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PORPOISE CATCHING.
A Successful Harpooner Needs
Courage, Skill and Endurance.
Methods of Securing the Fish
and Trying the Blubber.
Along the coast of Maine there are
several places where porpoise catching is
carried on extensively, and affords the
principal means of support for many of
the people livingin those localities. The
Bay of Fundy is an especially good fish
ing ground, and Indian Beach, border
ing on the waters of the bay, is more or
less occupied the year round by whites
and Indians who do little else, For
years the Passamaquoddy Indians have
made a practice of camping on the beach
and applying themselves assiduously to
porpoise harpooning and shooting. The
winter fish are the fattest and give the
most oil; that is the valuable part of the
catch. The largest porpoises are about
seven feet long, will girt five feet, weigh
300 pounds and over, aud yield from
six to seven gallons of oil. The blubber
is an inch or so thick in warm weather,
but in the winter double that. A
fat fish’s blubber will weigh about
100 pounds. The Indians do their
work in much the same way
now as they did in early years, the most
primitive methods prevailing. In trying
out the blubber the appliances are of
the rudest kind. The fires are built
among piles of stones, over which iron
pots arc hung. Tho blubber is cut into
small pieces and slowly meltid. The
oil is skimmed into jars and cans, and
when pure is worth 90 ccuts a gallon.
The best oil comes from the jaws of the
porpoise. The jaws are hung up in the
sun, and the oil drops down into a ves
sel, each pair producing about one-half
pint.^ Watchmakers and others using a
very fine oil take it in preference to all
other, and it commands a big price.
The blubber oil gives a good light, and
for years was burned exclusively in the
light-houses along the coast.
In a good season an Indian will catch
nearly 200 porpoises, each yielding
about three gallons of oil, but most of
them fall a good deal below this, as
they are not over-partial to labor, and,
as long as the returns of one catch will
last, will loaf around tho camp rather
than go out again. The custom is to
get a few gallons of oil, go to the near
est market and sell it, then “rest" till
forced by necessity to make further ex
ertions. Tile porpoise’s flesh is much
like pork when cooked, and is a staple
article of food.
The bravery, skill and endurance de
tnanded of the porpoise-catchers in their
Work is almost unknown to the outside
world. In the morning, when tho men
are going “porpoisin’, ” the women ami
children turn out to see the canoes off.
Each boat has two men, and when a
storm comes up while they are out, or
they are unusually late coining in, there
is great anxiety among those on shore 1
It takes years of training to make a good
porpoise-hunter, and the big boys begin
going out with the experienced men.
No matter what the water's condition,
be it rough or smooth, if there is a trip
contemplated, tho start is made. In
calm weather the blowing of tho por
poise can be heard a long way, and
guides the Indian in the right direction.
Shooting is the most successful method
°f killing the fish. Long, smooth-bore
guns, with big charges of powder
ftcd double B shot arc used. As tho fish
* 8 floating, swimming, and diving about
the water, first on the surface and then
helow, the canoe is paddled as near as
possible. Then, as the porpoiso lifts
himself to divo tho gun’s chargo is let
%• There is seldom a failure to make
a sure shot, but tho fish is speared to
•top his floundering about in tho dying
®^ ri ’8gte. It is then landed in the ca
Doe Ey grasping the pectoral fin with
one hand, sticking a couple of fingers in
Iho blow hole, and dragging it over the
fiide. In still water this is easy, but
when a high sea is running the under
taking is hard and dangerous.
Sharks are plenty, and their fins are
almost always visible, cutting the water
as soon as a porpoiso is wounded, the
Mood attracting them. No end of stories
are told of men having had their arms
hit off by a shark while they were reach
ing into the water to secure a porpoise,
hut old fishermen scoff at such a thing,
and pay no attention to the dread ocean
Monsters, as they almost rub their nosos
•gainst the sides of tho canoes.— St.
LouU Globe- Democrat.
a
SCHLEY COUNTY NEWS.
The Tea of the Himalayas.
The tea of the Himalayas is the best
in the world, writes Frank G. Carpen
ter, and I would advise housekeepers to
try Indian tea. There is a tea in Thibet
■which has the flavor of milk to such a
egree that when used it has all the
propu tiv.s of good tea mixed with the
most delicious of Jersey cream. This
Himalaya tea has the flavor of flowers.
It is puie and clear and it is supplant
tin Chinese tea in the English mar
kets. The tea plant grows wild through
t ns( Himalaya hills, and in some of the
regions near here it attains the dimen
sions of a large tree, Still it is now
only about half a century since tea cul
ture was commenced in India, and now
there are many Indian tea men who
prophesy that Indian tea will eventually
push Chinese tea out of the markets of
the world.
The lower hills of these Himalayas
are covered with tea plantations. The
plants look not unlike well-trimmed
box-wood hedges, and they rise in ter
races up the sides of the hills. Here
and there you may see a gayly dressed
woman picking their leaves, and now
and then a low shed in which the firing
is done. The seeds are sown in nur
series in December and January, and
they are transplanted between April and
July. The ground has to be well
drained, and I am told 1 hat the best tea
soil is virgin forest land, which in In
dia is very rich. The plants begin to
bear about the third year, and they are
at their best when they are ten years
old. The Indian tea planters get about
five pickings a year, and often seven.
In China and Japan three pickings is
considered good.
Catching Abalones and Turtles.
The coasting trade with Baja Califor
nia from San Francisco, San Pedro and
San Diego is much larger than is usually
thought. Abalone shells and meat
form a large portion of the trade. The
abalone is an enormous clamlike shellfish;
from the interior of the shells is male
morethan half of the “mother-of-pearl”
used in the world. The shells are chiefly
shipped to Paris where they are ground
and the article put iuto a marketable
form. The shells bring from $25 to $35
a ton, according to their quality; and
as they often grow as large as a wash
bowl, it does not require very many
make a ton. The meat is in very
demand among the Chinese, and is ex
ported largely to China where it is worth
$110 a ton.
More than half the whaling done on
this coast is done off the shore of the
peninsula, and the hunting of turtles
very profitable. The United States
commission steamer Albatross
to San Diego from a trip down the coast,
While in the vicinity of
hay a big seine was cast as an experi
ment. The seine was 400 feet long,
it required thirty-five men to haul
ashore, and when it was landed it
found to contain 167 green turtles, av
eraging 125 pounds each.
The Hatching of Lobsters..
Mr. E. A. Brackett of the Massachu
setts Commission on Fisheries and Game
is making arrangements to commence
tho propagation of lobsters on tho Mas
sachusetts coast early in June. A steam
launch has been purchased by the com
mission and is now being fitted for this
work. Mr. Brackett has made the
drawings for hatching boxes, and they
are now being constructed. IJc expects
to be able to turu 40,000,000 young
lobsters into Massachusetts waters this
season. The experiment will be watched
with a great deal of interest by every
one interested in fish culture, as this is
the first attempt made to propagate tho
lobster artificially. The lobster fisher
men are interested in the experiment,
and have promised to give all the aid
and assistance in their power to help the
project along, and it is from them that
Mr. Bracket expects to secure tho fe
male lobsters, and, as a femalo lobster
of twelve inches iu length carries from
30,000 to 40,000 eggs, ho will only re
quire from 1200 to 1400 to furnish the
requisite number or eggs to make up
the enormous number ho proposes to
hatch this season. ProfcssorS. Garmon
will be detailed from Harvard College
to assist Mr. Brackett iu this groat un
dertaking.
An Exorbitant Chargo.
Convalescent— “Doctor, how much
do I owe you for saving my life? ’
Doctor—“Sixty dollars.”
Convalescent—“Sixt dollars I” (with
an air of conviction) It aia’t worth it,”
FOR FARM AND GARDEN.
MJfte-xiLN Asnes instead of toaster.
G. C. Gridley, Kankakee Co., Ill.,
asks if finely sifted lime-kiln ashes can
be used in place of plaster to mix with
Paris green for application to potato
vines to kill the potato bug, or if the
lime-kiln ashes burn the vines. T. F.
Baker, president of the Ne .v Jersey Hor
ticultural Society, and many other suc
cewful potato growers, use air-slaked
lime without injuring the vinos in the
least, mixing one pound of Paris grocn
to 50 pounds of lime. A few pounds
of this mixture at a time in an old
coarse sack is found to bo the most of
fectual and quickest way of applying
it, the work to be dono while the dew is
on. Many Connecticut valley and Penn
sylvania growers dilute the Paris green
still more, using 150 pounds of air
slaked lime to one pound of the poison.
With ordinary lime kiln ash os the per
centage of ashes to lime will be so small
that it can make but little difference in
the mixture, and they can be used for
this purpose without injury. — American
Agriculturist.
A NOON NAP.
With the approach of the longest days
of the year and tho greatest amount of
sunlight comes the danger of overwork
ing. We believe in early rising. The
fresh morning light is better for almost
any kind of work than the afternoon or
night. But in long days tho man who
toils either with head or hand through
the daylight needs a noon rest even
more than he does a noon meal. The
old saying: “After dinner sleep
awhile,” is founded on reason. While
the stomach is full of indigested food it
requires all the nervous and vital energy
that most men can spare until it is di
gested. Woe to him especially who
tries to tax his mind while his stomach
is burdened. Tired housewives are
often broken down prematurely, when
ten or fifteen minutes sweet sleep would
leave them refreshed and ready for ef
fective work during the afternoon. It
is a wise plan to allow a full hour for
nooning, and that for most people in
| this country is far better taken in sleep
than in any other way .—Bjsion Culti
tator.
PURE, CLEAN FODDER.
How large a per cent, of the hay that
is stored away in our barns and ricks for
' winter feed do is absolutely
you suppose
clean timothy or clover? Most of the
dairy States are getting old enough now,
with cultivation of the soil under such
complete control, that foul meadows
, ought be thing
to a of the past, although
they are not. I know of many
j progressive dairymen who lavish all of
j their improvements on blooded stock,
modern silos aud sanative stabl es, but
yet fill their barns with bay that is half
daisies, thistles or other foul weeds.
Such a policy looks to me like building
an arch of granite block and leaving out
the key-stonc. Grass and hay will al
! ways form the groundwork of bovine
I food, and silage, grain, roots, etc., be
only collateral aids thereto. Therefore
i the importance is great of keeping the
culture of this staple crop at tho point
of par excellence. Farmers do not take
pains enough in selecting the choicest
quality and purest grass seed to he had.
Then they let their meadow! lie too
long before they are broken up. When
we take into consideration tho foul hay,
the liny that is prematurely out, or cut
after it i* nearly ripe, and the hay that
oomos out mu«ty and smoky from tho
winter mow, we cannot long remain
obdurate to the necessity of bettering
the condition of our fodder .—Prairie
Farmer.
RIPENING HONEY.
Oomb honey may bo kept from one
season until the next, umimpaired in
quality, but it requires some care and a
proper place for keeping it. The pro
ducer ought to be able to supply these,
while it is perhaps too much to expect
of the dealer. Honey should be pro
pared for market by a thorough ripen
ing. This is best done by storing tho
honey in a room which may be heated
ts about one hundred degrees and kept
at that temporature as long as desired.
An oil stove will be found an excellent
arrangement for heating tho honey
elosot, or, if the closet is small and the
weather is not very severe, an ordinary
lnrgo sized lamp will answer. Neithor
of these will require attention more than
once a day.
This ripening process should begin as
soon as nil the hoo«y m removed from
the hives and stored away, and continue
for several weeks. By this means the j
honey is thoroughly ripened and ac
quires that rich, pleasant taste so often
remarked as belonging to honey which
has been left in the liivcs for a long
time. More than this, the honey in all
unsealed and broken cells is evaporated
until it is so thick that it cauuot run
from the cells. Any One who has ever
handled leaky and dripping comb honey
will appreciate the advantage of thiu
After the hooey is once well ripened
it is scarcely necessary to keep the room
at this high temperature, although it
would, no doubt, be advantageous. Un
less it is kept reasonably warm and dry
all the while, it should be warmed up
whenever the weather is very damp or
very cold. If this is done, the honey
will not attract moisture, nor crack, as
often happens in very cold weather. tl
proper care is taken in regard to tem
perature and dryness comb honey may
be kept in good condition.
HOW TO KILL INSECTS ON TREES.
Many experiments have been tried at
different times in the New York parks,
writes Prof. Soutliwiek, entomologist of
Central Park, to the Washington Star,
to exterminate the insect pests, and the
fight to keep them down has been a long
and hard one. Many substances, w hich
are powerful agents on organic matter,
have been known for years, but they
could not be introduced for geueral use
on account of being insufficient! v solu
ble, or in other respects not easy to
handle. Especially in agriculture and
horticulture many chemicals have been
known to have properties destructive to
insects, but their use has been hindered
for the lack of something to bring them
in an available form. The true mixture
desired lias been something that would
destroy the insects, and not injure tho
plants when applied. On all trees in
fected by scales we use, in Central park,
a preparation consisting of polysolve,
bisulpliuret of carbon, and carbolic acid
—a mixture that has the beneficial re
sult of killing the insects without injur
ing the trees. This solution is ap
plied with brushes to tho
infested trees and plants, and
when the trees are large and badly in
fested steel brushes are used to remove
the scale insects that still remain after
two applications of the wash. Large
numbers of trees cleaned in this way
show at once marked improvement, aud
in the case of horse-chestnut trees they
recovered to such a degree as to bloom
in September, the parasites having been
so abundant on them as to retard tho
leaf growth in spring and keepir g them
from flowering until they were < ’o ,ed.
White lielebore, sulphur, pyrethuru pow
der, Paris green, and London purple are
also used extensively on the insects that
infest tho foliage, some of them being
applied with a horse machine. In this
way we keep in subjection quite success
fully the twelve hundred or more species
of noxious insects that find subsistence
on the foliage of our trees and shrubs in
tho city parks.
FARM AND GARDEN NOTES.
Horse radish should be cultivated.
It is a wholesome relish.
It is not stingy to plant three kernels
of corn to a hill—it is waste to plant
six.
Nobody ever sows too many kinds of
grass seed on kind to be employed in
grazing.
Pear trees require but little pruning.
They usually grow to good shape if
started right.
Do not dig your flower beds until the
soil may be pulverized. Otherwise it
will clog and bake hard.
Plant gladiolus in the open ground,
where yon wish them to bloom, when
you plant early potatoes.
Lop off the dead branches of fruit
trees. It will improve the appearance
and give vigor to the tree.
If you mean to turn off some of tho
wethers this spring as “fat sheep,” after
shearing them keep them on full rations.
In purchasing fruit trees select the
four to six feet size; deciduous seedlings
for tree claim and like planting, eight
to fifteen inches; evergreens for shelter
belt and ornament, always under two
feet, and usually under fifteen inches.
When employing your help look to the
morals of the men. No employer, where
there are children on the farm, can af
ford a man, however good a workman
he may be, if he uses profane or vulgar
language, or is rough or cruel to ani
mals.
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS.
Peanuts are said to be a sure cure for
iusomnia.
The efforts made to introduce Euro
pean vegetables and fruits in the Congo
States have been rewarded with very
great success.
About one hundred and fifty colors
are now obtained from coal tar, which
has almost entirely supplanted vegetable
anf I ft nimal dyes,
The saloon of Buckingham Palace in
England famous for the three superb
crystal chandeliers which it contains is
now lighted by electricity.
Recent discoveries made by the use
of the spectroscope show that all the
heavenly bodies appear to be composed
of the same chemical elements.
All Russian ships of war are to be
lighted exclusively by electricity, and
by January next the whole of the Russian
fleet will be lighted by that means.
The electric light let down in the fish
nets used between the Isle of Man aud
Anglesey attract the Crustacea and
other creatures of the deep in large
numbers.
Hemholtz has shown that if an invisi
ble jet of steam be electrified or heated,
it becomes visible with bright tiuts of
different colors, according to the poten
tial or the temperature.
The moon lias no heat screens around
it like the earth with its deep and blank
et-like atmosphere, so that when the
surface is turned away from the direct
influence of the rays of the suu it throws
off tho heat accumulated with great
rapidity.
The Swiss watchmakers have invented
a watch for the blind. A small peg is
set in the middle of each figure. When
the hour hand is moving toward a given
hour, the peg for that hour drops. The
person frn^s the peg is down, and then
counts back to twrnlve.
A metallurgist gives as a reason why
steel will not weld as readily as wrought
iron that it is not partially composed of
cinder, as seems to be the case with
wrought iron, which assists in forming
a fusible alloy with the scale of oxida
tion formed on the surface of the iron in
the furnace.
It has been calculated that the
lunar surface is raised by sunshine to a
temperature of something like 750 de
grees Fahrenheit, soon after tho period
of the full moon, and that it was de
pressed by the influence of radiation into
space to something like 250 degrees be
low the zero scale of Fahrenheit soon
after new moon.
A Novel Art Academy is to be openefi
in Bavaria where students will bo sys
tematically taught how to restore pic
tures in the most careful and artistic
fashion. The scheme is duo to the Re
gent Ruitpold, who is a great art pa'ron*
and has been much impressed by tho
damage done to valuable works through
unskilled restoration and cleanings.
Professor Frescnius of Wiesbaden,
after a long series of chem ical analyses,
declares that an egg contains as much
nourishment as a pound and an ounce of
cherries, a pound and a quarter of
grapes, a pound and a half of russet ap
ples, two pounds of gooseberries and
four pounds of pears, and that 114
pounds of grapes, 127 pounds of russet
apples, 192 pounds of pears and 327
pounds of plums are equal iu nourish
ment to 100 pounds of potatoes.
Fibres of unequal fineness, useful for
scientific purposes, can now be made by
melting rock crystal in an oxy-hydrogea
jet and drawing it into threads, then
drawing these threads into the finest
fibres by attaching them to the tail of an
arrow which is shot from a crossbow.
Threads of less than 1-10,000 of an inch
are produced, and they are stronger than
steel. Their ends cannot be traced
with a microscope, and are certainly lew
than a millionth of an inch in diameter.
Chinese Cruelty.
Miss Gushington (laying down a book)
— “How barbarously the Chinese girls
are treated.”
Miss De Pink—“Are they?"
“I should say so. All the time a
Chinese girl is engaged she is compelled
to act as if she were grief-stricken.”
Whence the Politeness.
“Why don’t you say ‘thank you/
Johnnie, when you are handed any
thing?” said Mrs. Brown at the table.
“Your sister always says it.”
“Yes,” replied little Johnnie. “She’s
a woman and always wants to have tho
last word.”