DISARMS THE ENEMY
PERHAPS IT WOULD BE MORE
CORRECT TO SAY "DIS-CLAWS."
Anyway, New Jersey Farmer Devised
a Scheme Which Resulted In Dis
comfiture to the Spoilers of
His Hen Roosts.
Benjamin Groner, a farmer In the
Bird's Eye Hollow neighborhood. Just
" over the New Jersey line from Gosh
en, In studying the habits of hawks
noted that those prowllDg and snoop
ing birds always perched on the
branch of some tree or on , a high
fence or other good point for observa
tion near a poultry yard and from
there took a comprehensive view of
the surroundings and their possibili
ties before swooping down on the con
tents of the yard. That set Farmer
Groner to thinking, and he thought to
such purpose that It resulted In his de
vising a contrivance which he believed
would be the ruination of every hawk
that came nosing about his premises.
He had a sythe blade made of the
best steel he could procure. He ground
and whetted the edge of the blade un
til It was as keen as keen could be.
Then he fastened the butt end of the
blade with bolts tight to a high pole
near the top, edge up, and at air angle
of 45 degrees. The pole he then set
In the ground, a few rods from his
poultry yard at the edge of a wood lot
In the afternoon of the day be set
the trap a hawk came sailing along
over the tops of the trees. Farmer
Groner was In his barn and saw It and
watched its manoeuvers.
The big bird circled about a few
times and then dropped down on the
outstretched scythe blade, which ap
peared as a convenient point of ob
servation. The Instant the hawk lit It began to
slide down the smooth slant of the
blade and the razorlike edge sliced Its
claws off as quickly and as neatly as
a meat cutter slices smoked beef. The
bird fluttered to the ground, but as
Its wings were still at Its command It
flew away. And it has never come
back to Farmer Groner's place again.
Going out to the trap pole and
finding the talons of the crippled
hawk. Farmer Groner knew that his
.pondering over the ways of hawks
bad resulted In a successful demon
stration of the conclusion he had
come to, and next morning he dis
covered that he had builded even
wiser than he knew, for he found a
couple of sets ot owl toes on the
ground beneath the scythe blade. He
had not calculated on owls, but hold
ing to the old fashioned belief that
thoBe nocturnal prowlers were habi
tual robbers of hen roosts, he gloat
ingly accepted the evidence of the ef
ficacy of his trap as an owl dis
courager. Ever since that Installing of the
scythe trap for business on the Groner
farm It ' has been kept on duty, and
the frequent findings ot hawk and owl
claws scattered beneath It and the
noticeable Increase In his poultry flock
"are Incontrovertible proof to Farmer
Groner that It Is doing the work It
was planned to do. An owl or hawk
that lights on that terrible perch Is
forever unfitted for stealing chickens,
for both birds capture their prey with
their claws.
; , Hearth-Hunger,
"Beyond the need for bread, a wom
an's needs are two; deeper than all
cravings save the mother's passion,
Orm-rooted In our endless past, Is the
hearth-hunger. The trees that sweep
my chimney have their roots at the
world's core! The flowers in my door
yard have grown there for a thousand
fears! What millenniums have done,
shall decades undoT We are nqjt so
shallow, so plastic as that! We will
go Into the mills, the shops, the offices,
If we muBt, but we know we are off the
track of life. Neither our desire nor
our power Is there." Cornelia A. P.
Comer, In the Atlantic.
Ornaments Last Longest
Ornaments last longer than any
thing else that man makes. There are
brooches and necklaces in museums
more than 40 centuries old. Monu
ments, perhaps, stand second, and
houses third. The life of furniture is
shorter still. There Is very little fur
niture in England which dates be
yond the year 1600. Pictures last long
er than furniture, and there are paint
ings still In fair condition which have
weathered six centuries of life.
Pretty Near.
It was Sunday afternoon and Ma
bel's little sister, Ruth, aged four,
was seated beside Mabel on the sofa.
Presently the little girl asked of Ma
bel's fiance: "Aren't I your sweet
heart, Mr. Bumper T"
"Well," answered Mr. Bumper with
a fond glance at Mabel, "you're the
next thing to It" Puck.
False Hopes.
"Who said this suffrage que) Ira is
absorbing women's minds T"
"Isn't It?"
"Not to the exclusion of tha sum
mer trip fund."
POLISHED FLOOR NEEDS CARE
Methods by Which It May Be Mads
to Last Long and Always Appear
at Its Best
The first step In polishing a soft
wood floor Is to see that It le perfect
ly smooth and clean. It It has been
already painted or varnished the
stains should be removed with strong
ammonia and thorough scraping,
when all cracks and dents should be
Closed With DUttv and a "filler" annllerl
all over. This can be purchased at
most oil and varnish shops, and should
either be mixed with a little color or
a sufficient nuantltv of floor stain
snouia De added. The filler should be
PUt on with a flat brimh or niece of
cloth and worked In one direction
with the grain of the wood, while on
completion of the process the room
Should be closed for 24 hours. At thn
end of that time the boards should be
rubbed until they shine, with a long
handled, heavy welehteri hroom nvar
which a piece of carpet has been
tacaea, and this process may be re
peated ad libitum. Finally the floor
may be polished with boiled linseed
oil and turpentine, this mixture being
ruDDea well in with a cloth and then
left for an hour or two to dry, after
which It must be again polished with
me weighted brush.
Instead of a final ton oh of thi .
scrlptlon, the floor may be finished
wuu a coat or varnish or shellac or
With Some Dretlarerl tiarrlwonrl .
ment, both of which should be put on
evenly and thinly with a weighted
brush or with an old piece of carpet
In order to keen tha firm at Its
best after the polishing process has
uuen completed, it should never be
washed with water, but after all the
dust has been removed crude petro
leum should be rubbed In and left to
dry.
Endives, stewed.
change as a vegetable.
Cold sauce or fruit nridpd iimko
makes a pleasant change.
10 cook macaroni without tioVinr
use a vessel with a sieve bottom.
To clean rusty knitting needles rub
With kerosene and polish with pum
ice. People Who suffer from nr-Mltv
should eat acid fruit with farinaceous
food.
Flies don't come around without ha.
lng Invited and the invitation consists
of refuse.
With a Steam conker nn entire ihahI
can be cooked over one burner of the
gas stove.
In cooking asDararua for nnlnd it
should be dropped Into cold water
when done.
Flowered cretonnes make thn heat
covers for beds on the out-of-doors
sleeping porch.
Fruit Frappe With Nuts.
Almost every woman nowadavn has
her own special frappe combination,
with which she delights to mystify
ner guests. Into the bottom of the
frappe glass put a generous snoonful
of preserved strawberries, on top of
tne Derries come the Ice cream, vanlla
In this case, then a spoonful of
whipped cream, and on top ot the
cream a grating of . English walnuts.
All sorts of fruit combinations are
used as foundation for the frappes,
and the covering for the whipped
cream Is variously" cocoa, grated
macaroons, chopped nuts, a sprinkle
of cinnamon or candled rose leaves.
Pretty little frappe glasses In the
American pressed ware, light and
dainty, can now be purchased as low
as 80 Cents a dozen. In serving, each
glass la set on a pretty china plate
with a little dolly between the glass
and the plate. A spoon, of course,
goes with It
Cantaloupe Glace.
Cantaloupe glace Is a delicacy that
Is truly delicious. Take melons that
have been thoroughly chilled, cut in
halves and lengthwise, and scrape out
the seeds. Fill the hollow of each
half with vanilla Ice cream, paoklng
It In as firm as possible, leaving a lit
tle mound In the center. Place the
halves together tightly, thus forcing
the cream up Into the fruit, causing
the melon Juice to mingle with the
cream. When ready to serve, a knife
run between the halves separates the
fruit and slices the cream.
Vegetarian Sausages.
One and one-half cups lima beans,
two tablespoons butter, one teaspoon
salt a dash tabasco sauce. Soak tha
beans over night cook them In salted
water until soft drain perfectly dry
and then squeeze the pulp through a
potato rlcer. Beat In the butter and
seasoning. If not moist enough, add
one beaten egg or as much of It as re
quired, making the paste so soft that
It can be rolled into croquets. Shape
like sausage, dip In beaten egg and
flour, and fry In butter until brows.
PUlAEOUND
HABITS OF BROWN ANT
Injurious Little Insect Found In
All Cultivated Lands.
Forms Rather Extensive Settlements
In Corn Fields, Mainly In Hills
Cultivator Is Not Likely to
Tear Up Nests.
fBv b. a. pnnRFB
The little brown ant notorious for
iib injuries to corn and called, conse
quently, the corn-field ant. Is not bv
any means limited to corn fields, but
aounaant In all cultivated lands, In
pastures and, meadows, In dense for
ests, along hard pathways, and In tha
Bandy soil of dry, sunny roada. One
sometimes finds It nesting In rotten
wood or under bark, logs or stones,
and even opening up Its underground
burrows to the surface between the
bricks and sidewalks and pavements.
It la distributed "over the whole of
North America, except the extreme
nouinern and southwestern portions,
from the tree line of the highest moun
tains to the sands of the shore."
Its home and habits have been
chiefly studied In corn fields, and there
It forms rather extensive settlements,
mainly centering In the hills of corn.
Several adjacent hills so occupied by
It being connected by underground
channels by way of which- members
of the same family may pass from hill
to hill. This Is partly, no doubt, be
cause in corn fields it is usually in
possesion of plant-lice, which live on
the roots of corn and whloh contribute
to the support of the ants the fluid
surplus of their own food, but nartiv
also because In the corn hills It is un-
Usturbed by the cultivator, which Is
Various Stages of Corn-Field Ant
likely to tear up its nests if they are
established between the rows. .
In the burrows of this ant one mav
find a rather mixed and varied popu
lation, consisting of the exes. Jarvae.
pupae, males, females and workers of
ine ants themselves, together with the
various species of root-lice harbored
by them and certain kinds of mltea
which share Its underground habita
tions on terms of mutual toleration, If
not active friendship. In clover fields
It Is very likely to have In its nests
many mealy-bugs of a species which
Infest the roots of the clover plant
and theBe It treats as it does tha root.
lice of the corn plant Seizing them
and carrying them away when Its nest
la disturbed, just as It hurries out of
Bight with its own maggot-Mke larvae,
Its egg-like pupae, and Its minute,
spherical white eggs. .
Age of Usefulness.
The average hen outlives her use
fulness in two years, and is more
profitably sent to market There are
at times good hens In the third and
even the fourth year, but the aver
age limit Is two years Old hens are
more likely to contract disease than
younger ones.
Kind to Dispose Of.
When disposing of some of the old
stock, pick out the poor layers and
oldest specimens. They are Just
as good for the table, and you can't
afford to part with the money-makers.
Harvesting Hay Is Science.
Harvesting hay is a science that not
all of us have learned. Cut no more
grass In a single day than can be
taken care ot at once.
Noise Is Harmful.
Many horses are quite nervous by
any unusual noise or confusion about
the barn, and this affects their eating.
Food will not digest to well.
Injurious to Pigs.
Dirt and filth taken into the stomach
along with feed impair digestion and
reduce the gain, also affecting the ap
petite and general health of the pig.
Corn for Hogs.
While ground shelled corn is some,
what more valuable for fattening hogs
than is whole corn, it is not rule,
economical to grind corn for hogs.
CAPACITY OF AVERAGE SILO
Easy Matter to Determine Number of
Cublo Feet of Ensilage Required
to Feed Cows. -
(By A. D. WILSON. Superintendent Ex
tension Division, University Farm, Bt
Paul. Minn.)
The amount of silage required and
the size of silo needed to hold It can
be quite closely calculated, provided
the number and kind of animals to
be fed from It are known before
building. "
An average cow or beef animal
may be fed about 35 pounds of silage
per day and the usual .period during
which silage Is used In this latitude
will be about 210 days. Large ani
mals or those that are being fattened
may consume considerably jnore than
35 pounds per day, but this has been
found a fair average.
In a silo of ordinary denth. the
average weight of the silage Is about
40 pounds per cubic foot. Near the
top of the silo, however, where the
pressure Is not great It will weigh
only 25 pounds per cubic foot, while
at the bottom of a 35-foot silo Is may
weigh 60 pounds. Taking these aver
ages, if a cow eats 35 pounds of en
silage in a day, she will eat 35-40, or
of a cubic foot per day, and with
this as a basis it is easy to determine
the number of cubic feet of ensilage
required to feed a cow or any number
of cows throughout the season. The
diameter of the silo must be such
that the stock on hand can use one
or two inches of silage off the top
each day during the winter and at
least three inches Der rlftv when cum
mer feeding of silage Is to be prac
ticed, mis is necessary to keep the
silage from spoiling.
A Bllo 10 feet In diameter la oHint.
ed to feeding 10 mature cattle. One
12 feet In diameter will feed is hen
and one 14 feet in diameter will meet
tne needs of twenty head- hut t
there are 80 or mora e.nwa to food
a 16-foot silo should be erected. These'
snos should be 30 or 40 feet, or even
more in height.
COVERING ALFALFA IN CORN
Problem of Overspreading Soil on
8eed Solved by Use of Plank
Drag Shown In Illustration.
Sometimes farmers obtain good re
sults from sowing alfalfa between the
rows of standing corn. Where this
is done it Is often a puzzle to get the
seed properly covered.. The accom
panying illustration la a home-made
plank drag, 34 Inches wide and 22
For Covering Alfalfa Seed.
inches long, that Is used for the pur
pose on a small alfalfa and truck
farm In southeastern Ohio, where the
Ohio station hae experimented In de
termining practical methods In small
farming.
Awnings for Hen Houses. .
It 1b a good plan to have awnings
or hoods of cheap muslin or boards
to go over the windows of the hen
house In summer" to keep out the
sun, and thus keep the house much
coaler. But it Is not advisable to
have those awnings up during the
winter, as the sunlight Is needed In
the houses to purify them.
Reason for Few Eggs.
The chicken does not refuse to lay
eggs or get fat through perverseness
of character. It is simply because the
owner does not know how to bring
about desired results. .
Best Cow Is Cheapest
It Is being - gradually understood
that the best cow la the cheapest, re
gardless of the price paid for her and
for such correspondingly good prices
are always obtained.
Raise Beef Cattle.
Beef cattle may be raised on many
farms, and there are good reasons for
raising them. Not the least of these
Is that they provide means of build
ing up the farm in fertility.
Care of Dairy Cows.
Never allow the cows to be exoited
by hard driving, abuse, loud talking,
or unnecessary disturbance; do not
expose them to cold or storm. Do not
change the feed suddenly.
The Pasture.
Pasturing grass too soon or too
hard is an expensive way of saving
feed.' It costs several times the
amount of feed saved.
Kindness to Hogs.
If the practice is followed of talking
to the hogs, and moving around among
them, they can be handled very easily.
l
Blake Your Own Gas.
Acetylene gives a pure white light,
in which all articles show in their true
colors the same as in the sunlight, and
burns in burners consuming about half
a foot of gas per hour, each burner
giving forth some 20 candle power
light The gas is obtained by adding
water to calcium carbide, which is ob
tained by fusing together ground coke
and lime.
The use of gasoline gas has become
quite common for small to medium
sized plants. It is a mixture of gaso
line vapor and air, the pure vapor be
ing impractical to burn on account of
a high pressure being required. While
the gasoline is considered somewhat
dangerous to handle, neglect and care
lessness are a large factor in the mat
ter and common carefulness will ren
der the gasoline safe to handle. There
are different grades of gasoline for
sale, and that used for gas machines
should have a specific gravity of 86
for summer use and 88 for winter.
J Many people who live outside the
limits of the gas companies' lines do
not use gas, Bays Farm and Home, be
cause they fail to realize how cheaply
the acetylene or gasoline machines can
be installed and at how small an ex
pense they operate as compared with
other forms of lighting and cooking.
The experiment once tried, they are
surprised to find out that it is just as
practical as independent water works
or steam or hot water heating. The
party who has one of these individual
gas plants is entirely independent,
running his apparatus when and how
he pleases.
PORTLAND, OREGON
Y.M.G.ASSGH00LS
$500,000 EQUIPMENT. SO HEN TEACHERS.
' 75 COURSES.
GYMNASIUMS. SWIMMING. LIBRARIES.
Course Dj tdml fct, S aw.
Commercial 60.00
Shorthand 60.00
Automobile.... 61.00
Wireless Telegraphy 60.00
Telegraphy and Train Despatching; 26.00
Electrical Engineering 60.00
Civil Service 26.00
College Preparatory 40.00
Boys Elementary School 25.00
Plumbing- 25.00
Carpentry 16.00
Mining- and Assaying 80.00
Pharmacy 80.00
Mechanical Engineering 26.00
Other courses $2.00 to 160.00
Send for Free Illustrated Catalogue.
CENTRAL Y. M. C. A., PORTLAND, OR.
One Limit He Dare Not Pass.
"As a general rjroDosition. I care
little for the plaudits or criticisms of
my fellow men," stated Pip Maudlin,
the blase young clubman of Skeedee.
"While I am not defiant of public
opinion, I am to a great extent indif
ferent to it But, try as I may, I
have never been able to persuade my
self that my feet are small enough to
permit me to wear white shoes with
out violating the laws of physical
prosody."
Work.
The beauty of work denenda nnnn
the way we meet it whether we arm
ourselves each morning to attack it as
an enemy that must be vanquished be
fore night comes, or whether we open
our eyes with the sunrise to welcome
it as an approaching friend who will
make us feel at evening that the day
was well worth its fatigues. Lucy
Larcom.
Don't bay water for bluing. Liquid bine Is sU
Eost all water. Buy Ked Cross Ball blue, the
us that's all blue.
Sickroom Screen.
A screen in the sickroom is almost
indispensable, for it is needed to keep
light from the patient's eyes, to guard
the bed from drafts, or shut out the
Bight of medicine bottles and so forth.
An excellent sanitary screen is made
by tacking white oilcloth on to
frame, then painting on in oil a pretty
scene, as birds or butterflies. These
screens can be washed as often as
necessary.
What Shall I Give Her.
If funds are low and a weddlnar
present is a necessity to a friend,
make her a "memory" book or books
covering stiff-backed blank books
with white satin or pretty silk. In
side have the titles indexed books,
business, addresses, Christmas lists,
garden lists, invitations, new dishes.
A companion book can be made and
filled with "own" tried recipes from,
friends.
ConstiDation Cannes, mnnw a
. j
diseases. It is thoroughly cured by
Doctor Pierce's Pleasant Pellets. One
a laxative, three for cathartic
Off Color.
Tha man who lets everv Htr.la ton.
ble keep him feeling blue must have a
streak of yellow. Chicago Record
Herald. Useful Life.
Any Christian SDlrlt worVW kinrii
in Its little sphere, whatever it may
be, will find its moral life too short
for Its vast means of usefulness.
Charles Dickens