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About The Eugene City guard. (Eugene City, Or.) 1870-1899 | View Entire Issue (March 25, 1882)
i. All Pertnis was busy sowing beans. vioui the heights of the Luberon to .t...horesof theDnranoe tho poosanta lft.e?e at work.and in the town the Jrthr tradesmen said, as they looked Swob the little pacta of white and ! "If thn rains are timely and the Jj is goocL TMice wiU not hare a bean bv?bebjfS'tt that Pertuis makes hnmble ptotensions to supp ywg all twice with. haricot. Pertuis might, , it been so n'Jnded for soil and cli mate both were favorable-have culti m . j Ji!r Avienon. or teazles. ft. Saint KesWniigbt have gWed its -elds with grain, like Aries or nave red i,.ned them with tomatoes, like Antibesj . . .,, urnfrrrsd the bean, a modest ieenme. but lacking neither m grace nor gpiraU and quaintly marked leaves trem ble in the breeze. ,11. Of all the sowers sowing like mad the most furious sower was the honest Pita lueue His loins braced sturdily, his ead down, he swung the hoe lustily; then when in the soil, turned and turned riain there remained neither pebble nor iie shaped it with a gentle slant, thst'the water from the reservoir might trickle over it. Then he took a long cord with a peg at either end stuck the pegs into the earth and traced one, two, three, ten rows as straight and as regularly snaced as the scores of the Pertuis Orpbeouio Society. Then he walkod along his rows, one by one, and with a thoughtful air, knoeling on one knee, did lmnst bow the wind," he murmured to himself, "for, with all due deference io his reverence the cure, that is the only method by which I can avoid reaping tho whirlwind!" It was indeed the wind that Pitalugue was sowing. It was to grasp the wind that at regalaf intervals of three seoonds he thrust his hand into the pouch; it was 4ir and nothing else which he brought oat thence between his finger and thumb; it was that whioh he placed carefully in the earth, and the palm of his left hand iinoothing down the damp brown mould covered over nothing but imaginary beans. ' m Meanwhile a hundred yards.away from little thicket, a man whom Pitalugue hd not noticed was following his move ments with seeming interest. "Ho, ho!" said he to himself, softly, "no Pitalugue is working!" Crouched amid the verdure, with his booked nose, his gold-bowed goggles and his gray coat, a hunter at a distance might have taken this man for an owl. Bat he was nine other than the redoubt able M. Cougourdan, land surveyor and auctioneer, whom public rnmor accused of diverting himself at times in the direc tion of usury. ' , As there was no court open that day and M. Cougourdan was unable to sue anybody, he bad taken bis aooount books out with him. He loved nature; a fair landscape inspired him, and the song of birds far from distracting him, only made him more expert and expeditious in totting np columns of figures. The spectacle of Pitalugue at work touohed M. Cougourdan's heart, and turning over the pages of his book he was not long in discovering that as he had lent Pitalngue a hundred francs the year before Pitalugue now owed him ex actly five hundred. "Well, the beans are good for the money I'll seize them at harvest time!" said M. Cougourdan, and to inspect more closely his future property, he is sued from the thicket and walked towards the bean-patch. IV. Precisely at that moment Pitalugue raised his head and beheld his wife, La Zmn, approaching with his smack. Washing his hands at the pool and kick isg off the earth that clung to his ologs, he seated himself in the shade of a gourd trellised before the hut, and prepared to to address himself to his meal. "Good-day, La Zoun; good-day, Pi talugue, said M.Coundouran graciously, s he approached; then, casting an ap proving glance around the field, he added, "For well-sown beans give me those beans you have just been putting in. I only hope that we may have no frost." "I guess the frost won't harm 'em," replied Pitalugue philosophically, and having eaten his bread and finished his wine, he shut up his mighty clasp-knife ud betook himself again to his work, while his wife and M. Cougourdan walked away, together. "Beans forever!" ho muttered, as he resumed his illusory ocoupation; "put another in here a hundred a thousand! Where is the man who will say now that Pitalugue is a lazy ne'er-do-well who spends the whole time dozing beneath his gourd?" Until the setting of the sun he toiled tbm. i'Hallo, Pitalugue!" hailed his neigh bors, home-bound; "break off work and finish the beans to-morrow." Not until night did he deign to quit the scene of his labors, and then looking around with a satisfied and yet a quizzi cal air, he said to himself: I.'.'gg, 'Ifsaverv clean job, but there's i . a mis man saiu uut uobuuk "ore inn man neecer V. Perchance the reader may be curious jo know who Pitalugue was, and why ne had adopted this singular system of ben culture. Pitalugue was a rural philosopher.one ho took the weather as it came, and the san as it rose and set, leading a remark Wy happy-go-lucky life, and expending more industry and ingenuity in makiug tolerable living in his little village than many another employed in making fortune in a big city. He was hunter Md fisherman; lie bad kept a dog (flamed Brutus) and kept a ferret, and though the donkey's manger was empty Sometimes, the long suffering animal onld always solace himself with the iew of the Wy linnet hnng above it.' Worse than'" Wer of the mod take wife, chi mrn oia card, undergo when home a trifle Pocket.! And proaohes and remorse availed nothing. Each morning on setting out he vowed he never would touoh another card, but each night he returned Laving played and lost. On the morning on which we intro duce him to the reader be bad risen at daybreak with the best intentions in the world, and had laden his donkey with a bag of such seed beans as Pertuis had rarely seen, glittering in their coats of enamel, ronnd and white as pigeons' eggs, solid as bullets. I' Use them well, but don't waste them," said La Zoun, "you know they are the last we have." "I will," fervently replied Pitalugue. "Go np, Neddy!" and with virtuous steps he followed the ass. ' - VI. Unfortunately, at the lower gates Jie mot the barber Fra. returning red-eved and feverish from making a night of it at aiarmnouse. f 'You're coming home late, Fra." "You're going out early, Pitaluguo." "Yes; not a soul stirring.'' "Capital opportunity to have a hand lit "Not for a million franos!" "Just one game not a rubber; but sudden death? ' "But my beans?" "Oli, your beans '11 keep." The unhappy Pitalugue endeavored to resist the tempter, but in vain. Fra took ont the cards, and the mountain lark up springing from the wheat beheld on the stone-wall by the roadside, touched with pink by the rays of the early sun, the two gamblers sitting astride, facing each other, and Pitalugue turning his pockets inside out to find them empty. "five francs on credit! criod era. Pitalngue played and lost. "Double or quit!" Pitalngue played and lost. "All I have won from you against the bag of beans!" Pitaluguo played and lost, and the barber threw the sack over his shoulder and walked into the town, calling to him by way of farewell: "Next time I will give you your revenge aud play you for the donkey." Vll. What via tn hm dnna? Cln hamn anil confess all to La Zoun? Impossible! Buy more beans? Yes, without the first penny ! Borrow from a friend? Then the whole story would come out. Vnr flva miniiMH PitalncnA war in the depths of despair; then, as we have al ready seen, He resolved upon a maniy and courageous coarse. "I can t bow beans," he said to him aelf. "because I have none, but I can CO through the motions. La Zoun will not suspect anything; one never knows where luck will strike. Besides, there is time for lots of things to happen between now and harvest. Many things, indeed, did happen be fore harvest time to the no small sur prise of the people of Pertuis. Vnr InnV vnn Piulnirne. tarn lv re morse and fearing to be discovered, gave m a. . t - A T L up gambling ana cut nis tavern, jjate ami oarl ha miirht ha ftpan in hia little patoh of 4 farm working himself fairly to death. Never had beans received suoh attention as his haricots which did not criot at all Nicrhtlv at annsnt ha water ed them, giving each row its due allow ance and no more; wnen uie sun Daxeu tha nnrth drv he stirred it liffhtlr to aid the beans in piercing their way to the light ana air; donning nis stout leainern gloves, he weeded the patch with a care that was almost exoessive. ITia nnicrhhnra ailmired him. his wife was stupefied and M. Cougourdan hug ged himself as he thought how be would seize those beans, and talked mysteri- nnnlv nf trvntinir himself to a new nairof " - J o " L glasses when some money be had never expected to colled came in. VIII. T.ni at thn Ami of a fortnight all the beans of Pertuis showed themselves. First a little white sprout, crooked like a bishop's crozier; then two leaves ooiffed with the seed and bearing a few nartioles of earth: then the dried seed fell away, the leaves unfolded and all the plain, from the Lnberon to the Dnrance. turned to a tender green. (Only Pitalugue's beans did not come up. Ami now thn nAARants went forth and. knife in band, cat poles, and Pitalugue too went forth knife in band, out poles, freed them from knots and trimmed and sorted them and set them up in stacks of fours, tied at the top. At the end of another fortnight all the harioots of Pertuis had taken to olimbing, and the plain from the Luberon to tho Durance was covered wiu a multitude oi uuj green tents. All but those of Pitalugue, it should be said. His patch remained reddened and dry, made still more melancholy by its rows of withered poles. "It seems to me," said his wifo, "that our beans are backward." "They must be late beans, he replied, calmly. But when from the Luberon to the Durauce every bean plant in the plain pnt forth a thousand white blossoms when all these flowers turned into crisp green pods and it was seen that only the haricots of Pitalngue neither flow ered nor bore, a decided sensation was caused in the town. Malicious folk began to nuage eacu other and grin; the superstitious made Dilwimaires to view "the accursed field; M. Cougourdan became uneasy, and La Zoun took up her dwelling at the nut n1 fffloa liar ilava and niffhts to heaping indignant reproaches upon the sun and soil. IX. One evening Aunt Dido, Pitalugue's wife's mother, a most experienced ma tron, made a visit to the patch despite I.A. irroar mrTA An (1 liflvinff taken ti careful observation end thought the matter over sagely, gave it as her opinion iui ii.- Magic was at the bottom of it all, and that the beans were bewitched! Pitalu gue expressed his admiration ei ner sagacitv, and all the family to the fif teenth degree having been assembled, it was decided that n'tdy they should Pj.ap.1 to boil far toe Witch, f- - - thereupon, being a widow, a new crock, it being the pot should never have ibould have ben feloni bj a widow. The dealer, jitom of the country, and S be made up to him on aa, discreetly retired so 'i Id lady an opportunity dnder her eloak unob served, and bearing it home sho placed it duly npon the fire iu the presence of all the Pitalugues. Then, having filled it with water, Aunt Dide cast into it, not without muttering sundry magio spells, all the old ntils, rusty knife blades and headless pins and needles that the family had been able to dram up in the neighborhood. And when the old iron broth began to boil up, and the pins and needlos and knife blades and nails beganjto sing and dance, all became convinced that at each motion, no matter what distance he might be, each point was picking the guilty wretch that had bewitched the beans. X. "Good," said Aunt Dide; "one more armful of wood, and the villain will come here on his knees to beg our par don." "We'll give him our pardon, was the horse reply in chorus, "the scoundrel I" Meanwhile the astute Pitalugae.whom the proceedings bsd amused greatly, bad whispered the news to souse of his friends, and with exceeding great joy Pertius beard that the tribe of Pitaluge was boiling for a witoh, to disenchant the beans. M. Cougourdan, who was taking his walks abroad, did not hear the news, however, but, having notiood the unusual gayety of Pitalugue's demeanor, asked Fra the barber,what bad happened. "Aye," answered the barber, "and eo would you look happy if it had happened to you." "Ha t has he won at cards?" "Better than that, M. OWgourdon." "Been left money, hey?" "Better than that. While repairing his cellar wall to-day be found a thous and gold cronns in an old stocking." "A thousand crowns ! And his note is due to-day ?" "Pitalugue has in at gone home," said the barber; "yon had better see him be fore he has gambled and guzzled it all away better run before any one else gets there." M. Cougonrden was off like a flash. XI. The pot was singing fouriously and expectation was at its height when one of the boys, who had been posted as a sentinel, rushed in to say that an old gentleman with glasses and having a stamped paper in his hand was hurrying down the street. "It is Cotigourdon !' screamed La Zoun; "he was there when we sowed the beans I" "I suspected him all along," said Annt Dide, solemnly. "To your posts, my children, and seo that every blow tells ! ' Silently and sternly the fifteen male Pitalugues rangod themselves along the walls, eaoh grasping a stout cudgel. Nothing could be beard but the glug gling of the water and the clinking of the nails, and presently the footsteps of M. Coogonrdau on the stair outside. Well, no witch or wizard in Pertuiz had ever had snob a tanning as he re ceived, to the immense delight of all the towns people. Like a discreet man he kept quiot. As fur Pitalugue, when all was over, lighted his pipe philosophically with his note, whioh Cougourdan had dropped during the melee, and said solemnly to La Zoun: "You see, my good woman, the pro verb is right. Good sowing is never labor wasted, and the soil always recom penses those that treat it kindly." Horrible Rites ot the AlssaonU at Kalrl wan. The hall had been evidently decked and garnished; the lamps horned bright ly in the cupola amid the golden balls and ostrich feathers; the shiekh was clothed in rich silk robe of offioe and an awe-inspiring green tnrban, and a row of rush-seated cane chairs was waiting to receive the expected visitors. In ten minutes 600 or 700 Arabs filled every inch of available spaoo. The Sheikh Ha muda took bis seat in the center, sur rounded by the musicians, and an old' blind Asissouia, guided by a little girl, came in gontly from a side door and sat down beside him. The Aissaouia them selves occupied the whole space covered by the cupola. The aisles contained the Moslem spectators of the first religious rite ever witnessed by Christian eyes iu the holy city of Kairwan. Among the Aissaouia I noticed gray bearded and decrepit old men, many sedate looking shopkeepers I had previously see a in the bazars, half a score of the Bey's soldiers and a dozen children under twelve years of age. The sheikh struck a note on a dram; the musicians began to play a peculiar and monotous tune, gradually increasing in inten sity. After a pause several of the Ais saouia rose, and swaying backward and forward, shoulder to shoulder, shrieked a ohorus to the sound of the drums. The mnsio quickened, and so did the ohorus. Then one of the most wild-looking of the singers began to throw off his clothes and passed down the line to urge the others to shout with renewed energy. Then one of the Tunisian soldiors (he wore the Bey's brass badge on his red cap) seized a sword and began to lacerate his stomach. The blood flowed freely, and be imitated all the time the cries and movements of the camel. We soon had a wolf, a bear, a hyena, a jackal, a leo pard, and a lion. One man knelt down before the sheikh and holding two long prongs to bis sides, insisted on their being driven into his flesh with blows of a mallet. This was done. A mere lad did the same thing. A burly Arab passed an iron skewer through the upper part of his nose, and transfixed the skin of his face below the eyes. Two or three powerful men knocked him down and held him until the sheikh laid bis bands on him and whispered some mys terious formula in his ear. Another man in quick succession swallowed more than twenty large iron nails, there being no mistake whatever as to his really doing so. A large bottle was broken np and eagerly devoured, The frenzy then be came general. While one Aissaouia plnngod a knife through his cheek, an other transfixed his shoulder-blades with a prong, and a third pierced his band. A brazier of cinders was speedily emp tied. Twenty different tortures were go ing on in twenty different parts of the ball. Three large bushes of the thorny Indian fig or prickly pear were eaten np in almottt as many minates; and at last, before we had time to prevent it, a liv ing sheep was thrown into the midst of the maddened Aissaouia; it was in a trice torn into shreds by eager mouths, and it still quivering and flesh gnawed to the bones with apparent relish. Black wood's Magaaine. A Live Diad laa. An incent is related in the experience of a clergyman here which suggests strongly soma of the wierd sketches of re. The only difference is that this is true, a plain recital of what actually occurred. Among tho flock of the minis ter referred to was a family of foreigners, and the father of the family was strickeu with a fatal illness. One night the pas tor received a msKaago sumiuoniug him immediately to the bed-side of the sick man, the messenger stating that be was dying. Some time elapsed before th arrival at the scene, where the attending physician was aurrounded by the sob bing and shrieking family. To his great regret the deter informed the minis ter that he too late; that tho sufferer had died fifteen or twenty minutes previously. And, in fact, there on tho bed lay the staik and rigid form of the departed, the lower jaw fallen, the ashy palor of death on the fuoo, and the body otiffenod with the "rigor montis." With the demonstrativeness of their nation the family gave full sway to their foeliogs, makiug no effort at self-control. A son, in particular, was more demonstrative and inconsonable than any of the rest. He callod upon his father, begged bim to oome buck, and with difficulty could be kept from the body. Hoping to comfort the grief stricken family by spiritual consola tion aud sympathetic conversation the clergyman remained on the scene until near two o'clock in the morning. At this time, when the pastor was thinking of leaving, the son, who seemed to take the death so much at heart, was seized with sootier proxysm of grief more violent than any proceeding it. He tore himself from those who sought to restrain bim, threw himself on the body of his father, embraoed him, call ing him and bathed the cold face with tears, shrieking that he could not lot him go; that he must say one word and one more look. As if the agonized voice had penetrated the silenoe of tho other world, and reached the "dull eold ear of death," the lips of the father moved, the eyes opened and cast a sad, reproachful look on the weeping son, and in the well known voice came distinctly these words: "Oh! why did you bring me back?" As soon as the awe-stricken group could re gain their presenoe of mind, after this appalling scene, they immediately ad ministered restoratives to the patient, when the minister left him very weak but still alive. He was sent for by the father the next day, who gave bim an ao count of his death (as he evidently believed it had been) and his experi ence to the time when he was ap parently recalled to life. He said: "When I died I first felt a sinking, going sensation, knew even thing going on in the room, but I could not speak or move my lips then all was a blank. The next thing I remember was being in a dense darkness, seemingly in a tunnel, through which I was pushed, there seemed to be two forms, one on each side, pushing me along through the tunnel, and I appeared to move as if I was floating, touching nothing above or below. At last it appeared to get lighter, as though we were nearing the end of the passage it grew brighter every moment, and then I seemed to observe two shining, beautiful forma on each side of me. At last wo seemed to float out into a lovely space of rosy brightness, like the sky of summer sun rise. I had the feeling of perfect peace, and well-being, and neard as though it were a part of the spaoe I floated in the most soothing and delightful music. I remember it afterward took the sound of an old, familiar hymn I used to hear in my native land. I have been a great sufferer, and the feeling of . rest and freedom from pain was the thing I noticed most in my new state. I re mained a short time in this blessed state when it seemed to be disturbed by a voice in pain calling me. I felt a thrill of regret, and then all became black, and I seemed to be book in the old pain racked body again, and opened my eyes to find my son and family eryiug and calling on me to come back.' If they bad known how much better I was they would never have wanted me baok in this weak and suffering body." The man lived several days and thon died.as his family sincere ly believe, a second time, and, remem bering his solemn words as to his first experience, did not call him back. Whether the man was in a syncope from which the piercing lamentations of the family aroused him, or whether he had indeed been permitted to return after a glance at the glories of the great unknown, none can answer. But one thing is oertain, that for the space of several hours.to all intents and purposes so far as the doctor, the pastor and the family were concerned, and so far as all outward indications are a guide, the man was dead. Baltimore Gazette. People's ideas of morality may be a lit tle mixed, but they always lean toward the side of self-interest. The probabili ties are that the mau who differs from you is wrong, while there is only the barest possibility that you may be wrong yourself. Your self-respect will allow you to admit no more than that. A man justifies himself for an action that is a little off color by calling it shrewd, but the same action on tho part of another has no excuse whatever and is positively rascally. A gentleman sold a saddle horse, for instance, as a thoroughly re liable and honest beast, emphasiziug the assertion that he was honest. The next day the horse fell with his new owner, breaking his own knees and very nearly performing the same service to his mas ter's neck. The irate purchaser went in a fume to the seller. "Well," said the man of conscience, "I am not at all surprised that the horse fell with yon, and it only proves that he is an honest beast, just as I told you before. I have ridden that horse for six years, and every time I rode him he threatened to fall down and kill somebody, so I sold bim, for I knew that some day he wonld keep his promise. No matter bow much you deal with me you will always find that I tell the truth." By the adoption of preventive meas ures to guard again rt expected epidem ics in certain English towns, Mr. Edwin Chad wick estimates that three-fourths of a million lives aid three million cases of sickness have been saved. This seems a somewhat startling statement, bnt the figures are the result of statistical com parison and are probably correct. How the Chinese Drew Miniature Trees. We have all known from childhood how the Chinese cramp thoir women's feot, and so manage to make them kee ers at home, but how they coutrive to grow uiinature piue and oak iu tlower pots for half a century hue always been much of a secret. They aim llrnt and lutat the scat of vigorous growth, ttn dcavoring to weaken it as much an muy be conHiittcnt with tho preservation of life. Take a young plant, say a seed ling or cutting of a cedar when only two or three inches high, cut off its tup roots, as soon as 't has other rootlets enough to live upon, and replant it in a shallow earthen pot or pan. The end of the tap root is gencrully made to rest on a stono within it. Alluvial olay is then put into the pot, much of it in bits tho size of beans, and just encugU in kind to furnish a scanty nourishment to the plant. Water enough is given to k it iu growth, but not enough to ei' vigorous habit. So likewise is the t ) cation of light and beat. As tho l pI nose pride themselvos ou the bhnpe of their uiinature trees, thoy use strings, wires and pegs, and various ether mo chanical contrivances to promote sym metry of habit or to fashion their pets into odd fanoy figures. Thus, by tho use of poor soil and little of it, and little water, any strong growth is pro vented. Then, too, the top and side roots being within easy reach of the gardener, are shortened by Lis pruning knife or searad with a hot iron. So the little tree, finding itself hooded on every side, gives the idea of strong growth, asking only for life, and just enough to look well. Accordingly each new set of leaves beconio more and more stunted, the buds and rootlets are dimin ished In proportion, and at length a bal ance is established between every part of the trees, making it a dwarf in every re spect. In some kinds of trees, this end is reached in three or four years; in others ten or fifteen years are necessary. Suoh is fancy horticulture among the Celestials. Technologist. Topping the Question. Constitutionally timid men might, if necessary, resort to some such expedient as that of the youth whose bashfulness would not admit of his proposing direct ly to the object of his affections, bnt who at length summoned up sufficient cour age to lift the young lady's cat and say: "Pussy, may I have your mistress?" To whioh the young lady very naturally and cleverly responded: "Say yes, pussy." Bashfulness on the part of lovers,and want of courage in connection with popping the momentous question have formed the subject ef many a story. Here is one: A gentleman bad long been paying attention to a 3 oung lady whom he was very anxious to marry, but to whom he had never ventured to de clare his passion. When opportunity offered bis courage deserted him, and when he was resolved to speak, the fair one never could be fonnd alone or disen gaged. Driven to desperation, he one day luooeeded in accomplishing his purpose in 1 somewhat remarkable manner at a din ner party. To most people a dinner party would hardly seem the most suit able oocasion for overture! of this de scription, especially when, as in this instance, the lady is seated at the oppo site side of the table from her admirer, The latter however, was equal to the oocasion. Tearing a loaf from hia pocket book be wrote on it, under oover of the table: "Will you be my wife? Write yes or no at the foot of this. . Calling a servant, he asked him in a whisper to take the slip (which, of course, was carefully folded and directed) to "the lady in blue, opposite, ine servant did as requested; and the gentleman in an agony of suspense, watched him give it to the lady, and fixed his eyes, with badly disguised esgerness to try and judge irom her expression bow the quaintly made offer was received. He had forgotten one thing, that ladies seldom carry penoils about thorn at a dinner party, The beloved one was however, not to be baffled by bo trifling an obstcle. After reading the note calmly, she turned to the servant and said: "Tell the gentleman yes." They were married in due courso.-f Chamber a Journal. The Eight Sort of Men. ' As a rnle the men who are favoritoa with thoir own sex are the truost and best iu their relations to women. The men who like sometimes to "go away with the fellows" and have a rousing time on the waler, the mountain or the field, are the men we mean. Women need never to fear to trust their happi ness to those whom men, good and true, esteem as good fellows. But if a man is avoided by men, shun him. He is the man who, when he marries, wrings bis wife's heart, if she has one, and spoils ber temper, if she 1 naturally an angel. Manly men are the best lovers, the best husbands, the best companions for women, just as womenly women are the best sweethearts and wives. What do we think of women who shun their sex, however charming men may find them? It is seldom, if ever, that your men's favorite ill-rises his wife. Perhaps it may be explained in this way. Friend ship of a sublimer sort what love be comes after a year or so of marriage, and he who is friendly to the very depths of his soul enters into this state happily, and is ready for the happiness that fol lows. But s man who is capable of noth ing but a fleeting affection, which ever pursues a new object, and cares for no woman when she is won, hates the do mestic ties, and becomes detestible in consequence. It is the man who would die for his friend, and for whom his friend would die. who makes a miracu lously happy wife of the woman to whom he scarcely knew howt make love when he courted. Canning Factories. The Sycsmore (111.) Republican soys: "Tho Clintoa Canning Company hsve contracted for 600 acres of corn at $5 a ton, and toma toes at 15 cents a bushel. As they have contracted for much more than they did last year, it must be a payinjr bns.ness tar farmers. Yet the Rock River Pack ing Company offer larger prices than these, giving tro', a ton for corn and 25 cents a bushel for tomatoes. This sure ly ought to make a payiag business on the farm." How da these prices com pare with California averages ? HOISEASD FAttH. Foot Rot in Rhecp. H.M., Dubuque, Iowa, io the Prairie Farmer, onks the following question: Quite a number of our sheep are foot sore aud lame, and on examination we find that portions of the horn of their elaws ore black and rotted and smell badly. Homo of them' have almost got woll without any treat ment. Off and 00, especially during full, winter and spring, we have experi enced the same thing. I do not think it is contagious. I have heard of othor parties having sheep similarly affected. Please inform an old subscriber what is best to do, with a view to preventing this state of nfl'uirs. Reply. The pre ventive of the evil complained of is simple, and may be mentioned in half a dozen words to wit: Occasional trlm miug of the sheep's hoof. In its native tUto r mountain aide, ill fre c ' with a rock ..-' tbr Merits e ' V" ix f u w aw th. tb in be mi bo 1 wtf v ; eoraers,lijing bare wut;etl-ir eninc in which a dart, powacr-tiKe r etuuia of old mud has lodged, and ontting out the mischief with a decided eroove, of course taking due care not to out into the quick. Be not nervous about paring away the external horn, for its growth is rapid; leave not behind the least lodge under which one single grain of grit oan ensconce itseir, darkly at its leisure to mine a treacherous waj upward to some eitnl annt Vnr tliiu Work VOH mUftt catch them with the dew upon their foet, . 1 1 A. 1. .'11 or alter a wet any, wutrn mo uuru win out like soap. Potatoes Under Straw. Several years ago there was much said about growing potatoes under straw, and we published at the time several reports from those who bad tried the method with suocess. Interest in the subject appears to be re newed, to judge from inquiries. The method is very simple; the land is pre pared in the usual manner and the rows marked off; the sets are dropped along the rows and very slightly, or not at all, covered with soil. The whole field, or bed, is then covered with eight or ten inches thickness of old straw. Nothing more is required until digging time, un less some strong weeds should make their way through the straw, and these may be pulled. It is claimed that the yield is larger and the potatoes are much handsomer than those treated in the usual manner. I American Agricul turist. Peas and Oata Together. The pea is very rich in muscle and bone buildiag elements, and oats are also superior to corn in this respeot. The oats also assist in holding up the pea vine, so as to pre vent early lodging, and thus cause it to retain its auooulence longer. The crop should be sown in the proportion of two bushels of peas to one of oats per acre, and well covered. The drill puts them in best. The united crop' should pro duoe from forty te sixty bushels of grain to the aore. Now the frrain is only a port of the drop. The snccnlent pea vine is admirable food for pigs, end they should be turned in when the pea is inst Sassingout of the milk; they will then evour the whole plant, and it oontsins as much nutriment as when fully ripe. The suooulent stalk oontaing from forty to fifty per cent, as much nutriment aa the grain. National Live Stock Jour nal. Tho Industrial Age. James Wilson.in Iowa State Register, lays: Pastures are oftener spoken of than parties. The cow gets more mention than the politician. Foreign commerce draws more attention than foreign politics. The dairy creates more stir than the district court. Heavy horses invite more inquiry than any po litical issue. The orohard gets more thought than the stalwarts, and the grove more than the half-breeds. The death of a well bred bull is more re gretted than the defeat of a party leader. We are more alarmed at foreign cattle disease than opposition to the Monroe doctrine, and see more probable annoy anoe frem Canada thistles than tissue ballots. In reply to a correspondent the Louis ville Journal says:' "How as soon as you can work the ground in spring, aud on until the middle of April. For field cub- . t 1L 1 - - ...... in re. use one anu one-iourui w uuo auu one-half bushels of seed per aore; for a thick lawn, two Dusueis. Neir Tork Hsasei. The luxury and perfection of detail in New York dwellings is pasiing into a proverb. Nowhere in the world, por haps, is bo mnoh time and money spent npon the furnishing and ornamenting of the homes of the rich as in New York. The draping of curtains has become a distict branch of art, and every decorator and upholsterer bas one or more em ployees whose sole business it is to ar range in graceful folds the draperies, which are now indispensable, at doors, windows and fireplace. Even the banis ters must now be stuffed and draped on either side with heavy fiinge. Ceilings are frescoed and painted in the studios of distinguished artists, and then transferred to the houses that they are to embelish. Hun dreds of women are employed, at an ex pense of thousands of dollars, upon embroidery and art needlework which are to adoru tbv sumptuous palaces in which our neb men live, mntiugs, statuary, carvings in stone and wood, the richest fabrics of French and Indian looms, indeed, all that is rare and beauti ful in nature aud art, are brought to bear upon the decoratioa ot these Re publican palaces. Even the stables in which the horses, coachmen, and grooms are to be housed are fur more luxurious than the simple homes in which the fathers of our race passed their lives. The newly-finished stables ot Cornelius Vanderbilt in Fifty eight street, far out shine those of the Roman eniporor whose sumptuous appointments have bcoonie a matter of history. , Heart be was tt