CHAPTER XV. I
Mr. Montgomery wa particularly food
of telling stories of his own adventures.
He was never known, however, at such
times to give any clue to his family or
connections. All the stories were con
fined to his vagabond days. He never
allowed any person to interrupt his nar
ratives by remarks; any such must be
recerved nntil they were concluded.
"Of all the vagabond specs I ever
launched into, none ever brought me in
so much cash as the mesmerism dodge,"
he began.
I started at those words, aud from
that moment became an eager and at
tentive listener.
"When X first started In it, I thoueht
It was all humbug. I got hold of a sharp,
clever girl, -who pretended to mesmerize
the accomplices I carried about with me.
Well, one .fin morning, this girl bolted
off with one of the accomplices, and I
was left in the lurch, with my bills out,
announcing a performance for the text
night 1 walked gloomily about the
town. Turning down a back street, 1
went into a public house. There was
only one other person in the room besides
myself a sottish looking fellow, who
bore upon him the unmistakable marks
of a follower of St. Crispin. He was in
clined to be talkative. At first I was
too moody to bestow upon "nlm any reply.
But he-was not to .be snubbed; and, at
last, the low cunning, and coarse, hu
morous shrewdness- of his remarks, be
gan to amuse me. He invited me home
to dinner with him. I accepted his lu-
vitation.
: "He lived In a squalid court, a hid
eous looking place, and the home he led
me Into , was In keeping with its sur
roundings. I began to wish myself out
of the adventnre; with all my love of
vagabondism, this was a little beyond
me. Crouching over a handful of fire
was a girl about thirteen or fourteen
years of age, with fiery red hair and a
pale, sullen face, every bone of her thin.
angular body showing through th rag-
' ged, scanty clothing that barely covered
hre. She rose from her seat with a
scowling look, of disdain, which changed
to one of astonishment at the sight of
a well-dressed stranger. She fixed her
eves "upon me with an inquiring stare..
There was something in those eyes that
strangely affected me.
"Her father ordered her about with
' threats, and would have used blows.
believe, had I not been there. The girl
. regarded him much in the manner of a
raged tigress, who would like to fasten
upon her keeper, but dare not. I kept
watching her as she moved about, and
suddenly a strange idea struck me. Could
I get this girl to play the clairvoyant the
next night? I at once put it to her
father. Seizing upon the dilemma in
which I was placed, and which I had
somewhat incautiously laid bare to him,
lie tried to drive an extortionate bargain.
While we were speaking, the girl stop
ped her work, and leaning over the back
of a chair facing us, listened eagerly to
my proposition, v.
"Do you think you can do it?"' I said,
turning to her.
v can. do anything that you show me
and teach me," she answered confidently.
"The night came, and when she was
clean, her hair dressed and she was
clothed is the black velvet dress that I
carried about with me, she had a for
more sybilUne appearance than her pred
ecessor. I had drilled her well Into her
task, at which I found her wonderfully
apt; and, although I anticipated a few
blunders, I had every hope of success.
"Although she' had never faced an au
dience before, and we had a large. one
that night, she was as fearless and self
possessed as though she had been used
to it for years.. .
"One Of . the principal points of the
performance was to select a man from
the crowd, bring him on to the platform,
put him into a mesmeric sleep, and then
cause him to answer any questions that
the clairvoyant might choose to put to
him; added to which, he was made to
promise to do certain things when, he
awoke. Hitherto we had used an ac
complice for the purpose. Whether she
was confused by the sight of so many
faces, or deceived by a resemblance, J
do not know, but what was my dismay
to see her select an entire stranger for
the experiment! In sheer desperation, I
tried to cover the blunder by saying that
the party selected was not a fit sub
ject, from a certain similarity in the
color of the hair and eyes to those of
the girl. The audience grew suspicious,
and insisted that there should be no
change.
"With, the perspiration starting from
every pore, I waited for what I firmly
believed would be an ignominious expos
ure. Conceive my astonishment, then,
when, after being submitted to .the mes
meric influence of her eyes for three
minutes,. I saw him grow rigid, his eyes
fixed, and his whole body drawn irresist
ibly towards her, just as I had so often
seen feigned by my assistants. Not only
that, but he answered every question put
. to him, some of a very- awkward nature,
with the air -of a man. irresistibly com-
pelled against his will. She then de-
- aired that as soon as she should take the
influence off him, he should go to the
chandelier in the middle of the room,
and burn his hat.. And he did do it; and
I had to buy him a new one; but what
did I care for that? I had discovered
a fortune! ,
At last, I was half -inclined to belitve
that she had planted some friend of her
own to humbug me, and raise the terms;
but I was soon convinced that such sus
' picions were groundless: and, indeed.
from the first, the whole thing was too
real to be doubted. tv :
Everywhere our success was enormous
crowded houses, no more accomDllces.
all genuine,; except the clairvoyance, in
which there was still a good . deal of
humbug; 'but that humbug she and
could manage together without other as
sistance than that of a pianist
-. Never was such a change seen as I
wrought in less than a week in both
father and daughter. A good suit of
clothes gave him quite an air of respec
tability, and taken away from old asso
ciations, he became comparatively re
formed in his habits. In the girt, the
change was still more remarkable. No
one could possibly have recognized in
the neatly dressed, scrupulously clean
SigDora Zenobia the ragged, slovenly Ju
dith Stokes of a few days back. For my
part, I stood in awe of those terrible
eyes, and she grew as proud and haugh
ty as a duchess.-
"For two years we traveled the coun
try pretty comfortably together, and dur
ing all that time Judith scarcely ever
made a failure. In the meantime, old
Stokes was growing discontented he
considered that he was too much kept
In the background. The strangest thing
of all was that he took to religious
books, and to attending the . meeting
nouses. By and by he ased to disap
pear regularly every Sunday for the
whole day. At last I discovered his se
cret He would go a few miles away
from the town where we were exhibit
ing, and do a little open-air preaching
to the rustics. Things were becoming
very unsatisfactory; even the girl seem
ed getting weary of her work, and I waa
beginning to think that it would be bet
ter to turn the whole affair up and start
something elsethan to put up with the
airs of people whom I had picked out
of the gutter, when my thought waa an
ticipated sooner than I counted upon.
"We were exhibiting at Spalding one
night to a very bad house, and just as
Judith was in the middle of her perform
ance a young fellow waa upon the plat
form, answering questions in the mes
meric sleep two or three swells strolled
into the front seats. They were highly
amused at the manner la which the fel
low seemed compelled to answer all kinds
of absurd questions; evidently regarding
the whole thing, however, as a sell A
soon as the yokel was dismissed, one
of the party, in spite of the remon
strances of his companions, rose from his
scat, and bounding upon the platf'irm,
expressed a wish to be mesmerized. The
event caused a great commotion in the
room,' as he and his companions were
known to be gentlemen of position. At
the first glance . Judith could perceive
that he was one of those strong-willed
beings over whom she could exercise no
influence. She declined. . He insisted,
and declared' the whole' thing was a
swindle. The people began to hiss, not
him, but us.
' taker, had not arrived. I knocked
Judith's dressing room door. ; She'
I not there.- In an instant it darted upon
I my mind that I , waa sold-r-that : tiiay
had bolted!
"I went off to the hotel. My suspi
cions were verified; ' They had left, bag
and baggage, immediately after 1 bad
gone out I went to the station, and
found they had booked for Peterborough;
but there all traces ceased, and from
that time to this I have never heard of
them. It will be warm for them if ever
I do, for they completely broke me up
after saving them from starvation,
too! '. .-. .-
"Mr. Rodwell that was the swell's
nam and his friends disappeared at
the same time. Then I discovered that
they were strangers' in
.... i
the harness Is on, but suppose a buyer
comes to look at the colts on the hal
ter, what do they look like beside
those with full manes? Breeders' Ga
zette.! I ,-: -
A Fine Table Fowl.
For some years the old iOnglish game
fowl of England has been coming to
the front We see much in print about
the town had I1 revival of the old English game.
only come down for the shooting season. Thlf fowl occupies a foremost place
The only person who could nave gneniae taDie poultry, xney are mosi aen-
me any information the landlord of the cute and fine flavored fowls, a well-
hotel where -they put up had received known fact to those who have feasted
his caution, and pretended to know on what we call pit same. In fact, It
nothing. is gald that they outrank the pheas-
But the strangest bit of the whole ants in delicacy when served on the
story is yet to come. This very night table. Thev irrow vpit fast and are
just as I was going down to the prompt always plump and ready for the spit
wing, ourmg we uu "Vi "" any time after they are six weeks old.
uT. to'Tentce." Hi.Tace.c"k JCl
in aTEstanTa. being familiar; but bb" redsv dackwings.
th. mnmnt I hoard his voice all doubts hlne reds, piles, black, white and span-
vanished, lfs some years since we met K,es- the most popular. As
and he was not more than two or three snown Dy the Illustration, these fowls
and twenty at the time; but I recognized are beautifully built and free from
Mr. Rodwell in a moment We had a the long shanks of our standard games.
little private chat together, and he slip-
oed a couple of sovereigns into my hand;
but I couldn't get anything out of him
about the Stokeses. He pretended to
know nothing of their disappearance that
night and never to have seen them since,
which I know to be a lie. However, I
feel a little curious to know who my
gentleman himself may be, so I set
young Jack Brindle, the call boy, to I
watch him, and I warrant he won't los-
sight Of him."
CHAPTER XVI.
It may be imagined with what breath
less interest I listened to Mr. Mont
gomery's story, for it is almost needless
to remark that in Judith Stokes ana her
father I recognized the Rev. Mr. Porter
and his daughter. The events related They have full, plump breasts . and
could not have occurred very long before longer bodies than our exhibition
I was sent as a little child to Taber- games. In fact, they are the same as
nacl House. But this early connection our pit games, only they are bred to
To Prevent 8 m nt la Wheat.
Wheat should not be sowed without
being first treated if it has any indica
tions of having been exposed to- smut
The trouble can be obviated by dip
ping the seed wheat In a solution; that
is sure to prove effective. Smut Is car
ried over from year to year on the
seed wheat The mode of treatment
as follows: Dissolve one pound of
copper sulphate in twenty-four gal
lons of water. Soak the- seed in this
solution for twelve hours,, after which
it should be drained off. Then the
seed should be soaked for ten minutes
in lime water made by slaking one
ponnd of lime in ten gallons of water.
The seed should then be dried: as soon
as possible. Care should then be taken
that the seed wheat is not eaten by
chickens or other stock, as the sulphate
Is a deadly poison. It is the experi
ence of farmers that land that bore
smutty wheat the previous year will
not bear smutty wheat if the seed is
properly treated, the smut spores in the
ground having been all killed, by the
cold weather. '
OLD ENGLISH! QAHE8 SPANGLED.
exhibition form, and color and not for
the pit Country Gentleman.
of Judith with Mr. Rodwell was some
what puzzling, for I had never Been
him come to the house farther back than
.... . t l . T I,
aoout eignteen monins ueiore i ien u. . Cnre for the Bo; Evil.
Once, while tte narration was proceed- Tfle Rura, New Yorker says: The
2 i VrLld only cure for the dog evil is a law re-
Identity of "Bill" Stokes with my late QieT the owner of one male dog to
master; but for various and obvious rea- Pay a small sum for a metal tag, with
sons I decided in the negative. the name and address of the owner
But another was not so reticent. At and the date, placing a practically pro-
the mention of the red hair and the hibltory tax on additional dogs and
your friend there,'- said Judith, point- strange eyes of the girl, T saw Josiah's female dogs, making It the duty of the
ing to the dark-eyed, weak-looking young face assume an expression of more live- proper officers to- kill all dogs not tag
man who had accompanied him. . ly interest which gradually increased as ge When a dog is- killed while wor-
ne uLjecieu; dui nis companion cnea i tne narrator yroceeueu uu uracnoe j .t !!,. ..i-,!,
out, 'But you all. Jaet No. hang it! Stokes' love of open air preaching. He
fair play for Zenobia! We hare called
her an impostor, and we will give her a
chance.
"He jumped down off the platform,
and whispered to 'Jack,' as he called
him, but not in so low a tone but what
I could catch the words, 'Go up don't
be a fool; she can ne more mesmerize
you than she can me. - It is only a put
off, thinking the challenge won't b ac
cepted. -
Very , reluctantly the young man
mounted the platform and took the chair
indicated by Zenobia, very much to th
delight of his friends, who clapped their
hands, shouted 'Bravo! and laughed up
roariously.
"Judith, who always had the tamper
of a fiend, was boiling with passion at
the ridicule cast upon her; but her rage
was manifested by no word or sign, only
dared not hazard a remark until the I .u. va
atnrv was ended, as Mr. Montgomery's er recourse coma i nsa xor uum
wrath was a thing not to be disregard- ages done. A law something like this
ed. "But the instant the last words were I was on the- statute books of Indiana
spoken, Jusiah burst out: I several years, ago and worked well;
'I'll forfeit my life, Professor-, if I the revenues from that source were
don't know where to lay my hands upon trebled, and the dog population de-
hlm this moment! creased two-thirds, hnt for same rea-
"What! BiU Stokes and hi daugh- ,t oa .. . m.
terr
"The very same. Is he a man with
stubby black hair, a large mouth, nose
twisted on one side, and crooked legsr
"That's the man."
"Then it is no other than Old Snuffles
that Silas has just bolted from.' I rec
ognised him in a minute didn't you,
Silas r
I was now compelled to- confess that
I did; but much against my will, as I
foresaw that this discovery would bring
of farmers could be induced to put a
small flock e-f sheep on their farms
sentiment would soon be molded to
back, such a law. Now the dog owners
are in the majority . and ; sentiment
trends the other way. The- same com
plaint may be made In most sections
of the country.
Practical 8heep Barn.
The plan shown is intended for
haan Fifa-vn lHsiu rvVt If vtrnnM n tiawrstas
by her livid face, and by those awful I to light all that I so ardently desired to ,, W"J, - - . . ,
-v.. that iMri f, .11 tk. wrM nir. ken roneesied. V equally well for cattle, and is arranged
some brilliant metallic surface, upon
which a strong light was shining. She
cast one disdainful .glance round ' the
room, which had the effect of partly sub
duing the uproar, and set herself to her
task.
"In two minutes he was as rigid as a
corpse and as helpless as a child. The
expression of her eyes was something
fearful; the whole audience, including
even his companions, : were hushed h-to
silence; even I shuddered as I looked at
her. She nsed her power mercilessly,
asking him questions of the most sacred
nature, to all of which he replied undis
guisedly. The moment her eyes were
off him, the young fellow fell down in
strong convulsions.
"There, was an awful consternation in
the room. People rushed upon the plat
form to tendjr their assistance. Judith
stood aloof, leaning upon the piano,
gloating malignantly over her work.
Well, as soon as he recovered, they put
him into a cab and sent him home, one of
his companions accompanying. But tte
challenger, who had caused" the commo
tion, remained behind until all the peo
ple were dispersed, and then walked
home to our hotel with us. - He not only
confessed that no blame could be attach
ed to the young lady for what had oc
curred, bnt very handsomely apologized
for his rudeness in doubting her power.
He came into our private room and
supped with us. He was remarkably
curious about mesmerism, and asked us
an infinity of questions concerning its
powers and effects. It struck me that
he had some motive underneath these in
terrogations beyond mere idle curiosity.
for 'he seemed to ponder over our an
swers and revolve them in his mind.
Well, of course the sensation in the
town was something marvelous. For a
week we turned crowds away from the
doors nightly. Strange to say, the young
man who ,had caused the sensation came
every night, and ; persisted in desiring
to be again mesmerized, . although he
still looked shaken and pale from the ef
fects of the first experiment. This, how
ever, I would not permit Judith seemed
to have acquired some strange fasci
nation over him; he followed her like
a shadow. But she would scarcely deign
to look noon him; she seemed always to
feel a great contempt for those who were
amenable to the mesmeric influence. ; To
ouf other' friend, her behavior was very
different' He came pretty often to the
hotel, and I frequently found them In
private confab together. . 1 could not un
derstand what a handsome swell like
that conld find to admire in bony, red-
haired Judith.
- "Weil, th last night cams. I had left
the hotel about 5 o'clock in the after
noon to walk round th town with our
bill poster. When the time came to
open the doors, th checkers came to m
to say that Mr. Stokes, who was money
(To be enatinued.1
NO MORE LIGHTNING RODS.
in such a manner that hay is stored
A $500 BARN.
Profit In Bwlnev
A young, thrifty, growing hog will
tarn grain Into- money quicker' than
any other kind of farm stock. Every
farmer who has not an extensive range
for his hogs should sow rye to give
them a green winter feed. Rake np all
the corncobs, burn them, and when in
the form of bright coals, throw water
on them, thus making charcoal for the
hogs, a little salt may be added. Try
to feed young hogs regularly; never
feed late, especially the evening meaL
Watch the bogs closely to see if their
digestion is good, for if they are not
healthy they will not thrive well. To
get your bogs ready for market they
should be on full feed of corn; bnt
after they are as fat as they can be
without detraction from their comfort
put them on the market at once, for
they are unsafe to keep, because hogs
fattened on the corn diet are very ten
der and cannot stand any abuse or dis
ease. The hogs kept for breeding pur
poses should never be put on corn diet.
but require feed that has more bone
and muscle-producing quality. Keep a
few more good, brood sows; they will
prove1 to be the- best investment on
the farm before another year is gone.
Don't waste good corn by feeding it to
hogs in the mud. Your hogs will be
coirTENiBirr hog-scaldino outfit.
worth the extra cost of a feeding
trough. Try keeping an account with
your begs; charge them with every
thing they eat and give them credit
for everything they bring in, and yon
will b snrprlsod to see how much 'bet
ter they pay than any other animal on
the farm. All kinds of stock are
source of profit on a good farm. And
the farmer who thinks he can leave off
stock growing is sure to find his mis
take. The pasture must be utilized
and fertility of the farm maintained.
Agriculture Epltomtst
over the pens- at the sides, and this
space is filled directly from a wagon
driven through the center alley.
The space at each side of the alley
is divided up into separate pens by
the feed racks and each pen has a sep
arate window and door. This gives
Oat of Favor, Thongfe Still Credited
with Slifcht Value.
Lightning rods have fallen into deep
disfavor almost every where nowa
days, but they are valued least by the
hasty people who once valued them
most, and those who really know the
most about them still credit them with
a measurable, though small, amount of
protective power ir properly con
structed and maintained, as they hard
ly ever are.., For those who consider
even a slight diminution of the danger
of lighting worth securing at some ex
pense in money and a good deal of
care, the weather bureau offers infor
mation and advice prepared for it by
Professor W. S. Franklin," of Lehigh
University.
The first desideratum Is what the
electricians call a "good ground"
that is, close and permanent connec
tion with a large mass of high elec
trical conductivity,; like damp soil or
an extensive system of metallic pipes.
The lightning rod itself should be a
wide band, a thin-walled tube or a wire
cable, rather than a solid wire, for so
is the conductivity of a given amount
of metal largely increased. And of
extreme Importance is it that , the
course of the rod to the ground should
be as short and straight as possible.
If the pathway provided for the
'bolt" be devious the impatient mes
senger irom or to we cionus win DientT of uxm and DermItg to
not ioiiow it no matter now mucn is yards outside. While this barn is only
"Whitewashing- the Tree.
Whitewash may Often be applied to
fruit trees, especially apple trees,- to
good advantage. : For this purpose the
brine may be slaked in the usual man
ner with cold water, though hot water
is preferable for that purpose. By add
ing some skimmilk to the wash it can
be made to adhere better to the bark.
To make it adhere still better, some
people add a thin solution of glue to
the wash. This whitewash should be
of such a consistency as to be easily
applied with a spray pump, and the
application should . be made in the
spring. It aids in keeping off fungous
diseases and insect pests.
HXt
pttr 1 1 0tm
mx 1 1 t"ta
a
hk er J I
tXAf Mu',
ua m 'ry
ARRANGEMENT OF THE BARlT.
spent for glass or other insulators,
while if the path be straight the lnsu
lators are needless for any charge the
rod can carry.
What happens when a ,'iod light
ning rod Is put to test is thus described
by a man who went through the expe
rience at a mountain hotel in this
State: "I was standing on the plana
when the most tremendous shock or
concussion conceivable took place. . I
bad a sudden sun dazzle In the eyes, a
bitter taste in the mouth, a violent
singing in the ears, a pungent sul
phurous odor in the nose and a severe
headache. Then I learned that the
house bad been struck by lightning;
ten feet at the side. It - gives ample
storage for hay and a large amount of
room without any waste space. - The
cost will not exceed $500.
Draft Colts on th Farm.
Grooming is all important The colts
should be well cleaned twice a day.
Before breakfast they should be thor
oughly brushed, the currycomb' not be
ing used too freely, especially In the
summer when the hair is short . After
the day's work is done and the team
ster has had his supper the horses
will be dry then they should receive
their second cleaning. Be sure to re
move all the sweat and dirt and leave
that is to say, that the conductors had aWe WBt maneB and
inncuonea eu.ev-ucV ""'J lahAnld be well brash nnA atw.
conducted the electricity into the lake.
Instead of the -discharge falling upon
the hotel and wrecking it" New York
Times. , - . : ..
all things, do not cut off any of the
mane or forelock. The mane Is some
times cut off under the collar and
bridle and does not look so bad when
NOW CORELE8S APPLE.
After Tear of Experiment New
Bsedlsai Fruit Haw Ba Produced.
. The core less apple has been pro
duced and it Is full of possibilities,
' The- new fruit U regarded as the
world's greatest discovery in horticul
ture," says a writer in the Nineteenth jl
Century and After, and in fruit-grow- C
ing circles is called 'the Wonder of the
age."
Its flavor Is beyond question. If it
proves as large as its rivals trees pro
ducing the new wonder, which Is
winter variety, will be planted by the
million in the- commercial fruit fields
at home and abroad. There is little
likelihood of its impeding the profita
ble sale of ordinary apples of high
grade.
The new apple, which is both' core
less and seedless, was Introduced by
an old fruit raiser: For -twelve years
he experimented to obtain the fruit
The tree is described as' blossom
less, the only thing resembling a blos
som being a small cluster of tiny
green leaves which grow around the - "1
newly formed apple and shelter it Be
ing devoid of blossoms, it is claimed
that the fruit offers no- effective hiding
place In which the codlln moth may
lay its eggs which it usually does in
the open eye of the fruit Moreover.
there Is nothing to fear from frosts.
The color of the new apple is red.
dotted with, yellow on - the skin. As
wlthvthe seedless orange, so with the
seedless, apple, a slightly hardened
substance snakes its appearance at the-
navel end. But this can be obliterated
by culture. The originator of the core- .
less apple states that the further "we
get from the original - five trees the
larger and better the fruits become- in
every way."
Apple culture is . more important
even than orange culture. In the Uni
ted States there are 200,000,000 apple
trees in bearing, from which 250,000
000 bushels of fruit are annually har
vested. Jjt ten years these three- will
give a yield of 400,000,000 bushels.
At the present time the- apple con-
sumption of the United States Is eighty
pounds a head of the population a year.
By bushel measure the American ap
ple crop Is four times greater than the
entire wheat yield of Great Britain
and Ireland.
Billions of apple trees are grown in
the orchards of the world, and millions
of them are still' being planted each
year. The apple Imports of Great
Britain alone range between 4,500,000
and 5,000,000 hundredweight In ad
dition the writer estimates the census
of our apple trees at 20,000,000.
There, are now 2,000 of these core-
less apple trees available tor propaga
tion to supply the orchards of the
world. It is estimated that by 190S
2,500,000 of these trees will be put up
on the market
The Spencer apple is not the first
seedless apple that has been grown.
During the last sixty years about half
a- dozen such claimants have made
their appearance. But is no instance .
i it found possible to reproduce
trees -from them which would bear
seedless apples.
Though no blossom is at any time
visible on "the ; Spencer seedless apple
trees, when budded or grafted they in
sure trees that wiH produce coreiesa
apples. They are great bearers, and
crop freely in any country where the
ordinary apple tree will fruit
In 1826 Abbe IX Dupuy, professor
of natural history at Auch, drew atten
tion to the Bon Chretien d'Auch pear.
which produced fruit without seeds,
though when removed to another lo
cality the seeds reappeared in the fruit
in the usual way. This fact up to
that period had led the fruit-tree dis
tributers to treat the pear in one local
ity as the Bon Chretln d'Auch and in
another district ts the Winter Bon
Chretln. But the Spencer apple re
mains seedless In any soli.
The Corel ess apple will produce as
great a sensation when brought before
the public as the seedless orange did a
few years ago. The orange is a lux
ury; the aromatic apple has become an
absolute necessity.
How to Revive Meadow.
Where meadows show Indications of
failing, give an application of manure
this winter, leaving it on the surface.
In '' the" spring apply fifty pounds of
nitrate of soda, 100 pounds of sulphate
of potash and 200 pounds of acidulated
phosphate rock. This should be done
in April, the bare places to be seeded
with seeds of a variety of grasses.
Keep tne catue on until the -grass
makes considerable growth. :
Pin Feathers. ; .
Do not expect eggs when the hens
are moulting.
, If the fowls be stinted in food they
cannot lay up material for eggs.
Aside from the question of eggs a
warm quarters is a great saving of
feed.
. Chickens that are of a marketable
size should be fattened now as soon as
possible."
In having food constantly before
fowls the great risk run is of having
them too fat, t
Ten days after the bens are cooped
up with a cockerel the eggs will hatch
true to the mating r
. From this on chicks cannot be ex
pected to grow very rtrpidly unless
particularly well housed and fed.
, . Kerosene on the roosts prevents lice
on the fowls. . An ounce of kerosene
is worth more than a pound of lice.
. The ' purity of one bird la . not im
proved for breeding purposes by being
bred to another of a different breed.
. Now is the time to store a good lot
of dry earth. None is better than drain
ed and dried peat or muck, and none
will absorb more gas and liquid. ;
Chinese Food.
A German epicure comes to" the res
cue of the Chinese in regard to their
alleged habit of eating rotten eggs,
The eggs, he Bays, are simply pre
served )n lime until they get a con
sistency like that of hard butter, and
they taste somewhat like lobster. He
declares them one of the choicest deli
cacies be has ever eaten. He thinks
there are no better cooks in the world
than the Chinese. When he went to
live among them his friends predicted
he would starve, but he had a good
time, and gained weight more than
he wanted to. New York Tribune.
Soothed to Rest.
The story is told of a man whose
wife had arranged an "authors' even-,
ing," and persuaded her reluctant hus
band to remain at home and help her
receive the fifty guests who were asked
to partake 'of this Intellectual feast
. The first author was dull enough, but -the
second was still duller. The rooms
were Intolerably warm, and on pre
tense of letting in some cool air, the
unfortunate host escaped to the hall,
where he found the footman comfort
ably asleep en the carved oak settee.
."Wake up!" he said, sternly, in th
man's ear, "wake up, I say! You must
have been listening at the keyhole F .
Kitchener's Way.
One of the London dallies tells the
following characteristic story of Lord
Kitchener. "On one occasion the Gov
ernor of Natal wired to the Com
Kmander-ln-chlef , 'My ministers and ,
myself Consider we should be vouch
safed further news.' This was Kitch
ener's reply: I do not "agree with
either you or your- ministers. K.' "