CORVALLIS
GAZETTE.
SEMI-WEEKL.Y.
ZZSZSfiiZSmFZi. I Consolidated Feb., 1899.
CORVAIXIS, BENTON COUNTY, OREGON, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1900.
YOLi. I. NO. 35.
HER CHROMATIC FATHER.
She lives in the house with the pillars
And portico quaint,
Where dwelt, years ago, the Vau TwU
lers Dutch blood without taint
And to me 'tis a mansion elysian,
The fairest in town,
For she she's a dream and a vision
Her father is Brown.
The rooms have the faint, subtle, musty
Perfume of old books
Queer volumes, thumbed, tattered and
dusty,
Are piled in their nooks.
The lore of the long buried sages
Before one is spread;
Is the wit and the wisdom of ages
Her father is read.
But ah! in the practical knowledge
Of beauty and youth
The learning not taught at a college
He's lacking, in truth
Mayhap he was once not as stupid
In Love's fair demesne,
But now, 'mid the wiles of Dan Cupid,
Her father is green.
He knows not the secrets that hover
O'er some old romance
The fingers entwined 'neath the cover,
The swift, tender glance.
He knows not but why undeceive him ?
I'll wager 'tis true
That, when he is told she would leave
him.
Her father is blue.
Smart Set.
AN AUTUMN $
55 JT? NT during all these months
you have been writing, of
course?"
"Oh, yes."
"Then you will take my plot if I
bring it, and work It up?"
"If you will help me."
"And I may bring It soon?"
"I wish you would."
"Good-by till then."
"Good-by," and she looked merrily
after him as he strode down the path
and was lost beyond the bushes. Then
the smile faded. She mounted the steps
and rang the bell.
The doors opened Into a wide hall,
dark with the antique mahogany carv
ing. At the opposite end glass doors
led to a conservatory, whence came lily
odors mingled with the lighter perfume
of mignonette.
Great drawing-rooms lay on either
side of the hall rich with ebony and
crimson hangings and filled with the
all-pervading odor of the flowers. The
girl went slowly up the stairs and en
tered her own room.
He had come back and perhaps the
winter would not be dreary, for they
were old friends. She had known him
always. As children they had played to
gether, and had read and cried over her
first stories. Sad little stories they
were, that never ended happily. He
did not like to cry, and once he said that
when he was grown up he would go
Into a far-away country and would find
a story to write about that had no tears
in it The girl now vaguely wondered
if this was the story. She did not care
so very much. Still, it was good to
laugh, and she hardly remembered hav
ing done so since she rose suddenly
and by force of habit and strength of
will brought back the smile to her lips.
But a shadow lay in her eyes and an
unheard throb hurt her heart
He came. She was seated in the
great room with the crimson hangings
among the golden beams of an October
sua, A small tea kettle stood near her
and on a crane water was boiling in a
brass kettle. The logs on the hearth
sent up long lines of light into the wide
chimney, and a hush was over every
thing. "I am glad you've come," slie said,
and her hand was firm and cold.
"I wanted to come before, but I was
afraid," and the gray eyes looked into
hers.
"Afraid?" She had seated herself
again, and was watching the figures
which the wind was making with the
sunbeams on the lawn.
"I thought perhaps to find you a great
author and filled with scorn for mere
ordinary mortals."
She smiled.
"There are other reasons, too. You
might guess them if you choose."
"I am not good at guessing." She
was wondering if she could use his plot;
perhaps, after all, he had forgotten to
bring it She, rousing herself, pointed
to a low chair by the tea table. "I wish
you would sit here," she said. "It is
much more comfortable than the little
chair you have. Try it and then I will
make you some tea. Do you like tea?"
"Of course. Why do you ask? Every
man likes tea. What would become of
us If we didn't?"
"Oh, but do you really like It? Other
wise I would not make it"
"Oh, please."
"No, I don't like to do things people
do not like; would you believe- it? I
really care a great deal about people.
I have always thought how beautiful
It would be to have one person all to
myself; just one, whom I could please."
His eyes glowed. "But you have
every one."
"That Is just the trouble. I have
every one. It is 'every one' who thinks
me cold because I am pleasant to all.
Wby girls are brought up to be pleas
ant I mean, what would happen If we
should snub this one and smile on that
one; If we should tell abroad our likes
and dislikes just as we feel them. We
have to pretend. We" she broke off,
suddenly. "It is so unfair," she con
tinued, rising, "because we are not cold;
we do have feelings. I wish some one
would believe me. I wish you would."
She had forgotten the plot and was
standing against the mantel, looking
down into the glowing logs. Her gown
fell in long straight lines and the flames
leaped crimson over her face and hair.
He had risen, too, ana stood watching
her.
"You may think me cold, don't you?
Well, listen!" she hesitated a moment,
and clasped and unclasped her fingers,
her eyes bent on the yellow fender.
"There was once a man there were
many but this one came oftener than
the others. He was tall and big, and
talked to me of foreign countries where
he had traveled and of the people he
had seen, and read to me histories and
stories, and I liked his voice and by
and by I liked him.
"Just a little at first I hardly knew
it but after a while I did know and
liked him better a great deal and
then he went away across the water
somewhere." Her hands were quiet
now; her voice steady; her eyes had
shone dark and clear as she looked at
the man before her. "That was all.
Others have come and gone since then,
and I have liked them all, only," she
caught her breath, "It could not be that
again, and so people called me cold. I
grow very tired of it sometimes, but"
her voice changed. "I think I should
like to hear the plot of your story now."
She smiled up at him. His face star
tled her.
Then in an instant It flashed over her.
He had read to her, he had gone away
and now he had come back and he
thought she meant
"Margaret!"
He had seized her hands and was
drawing her to him.
A mist rose before her. It was an
other face, another form that was bend
ing over her, another voice that was
whispering to her. "And I loved you,
always, always!"
The mist grew thicker. The sun was
a great yellow ball that shot blinding
sparks into her eyes; the brown leaves
on the lawn danced about and mocked
glances at her. Should she cause him
to suffer as she had suffered? She put
out her hand to steady herself. No! A
thousand times, no! Did she dare thus
willfully to break a human heart? With
in her a voice cried no. And the girl
whom the world thought cold was si
lent. And the silence was her answer.
Only as the yellow light faded and
the crimson coals burned low, as he
rose to leave she said, smiling faintly:
"But the plot for the story; am I not
to have It?"
"Dear," he whispered, "Is there need
of a new story? Is not the old one
best?"
He scarcely caught the answer:
"Yes, the old, old story."
READY TO HUNT.
How Indiana Prepared for the Chase
in Olden Days.
Meat is the main article of diet among
the Indians, and their having to hunt it
made them excel other nations in the
chase, for on their success depended
their sustenance. Their arrows, which
were sometimes about three feet in
iength, and generally winged, were sent
with a fleetness and dexterity that fre
quently brought down a fleeing baffaio
while it was more than 600 feet distant
from the archer. And these arrows
would not only kill the animal, but
would often pierce its body, coming out
at the other side, such was the force
with which it was sent.
The Indian method of preserving food
for winter use was a curious one. When
the animal was slain the meat was
thoroughly dried, and then chopped up
very fine. Fruits and berries would be
added to this, and the whole reduced
to a powder, which was emptied into
huge vessels of boiling fat.
This mixture was allowed to boil
well, and was then poured into a large
dried skin, where it would harden into
the shape of a loaf. The skin was of
raw hide, shaped like a large, bulging
envelope, with all the flaps unfastened.
Some of them were a yard In length,
half a yard In width and about nine
inches in depth, and when they were
dried they readily kept the shape into
which they had been put when green.
When the minced meat had been put
into the case the four flaps were fas
tened together, but not so that It was
airtight, and the effect was like a trav
eling satchel. Really this was the in
tention, for the Indians traveled about
so much that everything they had was
made to be utilized on their journeys.
Elaborate decorations of bead work,
or, earlier, of straw, were put upon
the outside of these cases, and the ef
fects to-day are very beautiful, though
perhaps brilliant. But certainly the
Indian has an art all his own, and his
colorings and designs in his handiwork
are full of character and Interest.
When the Indian became hungry he
opened one of these cases and cut off a
slice of the great loaf of meat, and
fruits and berries. Just as his civilized
brother might cut a slice of ham, only
his knife may also have been used for
chopping wood, or It may have killed
his enemy.
The days of the buffalo hunt how
ever, are past, so perhaps this mode of
preserving meat will pass away, too.
For the Indians now frequently receive
their supplies at the Government agen
cies, having paid for them by the sale
of their lands.
Railroad Depot Notice.
A notice which attracts the attention
of many sojourners in a New Hamp
shire town Is posted on the wall of the
little railway station. The paper on
Which It is printed bears evidence of
long and honorable service: "Notice
Loafing either In or about this room is
strictly forbidden and must be ob
served." Filling His Order.
"Waiter, what's all that noise, like a
pile-driving machine at work?"
"That's the cook pounding your beef steak.
You ordered tenderloin, I believe,
sir." Judge.
FOR LITTLE FOLKS.
A COLUMN OF PARTICULAR IN
TEREST TO THEM.
Something that Will Interest the Ju
venile Members of Every Household
Quaint Actions and Bright Sayings
of Many Cute and Cunning Children.
Jacob's ladder, a game for two, is
played on a diagram, such as is here
shown. The number at the bottom
of the ladder may be 100 or more and
denotes the amount which counts a
game. One player selects a number.
Player No. 2 then asks odd or even,
and the other player tells him. Sup
pose his reply to be even. Flayer No
2 then places a counter opposite the
number which he guesses to be that
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9 SiO
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chosen by the first player.. If wrong,
he guesses until he strikes the right
number guessed. When the right num
ber Is guessed the marked numbers are
added and the sum of them becomes
the count of the player No. L Player
No. 2 then selects a number and No.
1 takes his turn at guessing, and so
on until one of the players wins by ob
taining the amount at the bottom of the
ladder.
Turkish Boys at Pchoo'.
The beginning of a Mahomedan boy's
school life is always made an occasion
for a festival. It occurs on his seventh
birthday. The entire school goes to
the new scholar's home, leading a rich
ly caparisoned and flower bedecked
donkey. The new pupil Is placed on
this little beast, and, with the hodja
or teacher, leading the children, form a
double file and escort him to the school
house, singing joyous songs.
To a stranger the common Turkish
school presents a singular scene. The
pupils are seated cross-legged on the
bare marble pavement in the porch or
mosque, forming a semi-circle about
the hodja, who is, as a rule, an old fat
man. He holds In his hand a stick long
enough to reach every student By
means of this rod he is enabled not
only to preserve order among the mis
chievous, but to urge on the boy whose
recitation is not satisfactory. But as
a rule, hodjas are lazy and often fall
asleep. Then It 1 that the pupils en
joy what the American boy would style
a "picnic." A trick they specially like
to play on their sleeping teacher Is to
anoint his hair and long gray beard
with wax, which is, of course, very
difficult to get rid of. You may be
sure that when the hodja wakes he
makes good use of his lengthy weapon.
Some of the answers these little Turks
receive to their questions would make
an American child open his eyes In
amazement A half-grown boy, in the
presence of a missionary, who tells the
story, asked the hodja:
"What makes it rain?"
"Up In the clouds," answered this
wise teacher, "our prophet, Mahomed,
and the one who belongs to Christians
went into business together, the prof
Its to be divided. One night Mahomed
stole all the profits and ran away. In
the morning, when the Christian God
discovered his loss, he pursued Ma
homed In his golden chariot, the rumb
ling of whose wheels makes the thun
der. The lightning is the bullets of
fire which the god shot after his fleeing
partner. Mahomed, finding he could
not escape in midair, plunged into the
sea; the Christian god followed him,
and the shock splashed the water out
and it fell to the earth in rain.
And the young Turks, believing the
teachings of their hodja, grow up with
out further Investigating the cause of
rain, the true source of which Is taught
an American child In the kindergarten.
Boston Herald.
Rules of Young Athletes.
Moderation is the keynote of athletic
success. A few principles used by
well-known athletes may be followed
with profit:
L Do not try to do too much.
2. Begin with simple and gentle ex
ercise. 8. Never attempt work directly after
meal.
4. Food should never be taken Im
mediately after exercise. At least a
half-hour should elapse before eating.
5. Light exercise before breakfast
may be taken with advantage, but a dry
biscuit or crust of bread should be
eaten before beginning.
6. If the muscles become lame or ex
hausted give them a good rub down
with witchhazel or liniment.
7. Regular and thorough exercise
with dumb bells or Indian clubs for ten
minutes, morning and evening, will
gradually increase the strength and
health of the entire body to a surpris
ing extent
8. Don't drink water when over
heated. How Slate Pencils Are Made.
Slate pencils- were formerly all cut
from slate just as it is dug from the
earth. Pencils so made were objected
to on account of the grit which they
contained. To overcome this difficulty,
says the London Engineer, Colonel D.
M. Steward devised an ingenious pro
cess by which the slate is ground to a
very fine powder, all grit and foreign
substances removed and the powder
bolted through silk cloth much in the
same manner as flour is bolted. The
powder is then made into a dough and
this dough is subjected to a very heavy
hydraulic pressure, which presses the
pencils out the required shape and di
ameter, but In lengths of about three
feet While yet soft the pencils are
cut into the desired lengths and set
out to dry In the open air. After they
are thoroughly dry the pencils are
placed in steam baking kilns, where
they receive the proper temper.
What Becomes of Birds' Nests.
Hundreds of thousands of nests are
built every year in trees and hedges.
What becomes of all tbes homes after
the birds have tiCxi. from them at
summer's end? Most of them are lined
with sheep's wool, with feathers and
other materials that bind them togeth
er. Now it happens that beetles and
moths and other insects devour these
things, and by thus destroying them
loosen the nests so much that wind
and rain soon scatter the rest of the
materials. But for this timely help
the trees would be clogged up with a
mass of old nests, the leaves could not
sprout and many trees would perish.
A Modest Poet.
A well-known editor, who never talks
shop unless he has something worth
telling, recently told a story at his own
expense to a party of friends.
"Not long ago," he said, "I received
a poem from an unknown contributor.
The letter accompanying the manu
script was written In that confidential
strain which always proves the writer
to be an untrained contributor to the
press.
"After praising my paper and Inform
ing me that he had been a reader of It
for more years than it had been in ex
istence, be had taken the liberty of
sending me a little poem for publica
tion. "The honor 6f appearing In print was
all the remuneration he desired; indeed,
he was frank enough to state that he
did not consider the verses inclosed had
any market value. When I examined
the poem I found it was one I had writ
ten myself many years before, and for
which I had received a handsome sum."
Bagging a Peer's Calf.
The moors of Yorkshire and Scotland
have been alive with shooters. The
crack of the gun has been heard on ev
ery hand, for grouse shooting has open
ed for the year. During the shooting
season In Great Britain accidents are
comparatively rare, considering the
first-class opportunities to blow off a
companion's head or drill a hole through
his back. .
But accidents do happen and the first
man to be shot this season was Lord
Binning. The noble lord is a bit of a
wag, and even when half his leg was
perforated with shot from his own gun
and he was sitting against a hedge,
waiting for a stretcher to be brought
his wit did not desert him, for, as the
doctor was" binding up his wounds, he
remarked.
"I came out to kill grouse but'pon
my soul I seem to have bagged a calf."
Philadelphia Post
Weight of Elephants' Tasks.
Sir Samuel Baker gives the weights
of the largest African elephant tusks
he ever saw as 172 and 188 pounds, re
spectively. Tiffany & Co., of New
York, have now a pair weighing re
spectively 224 and 239 pounds. Their
corresponding sizes are: Length, 10
ft 34 inch, and 10 feet 3 inches:
circumference, 23 inches and 24
inches, me iuskb oi iue extinct
Elephas ganesa were sometimes 12
feet 4 inches long, and 2 feet 3 inches
around. A mammoth tusk from Alas
ka is 12 feet 10 inches long and 22
inches around, but the average tusks
of this animal are 7 feet to 9 feet long
a s . rx J A. Of -
ana oniy ou pouuus io ou poanas in
weight The tusks of the mastodon
are thicker than those of the mam
moth, a large one being 9 feet 4 Inches
long and 23 Inches around.
The Canals of Britain.
Englandhasover3,000milesof canals;
Ireland, 600; Scotland, 160. They carry
In the year 16,000,000 tons of traffic,
yielding over 29.000,000 revenue.
Great Britain's African Possessions.
Great Britain owns In Africa an area
of 2,570,000 square miles, almost equal
to the area of the United States.
The barber who pinned a newspa
per around a customer's neck and gave
him a towel to read was just a trifle
absent-minded.
An old bachelor says the happiest
age of woman is marriage.
RAM'S HORN BLASTS.
Warning Notes Calling the Wicked to
Repentance.
HE God who up
holds a universe
can uphold yon.
The cheerful
gift makes the
cheerful giver.
God asks for
your all because
he needs nothing.
True courtesies
are the flowers
on life's dining
table.
Too many are
content to sing of the heights while
they walk in the vale.
Big game are often killed with little
guns.
Green branches do not grow on dead
roots.
The devil often puts garlands on bis
victims.
He who knows he Is right fears no
ridicule.
Youth lives In the future and age
In the past
The natural Is inconceivable without
the supernatural.
He cannot be brave who does not
fear to do wrong.
The child of God is never at borne
without his Father.
Liberty is freedom to do What you
ought not what you like.
The admission ticket to society often
costs the sacrifice of the Savior.
The nails of the cross may mortify
the flesh, but tlrrf fit fee best tonic
for the spirit.
The sweetest song you can sing as
you work will not atone for sweeping
the dust into the corners.
When the wicked flourish like a
Green Bay tree, the saints get under its
shadow and expect to prosper.
Application to Ideals accomplishes
more than mere appreciation of them.
The worldly Christian refuses the
bread of life and pretends to rejoice
over mud pies.
Life Is Growing Longer.
From statistics and the result of cer
tain changes in the methods of living
we can safely affirm that the span of
life is steadily lengthening. Three
thousand years before the Christian era
the average duration of life was said to
be three score years and ten. This would
make middle age come at 35. Dante
considered that year the middle of life's
arch and Montaigne, speaking for him
self at the same period of life, consid
ered his real work practically ended
and proved that he thought he was
growing old by falling into the remin
iscent age.
At the present time fifty years Is con
sidered as middle age. In the days of
the revolutionary war prominent men
at that time were looked upon as old
at 50 years. We are justified in sup
posing that the span of human life will
be prolonged In the future because the
possibility of living to an older age has
been demonstrated by the great ad
vances made in medicine and hygiene
during the past ten years.
We have attained a vast amount of
knowledge as to the causes of disease,
and new remedies for their successful
treatment have been discovered. We
have no new diseases, at least, of any
serious character, and we are better
able to treat the old ones, which, like
old foes, appear to us with new faces.
Royal Magazine.
He Wanted Some.
An unsophisticated old deacon of the
Methodist Church Is the chief character
in this little tale. He came to town
from the South, where he lives, and
meeting an old friend of his who has
developed Into a prosperous banker,
was Invited home to dine with the New
Yorker. Spaghetti was one of the dish
es served, and the good old deacon, who
had never seen any before, took to it
with great celerity. After despatching
two generous platefuls of the Italian
paste he ventured to ask his hostess
the name of the new dish.
"It Is spaghetti, deacon," she replied,
"an Italian dish."
"Well," said the old man, "It's mighty
good, and I wish before I go you'd give
me some of the seed. I bet I could
raise some down In Georgia."
Prizes to Veteran Servants.
Prizes to servants who had served
their masters a long time were distrib
uted In Austria on the occasion of the
Emperor's seventieth birthday. Twenty-one
prizes of $75 each were given
for serving thirty years. Among the
recipients were a valet of 71 years of
age who had served his master forty
six years; a nurse 72 years ago, -who
had been forty-two years In one fami
ly; a maid of all work, 77 years of age,
whose record was forty-one years, and
a cook, kltchenmald and a maid of all
work, who had each stayed in one place
thirty-nine years.
The World's Petroleum Supply.
Statistics show that the United States
and Russia are between them produc
ing, in round numbers, 120,000,000
barrels of petroleum per year, and that
the production of outside countries has
of late Increased so much that they are
able to contribute enough now to bring
the world's aggregate annual produc
tion to about 150,000,000 barrels. It Is
well known that the production of Rus
sia Is much less now than It might be,
owing to the lack of enterprise of the
people and to Inadequate transporta
tion facilities.
It is said that an artist at work on a
biblical history undertook to make a
sketch of "Rebecca at the well," but
he couldn't draw the water.
Never judge physicians by the praise
undertakers bestow upon them.
vy
1M
Some Cow Stall Devices.
New ideas, says a correspondent of
the New York Tribune, have done away
with some of the old-fashioned notions
about cattle fastening, and have
brought much relief to stock. But all
dairymen have not yet reached the most
KM. 1 FOB KEEPING FLANKS CLEAN.
humane and most convenient results.
A recent visit to the progressive owner
of a dairy farm was productive in se
curing several points that were new to
the writer, and to many others doubt
less. They are shown in various cuts
given herewith. Fig. 1 shows the dairy
man's plan for keeping the cow from
soiling her flanks when she lies down.
A strip of joist 2 by 3 inches is nailed
across the floor of the stall just behind
the hind feet of the cow, when she Is
standing as far up In the stall as she
possible can. This crosspiece is shown
FIG. 2 PLAN FOB CBIB.
at A. The cow cannot lie down upon
this piece of wood, so she steps ahead
and lies down, 'all of the droppings
thereafter falling behind A. Only a
shallow trench is found at D.
Fig. 2 shows an excellent plan for a
crib. The hay comes down from the
second floor into a slotted receptacle,
under which is a place where corn fod
der or other material can be placed
from the walk in front, the front edge
projecting in front of the hay crib to
make it more accessible. Here the grain
ration can be placed, or a grain bag
can be set into this space.
Fig. 3 shows how the cows are fast
ened at this dairy farm. They are not
FIG. 8 HOW COWS ARE FASTENED.
fastened at the neck at all. The stalls
are 3 feet wide, with a chain or rope
stretched across the stall behind- the
cow. The sides of the stall must be
high enough and extend back far
enough so that the cow cannot turn
around in the stall. She can only back
out, and this the chain prevents. This
seems the most humane cattle fasten
ing imaginable, and It works very sat
isfactory in the barn referred to. Of
course, the manure is scraped from the
rear end of the platform several times
a day, though while eating her hay the
cow stands well back, where the ma
nure will fall Into the gutter. The shal
low trench saves the cows from many
a slip and jar.
Farm Machinery.
The increased use of farm machin
ery was at one time thought to be tak
ing so much work away from the labor
ing class that in some places mobs
burned the harvesting machinery when
taken into the farming districts be
cause it was going to take away the
poor man's means of support. To-day
it seems to be realized that only by the
use of such machinery is the cultiva
tion of large areas made profitable and
possible, and these large tracts annu
ally employ more labor than did the
small ones which were grown In the
days of hand labor. They have also
helped the poor man in another way.
They have Increased the amount of
food production, and cheapened Its
cost so that we are not only obtaining
our own food at less cost than thirty
years ago, but are selling large
amounts of It to the people of other
countries, not only to the profit of the
farmers, but to the advantage of those
who grow It and those who find well
paid employment in transporting it
Sandy Folia.
The Department of Agriculture has
not been able to find a soil so sandy and
poor that no vegetation will grow upon
it The sandy beaches upon the sea
shore, and those places where the sand
drifts almost like light snow have been
planted with what are known as sand
binding grasses and sedges which have
been found not only to grow there, but
to so fill the sand with then roots as to
prevent It from blowing by the wind or
even being washed away by ordinary
waves or tides. Once made to grow,
these plants will contribute vegetable
matter to the soil, which In time may
make them fertile for other plants. The
department is introducing sand binding
plants from foreign countries which
they propose to have tested In climates
here like those from which they are
brought to see if any of them are su
perior to our native sand-growing spe
cies. Even If they fail to make the
sand fertile, it will be of advantage In
preventing Its drifting and covering
other land. For some years the Gov
ernment has been setting some of the
beaches with sedge or grass to prevent
the shifting of the coast line, and the
formation of sand bars in streams by
the blowing or washing of sand from
the shore, and they may find some plant
which will be more valuable for this
purpose than any we now have.
Toe-Dressing Fall Grain.
We think a fertilizer of 300 pounds of
acid phosphate and 100 pounds of muri
ate of potash to the acre is better for
fall grain than a dressing of stable or
barnyard manure, first because It costs
less than the manure is worth for other
crops, and because while It may not
grow as much straw It will grow a
suffer straw that will not lodge, and It
will make a heavier and plumper grain.
When the seed is drilled In It may be
drilled in with It without extra labor,
but when seed Is sown broadcast we
would harrow in the seed first and then
sow the fertilizer above it to be carried
down by the fall rains. In many sec
tions the amount we advise for one acre
would be thought enough for two acres,
but we think the larger amount would
prove most profitable on land which
had been long used for growing hay or
for pasturage. If the land was very
light we would top dress with from 75
to 100 pounds per acre of nitrate of
soda after wheat came up, In prefer
ence to sowing It when wheat was
sown, and In any case unless wheat
was very rank In the spring, as 'it may
be where clover or other manurial crop
was plowed In, we would sow about
the above amount of nitrate of soda'
early in the spring to stimulate a good
growth and early maturity. American
Cultivator.
Breaking Out Roads in Winter.
At a Farmers' Institute in Kennebec
County, Maine, Mr. E. C. Buzzel gave
his experience for the past five winters
in breaking out the 100 miles of road
in his town. The average depth of
snowfall during a winter for the last
twenty years has been ninety-six
Inches, or eight feet of snow a year.
For the past twelve years they have
used rollers, and now have six of them
to cover the 110 miles. They have
roads from eleven to thirteen feet wide
without high ridges at the side, so that
heavily loaded teams can pass each
other safely, even after the heaviest
snowfalls, which usually come in
February and March. The average cost
for the past five years has been $600
per year, including all expenses of
shoveling when necessary to get the
first rollers through. This is in the
town of Fryeburg, but many towns
near there are now using the same sys
tem. But there are still many towns
in the State that have less than 100
miles of road that spend from $1,700 to
$2,000 a year to break out their snow
drifts, using road scrapers, snow plows
and gangs of shovelers, and yet do not
get as good a road as those towns that
use the rollers, so says an Eastern ex
change. Method of Stacking Fodder.
An excellent method of stacking fod
der, says the Ohio Farmer, is to con
struct a long and narrow platform of
rails or anything that will serve to
keep theijundles off the ground. This
platform can be as wide as the length
of two bundles or It can be two or three
times that width, if there is a large
amount of fodder to be stacked, and as
long as necessary. The stack should
be quite long In proportion to its width,
as the fodder is to be used from the
ends. Begin by laying bundles closely
lengthwise until the center is from
four to eight feet, depending on the,
width of the stack, higher than the
outside. Then begin laying the bun
dles crosswise, close together, butts
out. Keep the center higher as the
stack advances, that the top bundles
may be quite slanting to shed water
well. Tie a number of bundles near
the top, divide into two equal parts,
set half on either side of the top the
whole length of the stock, and It will
not take water. In using the fodder,
begin at the ends; pull out the bottom
bundles first, and none need be dam
aged by rain, the end only being ex
posed. Value of Wheat Bran.
That a ton of good wheat bran con
tains more protein than a ton of corn
meal, and is therefore more valuable
as a milk-producing food, or for build
ing up the bone and muscle on growing
stock, is well known to many farmers.
But there is a considerable difference
in the quality of bran. Some samples
have been found which analyzed over
18 per cent of protein, and others not
much over 12 per cent or about two
thirds the amount of this most valu
able element Spring wheat bran aver
ages better than the winter wheat
bran, or nearly 16 per cent protein
with 4.34 per cent fat and 52.86 per
cent of starchy matter. This bran
should always be sold on a guaranteed
analysis, and at a value very nearly
represented by the protein found in i.
If that having the. least protein Is sold
at $12, it may be more profitable to paj;
$16 for the best that can be found.
Three things to wish for Health,
friends and a cheerful spirit i