RENTING A SUM
MER COTTAGE
By DOROTHY BLACKMORE
(Copyright, 1910, by AwocUied Literary Press.)
Dolly Meadows hesitated on the
steps of the tiny office of the Suburb
Land company and closed her pretty
paraaol. Then, summoning courage,
she stepped within.
The man at the desk did not look
up. It was his business to seem very
much occupied.
"Do you " began Dolly, and the
man, whirling about In his chair, be
held her.
"I beg your pardon, madam," apolo
gized the man, Jumping to his feet and
taking off his hat "1 did not hear
anyone come in."
Dolly blushed. 8he had never been
in a real estate office before. "I came
to see about renting a summer cot
tage a bungalow if possible," she
explained, searching in her lace chate
laine for a card.
"Certainly," replied the man, offer
ing her a ohalr. "We have several
ready for occupancy. Be seated,
please."
Dolly had unearthed the object of
her search and was handing the man
the card. "You may know my hus-
"Mrs. J. Lawrence Meadows," the
agent read on the bit of pasteboard
he held. "Oh, I know of him. I have
not met him personally."
"I that in we want a six-room cot
tage with a little ground."
"Exactly," the man nodded. "Would
you car to come out now and see
1st r
Dolly Thought She Had Never Seen
Anything 80 Beautiful.
what we have? Our machine is at the
door and It will facilitate matters to
go straight to the available cottages,
Mrs. Meadows."
Dolly watched him aa be stepped
outside into the miniature garden that
surrounded the suburban office.
He assisted her to the tonneau of
the great car and. Instructing the
chauffeur, took the seat beside her.
Dolly, to keep the sun from her eyes,
raised her parasol and sat within its
warm pink glow telling the real estato
man exactly what she desired in the
way of a cottage.
They drove about the parkway of
the attractive new suburb and Dolly
commented on the beauty of the flow
ers and shrubbery. "You owe a great
deal to the landscape artist who did
this work for you," she remarked, as
they passed an arched retreat in
which were rustic benches, tete-a-tete
seats and clambering blossoms every
where. "I myself am that artist," the man
replied, not without a touch of van
ity. "I was a landscape artist before
I became a real estate man," he added.
They wore approaching an artistic
little Devonshire cottage set well back
from the road and the man explained
that the place would be ready for oc
cupancy by the first of the month.
Td lore to look at It," exclaimed
Dolly.
"We shall do so," the man told her,
as the machine turned Into the blue
stone driveway.
In many respects, Dolly discovered,
the cottage was what they wanted, but
there waa one chamber too few, and
she decided that the exposure of tho
dining room was not exactly what she
had In mind.
"I do love the morning sun for
breakfast," she explained, "and I'm
sure It can't get 'round here until
after noon." Dolly looked very wise,
Indeed, and when she looked wise her
dimples were not at all In evidenoe.
The next house on the route was a
pure type of bungalow with Ave rooms,
all on one floor and with a porch all
the way around. Dolly's objection to
tho place was its close proximity to
the neighbors, so they entered the car
and went In search of something else.
"Here," the man began, as they
approached a pretty hedged-ln place,
"is a Queen Anne cottage with seven
rooms, Including the nursery on the
top floor."
"Oh, how lovely!" exclaimed Dolly,
Jumping lightly from the car. They
stood In front of a pale gray cement
cottage with the long slanting roof of
the Queen Anne type, and Dolly
thought she never had seen anything
so beautiful as the way in which the
delicate pink of the Dorothy Perkins
climbers lay against the house and
clambered over the windows. The
children could have a place to play In
rainy days, for they surely would be
out of doors at all other times. Do
let me see it."
The man, if he marveled at the fact
that this lovely young woman was the
mother of at least two children, did
not look it He took every opportu
nity, unobserved, to drink in the beau
ty of her face, and every minute that
he remained with her disclosed some
new and charming characteristic. Per
haps, he was thinking, it would be as
well for him If she could not find a
suitable cottage in this suburb.
"What a lovely living room!" Dolly
exclaimed as they stepped within the
great room. "And what a love of a
fireplace! How I hate flats!" Bhe add
ed vehemently and then she turned to
look the man squarely in the eyes.
"That very hatred of those coops
called homes in the city is what makes
your business thrive, isn't it?" she
asked, by way of explaining her impul
sive outburst.
The man nodded. "Yes," he admit
ted, "that's It It's good for our busi
ness and bad very bad for the doo
tors." He was wondering what fur
ther dimples the young woman would
display. He had Just caught sight of
another In her chin. He began to be
lieve that her very soul must be
dimpled.
They began to ascend the broad low
stairs that rose from the living room
and crossed, Juliet-fashion, to the ex
treme end of the room before continu
ing their upward way. "I'm Just crazj
about this sort of a staircase," Dolly
was saying. "You can put the piano
beneath right down there," she ex
plained, leaning so far over the rail
ing that the man was fearful lest she
fall, "and when someone is singing
well, say a love song he can look up
In the most effective fashion if for
Instance there Is a girl standing
here."
Dolly had almost forgotten that she
was on the dignified mission of rent
ing a cottage. She had dropped Into
her habitual frivolous manner and the
real estate man was marveling at ev
ery turn.
"One two," Dolly counted, looking
from the upper hall into the chambers
opening from it, "three and a bath."
"And the nursery!" the man added.
"Oh, yes for Dolly and John and
Muriel!"
"Three?" the man asked, mildly sur
prised. Dolly nodded. "Yes but Muriel is
only two months old."
"I see," breathed the real estate
man. "Your hands are full."
Dolly blushed. "I'm so glad you
don't object to children, aa so many
bouse owners do," she said. "We've
had such a time," she sighed as with
the weight of the world on her pretty
shoulders.
After that they looked at various
cottages and at last returned to the
gray Queen Anne nestling among the
pink roses.
"This," said Dolly, wisely, "seems
to be the most nearly suited to our
needs. I shall have them come and
see It tomorrow," she said, pointedly,
and looking down at the tip of her
parasol."
She felt, rather than saw, the look
the man at her side gave her. They
were standing on the porch near a
rose vine.
"They?" he asked. "I thought it was
for you, Mrs. Meadows."
"I am Miss Meadows, and it is for
my brother and Mrs. Meadows and
their children and myself, that I am
looking," she explained wickedly.
"And the card?" he asked.
Dolly laughed. "I thought I might
I get more attention if you believed I
was married and looking In earnest
I for a cottage."
"In this case if I may say it" he
I said, "you might have had more at
tention under the reverse circum
stances." "But I'll be here all summer," she
said. 'Then if we like It we'd like
an opportunity to buy to build," she
added. "We would take the house
with that option."
"Certainly."
But at the end of the summer it was
Dolly and the real estate man who
wanted to build a home as nearly like
the Queen Anne as possible even to
the Juliet stairway.
Those stairways are so nice for
love songs," the real estate man ex
plained as he stood, at the end of the
summer on the landing saying rood
night to Dolly.
ALLOTMENT OF FARMING LAND
Three Families to Each Farm is Case
in U. 8. Today Soil is Source
of Everything.
(By W. C. PALMER, North Dakota Agri
cultural College.)
Three families to each farm is the
case in the United States today. One
on the farm and two in town, but all
dependent on the farm. Two gener
ations ago nearly everybody lived on
the land and it was the look out of
each family how they worked the
land. Now with two-thirds of the
people in town, it not only concerns
the men on the farm whether the crop
Is good or not but also the man in
town who is dependent on the pro
duce of th e land for his living.
Whether the crop be poor or good
really affects the city man more than
It does the farmer who can keep out
enough for himself. If there is no
surplus it is not hard to see rho will
suffer most.
As industry develops we get more
and more dependent on each other.
The farmer, however, remains the
most Independent, and the way he
carries on his work is of the most
vital importance to 1 s all.
The soil Is the source of everything
that calls forth the efforts of industry.
The people who till the soli have
charge of the source of supply and the
rest have to go accordingly. If we
want more to do with the farmer must
produce more. To do that he must
fcavc mere linovlcc'sc nnd 2I1I!! In
work, s long as the land was vir
gin It would produce with any kind
of husbanding. That farming is
hardly on a permaner basis yet Is
shown by the abandoned farms In the
east, and the decreasing values of
these lands In the face of increasing
markets.
As long as the farmer can only make
the soil produce one-third of what It
Is capable, so long must our manu
facturing, transportation, merchan
dising and banking remain at approxi
mately one-third of what It would be.
and largely fr lack of special train
ing for his work on the part of the
farmer.
Who is most interested In the man
who tills the soil bolng. trained for
his work? Without a doubt it is the
man in the city. He is the one who
should be the most Insistent on agri
culture being taught in the public
schools, and that the agricultural col
leges be given liberal support.
The railroads are doing a great deal
In encouraging tho teaching of agri
culture. Many have placed trains at
the services of the agricultural col
leges that they might equip it with
pparatus, nppllances and Instructors
nnd thus carry the teachings of better
farming to a great many people in a
short time Bankers are also active
n encouraging the spread of better
farming.
There are no more northwestern
tates to open up so that the only
way to make any material Increase in
nroduction Is by making each acre.
now under cultivation, produce more.
Three families to the farm and all de
pendent on It for a living which is
the most Interested In good farming,
the family on the farm or the two in
town?
FOOD VALUE OF SKIM MILK
If Allowed to Sour and Then Churned
Until Curd Is Broken, It Makes
Exoellsnt Drink.
(By JOHN B. PICKERING.)
Freshness and cleanliness must be
ronsldered as well as composition.
Milk which has been received from
the milkman and allowed to stand long
enough to skim should probably never
be given to children under 2 years of
age. For older people the mere fact
of its being old need not be taken In
to consideration. If skim milk is
bought as such, however. It should al
ways be thoroughly cooked, unless it
Is known to have been handled care
fully and to be clean.
Skim milk seems to some people
rather thin for use as a beverage, but
others va.ue It for this very quality.
If It is allowed to stand until It sours
and Is then churned or beaten until
the curd is broken up Into small par
tides, It makes a familiar and whole
some drink, often used under the name
of buttermilk, for much of the com
mercial buttermilk Is thus made from
skim milk, some cream or butter fat
being sometimes added. For cooking,
the lack of fat and any consequent
lack of flavor can be easily made up.
as butter or less expensive fats can be
used with It. Pork and bacon fat
make a particularly savory addition.
In the very Interesting experiment
of serving penny lunches to anemic
children in the Boston schools, one of
the combinations of food that It was
found possible to sell for the low price
of 1 cent was skimmed milk and
bread and butter.
Though not much different in nutri
tive value, buttermilk obtained as a
by-product in butler making has a
different quality or texture and a dif
ferent flavor from so-called sklm-mtlk
buttermilk referred to above.
RETAIN NITROGEN IN MANURE BATHTUBS FOR H0(S
Every Effort Should Be Made to Save
Valuable Properties Contained in
Poultry Droppings.
(By RODNEY M. WEST.)
Fresh poultry manure has appron
mately twice the fertilizing value of
cattle manure, If a comparison of the
two products is based upon their ni
trogen content. The nitrogenous com
pounds contained In poultry manure,
however, are very unstable, and de
compose readily into ammonia and
volatile ammonium compounds. Con
sequently, unless proper care Is taken,
large quantities of nitrogen, which
might be used for fertilizing, are lost.
Several methods have been suggest
ed for retaining this nitrogen. They
consist In mixing with the excrement
either an absorbing substance or an
acid compound which will chemically
combine with tho ammonia as fast aa
formed.
Experience has shown that poultry
manure, untrtated, as well as that
mixed with sawdust, lost ha,lf of Its
nitrogen in the course of six months.
Where the manure was stored with
half of its weight of gypsum (land
plaster) It lost a third, while that
mixed with an equal weight of gyp
sum and about one-fifth of its wolght
of sawdust retained all of the original
nitrogen. Equally good results were
obtained by using from onethird to
one-fourth of the weight of the ma
nure of either kainite or acid phosphate.
From the standpoint of the me
chanicnl condition, the mixture with
land plaster gives the least desirable
product, although the addition of saw
dust aids materially in preventing the
formation of hard cakes.
When the manure is to be kept only
a few days before applying, good re
sults may be obtained with dry loam
or peat as an absorbent.
The absorbent used should be sprin
kled dally In the required quantity on
the Door of the hen houBe, from which,
In combination with the excrement, It
may be removed when desired.
The difficulties experienced in
spreading poultry manure on account
of Its sticky consistency may be ob
viated by mixing with loam, peat or
common stable manure. For econom
ical use It should be spread In rela
tively smaller amounts than other ma
nures. The admixture of lime or wood
ashes is not advised, since decompo
sition is sufficiently rapid without
their use.
It should be borne In mind that each
of the absorbents suggested Is In Itself
of value as a fertilizer; the least valu
able belug sawdust
PIGS TO OBSERVE SATURDAV
NIGHT IN SANITARY WAY.
Experts Urge Kansas Farmers to Pro
vide Clean "Dip" for Porkers in
Place of Old Mud Wallows
Novel Plan Is Favored.
FERNS IN THE LIVING ROOM
Whitman's, One of Most Beautiful Va
rieties of Recent Introduction,
Is Recommended.
(By HELEN (5. WEST.)
If your room is heated with hoi
water you can grow ferns In It that
would soon die If kept In a room heat
ed by steam, or hot air, or a wood fire.
For such a room I would advise
Whitman's, one of the most beautiful
varieties of recent introduction.
It is a sport from the old Boston
fern. It has shorter fronds than that
variety, but they are broader, and the
leaflets on them are developed Into
miniature fronds, thus making It a
most graceful plant, when well grown.
Its fronds have a plume-like effect
that make a fine specimen of it one of
the most ornamental of all decorative
plants.
Give It a soil of leaf mold, or turfy
matter keep it well watered, and out
of the sunshine, and it will do well In
rooms where the heat is not intense
and dry. I would not advise trying to
grow it under other conditions.
Perhaps the most satisfactory fern,
all things considered, for the amateur
florist, Is the good old Boston sort.
This does well in almost all places If
frequently showered.
It Is greatly benefited by keeping
water constantly evaporating on
stoves or ' registers. It likes best a
soil of leaf-mould and sand, but does
very well in loam.
Have good drainage and there Is no
fear of injury from over watering.
Best resultB are Becured by keeping
the plant at tome distance from the
light. Not in a dark corner, by any
means, but far enough from the glass
to allow the fronds to spread and
droop gracefully in their efforts to se
cure the benefit of the light. It Is
most effective when grown on brack
ets.
NOTES OF THE HOG LOT.
Feed a large variety of food, but
avoid sudden changes. That is, do not
change the whole ration at any one
time.
To nroduce the full develODment nf
bone the work must be commenced
before the animal is born bv feed ins
the dam plentifully with bone-uroduc-
lng foods while she Is pregnant.
The development or the bone In a
pig carries with it the development
of tho vital organs and a large In
crease In the amount of lean meat
In the carcass.
Topeka, Kan. Kansas farmers are
being urged to remove the old mud
hog-wallows In their feed lots aud pro
vide modern, sanitary bathtubs for
their hogs.
"The hog likes to take a bath a
good deal oftener than moat humans,"
says Dr. Scboenleber. "in hot
weather he Just dotes on bathing. It
Is not necessary to provide a porce
lain or enamel-lined bathtub for His
Highness the Hog, but the porker will
properly appreciate a nice cement
bathtub which may be drained and
filled again with clean water.
"He will return the favor, too, by
putting on more fat and growing
faster and eating less than when he
has a muddy hole in which to wallow.
A hog-wallow Is absolutely necessary
for the peace and happiness of the
hog. He is so constructed that wal
lowing in water Is necessary to pre;
serve his health and keep him grow
ing. People do not feel right unless
they bathe frequently, and the same
applies to the hog.
'ntv th hoc pvprv nosHlhle chance
to take a bath. Build a cement basin
in the hog lot Have it drained and
then provide It with fresh water.
There Is no need for hot and cold
water. In the water put about one
part of any of the commercial dips to
100 parts water. This will keep off
germs and parasites from the pigs
and forestall many of the common hog
diseases which kill thousands of Kan
sas hogs every year. If given his
cholae, the hog will walk into the
cement wallow every time. It is just
as necessary to keep bogs clean and
healthy as It Is to give them good
feed and to have good breeds to start
with."
HORSE IS KILLED BY DOGS
Torn to Death In Pasture at Night
by Lost and Hungry Hunt
ing Animals.
Monticello, N. Y. A horse belong
ing to John C. Fulton of White Lake,
Sullivan county, while in pasture the
othor night was torn to death by dogs.
bout midnight the owner of the
horse was awakened by the barking of
dogs.
He got his shotgun and, going to
the roar of his house, discovered Un
horse on the ground, while the dogs
were tearing him to pieces.
Again and again he shot at the dogs
without stopping the maddened ani
mals. Hearing the shooting, farmers
who lived near by, with pitchforks
and clubs, drove the dogs away. It Is
believed that hunting dogs lost by
hunters have become wild.
BASS CAPTURES FISHERMAN
FVsh Swims Around Man, Wrapping
Line Around His Legs In
Deep Pool.
Allen town. Pa. Alderman Elmer J.
Bchmoyer was captured by a bass In
Ontelanee. river, and he thanks Joseph
Albright a fisherman of seventy years,
that he was not drowned; also that
the bass was landed.
8chmoyer was wading, when he
hooked the baas. He knew It was a
large one and was wading out to
play it, when it turned and swam
around him, wrapping the line around
his legs. Schmoyer then discovered
that he was on the edge of a deep
pool, and that he was slipping Into it.
His cries brought Albright, who res
cued the fisherman and caught the
fish.
Tooth In Woman's Lung.
Toledo, O. By means of minute
electric lamps, which made it possible
to see down a woman's throat and Into
the lower lobe of the right lung, and
to Insert through the trachea exten
sible forcepB, a Toledo physician re
moved a fragment of a tooth from the
right lung of Mrs. G. Cole of Van
Wert, and without doubt saved her
life.
Last February, while under the In
fluence of an anaesthetic, Mrs. Cole
had several teeth extracted. Shortly
after she began to fall in health and
her symptoms pointed, apparently, to
tuberculosis.
Certain aspects of the case Indi
cated the possibility of a foreign sub
stance in the lung and an X-ray exam
ination proved that a portion of a
tooth had slipped down into the lung.
Marries Son's Widow.
Bt. Clalrsvllle, Ohio. William Da
vis, aged 62 years, was married to
Mrs. Anna Elizabeth Davis, aged 39
years, who Is the widow of his son.
Both live at Morrtstown. He had
been married twice, both of his wives
having died.