Corvallis gazette., April 29, 1902, Image 1

SEMI-WEEKL,Y,
tTKfOW Katab. Jalv. 1897.
GAZETTE Estab. lec. 186.
Consolidated Feb., 1899.
COBVALMS, BENTOK COUNTY, OREGON, TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 1902.
VOIi. III. NO. 1.
1 1IERR STEINHARDT'S NEMESIS
BY J. MACLAREN COBBAN.
CHAPTER IV Continued.
I cannot but confess that the interest
Miss Laoroix thas manifested in what
toncbed me awoke in me sensations, I
may even say vague hopes, of a very
pleasant and consoling .kind. I
dreamed bright dreams that night,
which hung about me during the next
day,. but in the evening tbey were dia
elled somewhat rudely by - a note
from the bishop requesting me to call
upon him, and by a message from the
rector desiring me to call on him.
I went first to the bishop. My in
terview with him was more agreeable
than I had anticipated and I went with
a tolerably light heart to the rector.
He was still in bed. My abort inter
view with him was not pleasant. The
words we exchanged were warm ; but
they do not concern this story except in
their result. He wished, he urged, he
almost ordered roe to cease all recogni
tion in any way of the existence of the
man Freeman ; I refused to give any
pledge to that effect and so I was given
to understand that I would not be
wanted in the parish after the six
months for which I had been at first
engaged.
It was only then when my departure
-from Tim per ley seemed imminent (I
had alrem'y oeen almost four months
in the pi... e) that I began to suspect
' how very much my hopes and affections
bad entangled themselves with the
haunting sadness, the unconscious grace
and. beauty of Miss Lacrcix. What
likelihood was there now, if there ever
'had been any, of a poor curate who had
already done something, to discount
his chances of preferment of my being
more than an agreeable and tolerably
'sympathetic acquaintance of a month
or two, of my hearing her say more
than "so very sorry, indeed, that you
are going," and of thus finding the epi-
otuIa s1 rc-l y "Ki 1 iItaI IKssl at oil rlmra
seemed. And yet so much may happen
in two nhort months. I have to admit
that, even in the midst of serious work
(of writing a sermon, for instance),
vain, wild thoughts would arise in me
of commending myt-elf to the young
lady by some great service by, per
chance, discovering her father, or at
least nnmng out lor certain wnat naci
become of him (although I had vet had
nuru iruiu luu bwu melius nuuiu x
I i-l A l 1 1 T
had asked to make inquiries in Lon
don). But these foolish, fruitless long
ings were soon crowded aside by the
excitement of events.
A strange thing happened which was
a direct result of mv hitherto luckless
adventme with Mr. Freeman. I found
that affair had commended me to the
favorable attention of all types of dis
senters in the village; one mark of this
favor I especially appreciated, as all
clergymen would the increased con
gregations I had at church, on Sunday
evenings particularly.
"I almost regret, for my own sake,
oyu know," Freeman said to me one
day, with a laugh, that I. asked you
to be my chairman at that direful lect
ure. I find you are taking many of my
congregation from me not ail together,
though, I must say that for myself.
But they do their duty by me in the
morning, and then seem to take their
pleasure with you in the evening."
Of those who thus forsook Mr. Free
man I noticed a remarkable group of
working folk, whom he had pointed
out to me as the most closely cohering,
and the most curiously inter-related
congeries of families in the village
(where there is an excess of consinship).
They were steady, stolid, shrewd peo
ple, very comfortably off, yet all of
whom, male and female, worked at the
loom or the chemical vat. My atten
tion was first attracted to them by
their taking up a good seat well for
ward, and refusing to budge when the
butcher's family, who paid for it, came
in, and by their evidently being quite
unused to the order of service in
church. The prayer book was a maze
to them, and the rising up and sitting
down constantly took them by surprise.
The family, I learned, had rigorously
dissented for generations.
At a special flower service (for which
few flowers could be gathered in Tim
perley) they were not in their accus
tomed pe. The church was densely
crowded more crowded, I think, be
cause the fact and the reason of my
6peedy departure from Timperlev had
somehow got abroad. At the end of T
the week, however, (on Iriday night, I
think), a message came to me when I
was in bed, requesting me to visit at
once a man who was dving one of the
sons of this interesting family. I
dressed, and went.
I heard sounds of wailing and lamen
tation from the house before I entered.
I pasted into the kitchen, a clean,
bright room, in which the men of the
family sat smoking in various absorbed
attitudes, oppressed with silence and
sleep. One of the women stooped over
a pan on the fire, while the old mother
in a firm, clear voice, directed her oper
ations. She turned to me, saying
merely:
"He's upstairs. He wants bad to
see yo', but at present he's leet i th
yed," (light in the head).
Upstairs I found the dying man in
the smaller of the two bedrooms for
warmth. That sick room, as it then
appeared to me, will not easily be for
gotten. At that dead hour of the
night, when "the very bouses seemed
sleep," and even the tall chimney of
the chemical works had ceased to emit
its tinted vapors, the gas flared full in
the little room, and six persons, men
and women, were round the bed where
the poor fellow lay in the last extrem
ity of delirioua helplessness, soaked in
perspiration. Near him stood my
friend Freeman. v
I learned in a few words from Free
man that the poor fellow bad been em
ployed for years at the chemical works,
where he bad contracted ulceration of
the lungs; on Sunday night ' he had
stood in the doorway of the crowded
church, had caught cold and had come
home to the bed from which he would
never rise again. .
While be spoke be was seized with a
fit of violent delirium, in which he had
to be restrained from getting out of
bed. Soon he calmed down again into
a more lucid interval. While he lay
speechless, and a neighbor by the bed
kept moistening his dry, cracked lips
with a rag soaked in brandy and water,
he gazed around bin?, and at last fixed
his eyes on me, and essayed to'speak
but no words came. This prostration
and silence continued for some time.
Now and again the head of the family
would ascend from the kitchen (in his
stockings, lest he should make a noise),
and stand in. solemn silence with in
quiring eyes on his son ; he would stand
so still and retired, that his presence
was forgotten till the gulp of a big sob
was heard, and the loose back of his
large waistcoat was seen disappearing
round the door. At length the son
found speech.
"Father," he said, when the old
man was about to withdraw, "bide."
He then signified that all the others
should leave the room except Freeman
and myself. When they were gone he
motioned his father to his pillow. The
old man went.
"Ha'e you summat to say, Dick?" He
nodded. Mun I raise you up?"
He was raised and propped up with
pillows. He asked for a drink, and
was given some whiskey and milk.
"I'm allying mon,".Jie began; "I
know I am." His eyes, glazed -with
disease and want of sleep, turned wildly
about; his head drooped; and his
damp thin fingers (still discolored with
dye) clawed at the bed clothes. He
resumed fixing his eyes on me "I
must confess summat; I hope God'U
forgive me. I had nought totio wi' it;
what for should I? He was aye good
to me. I had nought to do wi't, I tell
you!"
"No, lad," said his father to soothe
him; "thoo hadna." -
"Weel," said he, "dunnotsay I had,
because I hadna. Wasna I on night
shift? That was all. I took Jim's
place; he wanted to go whoam to wife
in bed wi babby. That was it."
He muttered on some other phrases,
while he turned his eyes about as if
lost; bis recollection was wandering.
He resumed with energy, "They came
right in, speaking loud and angry. He
walks up to thing, and lifts lid. 'I
knowed it!' says he. 'But yo' needna
let a' th' world know it! 'says th' other.
'This shannot be!' says he."
The poor fellow .was growing terribly
excited; every word was uttered with
fierce emphasis and wild gesture; his
eyes were fixed on vacancy, and, in my
reflex excitement, I fancied I saw the
interior of the color shed, with its
vague tinted vapors, through which
loomed the figures of two quarreling
men, whom I tremblingly watched in
imagination by the side of this dyed
demon of the vat. The man grew so
excited, and we were so engrossed,. with
his revelation, that he had risen to his
knees in bed before we could prevent
him. He continued hia fierce, dis
jointed utterances.
" 'We mun ha' no more of it!' says
he. He leans lower! Ah. Lord! he
wants to spill it! A h h!"
With a wild leap he was standing up
in bed, and fiercely imitating the action
of a man stooping, and tipping or
throwing some heavy body. We were
so transfixed with" surprise and horror,
that we could not stir a hand to restrain
him. He looked like a weird corpse
suddenly raised from the dead to a
grotesque, galvanic life. What chiefly
seized my attenion was the black
shadow on the wall of this delirious fig
ure thus stooping with his head and
hands outstretched. The incident lasted
but a moment, and then the poor man
fell back on his pillow with distracted
cries.
"Murder! Oh, my God! murder!
An I couldna speak! Say, I couldna!
But I'd nought to do wi't! nought!"
Again he lay exhausted, and nis rel
atives and neighbors came back hur
riedly to his bedside to wail over him.
He looked sadly but calmly- on them,
gasping in the last faint struggle of
nature against dissolution. And so he
died, and the wailing broke out re
doubled. Before Freeman and I left the house
together to go out into the cool summer
morning air, the old man said quietlv
to us "I've seen for long he had sum
mat on his moind, but what he means,
I conna tell; so we'd best ho'd our
tongues, I think."
CHAPTER V. -I
left Freeman at his own door, and
wandered away in search of some spot,
in which distraction and calm might
come. But the search was vain, and X
returned to the village to my lodgings.
The tall himneys had begun to pour
forth their volumes of black smoke to
befoul and bepoison the air. which had
cleared itself somewhat in the night.
When I entered the village its pave
ments resounded with the clatter of
clogs: the daily contingent of toil,
which almost emptied the village of
men and women, yonng and old, was
drowsily marching out to its various
stations. - The men and lads on their
way to Lacroix and Steinhardt's Chem
ical Works attracted most of my atten
tion. Ihey were oHfearful and won
derful aspect; tbey were of brilliant
colors, curiously blent, or were wholry
blue or green, or a fine Mephistolean
red; tbey were, indeed, quite 'subdued
to what they work in" dyed even to
the roots of beard and eyebrows. As
I looked, I wondered whether the con
stant wearing of this engrained war
paint were not of itself enough to keep
ever alive in these men,' peaceful aa
they looked, fierce passions, which in
other men usually slumbered. An
outbreak of savage nature among them in
the inephitic vapor inwhich they worked
might be no very unusual thing: was it
some each outbreak, ending in a fearful
death for one of them, of which the dead
man lying in that house, with the
white blinds drawn, had been a terror
stricken witness? Or had his confes
sion been merely the raving of delirium?
delirium, which seemed in some
measure to have been communicated to
me, tired as I was with the excitement,
and with want of sleep.
When I reached my lodgings, I went
to bed, and slept for some hours. I
awoke more myself, disposed to take a
clearer and soberer view of things
Over my late breakfast I resolved what
I would do. I, for my. part, would say
nothing of the confession heard in the
night, until I could be scire it had some
'foundation in faot. This I would that
morningtry to discover in the village.
I knew that any of the shopkeepers
would be only too ready to welcome a
gossip ; for except at meal times, and
in the evening, the village is nearly
empty of customers..
I found the draper, a little middle
aged man, who bore the evidences of
hard work in the mills from his earliest
youth. He was the very man 1
would have chosen for my purpose ; he
had a feminine fondness for gossip, and
he knew the affairs of every one in the
village, and all that had happened for
a generation or two. I had no diffi
culty in arriving quickly at the end I
had in view. He already knew that I
had been called up in the nigh.t to visit
the dying victim of applied chemistry,
and that Freeman and I had been with
him till he end. -
"Very delirious," said the draper,
"I hear say he was jabbered and ram
bled away about a' kinds o' stuff, and
then slumered (slumbered) off again,
I suppose? Yea; that's the way they
do. Eh, deal!- It's a bad business for
the wife and the family."
"Are diseases like his," I asked,
"often got at the chemical works?"
"Nay," said he, "I think not; the
smells seem to agree wi' most folk
pretty weel."
"But the work is very dangerous,
is it not? Don't accidents often hap
pen?" "Yea; it is risky. When they work
ower the vats, and the retorts, and
things, they mun tie up their, mouths
and noses wi' a clout, and even'wi''
that they may sometimes get choked
and overcome dwalmlike all at wonst
wi' - th' smell, or sommat, and then
they're a goner."
"Accidents often happen, then?''
"Weel, mon, they do and they don't.
Mates, you see, are aye at hand. The
lads often get an eye burnt, but they
don't reckon much -to that. See:
there's a lad ower there by th beer
shop door." . -
I looked and saw a sturdy fellow all
red, with a white handkerchief tied
round his head under his cap.
' He a been two or three times like
that wi' his eye burnt.- Oh, yea; it's
risky ; but we dont' often ha' a grit ac
cident. The worst I remember was a
lad on th' night shift that fell in and
was smothered ; he was found in thing
next morning. That was a bad busi
ness; a' th" hair was oft, an th' skin
and flesh was but it mak's you feel
queer; yea, can see it do. It was a
bad business."
"Very horrib'e," said I, while my
heart thumped almost audibly. "How
long was that ago?" .
"Let me see. It's a matter, I do be
lieve, o' 15 year ago."
"I hope," said I, "a death of that
sort don't often occur." -
"Nay; or our folk, quiet as they are
most 1 ins, might pull the ' whole men
agerie down."
I was surprised to see the vindictive
glitter that passed from the little man's
eyes.
"Has there really," I asked with
some constraint, "been any other death
like that since the one vou mention?"
"Nay; I conna remember one."
(To ba continned)
Solving. It.
Patrick, a thrifty tradesman in the
neighborhood of the Dublin docks, was,
the story goes in Tit-Bits, a man who
never spent a penny more than he
needed to spend ; tut he was, neverthe
less, as good a man at the making of
an Irish bull as any who lived between
Bantry and Ballycastle. .
- Having one day occasion to send a
letter to a place at some distar.es Pat
rick called a messenger and asked him
his price for going such a distance. '
"It'll be a shillin," eaid the man.
"Twice too much!" Eaid Patrick.
Let it be sixpence."
"Nivver, anwsered the messenger.
The way is that lonely that I'd nivver
go it under a shillin'."
"Lonely, is it?" said Patrick, scratch
ing his head. "Faith, an' ye're roight.
Now, man, I'll tell ye what we'll do;
make it sixpence, and I'll go wid ye to
kape ye company!"
Organized Agnosticism.
According to the plans of the trustees
of "the Church of this World" of Kan
sas City, J. E. Roberts, its pastor, is to
be at its head and to assume the mantle
of Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll. The
local church is to be expanded, and Mr.
Roberts ia to be sent all over the
United States to organize agnostic
churches.
Oh, Soph!
Mrs. Browne I didn't know your
son was at college. f
Mrs. Malapropos Oh, yes; he's been i
there two years.. He's in the sycamore
class qow. -
:.- A Proper Art
Every girl should be taught to darn,
; with all the dainty stitches of the art.
There should be Instilled into her a
sense of the disgrace of wearing a
j stocking with even a broken thread.
while a aarn wen put ia nas a nome
like, respectable look that In no way
deteriorates from the value of a good
stocking. Darning is a lady's occupa
tion, akin to embroidery In deftness
and gentleness of touch. It requires
skill and judgment to select the thread.
which should be but a trifle coarser
than the web of the stocking, or, in
case of -cloth, than the thread .of the
goods. Where a cloth may be easily
raveled, it is better to darn it with the
ravelings, unless it is in a place where
more than ordinary strain comes on the
goods. Thick cloth should be darned
between the layers, and, when done by
& skillful band and well pressed, the
work becomes practically invisible. A
darning case, fitted out with a pretty
olive-wood egg to hold under the stock
ing, a long, narrow cushion of darning
needles, eards of various colored wools
and cottons, and all the necessities for
the complete outfit of a darner, is a use
ful present for a girl, and one1 that she
should be instructed to use faithfully.
Central Presbyterian.
The Story of Willie Wouldn't Mind.
This is Willie Wouldn't Mind,
See him' hanging on behind
That big wagon passing by;
Hoy they fly! .;
Look! the wagon gives a bump,
And big boxes fall, thump, thump
On poor Willie'a curly head:
Ts he dead?
Wrell, a doctor going by
Took poor Willie home to die;
And his parents cry and cry!'
My! oh! my!
Cincinnati Enquirer.
Donald's Vacation.
'-'.Donald! Donald! Donald!" Mrs.
Turner stood In the hall a moment, and
then, with a queer little smile on her
face, turned and went out on the side
veranda. A white-bearded, jolly-faced
old man looked up expectantly as she
came out. They talked a few minutes
in low tones.
"I expect you're right." the old man
said. "He probably needs the lesson."
The., smile gone from his face, he took
up the lines and drove the fat white
horse out of the yard.
Mrs. Turner went back to her baking.
Upstairs in his bedroom Donald -was
making a kite. It was the first day of
the Easter vacation, and he intended
to have it ready should he want to fly
it. He bad just finished the frame
when he heard bis mother's first call.
"She just wants me to- bring in an
armful of wood," he said to himself.
"Sarah can do itjust as well's not.
'Sides, I've got to keep at it if I ever
get it done. Shouldn't wonder If the
wind'd come up so's we fellows can fly
'em this afternoon," and he spread out
the stiff paper and prepared to cut it
out. - -
Donald had got Into a bad habit of
not starting as soon as he was told to
do a thing, and sometimes of not an
swering when- called, but he was not
disturbed again.
An hour later he went downstairs af
ter a drink of water.
"I am sorry you didn't hear me call.
Donald," said his mother. "Grandpa
was here, and wanted yon to go out to
Uncle Charlie's with him to stay the
rest of the week. Uncle Charlie tapped
his sugar bush Saturday, and he
thought you would enjoy spending
your whole vacation out on the farm."
"O, mamma, why didn't you call "
and then he stopped. He remembered.
She had called. "I didn't s'pose you
wanted anything much!" he wailed.
"Oh. oh, oh!"
That night Mamma Turner had a
long talk with him, Jbut nevertheless it
was a very sorry faced little boy who
got up Tuesday morning. ' .
Wednesday morning Mamma Turner
told him he must not let his mistake
spoil his whole week's vacation, and
finally he went off upstairs to finish the
kite. He had worked half an hour,
perhaps, when he heard his mother in
the ball below.
"Donald r she cried.
Donald waited no second call. His
lesson had been bitter, and now he
started at once. .-7
"What is it, mammar he asked
from over the banisters.
"Grandpa is here," said Mamma Tur
ner. "He had to come in for new buck
ets, and he would like to know if you
care " but Donald waited no longer.
He. was downstairs and out on the
porch in a twinkling.
"Here, young man, get your .rubber
boots and your bid clothes." said grand
pa, laughing. "We want a hired man
about your size to help in the sugar
bush that is, if bis hearing is good,"
he added, his eyes twinkling; and
mamma assured him that Donald's had
improved since Monday. Youth's Com
panion: Mosquitoes Hear Sound.
Major Ronald Ross.writes to the Brit
ish Medical Journal that he has recent
ly received a communication from Mr.
Brennan of the public works depart
ment. Jamaica, containing the follow
ing observation: "You will pardon, me
for drawing your attention to the fact.
If you have not already noticed it, that
"the mosquitoes (I do not know if every
variety) will respond to such sounds as
a continuous whoop or hum.' I have
tried the experience lately, and find
swarms gather round my head when I
make a continuous whoop. There may
be, however, some . particular note or
pitch that would be more attractive to
them."
: Laughing Plants.
Have you ever heard of the laughing
plant? It gets its name from the in
toxicating property oT its seed. It grows
in Arabia, a busb of moderate size
with yellow flowers, each producing a
pod of black beans, which are ground
and the powder taken. Its effect is
that of "laughing gas," causing the
very soberest man to caper, laugh and
shout for nearly an hour until he is
thoroughly exhausted and falls asleep.
On awaking he seems to have no rec
ollection of his previous antics. This
frivolous plant has not yet been classi
fied by botanists.
LARGEST OF PEACH FARMS.
Located in Missouri, It Produces Thou
sands of Bushels Annually..
To be convinced that "Peach King"
McNair deserves the title one need only
visit his great farm at St. Elmo, Mo.,
and. take.a look atjhe preparations that
have been made to handle the peach
crop. New buildings hare been erect
ed, tents put up and packing 'sheds
built all over the vast orchards. At St
Elmo, two miles below Koshkonong,
the headquarters of Mr. McNair have
been established. This is right in the
center of his immense orchard of 1,900
acres, all planted In peaches. To han
dle the fruit Mr. McNair will need
about 800 bands, and he will pay 7
cents per hour for men and 6 cents an
hour for women, with their meals and
lodgings thrown in. Superintendents
and "foremen will receive more pay;
About fifty expert packers will be im
ported and they will see that- the
peaches are properly packed.
A large tent around which numerous
small tents are pitched will be the
quarters for the women.. A barbed wire
fence sixteen feet high, with the wires
only a few inches apart, has been erect
ed around the women's headquarters.
Mr. McNair certainly isn't going to al
low any love-making around his camp.
The men will be quartered in the bar
racks which were used last year and
which have been enlarged. Bunks
several tiers high have been put in the
barracks in order that the men can be
accommodated. A big tent with several
long tables placed Inside will be used
as an eating-bouse. Every seat at each
table will be numbered, and the men
and women will each have a number,
so that they can find their respective
places at the tables. Thirty cooks will
provide the food necessary for this
large army of fruit handlers.
Exactly seventy-five double-decked
wagons have been provided for hauling
the fruit from the trees to the packing
house at St Elmo. Ten thousand pick
ing baskets are already at the farm, to
gether with material .enough for 200
cars of peaches. Mr. McNair has
bought most all of the peach crop in
Koshkonong. He expects to ship from
ten to twenty cars of fruit each day
until the season is over.
Worthy of the Best;
- A story Is told of one of the old-time
pillars of a New England church who
held out firmly for a long time against
the innovation of an organ, but when
he finally yielded did so without re
serve. From violent opposition he be
came the most strenuous of all the con
gregation as to the fineness of the in
strument to be purchased.
"Seems to me you aren't consistent,"
said one economical brother, reproach
fully. "Here a month ago you couldn't
speak harsh enough about organs, and
now yon go to advocating extra expense
in getting the best that's to be had."
"See here," said the deacon, grimly,
"if we're going to worship the Lord by
machinery, I don't want to putter
'round with any second-rate running
gear." Youth's Companion.
Financial Plans.
Osmond You always pay as yon go,
don't you?
Desmond No, indeed; I pay as other
people . come after me. Detroit Free
Press. .
' Never tell a man that be has made
a fool of himself. If he knows it he
will get-angry and be will get angry
also If be doesn't know it.
Growing Sngar Beets.
The reports of the United States De
partment of Agriculture Indicate that
in the States of California, Colorado,
Nebraska and Michigan the sugar beets
can be grown of such quality that they
can be nsed profitably for sugar-making,
if they can be bought cheaply
enough. This also Is true of some sec
tions of New York, and a few tests lead
them to believe that they also can be
grown in Utah. Idaho and Oregon, with
a percentage of sugar high enough to
warrant sugar being made from them.
But several hundred samples tested
from Iowa showed that the sugar con
tent fell just short of the average stand
ard fixed for successful manufacture.
Of Illinois and Indiana beets the re
port says, "both the contents of sugar
and co-efficient 'of purity were below
the standard." Of Kansas it is reported
that "the climate is not suitable .for
growing high-grade beets." In Okla
homa the conditions are not called fa
vorable, and the chemists report that,
on the whole, Ohio is not adapted to
growing sugar beets. The department
tries to make as favorable report as
possible for the new industry, but it has
nothing to say- about the profit or loss
to the farmers, who cannot average fif
teen tons to the acre, and must cart
them or pay transportation to the fac
tory at a price of $4 per ton. . In this
State it would be hard to get a man to
load them, carry them five miles and
unload them for much less than that
after they were grown and" harvested.
A Corn Marker.
The cut, from the Ohio Farmer, shows
a five-row corn marker. The runners
are 1 or 2 feet long, six inches wide
and two inches thick. They are placed
A FIVE-ROW COKST MASKER.
as far apart as you want your rows and
two three-inch boards (A) nailed on top.
D is a handle.
The driver walks in the last mark
previously made and holds the handle
in one hand. There should be such a
handle on each side of the marker. Use
one horse and attach ajrope or wire
from each outside runner to the traces.
Corn Planting.
Many of the tests at experiment sta
tions, have shown better yields from
planting moderately early, rather than
very early; from planting a larger num
ber or kernels per acre than most good
farmers think advisable; from planting
small growing varieties In rows closer
together than is best for large varie
ties; from giving shallow and level cul
tivation rather than deep and ridged
cultivation; from planting rather shal
low early and deeper in late planting.
Other trials have seemed to show that
very frequent cultivation does not re
pay its cost; that it is Important to cul
tivate as soon as may be after rains;
that deep cultivation while the stalks
are small may be helpful, if followed
by shallow culture, says the agricul
tural column of the Hartford Times. It
also adds that the farmer will be bet
ter satisfied lfhe tries some experi
ments of this kind himself, and tries
them more than one season, that he
may be sure that the change in method
and not the season has changed results.
With all of which we agree.
Using Improved Tools.
There Is no more reason why a farm
er should hope to work advantageously
with half-worn or cumbersome tooU
than the mechanic, and yet few of them
feel that they can afford the more mod
ern tools This Is' short-sighted econ
omy, and particularly so in the case-of
the heavier implements, which save so
much hard labor. One of the tools that
should be on every farm where consid
erable manure is handled is the manure
spreader. By. the use of .the manure
spreader the heavy work of hand
spreading Is not only avoided, but the
spreader breaks up the manure and dis
tributes It evenly and In such form that
It benefits the soil equally wherever it
falls. -There are no heavy lumps here
and there and scant supplies in other
places, as with hand-spreading.
Water on the Farm.
Drinking water on farms is given but
little consideration as to its purity
when it is derived from springs, but
many farms are supplied with water
from open wells, and its purity In such
cases depends largely upon the mode
of protecting the well and the surround
ings. Wells being deeper than ditches
or drains, and the tendency of water
being downward, much soluble matter
gets Into the well that is unknown to
the farmer. The water may appear
clear and pure, be free of odor.' and yet
contain impurities. Farmers who do not
consider the matter have no concep
tion of the many sources from which
their drinking water is obtained. It
comes from the clouds, of course, but it
does not tall Into the well only reach
ing It after passing through the surface
soil and dissolving the impurities. 'Be
cause the water passes through andt
ts not filtered of the soluble matter. It
salt Is dissolved in water the. salt is not
removed by filtering, as the dissolved
salt will go with the water to the low
est place. If the well Is open there may
be toads and Insects in the water,
which drown and decompose. The wells
should be covered and the surroundings
kept clean, with good drainage In all
directions. Driven wells are better than
those that are open, and should be used
in preference. Philadelphia Record. -
Seeding with Clover. -
When clover is sown early In the
spring on the crop of wheat or other
winter grain,' It may cost nothing but
the price, of the seed, which is '. not
much, whether ten or fifteen pounds Is
used to the acre, and the labor of sow
ing, yet we would prefer to Increase its
cost by going overthe wheat with a
light or smoothing barrow before sow
ing the clover seed, says the New Eng
land Farmer. This will benefit wheat
or rye if done at the right time, when
the ground is not wet enough to cause
the harrow to sink too deep and uproot
the plants. This makes a good seed
bed for the clover, and in a day or two
after the first rain the little plants will
be sending their roots down into the
soil.
Selecting Varieties.
If your strawberry market pays high
prices for early fruit, large, highly col
ored and attractively packed, it would
be foolish for one to-ralse mainly the
mid-season sorts and market them un
attractively. If potatoes bring good
prices and cabbages are a drug, don't
rafSe cabbages. If white eggs are want
ed, don't keep fowls that lay brown
eggs, and vice versa. On the other
hand, .if the best market Is for the car
cass, keep Plymouth Rocks for this
trade and use the brown eggs at home
if they cannot be sold for a fair price.
In short, all along the line, raise what
the market demands and do not try to
educate the public to some article it
does not want, simply because it seems
the best article to you.
Renovated Butter.
Renovated butter Is sever il degrees
worse than oleomargarine, in our opin
ion, which is based on actual knowledge
of the processes by which the twif-are
made. We have said and repeat that
between the two frauds we greatly pre
fer oleomargarine because it cannot
possibly be made of more uncleanly
materials, than are used in making
process butter, and very often is made
In a cleanly manner from materials
that, In themselves, are not unwhole-.
some.
The extent to which renovated butter
has influenced the markets of the coun
try is not fully appreciated or there
would have been a stronger demand for
its regulation long before this. Dairy
and Creamery.
Hay and Corn Fodder.
Reports from the Western States now
seem to Indicate a larger acreage of
corn planted this year, and possibly
more of the meadows broken. up and
put in the corn crop, but as these will
probably be those which yield the least
hay, the Increased use of the corn
shredder may make hay more abundant
in our market another winter. If: the
season Is at all favorable. When all
the corn-growing sections save and
shred their fodder, or put It into silos,
they can either keep more stock or sell
more hay. As the market is now, the
fodder would -seem most profitable Jf
stockers and feeders do not cost too
much. American Cultivator.
For Rollins Small Seed.
No garden is complete without .'a
roller for hand use. Small seeds come
up better if rolled after planting. A
nail keg may be fit
ted with an axle
from an ' old fence
rod or piece of old
shafting and attach
ed to the handle of
a push-cart, or the hancHe may be
quickly made to order. Stones inside
Farm and Home.
Farm Notes.
Nothing cures a dog that kills sheep
so quick as a shotgun.
Plenty of clover will go a long way
toward making a farm profitable. :,
A cow that is well cared for is a
source of comfort and profit to her
owner.
Bee-keepers should develop a home
market rather than send their products
to a city market.
In these days of close competition
every farmer must give the closest at
tention to every detail.
There Is no longer any profit in mak
ing butter that cannot be classed
among the best grades.
The man who owns ten or more
cows and is -without a separator Is
standing in bis own light.
It's poor policy to compel animals to
di ink water that tiie farmer would not
think of touching himself. .. t
When in the natural state "poultry
Mve on seeds, grass and insects. Try
to follow this as nearly as possible
when feeding them.
Many a failure In the vegetable gar
den is caused by poor seed. Purchase
whatever seed you may require from
reliable dealers only. .. . t
The farmers who are successful .are
those who never lose sight of the fact
that the farm is a home; that evefyi
thing done toward beautifying and im
proving the place Is enhancing;, its
value.
Plant a grape vine wherever a' place
can be found for one. Grapes 'catfbe"
bad in abundance, and the .Tinisttae
but little room If they are planted
where they- will not be in the way of
anything else.