Newspaper Page Text
Agricultural.
A ton of London sewage contains only
three pounds of solid matter.
It appears from Pliny's description,
that the rhododendron of the ar.cAMits,
so poisonous to animal life, was what
we call oleander.
An Ohio farm t mum* the Ma mmoth
Pearl as the potato to take the place of
the Peach-blow, against which charges
of deterioration are made.
The drought has so seriously affected
the wheat crop of Australia that farm
ers of this country need not fear Aus
tralian competition the coming year.
Salt is used to destroy the onion tfiag-
got with partial success. About the j
1st of July, sow two bushels to the
acre ; the salt also hastens the maturity
of the crop.
Everything points to another period j
in England of live stock contagion.
Both foot and mouth disease and p’.euro- i
pneumonia are appearing in unexpected |
places.
There are almost a score of incubators
in operation at Ilammonton, X. J., and
there will be more chickens hatched
there this season than ever before, the
climate and soil, as well as location, be
ing specially adapted to the raising of
poultry.
A good guide for feeding grain to
caLle is one pound to each hundred of
their weight. Most animals eat in pro
port ion to their weight, and an animal
weighing 1000 pounds may receive ten
pounds of grain per day.
Martindale Catkins, a discouraged
fruit-grower in Western New York, is
digging out a fifty acre apple orchard,
planted twenty years ago. It has never
borne but one full crop, and then the
price was too low to pay for picking.
Arthur S. Core, of Mouut Vernon, N.
Y., grew two crops of potatoes last year
on the same land. The second crop
was shortened by drought; but in a
good season he thinks two crops may
be made profitable where land is scarce.
Bullock’s blood is used on a large
scab- a- a manure, but chiefly for mix
ing with other fertilizers. In its natu
ral state blood contains about three per
cent, of nitrogen : when dried it con
tains twelve per cent. It takes an ex
cellent manure for turnips when mixed
with bone-dust or phosphatic guano.
Mixed with peat or mold it may be ap
plied as a top-dressing to wheat crops j
and to grass land.
Professor J. L. Budd says the scions
of Russian apples sent to the Iowa Agri
cultural College were judiciously select
ed from varieties grown in the latitude
of St. Petersburg and Moscow, and he
prophesies their future success in this
country.
Soot contains a small percentage of
nitrogen. Used alone it makes an ex
cellent top-dressing for spring grain and
grass, being quick in its action without
being too stimulating. It has also the
property of destroying slugs on winter
grain.
Many so-called cases of pear blight
are due to other causes than blight.
Quite often trees are said to be blighted
from too much manure, when, in fact,
the heavy doses of manure water would
have killed an oak or butternut as
quickly as it killed the pear.
It is bad policy to wash harness with
soap, as the potash injures leather. If
the harness becomes rusty rub olf the
dirt as well as possible with a soft brush
and supply a dressing of grain black,
followed with oil or tallow, which will
fasten the color and make the leather
pliable.
In the Island of Jamaica splendid
cattle are raised on Guinea grass, many
weighing 2000 pounds or more after be
ing dressed. Thousands of acres in
Guinea graas can be seen in some parts
of the island stretching for miles on the
hillsides and plains, and stocked with
the finest imported cattle from England.
Care should be used in selecting the
proper soil for each vegetable. The long
varieties of beets, carrots and parsnips
should never be grown in heavy soil that
packs easily. There are kinds more
suitable, such as those that grow partly
out of the ground, but sandy or open
light soils are best for the long varieties.
According to French authority the
production of beet-root sugar in Europe
k this year amounts to 1,020,000 tons, an
Increase of 137.500 tons over last year,
miany is still the greatest producer,
(he l^jt with 0Yj.000tons ; Aus-
tsj^ with 450,000
|410,000 tons;
JJHiU tons.
A notable event in connection with
the Chicago show was the sale of an ;
Angus (polled) cow for $1,300. It is
quite safe to predict, knowing of what
stuff these black polled catt’e are made,
that one day, when they are sufficiently
numerous to afford it and their beef
will be on exhibition, it will come into
successful competition, too, with the
Sliort-horn beef and run the white
faced Merefords very closely.—Farmers'
Magazine.
The finest plantation in Alabama—
the Oswichee Bend place—of 4000 acres,
was sold the other day to Mr. Hatcher,
or Columbus, for $30,200. This is less
than $8 an acre, and Mr. Hatcher was
offered $10,000 advance on his purchase
the week after he made it. In North
Georgia lands command readily from
$15 to $30 an acre along the railroads.
The average value of lands in Georgia,
as returned for taxes, is $3.12 an acre.
The demand for good horses increases
despite the enlarged use of steam ma
chinery in all kinds of business. There
are probably more horses now used to
cart produce to and from railroad sta
tions than were ever required for the
stage routes that the railroads super
seded. Yet, when the steam engine
came into general use for transporta
tion, many believed that the days of
horse-breeders were over.
English experience shows that the
quantity of farm-yard manure produced
in feeding cattle may vary from one-
half to three-fourths the amount of
food consumed and the straw used as
litter. A ton of dry food, such as grain,
cake, hay or straw, yields when fed
about two tons of dung. A ton of
green food, however, such as clover,
vetches, mangel, turnips or cabbage,
does not afford, on an average, more
than half a ton of dung.
A plan in use in South Australia for
leading cattle, said to be very effective,
is as follows : Tie the end of the rope
around the base of the near horn ; pass
the line across the forehead, back be
hind the horns and under the back of
the near ear, thence up between the
ropes and the animal’s forehead. When
hauled taut a hitch is made which takes
in the ear, the least pressure upon
which by pulling the rope, it is said,
prevents the most obstinate beast from
hanging back.
Take good care of the breeding sows,
They are ah .out the most valuable of our
farm stock just now. Let their feed be
generous, and not exclusively of corn.
Clover hay run through the cutting-box-
and then scalded, with a liberal mixing
of equal quantities, by measure, of corn-
oats and wheat bran makes about as
good a ration as can be giving them at
this time of the year, and will keep
them in the best of health, and bring
good, strong, vigorous pigs.—Epitomist.
An English writer suggests the pos
sibility of compressing green fodder into
small bales by means of a press some
thing like a hay press, and piling these
bales in any convenient building, filling
up the crevices between the bales and
the space between the bales and the
walls with chaff. This he thinks would
be as well as to pack the fodder in an
underground silo, and press it all at
pnee with heavy weights, and at the
same time could be stored away or fed
out much more easily.
A writer makes the following ^ood
suggestion to the Husbandman: Save
the buckwheat chaff and use it as an
absorbent in the cow stable. Being
fine and mild it makes one of the best
absorbents for this purpose. lie finds
a corn basket full (one and a half bush
els) will absorb all the urine from ten
cows over night and keep them dry and
clean. lie has made a practice of sav
ing all of his own and buying of his
neighbors for $1 per load of fifty baskets,
and it pays well.
The war between the Shorthorn and
the Hereford breeders continues in the
The claim of Shorthorn breed*
s are better milkers is
eii .inferiority as
nt UU't
calilies. Scrub cattle cannot be profita- j
bly grown anywhere.
Down to 1859, Mr. Mulhali says, the
United States used at intervals to im
port wheat from Europe, whereas it
produces at present one-lialf of the
world’s crop. Previously to 1805 A us- ;
tralia was led with t hilian flour, but
7 j
some of the Australian colonies now j
annually export twenty bushels of grain j
per inhabitant. Facilities for transpor- ,
tation have so far improved that wheat !
grown on the Mississippi or in New !
Zealand is sold as cheaply in Europe as i
that raised on the Don or Danube.
Selected Humor.
All Alone.
A Fortunate Adventurer.
The recent dispatch announcing the
discovery of gold on the Yukon river
in Alaska recalls one of the romantic
experiences of Western mining life.
The Alaska discoverer, whose name
should have been given as Sclieiffelin,
instead of Schuffeli—as was telegraphed i
—is the man who located the rich j
mines at Tombstone, Arizona, and ,
“I am sorry to hear of your uncle
having drowned himself at sea," said
Gilhooly, to an influential citizen of
Austin, who wore a sad look and crape
on his hat. “Yes, it was very sad.”
“Did he have any grounds for it V”
“How the mischief could he have any
grounds for it out at sea, where the
water is a mile and a half deep.”
When Brown failed to catch the
young lady who slapped his hands at
Copenhagen, Fogg remarked that it was
quite a marine disaster. “A smack
lost, you know,” lie exclaimed, in an
swer to the interrogating glances lev
elled at him from all sides.
Jones, through the lather : “Strange,
I never can grow a good beard, and yet
my grandfather had one three feet
long.” Hair-dresser: “ Can’t account
for it, sir—unless you take after your
grandmother.”
founded and named the town. The |
story of the “find" is a remarkable one.
“Ed’* Sclieiffelin, with his brothers and
one or two companions, was prospecting
in Southern Arizona some four or five
years ago. when the country contained
comparatively few white men and was
overrun by hostile Apaches. The party,
in Western parlance, were “down on
their luck.” They had made no strikes,
and their supplies were running low.
It was a condition of affairs which
Sclieiffelin was inured to, for he had
been so reduced as to live on meal and
beans given him in camp as an act of
charity. Finally they resolved, in des
peration, to start across into what is
now known as the Tombstone district.
Other prospectors had kept away from
fear of the Indians. The country was
dry and desolate, and contained but
little game. The few intruders had
never returned.
When Sclieiffelin’s little party an
nounced their determination it was
generally predicted that they would
meet death by Apache bullets or by
starvation. “All you will find will be
your tombstone,” was the sarcastic
farewell of a miner as the adventurous
band started into the barren hills. They
journeyed through cacti and mesquite,
crossed arroyas and climbed hills, ex
amining ledges and croppings, and scru
tinizing every rock for signs of pay ore
that might lead to the discovery of a
vein. All the time they kept a keen
outlook for Apaches. They slept rifles
in hand, while a faithful watch was
kept throughout the night. But they
found nothing.
Footsore, weary and discouraged they
camped on the site of the present tq|vn
of Tombstone. Their provisions were
nearly exhausted. It was imperative
for them to find food at once or give up
their attempt and turn backward. One
of the party, taking his rifle, went out
to hunt for a deer. In his absence the
others almost hopelessly began examin
ing tlie rocky ground near the camp,
and at last Fortune proved kind. 'When
the hunter returned he learned that he
and his comrades were millionaires.
They had found a rich out-cropping of
ore that hinted at the wealth beneath
their feet. They “loaded” their
claims, and ofter a period of waiting
partially developed them.
In May, 1880, “Ed.” Soheiffelin
and his brothers sold their share in
these mines for a round million to a
Philadelphia syndicate. Now a town
of some 5000 inhabitants stands on the
ground where the penniless adventurers
camped. When the news of the strike
went out and prospectors rushed in
Sclieiffelin. as the “oldest inhabitant”
and founder, was asked to name the
town. He recalled the parting words
of the miner when he started out, and
said : “ Call it Tombstone.” The out
crop first discovered was supposed to be
from a vein, but, on exploration has
proved to indicate a rich deposit, in
place of which there is now an immense
yawning gulf. Several claims were laid
out which have since been developed
into mines, and some probably worked
out, but they still bear the tuneful
names of “Owl’s Last Hoot,” “Lucky
Cuss,” “Tough Nut” and “Good
Enough,” while one is named the “Tri
bune." But Sclieiffelin was too thor
oughly infected with the mining fever
to lie content with his suddenly ac
quired riches. Within the last year he
fitted out a small steamer at San FraH*
cisco, gathered about him a party of
utuiltfi and started to seek the
unfrozen wilds of
“No," exclaimed Mr. Peanecker.
“No, madam. I object most decidedly.
Once and for all I say it—the girls shall
not be taught foreign languages.”
“And why not, pray?” said Mrs. P.,
with withering sarcasm. “Because,”
said Mr. P., with more withering sar
casm, “because, Mrs. P., one tongue is
enough for any woman !”
“Annie, is it proper to say this ’ere,
that ’ere ?” “Why, Kate, of course
not.” “Well, I don’t know whether it
is proper or not, but I feel cold in this
ear from that air.”
“What on earth makes you announce
that you extract teeth without pain ?
Didn’t I hear every patient you had up
here yell ?” “ You did, sir,” replies the
peripatetic dentist, “but those were
shrieks of joy which they uttered, sir!
They were so delighted, sir, at being
painlessly relieved that they could not
restrain their enthusiasm.”
A lady taking tea at a small company,
being very fond of hot rolls, was asked
to have another “Really, I cannot,”
she modestly replied; “I don’t know
how many I have eaten already.” “I
do,” unexpectedly cried a juvenile up
start, whose mother had allowed him a
seat at the table. “You’ve eaten eight
I’ve been a counting!”
Miss Matilda Snowball, who is blacker
than the ace of spades, has been filling
an appointment as “a cook lady” in the
family of Colonel Yerger. A few even
ings ago Matilda came into the parlor,
where Mrs. Yerger was sitting, sewing,
by the fire. Matilda had a very sly ex
pression ou her face and something hid
under her apron. “What have you got
there?” asked Mrs. Yerger. “A young
gemnmn belongin’ to one of de fust
families ob Austin has been paying me
’tensions and T 'lowed ter s’prise him
wid my picture tuken fur ter s’prise him
wid.” Mrs. Yerger looked at the pic
ture and nearv fell out of her chair with
amazement. “Why, this can’t be you,
Matilda. It is the picture of a white
woman, with red hair and blue eyes.”
“Dat's where de s’prise comes in. I
paid de fotographic man two bits fur
%it ar picture.”
A gentleman having a little toddler
with him the other day, stopped at a
confectioner’s, and purchased two balls
of pop-corn. He^gave one ball to the
child, and the confectioner placed the
other in a paper sack. Then the two
wended their way homeward, meeting
as they proceeded two ragged urchins,
whom the man stopped and made a divy
of the remaining popcorn ball. “Ain’t
he a good man !” was the exclamation
that greeted him as he walked away.
The little toddler then broke forth:
“Papa, don’t you know what they said
that for ?” “No; why ?” “ ’Cause they
don’t know you.” The silence was only
broken by the munching of the corn.
As 4111 Eastern train was nearing
Cheyenne a drummer made an insulting
remark to a lady whose acquaintance he
had made. The lady rose to her feet
and called out, “Has any man in this
car a iu,»Ivor about him ? If there is I
wish he would lend it to me and I'll put
an end to this scoundrel’s insults!”
The drummer rushed to the end of the
car and jumped off, going into Cheyenne
y th e back door.
A shipment of 300 bushels of red-oak
acorns has been made to Germany for
planting on untitlable hillsides. This
tree is found to do well in Europe and
its wood is valuable. The acorns were
gathered in Missouri at an average cost
fit $1 per bushel. The same party has
ip shipped 180 bushels of pignuts for
m i
How the House Behaves When Left
by Itself.
When the house is alone b\ itself in
experienced persons may believe that it
behaves exactly as it does when there
are people in it; but this is a delusion
as you will discover if you are ever left
alone in it at midnight sitting up for
the rest of the family: at this hour its
true disposition will reveal itself.
To catch it at its best pretend to re
tire, put out the gas or lamp and go up
stairs. Afterward come down softly,
light no more than one lamp, go into
the empty room and seat yourself at a
table with something to read.
No sooner that you have done so than
you will hear a little chip, chip, chip,
chip along the top of the room—a small
sound, but persistent. It is evidently
the wall paper coming off, and you de
cide, after some tribulation, that if it
does come off you can't help it, and go
on with your book.
As you sit with your book in your
hand you begin to be quite sure that
some one is coming down stairs.
Squeak, squeak, squeak ! What folly !
There is nobody up there to come down :
but there—no, it is on the kitchen stairs.
Somebody is coming up.
Squeak, snap ! Well, if it is a robber
you might as well face Turn. You can
get the poker and stand with your back
against the wall. Nobody comes up.
Finally you decide that you are a goose,
pot the poker down, get a magazine and
try to read.
There, that’s the door. You heard
the lock turn. They are coming home.
You run to the back door, unlock and
unbolt it, and peep out. Nobody is
there, but as you linger the door gives a
click that makes you jump.
Bf daylight, neither lock nor stairs
make any of these noises unless they are
touched or trodden on.
You go back to the parlor in a hurry,
with a feeling that the next thing you
know something may catch you by the
back hair and try to remember where
you left off.
Now it is the table that snaps and
cracks as if the spiritualist knocks were
hidden in its mahogany. You do not
lean on it heavily without this result,
but it fidgets you, and you take an easy
chair and put the book on your knee
Your eyes wander up and down the
page, and you grow dreamy, when, ap
parently. the book-case fires off a pistol.
At least a loud, fierce crack comes
from the heart of that piece of furni
ture, so loud, so fierce, that you jump
to your feet trembling.
You cannot stand the parlor any
more. You go up stairs.
No sooner do you get there than it
seems to you that somebody is walking
on the roof. If the house is a detached
one, and the thing is impossible, that
makes it all the more mysterious.
Nothing ever moaned in thechimney
before, but something moans now.
There is a ghostly step in the bath
room. You find out afterward that it
is the tap dripping, but you do not dare
to look at the time.
And it is evident that there is some
thing up the chimney—you would not
like to ask what.
If you have gas it l>obs up and down
in a phantom dance. If you have a
lamp it goes out in a blue explosion. If
you have a candle a shroud plainly en
wraps the wic^Pff falls toward you.
The blinds shake as if a hand clutch
ed them, and finally a doleful cat begins
to moan in the cellar. You do not
keep a cat, and this finishes you.
You pretend to read no longer, and
sitting with a towel over your head and
face, and hearing something below go
“Shew, shew, shew,” like a little saw,
you believe in the old ghost stories.
Ten minutes afterward the bell rings;
the belated one comes home ; the lights
are lit; perhaps something must be got
out to eat. People talk and tell where
they have been, and ask if you are lone
some.
And not a stair creaks. No step is
heard on the roof; no click in the front
door. Neither book-case nor table
cracks. The house has on its company
manners—only you have found out how
it behaves when it is alone.
One Good way to utilize bits of
cold venison is to chop them fine, then
heat with some of the gravy left from
dinner, or, if vou lmve none, with a
little water, in which you put a gener
ous lump of butter,; season with pepper
and salt; then fill some patty-pans with 1
the venison and cover the top with
crust. Bake
brown.”
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