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"The World is Governed Too Much." DIY L. BIOSSAT, Buiness Manager. ALEXANDRIA, LOUSIANA, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1890. VOL. XV.-NO. 36. jOW IT ENDED, y pV~goVtt's CourtshiP Among - the Western Wilds. h E lived in alone- c ly Western place when Ebenezer n courted me. Ani- e mals were plenty 14 - wolves and c bears and deer n and panthers. a We did all our s own work, spin- c ning, knitting, h weaving, tailor- v ing, every thing b but shoe-mak ing. I was a very t "capable" girl. i There was little h that I couldn't 1 Seand though I was fund of Eben, I t -w very independent. Women were p ercua end were valued accordingly, c ad Iad just as good a time as I cared a thae. Plenty of work, More beaux d SaMt could count. I didn't want to 1 give it all up and marry and settle des. I told Eben I'd have him some ie,anid thought he ought to be con- t isted, though I'd kept him off and on a falve years. I was five-and-twenty, v gand strong, with black eyes and tnky black hair and cheeks like puhbs A beauty, they called me. All t ladtodo, if I wanted to settle, was to ] ,y "Yes" to any one ot twenty. 1 was d taeortof wife they wanted there, and I I new it Softiseemed to me Ebenezer had no I siklnea to be impatient. I'd said I'd r areblei some time; that should have een enough. , OneSunday night, he had come over wly, and he'd been staring at me all t teevening. Iwas spinning. No need of i SitPrtcularly, but it kept him from talk i"je Isat in the sitting-room, though temight have had the parlor, pretend ing·hat work pressed. It was as dark algypt out of doors; neither stars nor soos, and the snow a foot deep: but 1 bablg wood-fire blazed on the hearth, aiwe had lots of lamps and candles. .lhut nine o'clock, the children went 1 eptairs. About ten, mother took a lmpand went off, and father smoked wt his pipe and followed. We were aloe, Eben and 1; and that minute, wbstdid he do, but come over to where last,kneel down beside me, with his urn about my waist, and say: "Peggy Piggot, what do you think I'm 1 udleof? I've been courting you five years to-night. When will you marry Ipushed him away. "Dear me," said I, "when I'm ready toeamarried woman, good and ready, too, and that time hasn't come yet. Everybody says that courting days are twice as pleasant as married life, and I lieve what everybody says must be mre There! I won't be kissed. Get sp" He got up and sat down in ma's rock harcbair. "You don't make my courting days over pleasant," he said, "and I want to title down. We're neither of us very pong; I'm thirty and you are twenty lve. Do stop spinning!" "Oh, yes; I'm an old maid," said I. 'You'd better go and find some girl ia her teens; don't mind me, I have plenty of chances when I choose to take "Peggy, you know how dearly I love u," he said. "I never look at another rhl, but I don't like to be made a laugh :i stook of. to be jilted after all, per ipss; for you are a flirt, as you know *: 1, Peggy." Now, I was fond of Ebenezer. At hearti did not believe his equal was to Sifound west of the Rocky Mountains, i6Ilwas not be forced into making 'yael cheap. My idea was that a man Taes more what is hardest to got. I :Weton spinning as if life depended "It' accordIng to the way you be as," I said, "whether 1 jilt you or nt, remember that." "I behave well enough, I'm sure too d3," said Eben. "I care for no one lia Icomefive miles tosee you every lght, horse or no horse. I work hard; PIe built a pretty home for you; I'm rady to furnish it, and I put by all I mu. I do all I can." "You really do too much," said I. "Don't be so very economical for my L, You knoi4 have a home already, Our exertions in coming to y hope you won't come SSPy so late, for it's really of me, but Eben bad l pinself by being so ready ogood nature again when e had never resented any This time I'd gone too got up, took his lantern Sand lit it at the fire; hia head and went to the without so much as a a shut it after him. I SxOpected that he'd come leduon in a minute, but MaS, teps crunching away Iow until the sound died 8 aSot coming back; I had tie. I ran to the window S'way the light of his lan late a little speck of red, - 4 and vanity and sanuci hdae within me. What if , oe b)-$ O " ok! i 1• .4 like it. A thing was seldom lightly done with him. And if he had gone, t could marry if I liked. I had my choice -Dr. Crane and Lawyer Lynn, the handsome music teacher and organist h at Tallahee, and either of the three clerks at the store. "Rich, old men with forty dows to e milk," and "poor young men with pock ets lined with silk;" but you see I didn't love one of them, and I did love Ebenez er. I tried to think why, for there was no denying that he was lean and lank and had red hair. I coUldn't give my t, self any answer. Somehow he was my a choice: He wasn't rich, and he wasn't handsome, but the thought that he would never come back again nearly A broke my heart. I'd really intended to have a good I time, but the old boy was in me, tempt- t ing me, and i'd spun, without a word hardly, all that evening. Queer spells p like that come to folks, you know, some- t times. And he hadn't been cross; he'd played with the children and told them conundrums, and agreed with father about politics, and listened to mother's descriptions of the style she used to live in when she was agirl. It was cold, winter weather, but I a grew hot with my thoughts. I shoved a up the window to cool my face, for I'd 9 never felt so in my life, except once, t when 1 had a fever. The marks of d Eben's feet going away from me were t plainly to be seen, where the light from t the room fell out on the packed snow. C Beyond, all was darkness; the road a dark; the sky dark; the bare tree branches blacker lines on its darkness. t The wind was rising; I heard it moan, but I heard another sound also, that s made my blood run cold. A low, long, d dreadful sound that I knew only too I well. The howling of a pack of wolves. I The weather had been cold and every I thing frozen of late. The wolves were I fierce with hunger. The wind brought i their voices down toward me. I knew p which way the wind blew. Eben had gone that way. He hadn't a pistol; he hadn't even a stick; and the wolves had a killed more than one man, on hungry t winter nights, on Hawkleigh Acres. t Had I been kind, had be sat with me t later, the beasts would have passed on; a but he had just gone out to meet them. E Blundering on, angry and thinking I only of me, he would meet them, and then- I gave a shriek as I thought what would happen. Then I made up 1 my mind to save him if I could, and I I ran to the hearth. A good, long brand 1 I had only put on a while before was I blazing at one end like a torch, and father's pistols were on the wall and al- I ways loaded. I buckled the belt around my waist, 1 stuck them both into it, seized my torch and only stopped to shut the winder I W\E FOUGHT OUR WAY BACKWARD. and pull to the door, for the wolves might come that way. Then away I went, led on by the black holes on the white snow where Eben's feet had been set on toward Hawkleigh Acres. The howling of the wolves grew loud er, nearer I hoard a man's voice, now I saw a little gleam of red light, and now I was in the midst of it. A great crowd of the lean, famished beasts pressing down upon one man, who faced them and still kept them a little at bay by the swinging lantern with which he flashed the light in their eyes as he walked backward. It was Eben. I was at his side in a moment. I flour ished the blazing log over my head, and showered the sparks toward the beasts. For a moment they were held in check by it. Eben turned. "Great Powers! You here, Peggy?" he cried. But I answered with a shriek: "Be on your guard! Take one of these pistols! Fight your way back; it's not far!" He snatched the pistol. There was no time for words. We dared not turn our backs. Facing the horrible creat ures-how many I shall never know we fought our way backward through the deep snow, firing among them, and flinging the fiery sparks in their red eyes. One or two dropped, but the rest kept on, angrier and more determined than before, until we stumbled and nearly fell over the edge of the old porch at home, burst the door open, and dashed the burning brand in the face of the beast who strove to follow us, slammed it to, and were safe. We heard the fiends howling outside, but the bolts were strong, and soon they rushed away to the chicken-coops and the sheep-fold, where they found easier prey than we had been. 0 Nobody had been awakened. The Bfire burned on the hearth, the lamp T was alight, t'here lay my spinning-wheel on its side. Had it really all happened, 1 and was it all over? SI was not a girl who often cried, but a the thought of what might have been F the end of it set me sobbing. I looked o at Eben, pale and panting, with a great a scratch on his hand that a wolf had i; given him with its teeth, and I forgot e all my airs, and fairly threw my arms a about his neck. I '"Ohl Eben, darling," I cried; "what e should I have done without you?" It "You do care for me, then?" he said, y and he sat down in the rocking-chair, d and took me on his knee, as if I'd been Sa little child. w We sat there until the gray dawn i- broke, and then he went away; and I I, never teased hima again, and a happier i- couple never live&, I think, tha'm he if and I. At least, I never knew one. 4 Aurnda Roed W ollett, t.o X. .Let*teo THE CENtRAL TRUTH. ti T a Senator Plumb on Republicanism Versus p Civi.ization. h Senator Plumb of Kansas has taken a hold on the central truth of modern political economy, and if he has the le courage and the intellect to make himt It self its exponent it will make him a teputation second to that of no states- ti man in America annals. Instead of d pottering with truth and relying on s shrewd trickery of reasoning, as Mr. ti Blaine is doing, he has gone straight k to the roots of the whole matter. The e man who seizes on vital and funda- ti mental truth and proclaims it unflinch- a ingly becomes great with its greatness. And in all the range of modern politics n there is no greater truth than that Mr. ' Plumb has stated in stating that it is a the genius of civilization to produce P plenty and cheapen price, while it is the practice of the Plutocratic allies of o the Republican party to demand laws to 7j check plenty that high prices may be v maintained. t Every lover of humanity wishes for it the least suffer.ng and discomforts the a greatest poss'3)e plenty of the neces- I saries and comforts of life. Those alone are civilized who desire this, whose work contributes to its attainment. Those who seek to prevent it, who for 4 their own selfish gain perpetrate the discomforts, miseries and privations of their fellows, are the worst savages, because they have not the savage ex cuse of complete ignorance of what they c are doing. The president. and directors of every trust in the country know that when they strive to prevent plenty and create scarcity they produce or perpetuate dearth, want and suffering, that these may result in high prices for what they have to sell. Some chemist, giving his life to the service of mankind and ask ing no money reward, makes a great discovery; some mechanic makes a great improvement in productive ma chinery. Chemist and mechanic are alike liberators - van leaders in the struggle for progress, for freedom of mind and body; for a higher life than that of perpetual want through which men by their deprivations and needs are tied down to brutality. Then when such men, through self-denying toil, have found ways to lighten the labor ,nd sufferings of mankind, making pro duction easier, increasing plenty and lessening want, comes the Plutocrat with his money, and with brains-not brains enough to see his own best inter est in the common welfare, but only with that quality of brains which can use good for selfish purposes. All these plenty-producing inventions are good in the highest degree in themselves, but in his hands they become instruments for robbing labor of employment while he is using them not to increase plenty, but to check it. He takes a machine that can furnish some comfort of life to 60,000,000 people. He agrees with other owners of such machines that the sup ply shall be limited to production for only 10,000,000. that the deprivation of the rest may keep up prices. And to carry out this agreement for artificial scarcity, he goes to Congress and pro cures the passage of laws under which those who suffer from the artificial scarcity produced by him and his associ ates are prohibited from supplying their needs from elsewhere. This is an "ordinary business tran saction." It is done every day. It is the method of Plutocratic business, but none the less is every man who is the agent of depriving his fellows of the greatest possibility of plenty a bar barian, an obstacle to progress, a stum bling block in the way of civilization, sm opponent of Providence, an enemy of the human race. A smallclass of men, in this country and in Europe, are struggling to keep for themselves the great benefits of the new methods of creating wealth, which unselfish students and thinkers have wrought out during the century. The work was done for the world; it is the heritage of the world, that the world may suffer less privation, and, being rid of that oppression, advance to large in tellectual and political liberty. Every invention, every new discovery, gives an added impetus to the forces which are combining to crush this Plutocratic class, and give the world the benefit of the plenty created by the mastery of mind over matter. The Plutocracy will be overthrown. The time will come when the world will stop troubling itself with juggled figures and with percentages; when it will say: "This is right and it shall be done;" "This is wrong and it shall not be done." And that time will come first here in the United States. It is not far off. The Plutocrats are show ing the hardihood of their blind covet ousness. They are struggling for their neae~ied percentages in front of the rolling wheels of the Juggernaut car of civilization and progress, and if they re fuse to see the truth, to hear reason and to do justice, they may expect to meet the rewards of their injustice. Senator Plumb has a partisan record which makes it surprising that he should be the one man of all others in his party to stand forward to tell the whole truth, but as he has done it, all who love truth have only thanks and praise for him. He has stood forward in the leader's place. If he has the leader's stuff in him, he will have not only the whole West behind him, but with it all those who hate oppression, who love freedom and progress.-St. Louis Republic. REED'S SOMERSAULT. The Speaker's Gag Rule in Opposition to Ills Former Views. O. O. Stealy, the Washington corres Spondent of the Louisville Courier Jour nal, has unearthed a copy of the Chan Stauquan of June, 1886, containing an article by Thomas B. Reed, now Speak er of the House of Representatives, on t parliamentary discussion. It shows how radically the Speaker has changed his mind during the past four years. Here are a few extracts from Mr. Reed's art cle that speak for themselves: Thie aim of some statesmen has been not todo things good, but toprevent the doing of things eril. It can not be denied that this aim ia quite I often a righteous one. But the prevention of evil legislation should never be byrefusing propositions a hearing, but by hearing and re e tutin. This brings me to remark that somne legislation consists not more in what ia done $ab Iawhasias retuae e to eone. Whoe vw thinks tnla tae unction of 1leg1siave boal in a free country is fully perforthed by the mere passage of bills, good or bad, has little compre hension of the scope and real usefulness of such a body. * * * The reformation of the rules will remove a great many obstacles to 1%g. islation. A great many remain to intelligent legislation, using the word in tne broad sense in which it has been employed in this article. Among these obstacles is the tendency which now exists to deny dis cussion in many cases, and the tel dency to employ an unsuitible form of discus sion in others. A full, free, frank discussion it the very life of intelligent action. Nobody knows every thing; most people know somd thing. Menare circumscribed in their knowl edge by their various experiences. If all those who know something of the subject as semble their knowledge a sensible judgment can be formed by those who listen: But there has been in this countq~ for the past half cent ury so many subjects of bitter feeling, invol-. ing bitter words, that the tendency to suppress discussion in Cougress by those who have the power has reached a point where there ought to be a reaction in. favor of freer debate. It no other countries in the world is such power of shutting off debates lodged in the majority. The previous question has been employed without mercy. It is in the memory of all that until the last few years the House of Comn mons never had such a thing as the "previous question" in our sense of the term. There was no power in the House to close debate. The Irish members, simply by talking, were able to prevent the passage of bills which had the approval of a vast majority of the House. Even since the strong provocation has caused the introduction of the cloture, debate can not be closed, except by the presiding officer, under such circumstances and under such require ments of support from the House as in that body secures a right of debate, which is much greater than in our House of Representatives. The hesitancy with which so slight a measure of suppression was adopted in England strikes with a shade of surprise an American legis lator accustomed in Congress to see discussion drowned with as little remorse as if it were a sightless kitten. But the English are right. Unreasonable and capricious suppression of discussion is tyranny, whether done by a King or a majority. TWO STATE ELECTIONS. The Administration Rebuked by the Pee pie of Alabama and Kentucky. The course of the Republican party in Congress has thoroughly solidified the Democratic party, if we may judge by the elections held in Alabama and in Kentucky the other day. Reports from Alabama show in creased Democratic majorities from all sections, with the Republicans con trolling scarcely.a county in the State. In Kentucky the Democratic majority is far ahead of any thing known in re cent years. The majority for General Buckner three years ago is increased 125 per cent.; that given for Cleveland in 1888 is increased 50 per cent. Even rock-ribbed Republican counties, just now penetrated by railroads and en lightened by the Courier-Journal, join the Democratic ranks. These returns indicate the feeling aroused among the people by the revo lutionary methods of the Republican leaders. Men who have never voted with the Democrats on any issue see that the Repulican party is a sectional organization, ready to sacrifice every interest in the South tosome temporary party necessity. They see the hope lessness of trying to build up the Re publican party in the face of such tac tics, and so they cast in their lot with their neighbors and friends. This is the first response of the peo ple to the challenge of Reed, McKinley and Davenport. Now for the Congress ional elections.-Louisville Courier Journal. NOTES AND COMMENTS. -If Reed falls he falls utterly. There can be no stage at which he can stop except the bottom. When he falls he will drag down the whole conclave in utter ruin.- These be interesting times.-N. Y. Telegram.. - Senator Plumb has distinguished himself by the enunciation of the prin ciple that the people have some rights as well as the manufacturer. Itis grat ifying to find that Blaine no longer stands alone among. Republican leaders in his denunciation of the McKinley bilL--Chicago Globe. - If the man who toils fourteen e hours a day wears overalls and a 4 checked shirt, and his wife wears apoor j quality of calico, how does it happen Sthat the fellow who never works at all wears broadcloth, and his wife wears silk? Please answer, some one who be Slieves in taxing the many for the en richment of the few.-Alliance Herald. t -"Archlduke Franz, of Austria, has f a large and very interesting collection I of relics of criminals who have been a executed. Among the relics are por h tions of the ropes used in hanging the ; Chicago anarchists" If he wishes to t add to the collectton he might send to *t McKinley for the pen with which he 1 prepared his tariff bilL-Chicago Mail .t - Blaine has become very trouble - some to the Republican leaders in the SHouse, and Reed, McKinley and Cannon r are laying plans to drive him out of the a Cabinet and destroy his influence in the f party. It is barely possible that they - may drive him from the Cabinet, but if d they do the Republican party will be It ready for its epitaph.-Cleveland Plain Dealer. d -As an example of pure gall, there e has been nothing lately to surpass the n spectacle of Blair, of New Hampshire, e proposing a rule to limit debate in the 1 Senate. If there had been such a rule I when Blair was making his three weeks' I speech on the education bill there might e have been some justification in putting t it in force. There is not likely to be t another provocation so great as that. I Philadelphia Times. t. - The truth which Mr. Blaine is telling-that the protective tariff sys tem in no way provides a larger market for the farmer whom it so severely *0 taxes-is not new truth atall. It is the old truth upon which Democratic speak Sera and newspapers have dwelt contin r-nally for many moons. And the farm Sers are beginning to understand it, atoo, as Western elections and Western Spolitical movements clearly show.,-N. nY. World. S --The Republican conventions oi is Minnesota and Nebraska have declared e against the McKinley bill. They both favor a revision of the tariff in the in terest of the producer andlaborer. The Sattitude of Western Republicans on the Stariff is that of the Nebraska platform, owhi ch says: '"The imported duties on Sarticles in common use shoull be Splaced as low as is consistent with the ~ proteetlon of 41j9t mibdUtslvag,"*. g Ameria. A . PITHI AND POINT. F --In Russia a man may appear as a witness in a lawsuit against his wife-if he has the nerve to do it.-Ram's Horn. -To the ordinary mortal, a wilted l' collar tells a truer tale of the state of the weather than the Signal-Service thermometer does.-Puck. on -Sportsman-"Why do you suppose an the stork is all neck, legs and wings?" Naturalist-"Probably that he may be pr utilized for boarding-house chicken frio- do asse."-Harper's Bazar. at -Lady of the House (to her Servant) -"You tell me that you are going to ad quit my service, and you know that I an have done almost all your work?" Serv- in ant-"Yes; but you don't do it to suit l me!"-Judy. th -Wickwire-"Now you have gradu- ,m ated, I suppose you feel ready to earn m; your own living?" Young Potts-"Earn on my living? If I can't get a living with- eh outearning it I might just as well have Sa staid out of college."-Terre Haute Ex- ba press. co -Mrs. Younghusband (putting the th fashiopable stringless cap on her head) us --"Why, really, I don't see what will m keep this bonnet on!" Mr. Younghus- of band (shopping with her, glancing at be the ticket)-"The price, I think, dar- es ling."-Harper's Bazar. -Traveler (at the ticket offlce)-'"l nt want a half-ticket, too, for my boy." se Agent (suspiciously)-"Do you mean to p say that boy isn'tover twelve?" "No on ly eleven." "Oh, well, all above ten wI have to pay full rates."-Golden Days. nt -"Ah! love, I should like to listen co to you all night," said Clarence, as he a rose to go Six months after they were to married he chanced to stop out fifteen in minutes after his hour, and he had his hi desire gratified. ul -Husband (angrily)-"This beef is all bc burned up. Why in thunder did you th cook it so much?". Wife-"Well, I ad can not think of every thing. I was m busy writing an article,for the Ladies, nt Cooking Journal, and forgot the meat ce was in the oven."-Boston Herald. m -You .needn't talk about keeping sc one's word," said a husband to his wife Pi during a slight misunderstanding; n( "when I first asked you to marry me al you declared you would't marry the best ni man in the world." "Well, I didn'tl" m snapped the wife. -Mr. Wiggs (admiringly)-"Mrs. W Hansom looks as pretty as a picture this afternoon."" Mrs. Wiggs-- That Pt costume is very becoming. She has a rt husband who likes to see a woman de- ju cently dressed, and isn't to mean te pay for it."-N. Y. Weekly. -'Tis true that smokeless powder may m Much benefit beget; th But what is needed most to-day as Is the smokeless cigarette. t -Washington Post. cl -Billikin-'What's the matter, Willi kin?" Willikin-"Matter enough. You know, some time ago.I,assigned all my t0 property to my wife, to-to keep it out of the hands of-of people I owe, you of know." "Yes." "Well, she's taken the money and gone off-says she w'on't-live with me because 1 swin'led my credit- ri ors."-N. Y. Weekly. or -She ordered a fowl for a grand din- b, ner and made the cook bring his pur- m chase for her inspection. She exam- fr ined it, tossed her head discontentedly, a and said: "It is a poor-looking thing." ai "Oh, mum," said the cook, "wben it tl is fixed up with truffles it will look en- m tirely different. Just like when you p put on your diamonds.mum!"-San Fran. yi cisco Wasp. Chancelor Caprivi's Democratic Ways. A Berlin paper, discussing General 51 von Caprivi's every-day life, says that the bell is rung at the Chancelor's door as at any other mortal's, and it is pos e sible, without being prevented by the w detectives who formerly were posted in front of Palais Radziwell, to penetrate It as far as the threshold of his study. n Whether the visitor succeeds in gain- a ing a personal audience depends, how. ever, on the importance of the occasion 1I 1 and on the time which the Chancolor has at his disposal. The General is si busy every day from morning untileven. a' ing. He rises early and works much h in the morning hours. As early as ten o'clock he receives his colleagues, h After a very simple dinner, at which I a the new Chancelor seldom has company, he rides for a few hours. On returning h he receives official visitors, except on d o the days when he goes to Potsdam t s the Emperor. Then comes the report' 1t of the ministers. The remainder of his L evenings, when he now and then re ceives some inilitary visitors, and I e when, as in Prince BIismarck's time, the 1 Slong pipe is invoked, he spends in his e study. The Chancelor uses only hall a e of the rooms of the palace, the whole " right wing standing empty. The beau- a tiful park which extends to the Koenig- c Sgratzer strasse, he does not use as often• as Prince Bismarck. The latter often d walked there even at night, accom panied by a detective and his dog STyras.-Chicago Post. -"While in Mexico on my last trip," t says a drummer in the St. Louis Globe i Democrat, "I had my breath taken t t away when I saw what I guess is the I most magnificently constructed railroad I Sin the world. The ties are made out of 1 the finest mahogany and bridges built 1 of marble. The waste seems criminal, but the builders are actuated by me' I tives of economy, as they find the ma i Shogany and marble along the track side. The road hasn't really cost much to I Sconstruct, but if the materials were ap e praised at St Louis or New York stand- I - ard of prices the total would mount up 1 Sin the.millions." .. t, -"All the fools are not dead yet," a said a cantankerous Richmond man to L his spouse. "Of course they ate not, John," replied the wife, "for if they oi were I'd be a widow."-Richmond Re td corder. - -First Actor--"When you received' your salary what 'did you buy first?" S econd Actor-"A -pair of thick-soled shoes. We shall probably disband in a week or two."'-Yankee Blade. -A man never becomes so wise that be can tell which is worst in this worl4, love without money or gonaw 1gy.9 - FARMER AND PLANTER 1 TOBACCO CULTURE. pl ilemarks on Topping and Priming by an Expert. Under this head there is wvide differ once of opinion. Breaking off the small d and,.inferior leaves of the plant near ti the ground is called "priming," or pruning proper, which operation is el done along with the "topping," if done at all. There are advantages for and n against priming, but all resort to top- a ping--plucking out the seed bud and adjacent small leaves with the thumb s and finger. Some contend that pull- h ing off the lower leaves saps the plants and retards the growth Jf the weather is dry. That per- , mitting the lower leaves to re* it main an the stalk protects the upper n ones from sand and grit, makes them o cleaner and, therefore, more salable. a Sand and grit are the terror of the to bacco buyer. On the other hand, it is contended by some that by pulling off the lower leaves, which are generally t useless, the remaining leaves receive i more nutriment and contain more wax, oil and gum, and the lower leaves har- e bor worms and make the worming proc- p ess more tedious. b It is best to wait until. a considerable number of plants begin to button for seed before commencing to top. Top- c ping should be the work of ex- 1: perienced and trusty hands-men f, who can' top, leaving any required c number of leaves on a plant without e counting. The secret of this-nolonger 8 a secret to the initiated-is, that the b topper soon learns to know that count- a ing the bottom leaf and the. leaf that I hangs over it in the third tier going t upward, make nine leaves, including p both top and bottom leaves. Fixing e this in his mind, the topper has only to f add to or deduct from this index leaf d marking nine, to leave any desired f number of leaves on each plant with r certainty and without counting. Young man, if you .don't know how, get F some old negro to show you. Top- a ping, you will find,' is a slow busi ness if you have to. count the leaves on all the plants topped. If the.plants are o not "primed," then the "bottom" leaf must be fixed by the eye, looking up- I ward for the leaf in the .third tier, which hangs over it, to catch the cue as before. If priming is done, don't err in pulling off too many leaves. No regular rule can be given,- so, the planter must judge for himself. The reason given for waiting until many plants are ready to be topped is mainly that more-plants may ripen together, and be ready for the knife at the same time. This is an advantage that applies with strong force to all .tobacco intended for flue curing. ' The number of leaves to be left on gach plant varies according to the time the work is done, eA'ly or late, the ap petrance and prospective development t of the plant, the. season, whether propitious or unfavorable, strength of r the soil, and amountof fertilizing mate rial applied. On medium soils, in ordinary seasons, the first topping should be from ten tq thirteen leaves-rarely more-for brights. For sweet fillers I from nine to ten, and for dark, rich shipping, from eight to nine leaves are 4 anough. As the season advances reduce I the number" of' leaves accordingly; re- I membering. that quality more than quantity regulates returns.-Cor. Farm ers' Home Journal. - SUCCESS IN FARMING. Some of the Essentials to Successful Farming Set Forth. 1 The farmer should not be a farmer "for revenue only," and yet it must al ways be that the revenue derived from 3rops is the best evidence of success or I failure' in farming. Farming is eco nomic, not sentimental; it is a business I and its objective is the almighy dollar. There may be other considerations, but I they are all secondary. There are other 4 corners to farming, but the financial side laps over and covers nearly all its surface. Man becomes a farmer because he and others must be fed and clothed. His labor expended on the soil supplies him with what will satisfy some of his wants, and with what he may exchange for those things that ' will satisfy his other Wantas. It is not a sense of duty or any msthetic sentiment, but the stress of necessity, that makes men 'tfarmers. It is because of his .'wants, and such wants as are often miscalled base, wants of food and drink and clath Sing, that man is a farmer. Hence farm ing is a very practical thing, and just as it satisfies those wants it is primharily Ssuccessful. The larger the crops the more fully those wants are satisfied, Sand it does not matter whether those . crops are produced with the aid of an . itgly, unpainted plow or one handsomely Sdecorated. The painted plow 'is the Sbetter, not because it is handsomer, but because'with it a greater product may be made; it lasts longer. Unfortunately not a few agiricultural ' teachers, by tongue or pen, forget that farming is first of all -to grow big crops, a to make money; that it is intensely 8 practical and they prate about this and I that in a sentimental vein, as if the if best farmer is the farmer that makes t his farm the prettiest. He may not , produce enough to meet his expenses;. She may have buildings and machinery Sthat it does not pay im in cold dollars . to' have; he may raise fancy animals that o cost him twice what they are sold for; p yet, according to these leading lights of I- alleged agriculture, this farmer is high p ly successful Heisa model Itisecom mending such farmer's and holding them up as models that often brings book farming into disrepute. The plain, acttinl farmer knows that commending Ssuch farmers is arrant foolishness, and are disgusted.' The trouble is they al Slow their disgust tc go too f and cover too much. id The man that ispaying for a farm and ' has notes to meet,.or that must buy farm d machinery,' groceries and sbhoes, and a that has in mind 'the visit of the tax oollector, is. certain that it is a condi tion and not a theory that confronts rI him. He must have lnasteral thiings !, that he oai eoxchange f~r moieyorother i .msteril :things. He .may- paint li1 dooJr ar tenchblb his best reason for so doing is that paint makes wood more durable. Yet he need not be one whit the less pleased that paint also makes wood more pleasing to the eye. He need be none the less glad, that what served use, also serves beauty. The practicle farmer is not of necessity a boor that does not appreciate tasteful, handsome things, that does not desire them. He may have them. The successful farm er should have them. But they are the results obtainable from his farming, not any or the means employed. Be cause he has produced good crops he can make or purchase or afford hand some effects. They are not a part of his farming; .they are outside of his farming, though a part of bis life. The test question in farming is: "Will it pay?" Not will it pay, itf we include in the pay some intangible, im material things, such as. "the pleasure of country life," the gazing at sunsets and waving grain, and green, cool woods. Those things are very nice, it is true, but in the pay for farming we must include only hard, material things that can be sold for ready cash in the open market. And if, with such measure of reconpense, an animal or.a crop, a building or a machine does not pay, the wise farmer will not have it in his farming. Of course in determining whether or not a thing pays, we must consider. the continued productiveness of, the land. Mr. Brigham is a farmer ... for revenue-for revenue from his crops; yet doubtless he does not seek to raise as large crops as pos sible and give little back to his land; he may get more revenue from his crops for some years by robbing .his land, yet he does not do that ile looks to the future. He tries to increase the productiveness of his land rather, that every year he may get more revenue from his crops. Every successfulfarmer does this. Further, every successful farmer,. every farmer worthy of the name, knows, and shows by his life that he knows, that when the sole object is to pile up dollars or toadd soacres to acres, a fearful mistake has been made; and he knows just as well that the object of. farming is to make money, and that; other things being equal, the more money made the more successful the farming.-John' M. Stahl, in Indiana Farmer. Something to learn. There is one thing Southern breeders m must learn before they can reasonably expect to sell their surplus stock, that is to advertise more. Northern and Eastern breeders know this, hence a poultry journal in those sections genera allyreceives a liberal patronage, while Southern breeders growl- and grumble because they don't sell what they think they should. A .paying business can not be established in one season, and a man does remarkably well to make ex penses for the grst year or two, and it takes a heap of "git-up-and-git" to do that welL Make a reputation for bon - eat and fair dealing, and you are all right.-Poultry Criterion. HERE 'AND THERE. -Damp, wet locations for sheep are - promotive of foot rot, and damp quarters at night cause colds. A sheep sery quickly succumbs to disease, and too much care can not be given the flook in providing dry quarters, shade and fresh. water. -It is no easier to keep poultry than - to keep other stock, as labor and proper management ihust be used to meet sue cess. Less capital may be required in poultry, but it must be judiciously ex pended, or a loss can result as easily as from any other source. -The farmer who makes his soil deep and rich with high culture iand manure, and whose cattle are slick and gentle, is the one who complains least about the depression in agriculture. Therp is depression, but it affects poor and un. thinking farmers much more.than thie . opposite class. -Veterinary surgeons state' that the milk is the first thing affected when a cow becomes ill, and that the milk will show indications of coming milk-fever and garget'a week before any outward . sign can be discovered. A ore, or any thing that may be liable to poison the blood, also poisons the milk at the same time. -If farmers were as careful and sys tematic in the management of their herds as the breeders of.pure breeds are with their cattle much better resutls ': would be secured from ordinary stock. Even the best breeds will fail if not rightly managed, and all classes of stook' can be made more productive if extra Scare be taken. --In young orchards weeds and grss should not be allowed to grow. They Srob the ground of what should be there -: Sfor the fruit trees. It is.different where trees are of lanrge bearing size. Cultia" tion may cease then and grass be al V lowed, but even then manure ocasion ally applied about the trees is a great I help to them. S -Debilitated plants are the flretto be attacked by inseots, whethbr in the V green-house or out of doors. There i fore endeavor by good food and good e treatment to keep the plants in vtigor : ous health. Some personscontend that I it is the insects that weaken the plants '. and not that the plants are ilrt weak, y but a little observation will show that w thisisnot so. t -It is perhaps cheaper to pasture the : ; cows where land is cheap, and on large - f farms, but it will not pay on valuable s- small farms. To use ive ores instead 1- ofone is to lose the use of fOn. acres n The seling system will at some future k time revolutionize the prsent methods, , the discovery of the preservation of iR green fodsain the silo being the first 4I step in that direction. - -Even when overproduction lowers : r the.price it doesnotpay any individual farmer to allow the yield of his orop to d diminisnih.. ,While such a thing as an m overproduction of a certain orop may be id possible, yet there never -has b ne a. r-i time when there was not .a Scarcit in Li. some bthev direction. I fe.liar :k.. its be overstocked with :one .ind o p~e-~ ps uct the ae.-i "who gi:ow serr or kinds of-crops will not fel th~8ei bet IL who ovrerodu6 t aeas~B.-everlg'-..-,