of physicians,
nurses and any persons who are exposed
to blood poison through cuts or
scratches.
Iu the coming Crystal Palace Electrb
cal Exhibition in London, England,
upon the payment of a small fee, persons
will be able to listen through the tele¬
phone to the music performed at theatres
in London, Birmingham, Manchester
and Liverpool.
It is said that a syndicate of Swiss and
English capitalists have been formed to
utilize a part of the falls of the Rhine at
Lauffenburg for the generation of elec¬
tric energy. The water will be led to
turbine wheels and 7000 horse power will
be developed.
A meteor which fell in Alabama
plowed up a furrow about os large as a
flour barrel and three or four feet deep,
then bounded and struck a large pine
tree six feet from the ground, shivering
the tree. It then exploded, scattering
its fragments in every direction, cut¬
ting down small growth and tearing up
the ground.
Carl Luinholtz is now exploring the
natural history and archeology of the
Sierra Madre in Northwestern Mexico.
Among the birds of the Sierra Madre is
the great woodpecker which is twenty-
one inches long, and is therefore the
largest woodpecker known. It goes in
pairs, and cannot be killed except by
the rifle. These birds will feed for one
or two weeks on a single tree, so that io
many cases the trees fall down.
Birds Gathered His Almond Crop.
An almond grower of this locality hit
upon a neat device for gathering his erop
last fall. His trees bore largely, and
this early became known to the yellow-
hammers, a species of the woodpecker
tribe of birds, and they had regularly
stored away large quantities of ripe nuts
taken from the orchard in the limb of au
oak tree near by. The astute orchardist
watched operations, and at last hit upon
a novel nut and labor saving plan, and
he lost no time in putting it into execu¬
tion.
The limb was sawed from the tree and
replaced by a square shaped funnel long
enough to nearly reach the ground; a
bucket was then set underneath. A
genuine robbing game then went merrily
on. The birds gathered the nuts, which
they dropped into the tunnel and down
into the bucket below, and as regularly
a® night came the almond grower would
tura empty it of its contents and
set i* back for a new supply. This was
kept up until the entire crop had been
gathered, and the yellownammers had
ieparted broken hearted at the heartless
ieception practised upon them.—Suttet
City Enterprise,
Feeding Vanilla Beans to Hons.
A man on Long Island has discovered
a way of feeding vanilla beans to his
hens so that the eggs are distinctly
flavored with vanilla. The hens, more-
over, are so fertile under this diet that
he seods up daily to town twenty-five
dozen eggs. These are engaged to the
full laying capacity of the hens. A
vanilla flavored egg at breakfast is the
latest caprice of luxury. New lork
Pre “