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Agricultural.
Farm Talks.
jji veteran journalist, Ben. Perley
‘writes thus pleasantly under
head of “Farm Talks’' in the
lerican Cultivator:
rRoadiug this morning Uie report cf
Ime eulogistic speeches made at a
|»Ule show, it occurred t) me that the
fople of New England do not appro
ve the many obligations to the farm-
s, the pomologists, and tlie gardeners
the additions they have made to
Ze comforts of social life.
an, and goes about the coun-
knocking down old fences and
killing the small birds so badly need
ed to destroy insects.
Sheep—Breed* for Various foil?.
Where sheep have been kept in the
same locslity for several generations
the type becomes very much influ
enced by the soil on which they a r e
kept. On the light dry soils or in
hilly regions the pasture is scant, but
rich, and the winter keep is generally
; destitute of succulent food. Under
[Tiiree hundred years ago the inhabi
ts oPthis region subsisted 1 y hunt
aud Ashing. Their meats were
flesh of the moose, (he deer, the
hdcbuck, and the squirrel. Fish,
liuding salmon, wr-s then mere
1 ndant than it now Is, as dams had
barred our streams, or the waste
factories! poisoned their waters.
|ere was no fruit, unless it may
e been a very tart crab-apple.
U* o different kinds were abun-
pt indian corn, which was about
unly agricultural product, was not
liigenous, but had been brought
|tm the 8 mth, and with difficulty
ixed to ripen in a Northern lati-
|de. The aborigines plucked the
Irliest ears with the husks aud
aided several of them together for
e next year's crop The soil was
leaped t( gelher with the shoulder-
Icdea of a moose, forming a hill in
ilch the corn was planted on an
ive or some other small fiih as a
lil'zw.
ttlc, whin i were known to the
ins, mw -x st here in every va-
est of all varieties,
jlhort-hc rn JDurhams,
is qualities of abun-
fattening, of early
^docility in the yoke ;
jnr, au ancient race,
'first settlers of the
Jgland coa?t, and fitted by
Iking qualities for the dairy,
‘r delicate flesh for the slaugh-
*, and by their quickness for
k; wo have the Aryshires,
[ - givers of milk, strongly) in-
)to butter, with forms fitted "ftyr
Itcher; wo have the Aldernejte
the Jerseys, charming pets for
farmers, with their rich milk,
La cream ; and then we have the
foli toin cattle, the Here-
jirceds, while some of the
h of every breed haW
[Dregaided the old-faa/n-
-ick. Tlie excellency^ of
J.he farmers./ By
lals are cheated
K or beetf what-
Jeua wlWgivean
if miyj.ds wanted,
it It beet is desired,
corlic r into the
let, save a whole
liing.
to hogs we wonder
ever existed without
cur Hebrew friends
^portion or product of
inimal. They «ljo
improved by care*
Col. Lincoln, of
yn imrnor-
such conditions any brood of sheep
will become smaller, finer, aud, if on
large ranges, more leggy. The wool
also varies with both soil and climate,
becoming lighter in weight on poorer
soils and coarser in fiber on rich soils
and in warmer climates. O’ course,
types as influenced by soil are subject
to variations under difference in care
and amount of food, as for instance, a
light soil furnishing rich mod, though
small iu quantity might, if lightly
stocked, grow as large stock as rich
soil fully stocked ; but this would not
be the natural tendency under ordi
nary circumstances.
The Transhumaute3, or traveling
Merino flocks of Spain, were slim,
long-legged sheen, considering their
size, which was due, no doubt, to the
scant herbage and the long distance
they were accustomed to travel be
tween their summer and winter pas
turage. Brought to the United States
and placed on small ranges, with bet
ter feed aud care, they increased in
size and decreased in length of leg.
The same sheep on the rich, cultivated
soils of France, and with high feeding
becime very large, more than double
their former size, in a period of sixty
years. Election had something to do
with this result, but without the rich
food it could never have been accom
plished.
The various mutton breeds of Eng
land show the eft'ict of soils in estab
lishing types. The Southdown in its
early history was bred without par
ticular care in selection, and affords a
good instance of what soil will do in
establishing a type. They are describ
ed as having inhabited the hilly por
tions of E lgland from the mo.-t
ancient period! of known history of
that country. In the southern part of
the country there is a range of low
loways, and half-a-dozen i hills underlaid with chalk which de
fact
City
gly about
T* live like a pig is
reman.
w b not permitted by the
re that a pig should laugh
mile, he enjoys the next
of humanity—the disposition
fat. How easily he goes
tue world! Ho has no fancy
o buy, no bank-notes to pay,
nation meetings to hold. He
occasion to take the bent fie of
ankrupt act, or to have his estate
boated to defray the expenses of
settlement. Free from all the
bles that disturb the bu3y world,
is as unconcerned among the
ngee of the earthly 111 firs as was
the}cRi z 3n who was awakened in the
earliest light of morning by being told
day was breaking. “ Well,” said he,
as he turned' again to his repose, “ let
day break—he owes me nothing."
Then there are the sheep in all their
varieties, which would be an import
ant element m the agricultur d wealth
Wt New Englaqd if farmers could be
protected against the miserable curs
country, aud which
ender it impossible
sheep. It is to be
come when the
ami who
eot-
in
t
L hich lnfestfl
sec
far as it implies that the selection of a -
breed should be made with reference
to its adaptability to the soil. Of course
the demands of the nearest and most
profitable market must be first taken
into account, but, other things being
equal, the best success will follow the
selection of a class of sheep adapted to
the soil and climate where they are to
be reared.—Detroit Pont,
A Mother’s Touch.
In one of the fierce engagements
near Mechanicsville a young Lieu
tenant of a Rhode Island battery had
his right foot so shattered by a fra
grant of a shell that, on reaching
Washington after one of those horrible
ambulance rides and a journey of a
week’s duration, he was obliged to
undergo amputation of the leg. He
telegraphed home, hundreds of miles
away, that all was going well, and
with a soldier's fortitude composed
himself t) bear his sufferings alone.
Unknown to him, however, his
mother, who had read the report of
his wound, was hastening to see him,
She reached Washington at midnight,
and the nurses would have kept her
from seeing her son until morning.
One sat by his side, fanning him as he
slept, her hand on his feebly fluctua
ting pulse. But what woman’s heart
could resist thep leading of a mother
then? In the darkness she was finally
allowed to glide in and take a place at
his side. She touched his pulse as the
nurse had done. Not a word had been
spoken, but the sleeping boy opened
his eyes and said : “That feels like
ny mother's hand. Wno lathis be
side me ? It is my mother ! Turn up
the gas aud let me see my mother."
The two dear faces met in one long,
joyful, sobbing embrace. The gallant
fellow, j usd 21, had his leg amputated
on the last day ct his three years ser
vice, underwent operation after opera
tion, and at last, when death drew
nigh, resigned himself iu peace, say
ing : “I have faced death too often to
fear it now."
The Stock Sanitarium.
The Experience of a Man who
was Nigh Unto Death
scend gradually on the south to the
seacoast, and on tie north merge into
rich, cultivated lands. These low hills
or “ downs ” have a dry soil, and sre
covered with a rich, sweet, dense her
bage. Without special care this soil
produced such sheep as these, from a
description given of them before Ell-
man took hold of them. “ Long and
thin in the neck, narrow in the fore
quarters, high iu the shoulders, low
behind, sharp on the back and with
flat ribs, their only points being a
good leg." Their mutton, however,
chiefly from the excellent character of
the pasture, was of the best flavor and
highly valued.
The black-fa ed Scotch sheep, an
old breed in Scotland, are another
instance of the effect of soil and also
climate in the production of a type.
They inhabit the hills where Norvai’s
“father fed his flock," where wolves
and foxes frequent. They have a life
of continual exposure upou bleak and
storm-beaten mountains, cold rains
and mists, with deap snows in winter ;
covered in drifts they are many times
compelled to subsist on heather, dug
from under the snow.
This location and fare produces “a
horned breed, the horns cf the rams
being massive and spirally curved,
the muzzle is thick, the eye bright
and wild, the body square and com
pact. They are strong, muscular and
active, although net a heavy sheep in
net weight of mutton.
On the contrary the low, rich soils
have produced the heavy Lincoln and
the improved Cotswcld and tile Lei
cester. All classes of stock show this
adaptation to soil and oil mate, but
none so plainly as sheep.
The lesson to be learned from this is
that sheep should be selected with ref
erence to the soil on which they are to
bo reared and fed. Of course under
aitiflcial methods they can be made
to do well in localities where they
would not do so in a natural Htate, As
a rule the foia*e on light, dry or hilly
soils, being dryer and the grass thin
ner and perhaps sweeter, is adapted to
growing flue wool or light mutton of
the best quality, while the heavy soils
furnish grass aud forage succuleut and
abupdant, well suited for the produc
tion of large carcass with early ma
turity.
The idea advauoed by a Now York
airy man that bmech^ioulil^* made
,so
There is a general understanding
that freezing to death is an agreeable
mode of quitting the world, and many
persons who have come near to mak
ing their exit in that manner confirm
the common belief. James Hum
phrey, a Canadian who nearly fre z 3 to
death in a recent storm wh\le driving
homeward. !r,jm Wallaeetown to
Aldborougb, has given the following
description of his experience to the St.
Thomas Times: “When he felt no
longer able to hold the reins, with any
grip he determined to seek shelter in
the first house until well warmed.
His tong.ua became stiff”, then his
t rrn’, sharp chillo ran through his
back, and finally it seemed as tlftiugli
his whole body was being congealed,
causing an almost total cessation of
the heat’s action. This condition of
extreme suffering and despondency
speedily gave place to a feeling of
grateful warmth suffusing the system
and causing an exhilarating glow.
By this time he had reashed a house,
but he drove on, thinking that nothing
was new to be feared. The sleigh,
instead of crawling along at a snail’%
pace appeared to glide through the
air with great swiftness, and the
horses fairly flew like pigeons. A
sense of exultation tilled the farmer’s
breast as he urged the horses to a
great*r speed, and the woods on each
side were passing so quickly that they
became indistinguishable black lines.
Then the sleigh bells sounded fainter
until the chimes disappeared in the
distance, the farmer fell gradually into
a delicious slumber, which came near
being the sleep that knows no waking,
and he knew no more until brought
to life under a vigorous treatment.
Religious Books Among the
People.
“If,” said the late Daniel Webster
to a friend, “religious books are not
widely circulated asnoug the masses
of this country, and the people do net
becoms religious, I do not know what
is to become of us as a nation," and
the thought is one to cause solemn re-
11 iotion ou the part of every patriot
and Christian. If truth be not dif
fused, error will be; if Gr4 aud his
word are not known and received, the
devil aud Ins agency will gain the
ascendency ; if the evangelical volume
does not reach every hamlet, the pages
of a corrupt and licentious literature
will; if the power of the gospel is not
felt through the. length and breadth
of the land, anarchy and misrule,deg
radation and misery, corruption aud
drunkenness, will reign without miti
gation or end. Religious papers are
as valuable as rellitmns . hooks.— Kv,
ohanae.
Giving Medicines to Animals.
Prof. D. D. Slade, presents some
valuable rules for administering med
icines to animals in the November
Awerican Agriculturist.
In giving a drench to a horse, a
horn should be used in preference to
the battle, for fear of breakage.
Standing at the right shoulder, raise
the head with the left hand under the
jaw, and with the right hand pass
the lip of tne horn into the side of the
mouth, and empty its contents, the
head being kept up until they are
swallowed. If the animal is violent,
place a twitch upon the nose to be
held by an assistant; or if he refuses
to open the mouth, the tongue may
be gently held to one side, the horn
introduced, quickly emptied, and the
tongue liberated at once. Under all
circumstances, the greatest gentleness
must be exercised. Nothing can bB
gained by impatience or harsh treat
ment.
For the cx or cow, liquid medicine
is preferable, given from the bottle
rather than the horn. The bottle is
more manageable, and one is less
tempted to use it to pry open the
jaws, and perhaps thus lacerate the
tongue also. Elevate the head only
enough to prevent the liquid running
from the mouth. The bottle should
not ba pushed back far into the
throat. The tongue should be left
free. The following is a very neat
and efficacious method : J.f standing,
place the left Bide of the animal
against a wall, and standing on the
right side seize hold of the upper
j aw by passing the left arm over the
head, and bending the latter far
round to the right, slightly elevating
it. With the right hand pour the
contents of the bottle int > the mouth
at its angle, using the least possible
f< roe.
look After Year Stock.
It is time that some provision be
made for the comfort of farm stock.
Where house room is not possible,
good shelter can be made easily and
cheaply by building rail pens, aud
covering them with straw, cornstalkp,
or even leaves from the woods, which
can be held in place by brush. The
latter is, however, a most shiftless way,
but better than no protection.
A farmer that will allow fctock to
hunt shelter from the cold winds and
storms of winter in the corner of
fences, or the leeside of a stable, corn
crib or out house of any kind, will be
reckless of homo comforts to the same
degree. More than twice the amount
of food will be consumed by a brute
which is thus exposed, and even then
their condition will beweme in the
spring than those that have had
shelter and been kept comfortably
warm through the winter, and only
half-fed.
Straw can be stacked on a frame of
wood in such a way as to give protec
tion to a large number of cattle, sheep
or horses underneath, aud the saving
of fodder will pay the cost, for when
straw Is not protected in some way,
half of it is tramped in the mud and
lost. Btraw racks are best if made
substantial, and if so, will answsr the
purpose for which they are built for
years.—South and West.
A Young Man’s Peril.
They were in to see a lawyer yester
day—Mary Ann and her mother.
Mary Ann was a little^ embarrassed,
but the old woman was calm. When
they spoke about a breach of promise
case, the lawyer asked:
“Wt.at evidence have you got ?"
“Mary Ann, produce the letters,"
commanded the mother, aud the girl
took the cover off a willow basket and
remarked that she thought 927 letters
would do to begin on. The other 051
would be produced as soon as the case
was fairly before the Court.
“And outside of these letters?"
queried the lawyer.
“Mary Ann, produce your diary,"
said the mother. “Now turn to the
heading of ‘Promises,’ and tell how
many times this marriage business
was talked over.”
“The footing is 214 times," answered
the girl.
“Now turn to the heading of ‘Dari-
ling,’ and t,ive us the numb* r of rimes
he lias applied the term to you."
“If T have figured right the total is
1)254 times.”
“I guess you counted pretty straight,
for jou are good in arithmetic. Now
turn to the heading of ‘Woodbine
Cottage,’ and tell us how many times
he has talked of such a homo for you
after uiarri
“Very well. This lawyer waj
be sure that we’ve got a case
maty times has Caarles Hj[
he would die for you?"
“Three hundred aud flfi!
swered the girl as she turned^
leaf.
“How many times has hecalledj
an auge) ?"
“Over 11,000, mamma.”
“How about squeezing hands ?^
“Over 384,000 squeezes."
“And kisses ?"
“Nearly 417,000,”
“There’s our case," said the mot|
as she deposited basket and dlarj
the lawyer’s table. “Look overl
documents, and if you wantanytl
further I can bring in a dezin nell
bora to swear to facts. We suef
110,000 damages, and we don’t sel
for less than an eighty-acre far!
with buildings in good repair . s(
call again next week. Good day, si
A Wise Request.
The widow, who died in 188
suigeon named Bradshawe, lefl
to the English College of Surgeol
much to the College of Physicia]
provide for an annual lecture
his name. The first was
month by that great surd
most cultivated man, Sir Jar
on “Some Rare and New Dial
It abounds with research and ij
Ha said that of course many
that seem new—Bright’s dise]
instance—have meraly been
ed, but however much of wl
to be new we may justly
previous oversight, there yet^
be evidence enough that n<
are in progress of evolutjj
peculiar j Ant disease
M. Charcot, Sir JatrU
lieve there is not au oldlq
bigues so diseased) ia our mi
there is not one in the Musee
tren, I cannot find a notice
tion of one, and yet this
now so far from being rare
Buzzard has had nine cases uad!
eye at one time.” After giving se!
*1 other interesting illustrations, s]
James said in all these facts there i
enough not indeed to prove, but
justify, the belief that we have hj
examples of diseases which havt
peared in this country for the
time within the century, and h!
since beoomeaufflciently frequent ai
acquired sufficiently constant ar
distinctive character to be descrii
in general terms and called by
naipes. His hypothesis i<t that suj
diseases are among the in-dmees
the results of morbid conditioi
changing and combining in trai
mission from pareuts to off-iprinj
Sir James laid very great stress
the value of museum?, in wl
changes of structure may be pres*
for study and comoarASon. “We
o have in our museums specimens^
which we might study alt the grac
tionsof change of structure from tyi
to type, all the changes Aie to mil
gling of forms,all varieties of dise*
all hybrid forms. We need to
a’fle to study all these things a*
naturalist or comparative anat
needs his specimens.”
Monsieur, Mr. and Mi
Those whoae knowledge of Fre
limited to the word “monsieur,’’'
they are legion, may, after r
the following remarks o
in a French paj^h^00f9ast congra
late thems^’SfffflaFthey pronou
rightly. Others, again, to
“depuis" “Neuilly" and such
offer insuperable obstacles, w,
surprised to learn that the pro
tion of “monsieur” is a sort of P
shibboleth It was not till ths fi
century that “mondeur" wase
from meum seniorem. At this
the ending was fully pronounc
iti r, as in “sieur" nowada
when the word ceased to bs exo
ly applied to the nobility ab
end of the seventeenth oanti
frequency of the appellation
the slipshod pronunciation that
interesting a fact to phllologl
the r was dropped. Tlie fird
which was pronounced “mou
the sixteenth century, and wh
perhaps survived iu the nautical
used by Jack Tar, ct Dibilin, “moi
seer," became modified to mo, thoug
there ia a learned dispute as
whether this is noc a purt of the la
gue doit. Then, “mo-sieu" beoan
“mealeu," which is gem rally pr
nounoed as “m'sieu" lu 1883, or if oi
wishes to talk as a real gavroci
“m’eeu." Perhaps some one in tb
country will trace for usthevioise
tudea of the word “miflress” in
to Mfs., or of master