Vilas County news. [volume], May 10, 1897, Image 8

About Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927

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M. Slramer's Seuld Packe
’ 3
Or, A Voyage to the Planet Mars,
By HUGH MACCOLL.,
To verify these conclusions, I again
stepped out of my machine and hastened
down to the shore, where I took up some
of the sea water in the hollow of my
hand, and held it to my nose. This put
the matter beyond a doubt; the peculiar
aromatic odor unquestionably came from
the sea. I next tasted some of the sea
water, and found that it had pretty
much the same taste as terrestrial sea
water. Whatever the constituent might
be that gave it its aromatic smell, it did
not affect the taste. I then went to the
river, and tasted its waters at a place
beyond the reach of the sea water. This
I could mnot distinguish from ordinary
fresh river water. :
My curiosity having been satisfied upon
these points, I returned to my machine
and delibefated what 1 had better do
next. While thus engaged I noticed, to
my astonishment, that all things around
me were assuming a delicate rosy hue.
Looking out to ascertain the cause, I saw
that the sun had now sunk below the
horizon, and that this was a peculiar ef
fect of the Marsian sunset. Land, sea
and sky all around; mountains, rivers,
forests and rushing torrents, all were
bathed in a beautiful rosy light. Words
cannot paint the exceeding loveliness of
the whole scene. 1 had never seen any
thing to be compared to it upon earth,
and I eould not in the least understand
the cause of it. I attributed it to some
unknown property of the Marsian at
mosphere, and thought it probably con
nected in some way with the peculiar
rosy hue which the planet had presented
while I was yet a long way from it.
Meanwhile the rosy light was getting
dimmer and dimmer,. heralding the fast
approach of the night; and the question
had to be decided how I should pass my
first night on the planet. I knew it
would be a dark night, as the light af
forded by the planet’s tiny satellites
would be almost inappreciable. Prob
ably there was not much danger to be
apprehended if I stayed where I was; I
could protect myself from unknown ene
mies by electrifying the machine; and as
for light, I could surround myself with a
circle of electric light at pleasure; but
still, to make my security doubly sure,
I decided, after consideration, to rise
into the upper regions of the air, where
I should be safe from all molestation.
This decision was no sooner formed than
acted upon. 1 immediately raised the
electric pressure and shot up with great
rapidity. As I ascended, I found that
the dim rosy atmosphere was getting
lighter, particularly towards the west;
and this went on increasing till the sun,
which -had but recently set, appeared
again above the horizon. I then halted
till the sun had again sunk and disap
peared behind the great watery arc of
the west. Then I shot up again rapidly,
and again the great orb of day rose
slowly and majestically above.the ocean.
This I repeated two or three times, so
that I had the strange phenomenon pre
sented to me of a succession of sunrises
and sunsets, following each other within
the space of a few minutes.
I had now attained such a height that
I had to set both the heat and oxygen
generators to work to supply myself with
warmth and fresh air. This done, I reg
ulated the electric pressure so that the
machine should at that elevation travel
slowly westward; after which I stretched
myself upon my steering seat and soon
went to sleep.
CHAPTER VI.
When I awoke it was about half past
3in the morning, and still dark. The
sky glittered with stars, amongst the
brightest of which I could see my native
earth shining with a soft, steady light.
Underneath me were the dark clouds hid
ing the sea from view. I descended cau
tiously till I found myself in thick dark
ness, through which I could see neither
stars nor sea. Still continuing my de
scent, all at once I found the darkness for
a moment illuminated by a flash of
lightning, followed ' almost immediately
after, certainly in less than a second, by
a loud peal of thunder. I had dropped
into the midst of a thundercloud, andp the
situation was not without danger. My
safest course would have been to ascend
rapidly out of the cloud; but wishing to
witness a thunderstorm on the planet
Mars, I took the opposite course, and de
scended rapidly towards the sea. It was
pitch dark; but from the view which I
had had of the ocean when I was first
approaching the planet I did not think I
ran much risk of being dashed upon any
island or rock, though, of course, such a
catastrophe was possible. I listened at
tentively with my hand on the handle
of the regulator, ready to reverse the elec
tric pressure in an instant, if I heard
any alarming sound of breakers. Pres
ently I did hear something which I fan
ciegl to be such, so I turned the handle
like lightning. This was enough to great
ly diminish the rapidity of my descent,
but not enough to stop it; and the next
moment I was nearly jerked off my steer
ing seat by the shock of the Shooting
Star plunging into the sea. I soon made
it rise to the surface, however, where for
a brief space I held it stationary to ascer
tain my position. The darkness was as
thick as ever; but I could hear the loud
splashing of the sea against some rocks
to the right of me, and apparently not
many yards off. Presently the darkness
was again for a moment dispelled by an
other flash, which -revealed the rocks dis
tinctly. I had had a narrow escape. A
loud peal of thunder followed, which was
quickly succeeded by another flash, and.
vet another and another, from all parts
of the horizon at once, while the thunder
crackled and crashed, and rolled in suc
cessive peals overhead with a noise that
was terrific. The lightning was occa
sionally so bright that it seemed like a
flash of daylight upon' the scene, and I
was consequently able -to take in my
whole surroundings. To the right lay a
small island, steep and precipitous on the
side nearest me, which was not more than
thirty yards off, but sloping gently to
wards the sea elsewhere. In shape it
was like South America in miniature, as
it might appear to one looking from the
west; but its length was not much over
500 yards. ;
By degrees the violence of the rain
abated, and in proportion as it did so
the darkness also grew less dark, till at
last the rain’ ceased altogether, and the
da kness gave place to the dim light of
upproaching day. Except the small island
near me, which appeared barren and deso
late, there was nothing to be seen all
round but the restless, heaving ocean. I
was under no temptation therefore to
prolong my stay here, so I at once put
the Shooting Star again in motion, and
continued my course westward. I’ gener
ally kept at a height of a hundred feet.
but sometimes, for my amusement, I
skimmed the surface of the waves, boiind
ing over their backs in very wantonness of
sport. At other times I made the machine
dive right under them, and propelled it\
through the waters many fathoms below
the surface at a rate which made a sensi
ble difference to the temperature inside
from the friction of the water against the
outside.
After one prolonged dive of this kind—
the longest and last—l found, on coming
to the surface, that I had emerged into
an unexpected scene of beauty. The same
delicate rosy light which had colored
everything after sunset the evening be
fore, now colored everything again, her
alding the fast aproach of the dawn. The
whole sky from the horizon to the zenith
was of a soft rosy hue, and thousands of
rosy waves covered the vast circular ex
panse of the deep.
After admiring this tableau for a few
minutes I shot swiftly up till I had at
tained a height which I knew must be be
vond the limits of the Marsian atmos
phere. Then for a minute or two I halted
and looked down upon the great ocean
undereneath me. It formed a complete
circle, bounded all round by the sky.
Even at that immense height the great
Western continent which 1 was seeking
was not yet in sight. But with the speed
which I felt at liberty to give to the
Shooting Star now, I knew it soon would
be; so turning my back to the sun, which
was now a considerable distance above
the horizon, and my face and that of the
Shooting Star westward, 1 quadn%pled the
electric pressure and shot swiftly forward.
After a few minutes of this rate of travel
ing, the Western continent, the Marsian
America, came in sight. As the atmos
phere was cloudless, my immense height
enabled me to obtain a clear view of a
large tract of the coast line; so I thought
I would profit by this circumstance to as
certain the shape of this continent. In
stead, therefore, of continuing my course
straight on, I turned the prow of the
Shooting Star northwards and followed
the windings of the coast in that direc
tion. > ”
I had not proceeded far in this way
when I saw a sight which made my heart
give a great bound and drove the blood
in a 2 hot rush to my face. I could hardly
believe my eyes. Was it a dream? Was
it really Marsian territory that I was
gazing at? Or was I back again upon my
native earth? For there .before me was
the plain outline, the unmistakable form
and. substance of a city—a real city with
veritablg walls and houses. \
: CHAPTER VII.
I descended until I was only about a
mile high above the sea and two miles
from the city, and examined it through
my telescope. A fresh wonder. The
city was inhabited, not by a race of in
telligent creatures more or less resem
bling the human species, but by actual
human beings—veritable men, women
and children, with unmistakable human
features. 1 could see them distinctly
through my powerful telescope. They
all—men, women and children—wore
dresses of the same uniform pattern—a
single garment, like a bathing dress,
which covered the whole body with the
upper portions of the arms and legs, ex
posing the head .and neck, the hands and
arms to a little above the elbow, and the
feet and legs to a little below the knee.
Though the sexes were not distinguished
by any difference in the pattern of their
dresses, they were strongly distinguished
by their difference of color—the dresses
of the men and boys were: uniformly,
and without exception, red; those of the
women and girls uniformly, and without
exception, green. Both sexes had short,
black, curly hair.
Though the sun had but just risen
above the horizon (being in fact lower
in the sky now than it had appeared
to me about half an hour before, when
I was much further east as well as at
a much higher elevation), the streets
looked busy and animated. Bareheaded
and barefooted men and women, some
carrying burdens and some without,
walked briskly in whatever direction
their business or their pleasure called
them, on a smooth, clean, marble-like
pavement; while the middle of each
street, just as in terrestrial cities, was
mainly occupied by various kinds of
wheeled vehicles. There was, however,
this ' striking difference, that here the
vehicles were moved by some internal
power or machinery; there were no
horses or other beasts of burden to be
seen anywhere. Evidently these Mar
sians had attained a high degree of civil
ization. It was a handsome race, too.
Through my powerful glass I could see
every feature distinctly; high and broad
foreheads; noses straight and well
shaped; mouths and chins not to be dis
tinguished from those of Europeans. In
one respect, however, they differed from
any race of men that I had ever beheld;
this was in their complexion, which was
of a delicate pale blue, such as is some
times thrown on the faces of the passers
by from an apothecary’s window. The
sight fascinated me. For a full half
hour I kept the Shooting Star motion
less in the same spot, gazing sometimes
through my glass and sometimes with
out it at this wonderful race and city.
The former principally occupied my at
tention, as was natural; yet the latter
was sufficiently ecurious. It was con
structed on a severely simple and regu
lar plan. To begin with, it looked a per
fect square surrounded on all sides by a
high and very thick marble wall, or
what appeared to be marble, from its
white and polished appearance. At reg
ular intervals marble-like steps led up to
the top of this wall, on which I could
see several persons walking. The houses
were built of the same white polished
material, and were all flat-roofed with a
parapet all round, and here and there a
seat. On many of.the roofs I could see
persons either sitting or walking. The
streets ran parallel to the sides of the
surrounding wall, crossing at regular in
tervals. The doors were seemingly of
wood, and the windows of glass, or what
appeared such; and beth were of the
same rigid rectanglar pattern. Nowhere
could I perceive the slightest attempt at
decoration or ornament. In their houses,
as in their dresses, pure utility seemed
to be the sole guiding principle of this
singular Marsian race. There was one
thing which rather puzzled me. Above
every door, suspended by a chain from a
projecting iron-like rod in the wall, was
a large white globe, of what material I
could not imagine.
The city had four gates, one in the cen
ter of each surrounding wall, and from
each gate a straight road led out into
the surrounding country. Omne of these
roads led from .the center of the wall
facing the sea down to a harbor flanked
by two long, high and solid-looking piers,
built of the same marble-like substance as
the city wall and houses. - These piers
projected far into the sea, curving a lit
tle towards each other at the extremi
ties, so as somewhat. to narrow the en
trance of the barbor, and with the evi
dent object of breaking the force of the
incoming waves from the ocean. Inside
the harbor, the smooth water of which
formed a striking contrast to the heavy
swell outside, were to be seen several
small ceraft of curious shapes. Most of
these were at rest, but I could see three
gliding swiftly towards the mouth of the
harbor, impelled, like the vehicles in the
streets, by some internal force and ma
chinery. They had no masts, or paddles,
or screws and what the motive power was
I was at a loss to guess. In shape they
were not unlike my own machine, having
a carved roof of a transparent glass-like
substance; but the rest, with the excep
tion of two windows, in each side, was of
some green substance, which might be
painted wood or iron. The men inside
were hidden from my view.
1 watched these three boats as they
glided swiftly, yet with wonderful
smoothness, to the harbor’s mouth. They
passed out into the open sea.fearlessly,
and rode like corks on the huge rolling
waves outside. They did not go far,
bowever. They all three cast anchor a
short distance from the mouth of the har
bor; at least, that was what I conjec
tured from the fact that they remained
stationary there, rising and falling with
the swelling of the water. ,
Turning my eyes again towards the
city, I found that a startling change had
taken place, and one which concerned me
personally. I had evidently been seen,
or, at least, the Shooting Star had been.
In all the streets, on the rampart walls,
and on the two piers, the inhabitants had
collected in groups with their faces turned
in my direction, and some pointing to
wards me with their outstretched hands
At a distance of two miles the Shooting
Star was naturally a sufficiently visibl
object; but what would render it stil
more conspicuous was its position witl
respect to the sun, whose rays reflectec
from its smooth glassy shell would doubt
less make it shine like a bright meteor in
the sky.
What was Ito do? How could I best
introduce myself, to these strange in
habitants of another planet? And what
reception would they give me when 1
did? If they should prove hostile 1
might find my Shooting Star with all
its wonderful capabilities an insufficient
protection, for they evidently possessed
a knowledge of some of the potent se
crets of \nature, as was proved by their
strange self-acting boats and vehicles.
But why should they show hostility?
This could only happen on the supposi
tion that they suspected hostility on my
part. But there precisely was the dif
ficulty. Unable to speak a word of their
language, how could I convince them
that I had come with friendly intentions?
At all events I thought that bold de
cision was more likely to succeed than
timid shilly-shallying, so I set the Shoot
ing Star at once in motion, and descended
swiftly in a slanting direction straight
towards them. Seme fled into their
houses in alarm; but' the majority were
so taken by surprise that they stood still
as if fascinated. Just as I was over the
entrance of the harbor an accident oc
curred among the crowd on the pier to
my left hand which afforded me an excel
lent and welcome opportunity of proving
that I had not come with any hostile in
tentions. A little boy who had impru
dently mounted on the parapet in order
to have a better view, frightened prob
ably by the sudden and unexpected ap
proach of the object of his admiration,
overbalanced himself, and, after first
striking his head rather severely against
a projecting portion of the pier, fell
into the deep water below, about 100
vards from me. Swift as lightning I sent
the Shooting Star slanting into the water
at about twenty yards from the spot
where he had disappeared. The next mo
ment it reappeared on the surface, and
rose again into the air with the little fel
low, who was about 10, adhéring to its
under surface by his back, by virtue of
the machine’s powerful attraction. "In
this way I conveyed him, dripping and
insensible, on. to the pier, where I gently
deposited him, loosening the attraction of
the machine as soon ‘as he touched the
ground. Then, before the crowd could
get over their astonishment and admira
tion, I flung open the door of the Shoot
ing Star and sprang out.. P
Again, in spite of my experience of the
day before, 1 had forgotten to make al
lowance for the inferiority of the Marsian
attraction, and, miscalculating' my dis
tance, leaped twice as far as I had in
tended. The consequence was that I
fell down on my hands and knees on the
hard pier, but fortunately without suffer
ing any injury beyornd a slight scratching
of both hands. I was on my feet again
directly, and began bowing and smiling
pleasantly to the crowd, who stood
watching me with the wildest astonish
ment depicted on their pale-blue faces.
I showed them my scratched and bleeding
hands, and then laughed good-naturedly,
to indicate that I did not mind my mis
hap a bit, and that I regarded it as a
good joke rather than otherwise. This
made an excellent impression. Several
laughed with me, and all looked pleased
and smiling. On observing some of them
nodding and pointing to something behind
me, I turned round and saw that they
were pointing to the boy 1 had saved,
who had recovered his senses, and was
now half lying, half sitting, leaning on his
elbow, and panting hard. I stepped%p
to him at once, and, taking hold of his
hand gently, raised him up on to his feet.
The poor little fellow locked up at me in
utter bewilderment, and yet with a con
filence and gratitude that was quite
touching. In his wet garment he smelt
strongly of the Marsian sea, that is to
say, of that peculiar aromatic odor which
I have already spoken of.
The other persons on the pier, men,
women and children, now came running
up from all parts and crowded round
me. A strange people truly they looked,
with their tight-fitting red and green gar
ments and pale-blue faces. On seeing
them now at close quarters I saw that
they had another peculiarity; they had
all, without exception, large, beautiful
hazel eyes, which shone with an extraor
dinary brilliancy, those of the women
especially. Despite the color of their
skin, which after all though strange was
very pretty, I have no hesitation in
pronouncing them the handsomest race 1
had ever seen in my life. Their fea
tures 'were finely and delicately cut; but
their great charm lay in the fascinating
play of-.those strange hazel eyes. These
were now bent upon me from all quar
ters, with a soft, benevolent expression
which greatly cheered and encouraged
me. Still, as I did not know a word of
their language, I was sorely puzzled how
to-act. I thought I would first begin
with the primitive language common to
us all—the language of signs; so, by way
of a beginning, I pointed to my mouth,
and imitated the action of chewing, to in
dicate that I should like to have some
thing to eat. :
They understood me at once. Several
of them pointed simultaneously to a
large and lofty building in the very
center of their town, from ' the four
corners of which four white flags v_ver.é
waving, and made signs to me that . 1
could have s?mething to eat there. 1
nodded and smiled to show that I un
derstood. Then I entered my machine,
shut the door behind me, sat down com
fortably in my steering seat, and made
everything ready for starting; the crm_vd
meanwhile watching me with the in
tensest curiosity. In less than a minute
the Shooting Star was in motion. Slow
ly it rose to a height of about four feet
from the ground. Then it moved hori
zontally sideways till it reached the
middie of the pier. Here I kept it for
a moment stationary in the air, while
through its transparent shell I nodded
and smiled again at my spectators, who
had hastily retreated to make room for
me. 'Then I moved . slowly along at the
same low height, accompanied by a
dense crowd of wondering Marsians, to
whom I kept constantly nodding, bowing
and smiling with the pleasantest ex
pressions of face I could command. The
boy whom I had saved had now quite
recovered, and was following in the
crowd behind. T once or twice halted,
and lowering the machine and opening
the door invited him to enter, but he
each time shook his head and smilingly
declined. Perhaps he was afraid 1
should fly away with him. Moved at
last, however, by the persuasion of those
about him, he plucked up his courage
and entered. I had fortunately be
thought me previously of lowering the
attraction of my machine to a level with
that of the Marsian attraction to which
he was accustomed, otherwise he would
assuredly have taken fright on finding
his own weight doubled as soon as he
was inside. For the future I determined
for my own sake to keep the attraction
of the Shooting Star at this level to
avoid fresh falls when I jumped out.
The little Marsian soon made himself
at home, and was evidently pleased at
the importance which his position had
given him in the eyes of his admiring
comrades. He dmiled and nodded at
them as they walked by the side of the
Shooting Star or ran past it, his large,
lustrous, eyes twinkling the while in the
plenitude of his delight.
;- (To be Continued.)
—John S. Harrison, who has a ranch
on the Columbia river, in Yakima county,
Wash., is going to plant forty acres of his
place to peanuts and sweet potatoes this
spring.
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Planting Early Fotatoes,
The earliest planting of potatoes
ought always to be much shallower
than late in the season. If the seed is
planted deep, with the freshly cut
pieces in contact with wet and cold
soil, the potato will rot instead of grow
ing. This can be prevened by cutting
the seed a number of days before
planting, and leaving the cut pieces in
a place*where they will dry out rapid
ly, and also be warm. TUnder such con
ditions the buds will start slowly and
be of dark-green color if the cut pieces
are exposed to light, as they always
should be. The more thoroughly the
pieces are dried out, the better it will
be for early planting, provided the
buds have not started so far as to be
gin to wither from lack of support. In
the damp soil the cut potato absorbs
some of the moisture. This not only
dries the soil around it, but increases
its warmth also, for as the water is
dried from the soil the surface air,
which in spring is always warmer
than the soil, comes in to take its place.
If potato seed for early planting is
managed in this way, the seed will not
rot in the soil. Besides, the crop will
be two weeks earlier than from unpre
pared seed.—Americay Cultivator.
Sub-li'rigation.
Sub-irrigation by means of lines of
tile is too-expensive. I find the cheap
est way to sub-irrigate is by using
ditches filled with clean gravel with
coarse stone on top of the gravel. These
ditches are made with a mold ditcher
constructed for the purpose. A double
hopper is attached to the ditcher and
kept full of gravel and sand, which fills
the ditches as the machine advances.
7 "W 7
A =
The ditches should have about three
inches of fall to the 100 feet. At the
upper end of the gravelditch place a six
inch tile and keep it full of water dur
ing the dry time. Also place a line of
tile at the lower end of the ditch to act
as a drain during wet weather. Place
the gravel ditches about six or twelve
feet apart and about two feet deep. On
a small scale for gardening this plan
will work very well—J. B. Hill, in
Orange Judd Farmer.
Substantial Farm Gate.
The illustration shows a farm gate
that cannot sag, cannot “leave its moor
ings,” and gives, moreover, a substan
tial and finished air to the surround
ings. It is useless to make a gate that
will not sag, and then hang it to sup
ports that soon bend under the weight
et
i ;_-____ é \"'"'4"! .:...
: GATE: ':‘/HAT CA;:;;T SAG.
pulling upon them, or lose their footing
and slide out of place. The gate and
gateway here figured are braced from
every point, as can be seen, and so
must always remain firmly in position.
It takes more time and lumber to build
such a gate, but it is time and lumber
profitably spent.—Farm and Home.
Pruning Currant Bushes.
It is very hard to keep currant
bushes thrifty and productive when
anywhere from six to ten or a dozen
sprouts are allowed to grow in each
hill. These conditions are just right
for the currant worm to do a good deal
of injury before he can be found and
killed with hellebore. We always cut
out all‘but three or four shoots. Though
many advise training the bushes in
tree form, only one in a place, two,
three or even four shoots will bear
enough more to pay for the extea trou
ble.’ -
A Year’s Wood Ahead.
There is nothing more provoking
than trying to cook with partially green
wood. So much more wood has to be
burned to overcome the waste in turn
ing the moisture in green wood to
steam that more heat is given out than
is needed. It is the mark of a good
farmer to have a year’s wood cut and
piled always in advance of its use.
When this is once begun there is a real
saving in labor, as less of the dry
wood will be required.
€alt to Hasten Decomposition.
Itis only when used in large amounts
as a pickle that salt retards decay.
Used in small amounts on either ani
mal or vegetable matter, with enough
water to dissolve it, salt will always
hasten decomposition. For this reason
SUB-IRRIGATION
it 1s an excellent plan to use it wher
ever it is desired to have manures act
more quickly. A little sprinkled over
a manure heap with water enocugh to
wash it down will set it to fermenting.
It will do the same when a tough sod
has been plowed under which it is nec
essary to rot quickly.
Care of Sitting Hens,
All the necessity for care is not end
ed when the hen is duly installed in her
three weeks’ task, and is sitting faith
fully. The Asiatic breeds of fowls, in
cluding such crosses as the Plymouth
Rock, are so persistent in sitting that
unless the poulterer tempts them off
to eat they may addle the eggs by too
much warmth and exclusion of the air.
The egg is porous, and the young chick
must get all the air it requires
through the shell. As hatching time
approaches, there is less danger of ad
dling the eggs by cold, even if the hen
is off some time. The warmth from the
chick will keep the egg from getting
cold, anyway. Sprinkling the eggs
with tepid water*is useful where the
sitting is too persistent.
Poultry House Rake.
The poultry quarters should have
four or five inches of loam or road dust
on the floor for the fowls to scratch in
and dust themselves in, but this soon
becomes covered with feathers and
masses of droppings. A fine-toothed
rake is serviceable in raking over the
pens, thus collecting all feathers, ete.,
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POULTRY HOUSE RAKE.
when they can be put into barrels with
the dressing. An ordinary rake, and
even a garden rake are too coarse for
this purpose. The sketch shows a good
homemade rake that answers well for
this work. Wire nails, driven very
close together, form the teeth. A strip
of hard wood should be used for the
head, while an old hayrake handle
can be pressed into service for the han
dle.—American Agriculturist.
Girdling Fruit Trees,
There is a common opinion that gir
dling, or the removal of a small ring of
bark from a limb or the body of the,
tree, will induce fruiting the comifig
season, as the sap coming back from
the blossom is retarded and blossom‘
buds are formed for the next season.
WITHOUT TILE.
The common practice is to remove a
ring of the bark. Mr. Dart, however,
adivses removing a spiral and finds
that this gives better satisfaction from
the fact that there is less danger of in
juring the tree. To make a barren tree
bloom, ‘girdling should be done the last
of July or the first week in -August.
About the only excuse for this. prac
tice is ‘'when it is desired to induce
early fruiting, so as to learn the value
of a variety as soon as possible. Cut
out one-fourth inch of bark around
some branch that will be removed any
how in pruning. This has been prac
ticed by experimenters, but it invari
ably results in causing a dead spot
difficult to heal over when the branch
is finally removed. It is generally
agreed that the spiral system of grind
ing is the most satisfactory.
Farm Notes. : '
Protect the lambs against. being’
drenched by sudden showers.
Good money can be made in raising
sheep for mutton as well as for wool.
Quality counts. i
Grease or oil on sitting hens is posi
tively injurious, either on the hen’s
feathers or body, as the least trace
upon the eggs destroys the germs.
Successful management of the calf
lies at the foundation of- stcck-raising,
and there must be no slack in attention
or watchfulness. Scouring, the bane
o fcalf rearing, indicates indigestion,
and results from overfeeding, irregu
lar feeding, giving food too cold, or per
mitting the young animal to get chilled
or wet. ARSI e
In growing ensilage-corn do not use
more than twelve quarts.of seed to the
acre, in drills three feet apart. "Let it
stand until it begins to glaze some. It is
no trouble.to get fifteen tons of ensil
age to the acre. The idea that good en
silage will'in any way taint or injure
milk is ridiculous. An expert cannot
detect ensilage-made milk if the ensil
age is all right.
Do you receive the bulletins of your
State experiment station? By applying
to it on a postal for them these useful
reports will be mailed you free. And
the station is usually glad to answer
your questions on any points upon
which you need help in your agricul
tural work. : That’s one of the things
the station is for. Its officers are liber
ally paid to serve the farmers’ inter
ests. It is your own fault if you don’t
make use of it. :
What Hobart Sacrificed.
The official salary of Vice President
Hobart is $10,500. Mr. Hobart, upon
taking office, resigned positions and
connections paying him five times the
amount of this salary, and he assumed
social functions that will increase his
expenses about ten times. In a pecuni
ary way the election has been a heavy
loss to him.
Y (ousenore
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Helps in Laundry Work,
Sort your clothes in five grades. First,
towels, table and bed linen; second,
family linen; third, light-colored
clothes; fourth, dark-colored clothes;
fifth, flannels and stockings. :
Have plenty of the best soap, with
borax, starch and bluing at hand. Add
borax to the water in the proportion of
one tablespoonful to a pail of water.
Colored cotton clothing of delicate
shades should have the color set be
fore washing. Add of salt a heaping
tablespoonful to each pailful of cold
water, and do not apply soap directly
to the article. '
A little kerosene oil put in the hot
starch will prevent it from sticking.
A teaspoonful of borax to a quart of
cold starch will make it stiff. Table
cloths should have as few. creases in
‘them as possible. Crease them twice
lengthwise; have them very damp and
iron them pertectly dry; fold over:-once
or twice, according to their lengths, and
place them carefully in a long drawer.
Fold napkins square with the initial
on the outside. They should always be
ironed perfectly dry; then put away
nicely in the drawer. Nk £
An Odd Aprown. s .
The neat housewife is supplied with
all sorts of aprons, for all sorts of uses,
but few have so convenie;}f%f’i{fa}:péf‘ttefin
as is shown here. The apron properis:
made on the lines of all aprons, a
straight breadth gathered into a band,
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hem-stitched at the bottom, and fur
nished with wide strings with hem
stitched ends. To the front is atfached
a set of pockets made of a long strip of
the linen, turned up half way, and
stitched along the edges. A finish of
Hamburg sets off the tops. Into these
pockets are slipped any of the odds
and ends so necessary when perform
ing housel‘lold duties. =
Good Coffee.
Buy the unroasted. Wash and rinse
it, drain in a colander until dry, then
put it in a sheal pan and roast it in the
oven till it is a rich brown. It must be
stirred often.. When done, it should be
put in jars and sealed air-tight as soon
as taken out of the oven. Only enough
for one meal should be ground at one
time. Tie this in a piece of muslin or
fine cheese cloth, place in the coffee
pot with enough water to cover it, shut
the lid tight, put a cork stopper in the
spout of the coffee pot, so that none of
the flavor of the coffee can escape, and
let it remain over night. In the morn
ing add enough boiling water to make
the. required amount of coffee -for
breakfast and set where it will cook
‘but not boil. Porcelain pots are best
for ¢ooking coffee. L e
o e Rice as Food. :
Rice is extremely light and easy. of
‘digestion, and is free from all acidity.
The only precaution at all necessary in
the use of rice is to have it thoroughly
boiléed, and it should, of course.e,-_".}t_ie_,
drained and dried on the stove jusgibe
fore being served, so that each grain is
‘separatg. Rice is a very useful food
for-elderly people and for children. As
a medicine it may be employed with
great advantage as an astringent, eith:
er as a drink or ground rice pudding:
As an anti-acid for heartburn or acid
ity, a little whole rice chewed occasion-.
ally will'often afford more relief ‘han
soda or.magnesia.
A Milkman’s Trick. s
A British paper says that at a recent
colonial show, while cows were being
milked in competition for a medal of
fered by the Governor of the colony,
cream was noticed dropping from the
sleeve of one of the milkmen, and it
‘was found that this individual had a
baby’s feeding bottle, containing one
‘angd, one-half pounds of cream, under
‘the‘breast of his coat, an India rubber
tubetheing attached, through which the
cx:ezffii’:'passed down the sleeve of the
coat'afid into the milkpail.
“ . 1%% Little Honey Cakes.
Cream together a quarter of a pound
each of butter and sugar; add three
quarters of a pound of strained honey,
a teaspoonful of ginger, a quarter of &
nutmeg, half a teaspoonful of soda and
one and three-quarters pounds of flour.
Roll thin, cut with a cookie cutter-and
bake quickly. These will keep a long:
time. -
: Texas Bread.
Mix together two cupfuls of graham:
flour, one of wheat flour, one of Indian
meal, two eggs, one cupful of milk
(sour or buttermilk), a pinch of salt and
one teaspoon soda in one cup of molas
ses. Steam three hours. :
For Chilblains,
- Immerse the chilled parts in a suita--
ble amount of hot water, with salt and
ashes and ¢oal oil thrown in. A man
told :mestliis®entirely removed the bad.
effects of frogen feet with him and de
clared lt"WQ?_ied like magic. .