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Insists the Galveston News: If you are killing time, quit It. Man born of woman is of few days and full of pathogenic germs, lanients the Courier-Journal. Of course, admits the Milwaukee Sen¬ tinel, the boat rocker might plead that he acquired the habit while he was in j the cradle. If we could Insure honest elections ut home with the same brilliant suc¬ cess as In Panama and Cuba, suggests the St. Paul Dispatch, we would be better satisfied with ourselves. “Apoplexy” seems to be a suspicious cause of death in Turkey, when its victim is a minister whose “removal” cannot be deemed incompatible with the interests of other influential per¬ sonages. The suspicions are probably not unreasonable, admits the New York Tribune. Many men in Con¬ stantinople have died of apoplexy of a bowstring. Writing about progress, Robert Louis Stevenson protests: To hold the same view at forty as we held at twenty Is to have been stupefied for a score of years, and take rank, not as a prophet, but as an unteachable brat, well birched and none the wiser. It is as if a ship captain should sail to India from the port of London; and having brought a chart of the Thames on deck at his first setting out, should obstinately use no other for the whole voyage. The overshadowing evil in the edu¬ cational system of America, proclaims the Rochester Post-Express, Is this: That a great majority of our children fall to complete the eight grades in our primary schools. In Rochester less than one-third of the children com¬ plete this simple course, which ought j to train boys and girls in the studies whieh are the means of self-develop ment. and Intelligent citizenship; and this percentage is not much lower I than the average. Such a result means I the practical failure of the system. Wlth a smaller Chinese population than in 1878 our importations of opium have Increased 250 percent—157,000 | pounds was the figure last year, ex¬ plains the Boston Transcript. The physicians say that the strenuous life professional men Is largely respon¬ sible for the increase. If the nerve worn would only comprehend the sim- | pie rule of drug poisoning, whether of nicotine, alcohol or opium, that stim¬ ; ulation always is followed by reaction —which is than the original ; worse ; condition—perhaps a lot of depravity would be avoided. Croquet has some advantages over golf, contends the Hartford Courant. You can play it all through with one mallet, you do not have to talk Scotch and when a fellow is In your way you don’t cry “Fore,” you juqj say in plain English “Get!” and me tiling can be | done in ordinary clothes and within i i reach of home. The man who plays golf wants to sleep after the game, ! but the man who plays croquet can ! sleep while he plays and get along ' “ | about as well. It excites to slumber, , but otherwise it is not exciting. The j real rival of croquet is mumble-the-peg, although there are those who prefer jackstraws. With a free and happy people sport cannot die. Humor as viewed by a German sci¬ ' entific critic is expounded in "Heine und sein Witz,” a desiccated book of j 200 pages by Erich Eekertz. The in- j troduction seeks to define the joke as Heine felt it, says the New York Eve¬ ning Post, and one of the chapters points out that a thousand and more jokes of the ancient Jews, Teutons, and Gauls flowed in the blood of Heine’s ancestors until they united In | a common joke that thrilled the au- j i thor of the "Reisebilder.” Another i chapter treats of Heine's own jokes and those he stole from others, and points out the close or distant rela¬ tionship of Heine's humor to that of such distinguished predecessors and contemporaries as Aristophanes, Cer vautes, Shakespeare, Moliere, Goethe, j.essing, and Jean Paul. There is also a catalogue of Heine’s rhyming jokes, another of his jokes in prose, still an other of his thrusts at himself, and j finally a formidable list of Heine’s j puns. PRACTICAL ADVICE ABOUT DIVERSIFIED FARMING 4f4 4 ff t If f f j f i Hitter Rot. The apple disease known as bitter rot occurs in very destructive form throughout the Piedmont and eastern sections of North Carolina, though it is possibly less destructive further west. In a recent trip through the middle of the State, the writer saw dozens of orchards ruined by this rot which, but for the presence of the rot, would have yielded largely. In many of the orchards visited, the trees were in fine condition, showing suitability of soil and climate, and they bore an abundance of fruit, but closer examination showed that the ground under the trees was com¬ pletely covered with rotten apples and that the apples still on the trees had numerous specks of soft, brown rot. In many villages and towns all apples offered for sale id stores were affected with this rot. This rot has been known in de¬ structive form in the United States since 1867. It Is estimated to have done $1,500,000 of damage in four counties in Illinois in 1900. In the Middle States the losses are estimated to be from one-half to three-fourths of the entire crop. The president of the National Apple Shippers’ Associa¬ tion estimated the damage in the United States in 1900 at $10,000,000. There are many different types of apple rot; some are hard, some are soft, some wet, some dry, some of one color and some another, etc. The bit¬ ter rot of the apple, sometimes called the ripe rot, is a soft, wet, yellow rot, occurring usually as circular spots on the fruit. These spots, of which there may be from one to twenty or more on each apple, enlarge rapidly, run together, and the whole fruit becomes a soft, rotten mass. The disease us¬ ually begins while the fruit is still hanging on the tree, and as the dis¬ ease progresses, many of the apples fall to the ground below. This rot is caused by a fungus, known as Gloeosporium, the spores of which fall upon the apple, grow, pene¬ trate it, and cause the decay. The spores are produced in immense quan titles in small pustules, which appear upon the rotted surface. In many in stances the fungus passes the winter in cankered spots on the twigs and bark. There are two forms of treatment, both of which should be followed. First, inasmuch as the fungus is known to winter in the canker on the branches, it is very important, when the leaves are off the trees, to care¬ fully inspect the orchard, hunt out these cankers, cut them out and burn them, and thus remove the most dan gerous source of spring infection. Second, the trees should be sprayed with Bordeaux mixture in order to a jj spores which fall upon the fruit or twigs. Sprayings should be applied before the buds begin to swell in the spring, just after the blossoms fall, and every ten or fourteen days thereafter until the fruit is almost ripe. These two treatments combined will, to a very large extent, serve to control this very serious disease.—F. L. Stevens, Biologist, North Carolina Experiment Station. Spnrs For Fopltrymen. Use milk freely to develop chicks and to make hens lay, hut use care to keep the vessels clean. Milk left In the vessels, day after day, even if in only small quantities, begins to rot and cause bowel trouble. The open front poultry house is always good in the South; and during the hot weather it is almost a neces sity. Do not force the chickens to steam their strength away by sitting on roosts summer nights in houses that have insuMcient ventilation. Removing and burning the old hay or straw In the nests a number of times during the summer is one of the best means to keep down vermin, Before the new material Is put in, give whatever treatment is preferred for combating vermin; but do the work thoroughly. After the drink vessels have been scalded and well washed, put them out awhile where the bright sun will shine into them well. Sunshine is an excellent germ killer. Vessels con taining disease germs are responsible for many deaths, the cause of which is undreamed of. Very fat hens are likely to die of apoplexy in hot weather. Preventa tive measures are better than cures, w r hich are not often accomplished, To keep them from being too fat, cut down their ration, especially that part of it that tends to make fat;-and force them to hunt more for their feed. Over-fatness is not good for any end. if you belong to the class who keep their house lawns looking like a vel vety carpet by the frequent use of a lawn mower, the lawn will look all the better if the clippings are caught in au attachment put on the mower for that purpose; and if the clippings are stored in a dry .place to cure, they wi!1 be convenient next winter for throwing down for the poultry to work over. Some of the dippings, which will be hay at that time, may be eaten: and what is not eaten mfty be used for burying grain in for the poultry to scratch out. However, the clippings will be rather short and pack down too close for good scratch¬ ing material unless used with longer stuff. There are two extremes In caring for poultry. One is not giving enough attention to the work to keep the quarters in a sanitary condition. The other is in doing a lot of unnecessary work, in fooling around in attempt to keep the quarters as clean as a well-regulated kitchen. This is im¬ practical. As long as piles of drop¬ pings are not allowed to accumulate and lice and mites are kept under control, the quarters will be sanitary if kept dry and well aired. When that has been accomplished, all has been done about the quarters that will yield a profit—and profit is what poultry are kept for. Carefulness in feeding and watering is, of course, necessary; but even in that work a lot of time should not be wasted. A lack of a sanitary condition is the more common extreme, but the oppo¬ site may be almost as foolish.—Pro¬ gressive Farmer. Rotation of Crops a Good Thing. One correspondent wishes me to tell why rotation of crops is a good thing. I will give four reasons: (1) Because no plants thrive long if compelled to feed on their own decay. (2) Different crops take plant food in different proportions, and the u^whE^EEvaiffiblEin^r up what is available in the LiEof son ot that which it particularly prefers. At Rothamsted, England, they grew po tatoes year after year on the same laud until it utterly failed to make potatoes. But when they then put it in barlev it made seventy-five bush els ner acre matters The potatoes needed the mffieral minerai matters, nhosnhoric pnospnoric acid aciu and in potash, and had drawn them down ill there was not a sufficient amount of these to make potatoes, but still an abundance for barley. (3) Constant clean cultivation and exposure to the sun burn up the i humus or decayed vegetation in the ! i soil, the home of the soil bacteria that work for the farmer, and the bacteria perish, so .that the soil becomes lit¬ erally a dead soil. Exposure to sun¬ shine is death to the microscopic forms of plants that we call bacteria. Even those forms that are the causes of disease cannot endure the sun shine, and one of the very best means for sterilizing waste matters like sew age is to expose it to sunlight. (4) We introduce the legume crop in our rotations because they furnish forage for stock and enable us to keep up the humus, making material in tlie soil, and in their growth get us the nitrogen we need, which we would otherwise have to buy. The vital point in any rotation is the main¬ tenance and increase of the organic decay, the living soil, for, as has been well said, “sard and clay are only the dead skeleton of a soil, humus is its life^” and in no way can we keep up this life in .the soil hut by a rotation of crops that will be restoring what is wasted in the sale crops. . Your rotation would be improved { b y sowing crimson clover among your corn to prevent winter waste and i make a feed crop in the spring that ' will com e off before sowing the peas j for hay. Then wheat and clover one yea r, and then manure the sod and j back to corn, In this way your land j will always be protected in winter an d will gain humus.—W. F. Massey, A Land of Milk and Money. And while you are making the . South a land of milk and money you . can make all the more cotton on a smaller area of land because of feed j ing the cows or beeves, Study that record from the A. and 1 M. College herd. When a man makes j months, $8SO worth what of manure of In he nine | a crop corn can : make with that manure spread broad cast, and what a crop of small grain following it to be followed by peas and then to cotton, with cash in his j pocket to dictate prices to the fer ‘ tilizer men and no fertilizer to buy except acid phosphate and potash for the peas, What an area of laud you would have to cultivate in cotton that makes 150 to 200 pounds of lint per acre, to equal the amount of money that was made from these cows? I believe that you would never get there. But with the cows and the manure it would not be long before you would be talking about 1000 pounds of lint per acre on only one-fifth the land that now makes the 200 pounds, and crops of corn and small grain that would soon be something more than “supplies, but would be putting money in your purse. But the men who imagine that it does not pay to grow anything but cotton will prob¬ ably kee^ on with the 150 to 200 pounds per acre and keep poor and keep their land poor,-—W. F, Massey. 8 Good i voads. fX 5. "Ssl'-S*' Trains on Highways. Consul General Robert P. Skinner, Marseilles, furnishes the following information concerning the running of passenger and freight trains on the highways of France: “There recently passed this consul ate a ‘Train Renard,’ composed of a locomotor, two passenger cars and one baggage car, which had just ar rived from Paris under its own power and over the ordinary roads, thus sup¬ plying to the public a demonstration of its own efficiency, The trains mentioned are composed of elements, each receiving the energy of a vehi cle called a locomotor, which being placed at the head of the train dis tributes the necessary power to the following elements by means of a transmission x . . shall , .. extending „ ,___,. „ horn one end ol the train to the other, thus enabling each car to utilize its own adhesion to the road surface as a means of advancement. “The locomotor—that is to say, the creator of the energy—is therefore lighter- f than any of the cars. Trains °f thls ... type . completely , . , loaded , , , are „„„ able to maintain a speed of twenty one kilometers (13.05 miles) per hour in case of passenger trains on levels-and from fifteen to sixteen kil ometers (9.32 to 9.94 miles) per hour in the case of freight trains. It is said that the freight trains of this type are able to maintain an aveiage of from ten to twelve kilometers te.21 to 7.45 miles), fully loaded, in any kind of country. “It would be useless to enter into further details regarding these high road trains, as far as the United I gtateg ig concern ed, inasmuch as we are without a road system sufficient ! ly advanced to make their application possible _ 0n tbe otber hand the | ad0 p t j on 0 f passenger and freight j bra j lls over railless roads in France - nag become not on ]y a possibility but j a f t Already hundreds of inacces Sible ham1pt ba .™ le „ s ’ bjtbf>rto buneito sprved se ed bv by slow s : goins dlllgences ’ are kept m coa f\ nt ContaCt with tlie outside world by , means 0 f i arge auto-omnibuses, „ mov j at an average rate of fifteen miles bour; transporting both passen ] gers and express parcels; and now, ! following this development, comes ' the explosive engine motor, drawing full trains of cars, which it is claimed j can be operated on level or mount ainous roads at an exceedingly mod erate expense. In other words, if all that is claimed for these trains is re alized, it will be possible to give 2 5, 000‘communes in France, which do not at present enjoy railroad facili ties, approximately the same advan tages with respect to transportation as the most populous and highly fav j j ored centres. I “This illustrates how much the creation of a better highway system would ,, benefit , tne ,, rural , populations , ,. of the United States, wi.o are at a great disadvantage in regard to trans portation as compared with foreign communities, and deprived of the various kinds of satisfaction result¬ ing from the existence of modern highways.” A Great State Road. In his address before the Pennsyl¬ vania Bar Association Governor Stu art , led , , up to , eulogy , of the plan to construct a great highway across this State from end to end. This project has been frequently discussed during recent years, but never with a better grasp of the principle involved than by Governor Stuart, First, there should be the great trunk line from Pittsburg to Philadelphia, offering its accommodation alike to the farmer on his way to market and to the tour ist seeking pleasure amid the pic turesque scenes of the Keystone State. Next, there should be lateral branches, making this great highway accessible from all sections cf the Commonwealth. This is a project on which the State of Pennsylvania may well expend sums for the benefit of its people. It is a rich State and great—in all things save its public roads. For reasons clearly set forth by Governor Stuart Pennsylvania has not such highways as it should have. But it is never too late to mend. The great road is by no means to be considered an end. It is only a means—a prac-> tical example to encourage counties and townships \ to build and maintain good , public ... highways. . , T It , will serve the purpose of showing the smaller civil divisions how to do the work, and it will exemplify the advantages of having good roads in every dis trict. It is in this aspect that it is given the sanction of tj>e Governor and his encouragement. flie time ,. , has rived • j • this State , ai in when good roads are essential to its highest development. Though its in¬ dustries have thriven amazingly and its farms have prospered, with indif ferent roads, its further development demands that which has heretofore been neglected. Jts great industrial population must be put in closer touch with its rural population, vv hie Iris destined to grow in numbers and usefulness. Good roads are a necessity.—Pittsburg Disputed.' - ^T» iht Sunbati-feclWf *=-~T 3 i INTERNATIONAL LESSON COM. MENTS FOR NOVEMBER l. : Subject: Absalom Rebels Against | David, 2 Sain. 15—Golden Text, Ex. 20:12—Commit Verses 5, e —Read 2 Sam. Chs. 13, 10. j TIME.—102G-1022 B. C. PLACE, —Jerusalem. j EXPOSITION. I. Absalom’s in¬ triguing, t-fi. An appropriate Golden Text for this lesson would be Gal. 6:7. David was simply reaping what he had sown. Though God had fully forgiven David s sin, David did not on that account escape the natural consequences of his sin. God had told b ; m at ^ be tj rae that the sword should never depart from his house, and that He would raise up evil for him out of his own house (2 Sam. 12:9-12). Seven years had elapsed since David’s sin. David’s daughter had been dis honored, one son had been murdered, and another was the murderer. Ab KaIom had only been embittered by , b j s banishment from the king’s pres | j e not nce, helped and his matters restoration in the to favor had least. He j j was helped one by' of those neither incorrigibles severity that by is nor kindness, a thoroughly self-centered ™* n ’ a fa ' r ^ dangTrouTand^dS: pj ca bi e man than the ordinary des ; p erado . Absalom’s first step in an¬ nouncing himself as a candidate to the throne was by riding in a state that. David himself did not affect (cf. J and 1:5 ). It was expressly forbidden bv God (De. 17:16; 1 Sam. | ff pl ^ sed by Ether. X- . 0 f his Absalom j p i a yed diligence in seeking to steal his father’s throne. So did Christ’s I enemies in their plots against Him 1 (Matt. 2 7:1). There is no one more : diligent than the devil. The Hebrew i ? f v ’ 2 indicates that Absalom “was ! would m the be habit of rising early, It well if Christians were as j diligent God offers in to seeking them. the Absalom throne sought that ! | the favor the of discontented, the : usual practice of politicians. Indeed, ai l the methods of Absalom are much in vogue to-day. He utterly misrep¬ resented the facts about his father’s administration (cf. ch. 8:15). He ! was guilty of three sins, of (1) Not honoring his father (Ex. 20:12). (2) Speaking evil of the ruler of his peo j pie (Acts 23:5: Ex. 22:28). (3) ; Bearing false witness (Ex. 20:16). j These are all common sins to-day. Absalom d eftly suggested that if only he in % everything would were power be all right. In earlier days David had been a man of genial spirit, but j n later days he seems to have drawn into his shell. Perhaps the memory of his sin and its consequences was responsible for this. Absalom prae I ticed * his fo art on “all that came to the l ng L Judgment.. He succeeded * for the *. time, he stole the hearts of the men of Israel.” But it was David himself who had undermined the , power of law and loyalty in the king J dom. He had opened the way for the people to transfer their affections to another by himself stealing the heart of another man's wife. Any man that commits the sin that David did is sure to lose men’s esteem. II. Absalom’s Conspiracy, 7-12. It may be that the forty years of v. 7 refers to the years of David’s reign, but it is more likely that it should read “four” (‘see R. V. Mars.) and re¬ . f ers to tbe years 0 j Absalom’s in¬ triguing. If Absalom had made such a vow as he pretended (vs. 7. 8) he had been at least six years indifferent to it. Quite strange that he should wab:e up to it so suddenly. Many men wake up to their religious obligations when they have some end to gain by doing so. David seems to have lost his grip, or he would have suspected something in the light of what was j going on. Nothing so soon robs a man of his grasp of practical affairs as tbe entrance of sin into his life. It * s likely that Absalom bad ever made such a vow. If he had he had not kept it, and he was not keeping it now. Absalom next hired some sliouters and trumpeters. This, too, is a favorite method of modern poli ; ticians. The mass of men are quite easily carried by a hurrah. Even j Biblical critics sometimes adopt the 1 same methods. He chose Hebron as : the + centre of operations [ because of its sacred memor es (cb 2 :1, 11; 3:2, I 3; 5:5). Absalom tried to make it appear that all the best men were oa his side, by taking with him 200 who had no knowledge of what was going on - It is always wise when one gets invitations from such men as Absa om .? ook into them befoie act '‘T them. Many a foolish one is caugnr In this wav _ Abit hophel was Absa i 0 m’s chief adviser. The woman whom David had wronged was his grand-daughter (ch. 11:3; cf. ch. 23:34). David felt no other defec tion so keenly as his (Ps. 41:9; i 55:12-14). But again he was reap ing only what he had sowed. Absa lorn, like many another unmitigated outward scoundrel, observed carefully religious rites (v. 12).’ 1; ef. Nu. 23:1, 30, 1 K. 21:9, “The conspiracy was strong” Absalom's followers were continually increasing, The people were saying of David, “There is 150 help for him in God” (Ps. 3:1, 2 ). But David was not forsaken of Goa even in this darkest hour (Ps. Absalom hacl left God out in all calculations: so utter failure cam oi all his matchless cunning and - ing promise, Absalom hir If was to blame for own ruin, But vas not David to b’r.me, too?