GORVA SEMI-WEEKLY. UNION Estab. July, 1897. GAZKTTK Katab. Dec, 1862. i Consolidated Feb., 1899. COKVALLIS, BENTON COUNTY, OREGON, TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 1901. VOL. I. NO. H9. GAZETTE A COUNTRY BREATH. A hay-load in the city square, The sweets of a whole summer fair. In one rude wagon piled: The fragrant breath of warm, still rains, The scent of strawberries in green lanes, Faint petals blown from roses wild. And straightway all the bustling place Is filled with some enchanted grace, And tinkling with the notes Of field larks, and of silver streams, Of south .winds, murmuring their dreams Through airy aisles of oats. My lady in the gilded shop Let all the tawdry trinkets drop, And through the magic sees A dooryard sweet with mint and phlox. And pink with ruffled hollyhocks, That nod to belted bees. The sooty laborer, with a thrill, Plucks shamrocks on an Irish hill, A gamin cheers and chaffs; All busy footsteps pause a bit, Somewhere is toil by clear skies lit, A sunburnt world that laughs. And long and long the sweetness stays And cheers the crowded, noisy ways, Like happy news from home, Till the pale moon and misty stars Look down as if, by meadow bars, Their rays touched clover bloom. But little recks the countryman, Bound homeward on his empty van, Along the closing marts, What store he brought with him to-day, Or what, within a load of hay. Could touch so many hearts. Youth's Companion. THE POOL OF SALT WATER jrjHIS is the seaweed room," an m nounced the housekeeper, putting a key into the lock; "it's been shut up for a long time and will be a bit musty." With this she threw open the tstout oaken door, and we entered a square apartment, darkened by closed shut ters and heavy with a strong, pungent odor. As our guide raised a window and opened the blinds there was a rust ing all aboutusas of the flight of pig eons. This was caused by the flutter ing of quantities of dry seaweed which were festooned upon the walls and over the doors and windows. "That's nothing but common sea weed," said the good woman, noticing our interested glances. "It's used only -as an ornament and to give character to the room. All the choice varieties are in these glass cases, and pressed in this pile of scrapbooks, with notes and explanations under 'em." "Did Professor Linwood collect these specimens himself?" I asked. "I suppose so. He used to go on long voyage to the tropics and come home laden with new varieties, and then he'd spend mouths classifying and arrang ing them. He was a diver in his younger days, and after that made con tracts for lifting sunken vessels, or exploring old hulks that had money or merchandise on board. He'd put on his diving suit and go down with his men, I've heard tell, and many's the strange adventures he's had in ships at the bottom of the ocean so he told iue one uay wuen ne reit cnatty. mat s how he first took to collecting sea weeds; he ransacked the bottom of the sea to get specimens. But after his marriage he never seemed to care for It any more, but perhaps all this don't Interest you it's the seaweed you want You can examine it as much as you like." We did so and fingered long, held by the charm of this strange room, that was redolent with the mysteries of the great deep. We .sat on a couch, talk ing In low tones, and listening to the rustling seaweeds over our heads, our feet resting on some of the same mate rial, which had bgen fashioned into a rude mat that covered the floor and also the divan on which we were seated. The whole apartment was full' of it In all forms and phases. A wreath of it surrounded the only portrait in the room that of a young girL with frank, pleasing eyes and a sweet mouth. The housekeeper, who had excused herself for a few moments, now re turned with tea and biscuits. As she poured the fragrant beverage into little fat cups, we ventured to Inquire who the original of the picture was. "Mrs. Linwood, the professor's wife," replied the woman, giving a quick, ap prehensive look at it over' her shoul der. "Then," replied my companion, "it's no wonder the. professor took no more voyages after his marriage!" "I said he collected no more seaweed, sir," responded the housekeeper. "He made one voyage directly after his mar riage, and took his bride with him. The vessel was wrecked In a terrific storm and only a few of the passengers were saved. Mrs. Linwood was among the lost" "That was an odd coincidence that she should be lost and he be saved," I said, half-questioningly. "Well, sir, that leads up to the most peculiar story you ever heard. As long as the professor lived I never dared breathe it, but now he's gone I might .. relate a strange circumstance in con nection with this room."" We encouraged her so. much that the good woman began immediately. "It was not until the professor was nearly 60 that he thought of taking a swife. Then he was very foolish, if I . may fee allowed to say it for he fell in love , with a little girl only 18, and he being rich, her parents favored the match, though she was much attached to a second cousin of hers, a young fel low lu an importing house, poor, but wim gooa prospects, ana as luck would have it this coucsln was on the same steamer that took the professor and his bride to China, he going there on business for his firm. "It must have been hard for the two poor young things to be doomed to such a long voyage, under such circum stances, especially as the professor was of an intensely jealous disposition and forbade his wife to speak to her cousin. "But, as I said, the vessel ran aground in a storm and sank almost immediate ly. Mrs. Linwood was drowned, and her husband came back a changed man, broken in mind and body. He had even lost his interest in his partic ular fad, and I have seen him shudder at the sight of a piece of seaweed. He locked up his room, and I never saw him enter it again except on one no table occasion." "What was that?" Inquired my com panion. "Well, you see, not having his scien tific studies to take up his mind, the poor man became very lonesome and morbid. He neyer wanted to be alone and must needs have a houseful of company the whole time. This was easy, for he had a great many nephews and nieces, and they, with their friends kept us In a state of commotion, es pecially during the holidays and in summer vacations. "One Christmas eve, his favorite nephew, Jack Newton, came late in the evening, and to savo my soul I didn't know where to put him to sleep. He was a merry, rollicking lad of 17, and he said he'd sleep In the attic any where so that he got a chance at din ner next day always thinking of his stomach, like any healthy boy. "The attic was out of the question. Suddenly a thought came to me, and I asked him if he'd mind sleeping in the seaweed room. " 'Just the thing awfully jolly,' said the boy, giving me a squeeze that near ly broke my neck. " 'Then not a word to your uncle,' I said as soon as I could speak. " 'Mum's the word,' said the boy with, a wink. "So I fixed him up a bed on this 'ere couch we're a-sitting on, and as it was bitter cold started a bit of fire in the grate. Then I locked bim in and carried away the key, so that if by some strange .chance the professor should stray up there late In the evening he would find the key gone, and probably think it had been mislaid, for It us ually hung on a nail beside the door. "If I'd known the queer tricks of this room then as I do now I'd never have locked the boy in. "What happened during that night I got straight from Jack myself. It seems he went straight" to sleep, and never woke till the faintest bit of day light was stealing into his window. Then he was aroused, poor chap, by a low murmur of voices, and sitting up he saw on the earth two figures talk ing together one a girl with long black hair and the other a young man who held her hands and was bending his face down to hers. Both of 'em was dripping wet, and he could hear the trickle ,pf the water as it fell on the big stne hearth they were standing on. Their faces were turned from him, but In the girl's hair was tangled a quantity of seaweed. "Did I tell you Jack was a plucky little fellow? He was, to the back bone. He said to himself that what he saw was 'an optical delusion,' I be lieve he called it, that there was no body but himself in the room there couldn't be, because the door was locked. 'What do you want who are you?' he cried, and with that jumped out of bed and came straight toward the two figures. As he advanceh they re treated toward the. window, and when he reached the window there wasn't anything there, though the window was shut except for a little space at the top. '.'Well, Jack went to bed and lay thinking it over for an hour, then fell asleep again. He was perfectly healthy, Jack was, and hadn't much idea of the supernatural. "But now comes the strange part of it for as he was dressing the next morning what .did the boy find but a pool of salt water on the stone hearth, in that' little hollow you can see from here that has been worn in It, and. ly ing in it a bit of fresh seaweed, in which was tangled a long black hair! Then, as Jack told me, his own hair hegan to rise in good earnest, and he was scared. "So that morning after breakfast he takes the bit of seaweed to his uncle and asks him if he'd ever seen any like it "The profesor looked at the piece of wet weed, and his color .went like the going out of a lighted taper. 'It's an uncommon variety,' he said, 'as it's never found except on the bodies of drowned people. Where did you get it Jack?' And he looked at the boy wild ljke, for I was a-watching of 'em from the passageway. " 'I found it in my room,' blurted out the boy. 'There was a couple of peo ple in there last night, uncle, dripping wet' . " 'What do you mean?' gasped his uncle, looking at him strangely. " 'Come and I'll show you,' he says, in spite of the fact that I was shaking my fist at him from the hallway. So together they went up to the seaweed room, I followed to explain why I'd taken the liberty to lodge Jack there. But the professor never noticed me. He followed Jack into the room, "white to the lips, and, kneeling down, examined the little pool of water on the hearth. 'It's sea water,' he whispered, after a moment 'What did you, see, boy? Tell me everything.' " 'There's nothing much to telLuncle,' went on 'Jack, in his straightforward way. 'The girl's hair was down her back all wet, and full of seaweed. And, see! Here's a long black hair In the.' seaweed I found.' "The professor looked, then gave a cry such as I hope never to hear again, and fell back on tne floor unconscious. He came back to life, but never was well after, and he died six weeks aft erward. Before he went he became communicative, and the secret of his wife's death came out He and his wife were in a small boat, the last to leave the sinking vessel, together with a few other passengers and. one sailor. The professor, being a man of author ity and a well-known seaman, was in charge of the boat Just as they were pushing off they saw a figure clinging to the mast just above the water. It was Mrs. Linwood's cousin and former lover. At this she cried to her hus band to put back to the ship and rescue him, and took on so at his danger that the demon of jealousy entered her hus band's soul, and he swore it would be impossible to go back, and that to take another person into the boat would sink It. At that moment the mast dis appeared, and as it did so the young man sprang into the sea waving a fare well to his cousin. Then, with one look at the professor that he never forgot to his dying day, Mrs. Lawson jumped overboard and probably sank immediately at least, the body could not be recovered. "Yes, it was a strange thing, those two coming back If It was them to his room; those who have book learn ing can make it clear, perhaps, but I'm only an Ignorant old woman and don't understand these deep things; I can only tell it to you just as it happened." BOTH OF THE OLD SCHOOL. Bnt the Old Gentleman Rather Got the Better of the Old Lady. There is a wealthy old lady in De troit as there probably is In every city of any size, who would rather have her own way than to have her own fortune doubled. With her is a niece, put down as the prospective heiress, and the young man whom she wants to marry went to ask for her hand. He was promptly informed by the old lady that he was useless generally, that he was a specious hypocrite, that he could not have the niece, and that if they mar ried without her consent the girl should never inherit a dollar, relates the Free Press. Next" -day ae- young - man's grandfather called on the tyrannical aunt and profusely thanked her for what she had done. "We are of the old school, you know," he said, suavely. "We have lived to see a time when wealth has become all-important, but you and I cling to the sentiment that pride of birth is far bet ter. I know that you do from the fact of refusing your niece to my grandson. It was good of 'you, and I came person ally to thank you. I could never have been happy again had he married be neath him, and he backed from the room, while she was trying to sputter forth her overwhelming indignation. "I'll show him," after she had averted apoplexy, "the aristocratic old pauper. Never he happy again, hey? I'll see that he's not," and her pen flew while she blustered to herself. "Thought I wouldn't know how to avenge myself, did he? The conceited old survivor of a crazy prejudice!" In answer to the note came the young man, flushed" and expectant He could be married to the niece quietly that evening or give her up forever. Of course the ceremony came off and the aunt was enjoying internal ecstacies over the way she had outwitted the old gentleman. Later the new nephew turned to her and innocently remarked: "Good old granddad told me he was sure he could get your consent but I can't conceive how he did it." . They revived her with smelling salts and helped her to bed. She was still there in the morning, but sent for the man servant and said, emphatically: "If that old Blank dares call here kick him out" - Learning How Not to Sneeze. Sir F. Hastings Doyle in his auto biography relates how during the '50's Lord Halifax was walking with Lord Dundas, when the latter suddenly be gan to make hideous faces to such a degree that Lord Halifax became seri ously alarmed and gasped out: "Shall I run for a doctor?" Lord Dundas gave a peremptory "No" as far as he was able. When he had recovered from his paroxysm he said:' "I .was only in the agonies of trying not to sneeze. The awful court etiquette in regard to th:s matter has made me really ill many a time. Nowadays I cannot, from long habit really sneeze, but the sensation that brings about sneezing simply agon izes me." Drove Stage 63,600 Miles. With a record of having traveled a sufficient number of miles to have taken him four times around the globe, Da vid E. Little, of McConnellsburg, Pa. has resigned as stage coach driver, after a service of fifteen years. During these years Little carried over 13,000 passen gers across thte Cove mountain, among them some of the distinguished men of the country. He has crossed the moun tain in his daily trips over 9,300 times, has driven 93,600 miles, and has lived in the coach and on the road 3,000 days of ten hours each. In all this time he has never missed connections with the trains on the other side of the moun tain. One Election Cariosity. It is one of the curiosities of the Presidential election that the banner Republican township should be located in North Carolina. In the Shelton Laurel township in that State McKin ley got 210 votes and Bryan none. Meat Spoiled by Tobacco Smoke. An experienced chemist says that fresh meat In a room filled with smoke of tobacco absorbs nicotine readily and may-become badly tainted. Beauty unadorned may be all right In some cases, but a little dressing always Improves the turkey. CBILDEEFS COLUMN. A DEPARTMENT FOR LITTLE BOYS AND GIRLS. Something that Will Interest the Jn veniVe Member of Every Household Quaint Actions and Bright Sayings of Many Cute and Cunning Children. - ", Bough-house is the expression used by the boy of to-day when he is describ ing a general scuffle, and he always smacks his lips over the word. But rough-house has its disadvantages, as many sprains and bruises can testify, and If the same amount pf fun may be had from some less trying amusement, an amusement, say, whiph Is quite as energetic and quite as exciting, the boy of to-day will certainly adopt it in pref erence to rough-house. 5 A terrier fight is exciting, and it is funny it is also energetic and victory depends quite as much "upon the skill of the fighter as upon- his strength. Furthermore, a terrier fight is not bru tal. No boy will hurt himself while en gaged in this sport As shown in the illustration, two boys are placed facing each other In the center of a room; hands clasped beneath the knees and a A "TERBIKB FIGHT." stick just under the elbows, as shown. Each contestant endeavors to push the other over; but as it requires consider able attention to keep your balance at all when in this position, the attack is no easy matter. .-.. - .,. To suddenly, give way Is a maneuver almost sure, to upset -your adversary, but unfortunately it is very apt to up set you at the same time, and only after considerable practice will you be able to overcome a man in this way. The pivot, a sudden swing to the right or left, is safer, though not quite as ef fective. Always remember that the best terrier fighter Invariably makes his opponent throw himself. - Give way at some unexpected pohiif and unless he Is a skillful man he Is sure to go over. Never try a hard push except in the last extremity, when everything else has failed. A terrier fight consists of three one minute rounds, with thirty seconds' rest between each round. The one scoring the largest number of falls during the time set Is accounted the winner. Chi cago Record. A Queen' Dolls. The Queen of Roumanja was sponsor for a peculiarly Interesting exhibit that was lately held in London for the ben efit of certain charities and hospitals. She placed on exhibition- her famous collection of dolls dressed in the cos tumes of various countries. The Queen of Holland herself dressed some Dutch dolls, and, indeed, dollies of every na tion, dressed as fine ladies and as peas ants, were represented. In order that some distinctive American dolls might be in the Queen's family, the New York Tribune offered prizes for five typically American in costume. Four "lady" dolls and one "gentleman" doll took the prizes. The latter prize approxi mately went to a boy, a New Jersey lad, whose doll represented "Uncle Sam" in gorgeous attire. Of the oth ers, one In rich brocade and fine cap represented Martha Washington, one was a negro mammy in white apron and brilliant turban, a third was Pris cilla, the Puritan maiden, in simple frock and hooded cloak, the fourth was Pocahontas In beaded dress and moc casins. Altogether the American chll-( dren can have no cause to be ashamed of their exhibit What African Maidens Learn. ' Immediately after a girl enters the Sandy a mark designating her rank is tattooed on a conspicuous part of her body, says Montressor Paull in an arti cle on "Boarding Schools for Native Girls in South Africa," published in Woman's Home Companion. During her stay at the school she is Instructed by this faculty of old women In sing ing, In plays and in the dance, and is required to commit numerous songs to memory; she is taught to cook, and in structed in other domestic duties, and is shown how to knit nets and to fish. At intervals the girls are permitted to visit their parents at their homes in the villages But before making these vis its they must first satisfy the require ments of what is deemed the conven tional toilet Their whole bodies are thoroughly rubbed with white clay, and then aprons made of the fiber of the leaves of the Palmyra palm are put on them, as the use of cotton stuffs are prohibited. Mr. Nobody, I know a funny little man, As quiet as a mouse, Who does the mischief that is done . In everybody's house. There's no one ever sees his face, And yet we- all agree That every plate we break was cracked By Mr. Nobody. 'Tis he who always tears our books Who leaves' the doors ajar; He pulls the buttons from our shirts ' And scatters pins afar. That squeaking door will always squeak, For, prithee, don't you see, We leave the oiling to be done By Mr. Nobody? The finger marks upon the doors By none of us are made; We never leave the blinds unclosed To let the curtains fade. The Ink we never spill; the bouts That lying round you see. Are not our boots! They all belong To Mr. Nobody! Fcheme of a Bright Boy. A bright boy In New York makes a fairly good living by visiting stores and offices and sharpening the lead pencils of lawyers,, clerks and other men of business who have little time to look after such comparatively trivial affairs of office work- How He Measnred Time. Teacher Charles, what Is the short est day of the year? Charles (from experience) The day your father promises to give you a lick ing before you go to bed. Columbus Dispatch. The Colors Reversed. A curious butterfly exists In India. The male has the left wing yellow and the right one red; the female has these colors reversed. GUARDED HIS REPUTATION. Mountaineer Wonld Not Say He Missed a Deer to Save $25. "A business matter took me out West last fall," said the well-known attor ney, who was in a reminiscent mood, "and I took advantage of the opportu nity to make a trip Into the mountains for a week's hunting. I hired an old man to act as a guide and do the cook ing and I enjoyed myself to the ut most. The mountains were full of big gams, but the state had lately passed a law prohibiting the killing of deer, which was particularly . aggravating, as we were continually running across them. Now, I am a respecter of the law unless I am retained on the other side and I found it hard work to re frain from shooting at the deer that presented, themselves as if they knew that they were free from danger. But along toward the last our meat ran out and I told the old man that we would have to have some fresh meat, even if we had to kill a deer. He agreed with me and it wasn't ten minutes later that deer sprang up ahead of us. I wasn't prepared for him, but the guide was,' and he made a clean miss, much to his disgust That was the last deer that we saw and we returned without having broken the law. But no soon er had we arrived at the point where we had started from than the old man was arrested for killing a deer, and I took it upon myself to defend him, as I knew him to be innocent. I took the stand In his behalf, and thinking it best to make a clean breast of the mat ter, admitted that he had shot at a deer, but missed him. Then I put the old man on the stand to corroborate my testimony. " 'You admit having shot at the deerr said I when the old man took the stand. " 'Thet's what!' he answered. "'A-nrl you missed him T I continued. '"No; slree! he shouted. 'I killed him, b'gee!' "That took the wind :out of my sails and I collapsed, the result being that the old man was fined $25. "After the trial I took him aside and asked him what he meant by swearing to a lie and convicting himself.' , " 'See hyar,' he answered; 'I've bin lyin fer twenty years about never havin' missed a deer thet I shot at, an' ye don't think thet I would ruin my reputation fer $25, do ye?"' Detroit Free Press. PECULIAR KIND OF EARTH. Properties It Possesses that Are Little Understood by People. It is safe to :y that the majority of people never even heard of the peculiar kind of earth called loess, yet It is a most interesting formation and is found in Europe, the United States and China. In China it is held responsible for the vagaries of the Yellow River, which changes its bed whenever it feels so disposed. William Starling says of tils peculiar earth: "Loess, wherever found, is a' yellow ish, brownish or grayish earth which is so soft and friable that it Is easily re duced to powder between the fingers, and yet of so firm a consistency that when undermined by currents of water or other disturbing influences it will stand in perpendicular walls several hundred feet high. The particles com posing the, earth have been, by some process, reduced to such a, minute state of 'division that it is asserted that they can be rubbed into the pores of the skin and disappear without leaving any con siderable residue.- Ia China roads are soon worn into this material, the walls on either side still retaining their per pendicular till In the course of years there is formed a sunken road perhaps seventy or eighty feet beneath the level of the plateau. Often there are suc cessive cuts which are transformed into terraces, and houses or villages built upon them after the manner of cliff dwellings. Indeed, chambers are fre quently excavated deep into the walls, and even whole suites of roomsJ In fact, as Richthofen says, the dwellings vary from simple caves to veritable loess palaces. . "Similar things occur in the loess dis tricts . of the United States. Near Natchez, in Mississippi, and no doubt at plenty of other places where the loess formation prevails, sunken roads may be seen twenty feet or more in depth, with vertical sides. During the siege of Vicksburg the people dug themselves bomb-proof shelters in the loess. In Nebraska and Kansas dugouts in the same kind of soil are not or were not uncommon. In America and In Europe its utmost thickness Is 100 or 200 feet but In China It has a development of ten times that much." Traffic in Geese at Berlin. -The aggregate wholesale traffic Ic geese at Berlin amounts annually to nearly $2,080,000. The prudent society belle . tries to make her waist as little as possible. As to the Best Pheop. The breeding of sheep has been carried on for so many years with so much skill and good business judgment, that there is not one breed that is not the best, or that is any better than another, when the same good care and skill are expended on the flock. Just at the present time the Shropshire Is the most popular of all the coarse-wool breeds, in the proportion of five to three of the next in order, which is the Lincoln, then comes the Leicester, Oxford, Hampshire, Cheviot and Southdown.. Every one of these sheep is good and In prominent tests as to their profit as mutton there is not anything to choose between them. Every sheep has been bred by the most skillful English sheep men, and on this side of the ocean our people have successfully maintained the excellence of those sheep which have been Imported. The Shropshire Is mostly chosen to cross on the common sheep, while the Lincoln comes next as a popular sheep for this use. For your locality, perhaps, the Cheviot would be preferable, because Its home is In the hilly country between England and Scotland, and it is hardy and will be easily acclimated. The illustration of It which is given on this page, is life like, and exactly represents the animal as it stands. It gives a fleece of good wool, is a first-class mutton sheep and is extremely hardy. Its mutton is high ly considered, but for mutton solely the Southdown- stands- and -has always stood first of all sheep. It is, however, to be remembered that the quality of mutton Is controlled mostly by the food. The best sheep for any man is that which he will love the most, and so we will do the best for. Montreal Star. A Slnsh Scraper. Where a farmer has a large ditch running through his farm a slush scraper Is indispensable. This one is made from two inch plank, sides five feet long, with one end patterned for the scraper and tapered to make suita ble handles, as shown in cut The scraper box should be four feet- wide, two feet from front to rear of box, and one foot In depth. These dimensions will move almost a half yard of mud at each load, and a team will pull it eas ily. The top and bottom of scraper should be banded with tire Iron, which will make it more rigid and wear bet ter. Any blacksmith can make the blade out if an old drag saw blade or suitable piece of flat steel. This should be bolted and riveted to the box and band irons of box and made quite sharp to cut well. The eyelets shown in il lustration near the blade are to fasten a log chain into. With this scraper one can clean the. slush out of a large ditch and work the team on bank. The length of chain can be regulated to suit the depth of ditch. We used a scraper sim ilar to this last autumn on our farm and found It excellent to clean out slush and also to dress off overhanging banks. Correspondence Ohio Farmer. 8hylng Horses. Horses often have what is called the vice of shying that Is, of starting sud denly at the rustle of a leaf or a piece of paper or at the approach of any ob ject to which they are not accustomed. Clearly this is the remnant of an in stinct inherited from their wild pro genitors In the steppes or prairies, where the sudden 'rustling of a leaf might indicate the presence of a wolf, and where everything that was strange was therefore suspicious. It Is Idle as well as cruel to beat a horse for shying. That only increases his alarm, and may easily reduce him to the state of terror in which he loses his head en tirely. Horses In that state seem to lose not only their heads, but their per ceptive senses, and a horse In that con dition may dash headlong against a stone walL The habit of shying wjien once formed Is difficult to cure, but it may be almost always be prevented by such consistent kindness of treat ment as to overpower the inherited in stinct of instant flight from possible danger In which the habit originates. New Package for Butter. A new use has been found for glass. It consists In packing butter In a box .made of six sheets of ordinary window 'glass, the edges being covered with gummed paper. The closed box Is then enveloped in a layer of plaster of jiaris a fourth of an Inch thick, and It PBIZB CBEVIOT BAH. SLUSH SCRAPES. a w citu wilu u. specnitiy prepareu pa per. As the plaster is a bad conductor of heat says the Scientific American, the temperature inside the hermetically sealed receptacle remains constant, be ing unaffected by external changes. The cost of packing is only about two cents per pound. It Is used to a great extent in Australia. Butter has been sent from Melbourne to Kimberley, In Africa, and the butter was found to be In a perfectly sound condition. Cases are now made which hold as much as 800 pounds of butter. starting Early Potatoes. The plan tested at the Rhode Island stations of sprouting seed potatoes, in trays so that they would be fairly grown, or as large as they usually are at the first hoeing, when they were set in the field, seems to be so simple and to have so increased the yield, as well as given an earlier crop, that we cannot refrain from mentioning It again. In the hope that some of our readers will try it They used trays 3 feet long and 1 feet wide, a convenient size for one man to handle, and holding about a bushel each when they were spread out The sides of the trays were but about an inch high, and the bottom was of laths placed an inch apart Then these were placed on a rack so as to leave eight or nine inches between them, and that placed so as to give each tray air and sunshine above and be low, in a room only moderately warm. Thus they had on each piece a strong, vigorous sprout three or four inches high when ready to set them out and they found that the Increase in yield at the time they were ready for digging or when first fit to sell was 27 per cent over those kept In a cool cellar and planted In the open ground, while when fully mature the gain was 40 per cent, with more large potatoes. A .Good Harrow. I have made a new Innovation In my neighborhood in the shape of a 3-A har row, having fifty-eight -inch teeth, and taking a sweep of nine feet To this I hitch three horses, and can go over thirteen acres a day, putting It in splendid order, as the teeth are laid oil two Inches apart, and counting the TOP VIEW OF HARROW. width of the teeth, no clod over half an inch in diameter can pass through. This is as far ahead of the old few-toothed harrow as the binder is ahead of the cradle. The frame is made of 2x4's, and can be made any width desired. For braces bolt an inch thick plank across from side to side, and then have the blacksmith make from wagons tire a good hook and circular brace. As to draft I find three horses can take this tool as easily as two horses can take a double A harrow, and do three times the amount of pulverizing. J. S. Mor rison, In Practical Farmer. Raise Hoks on the Farm. Every farmer should be a hog raiser: at least to the extent that hog prod ucts can be consumed on the farm. If he can do so, and nearly every one can, he should also raise some pigs for market If his farm is large enough he should by all means grow .and fatten enough hogs to fill a car, and just as soon as they are In marketable condition send them to the packery. On small farms it may not be convenient to raise many more than is necessary for home use. But one or two, or a dozen, or twenty, as the case may be, put in first-class condition and sold to people in the town or country, who will not or do nol raise their own pork will prove profit able. Poultry Notes. Hens will not lay In cold bouses. Arrange for plenty of sunlight In the winter. . Do not place too much dependence In one kind of grain. Keep the late hatched turkeys until February. Comfortable quarters for winter wlU be a saving of feed. To prevent egg eating make the nests high and dark. Old stock of any kind decrease in value as they become older. Those who raise fowls for market must keep young stock. Weight and condition) come from the surplus nutrition in the food. If the chicks begin to droop, examine their heads for the large lice. If the young fowls droop from too rapid feathering, feed some meat With fowls it Is much better to keep the appetite sharp, compelling them to hunt for food. - While sour milk is relished by the hens, it should not take the place of water. Unless soft feed is being given," the trough should never be used for holding food.