Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume], February 27, 1906, Image 6

About Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916

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UNDERf THE
By STANLEY J. WEYMAN
circumstances—"
She cut me short on that word. She
sprang abruptly to her feet and faced
me. One moment, and I should have
said something to the purpose. But at
that word she was before me, white,
breathless, dishevelled, struggling for
speech. "Oh yes, yes," she panted
eagerly, "I know! I understand!" And
she thrust her hand Into her bosom
and plucked something out and gave
it to me—forced it upon me Into my
hands. "I know! I know!" Bhe said
again. "Take it, and God reward you,
Monsieur! We give it freely—freely
and thankfully! And may God bless
you!"
I stood and looked at her, and looked
at it, and slowly froze. She had given
me the packet—the packet I had re
stored to mademoiselle, the parcel of
Jewels. I weighed It In my hands, and
my heart grew hard again, for I knew
that this was mademoiselle's doing
that it was she who, mistrusting the
effect of madam's tears and prayers,
had armed her with this last weapon
—this dirty bribe. I flung it down on
the table among the plates, all my pity
changed to anger. "Madam," I cried
vMearn
by Stanley j.
CHAPTHR XL—(Continued). little bridge, the narrow woodland
clasped my spurs, and I dared not by some carelessness in the night, lay jng
get how I stand, and how small my rain fell and fell and fell. And so I
.power is! You forget that were I to left Cocheforet.
release your husband to-day, he would Louis went with us to a point a mile
be seized within the hour by those who beyond the village, and there stood
are still to the village, and who are and saw us go, cursing me furiously
watching every road—who have not as I passed. Looking back when we
ceased to suspect my movement and had ridden on, I still saw hlmstand
jny Intentions. You forget, I say, my lng and after a moment's hesitation I
ruthlessly, "you mistake me altogeth- day of my march southwards, but the
I have heard hard words enough passage of a month had changed the
fin the last 24 hours, and I know what face of everything. Green dells, where
J'ou think of me! But you have yet to springs welling out of the chalk had
that I have never turned traitor made of the leafy bottom a faries*
|to the hand that employed me, nor home, strewn with delicate ferns and
sold my own side! When I do so for hung with mosses—these were, now
Pa treasure ten times the worth of swamps into which our horses sank to
the fetlock. Sunny brows, whence I
£*...?•" SllA GftTtlr intrt eoof I
She sank into a seat, with* & moan I had viewed the champaign and traced
of despair, ff. ".at.-that moment the my forward path, had become bare,
-ou*ginut.^• una M. de Cocheforet windswept ridges. The beech woods,
came in. Over his shoulder I had a
glimpse of mademoiselle's proud face,
a little whiter to-day, with dark marks
under the eyes, but still firm and cold.
"What is this?" he. said, frowning
and stopping short as his eyes lighted
on madam.
"It is—that we start at eleven
^o'clock Monsieur," I answered, bowing crossing barren heaths.
curtly. "Those, I fancy, are your prop
erty." And pointing to the jewels, I
wpnt out by the other door.
That I might not be present at their
parting. I remained in the garden un
til the hour I had appointed was well
•^passed then without entering ths
•r house I went to the stable entrance,
Here I found all ready, the two troop
ers (whose company I had requisitioned
ns far as Auch) already in the saddle.
V- my own two knaves waiting with my
sorrel and M. de Cocheforet's chestnut.
Another horse was being led up and
down by Louis, and, alas, my heart
winced at the sight. For It bore a
lady's saddle and I saw that we wore
to have company. Was It madam who
meant to come with^us? or mademoi
selle? And how far? To Auch? oi
farther? 'r'
I suppose that they had set some
y- kind of a watch on me for, as I
walked up, M. de Cocheforet and his
sister came out of the house—he look
lng white, with bright eyes and a
twitching in his cheek, though through
all he affected a jaunty bearing she
wearing a black mask.
"Mademoiselle accompanies us?" I
said formally.
"With your permission, Monsieur,"
he answered, with grim politeness.
But I.saw that he was choking with
emotion. I guessed that he had jus*
partr-d from his wife and I turned
awav.
When we were all mounted he
looked at me. "Perhaps, as you havo
my parole, you will permit me to ride
alone," he said, with a little hesita
tion, "and—"
"Without :ne!" I rejoined keenly
"Assuredly, so far as is possible."
directed the troopers to ride in front
and keep out of ear-shot my two
men followed the prisoner at a like
We started, and I looked with a lin
cerinK ova and nuuiv uipmnries at tlM
I
1
I was In terror lest some one should path, the first roofs of the village the place this delayed them still
come and see her lying there, and 1 all now famijiar, all seen for the last longer and in the result we neared
stooped and tried to raise her. But time. Up the brook a party of soldier's the water almost together and I
she would not rise she only sank were dragging for the captain's body, crossed close on her heels. The bank
the lower until her tender hands A furlong farther on, a cottage, burned
move. Then I took a sudden resolu- a heap of black ashes. Louis ran be- behind. At the moment, however, I
tlon. "Listen then, Madam," I said, side us, weeping the last brown leaves thought nothing of this, nor of her
almost sternly, "if you will not rise, fluttered down in showers. And be- delay and I was. following her quite
When you ask what you do, you for- tween my eyes and all, the slow, steady
rode back to him. "Listen, fool," I
said, cutting him short in the midst
of his mowing and snarling, "and give
this message to your mistress. ,Tell
her from, me that it will be with her
hbsband as It was with M. de Regnier,
when he fell into the hands of his en
emy—no better and no worse."
"You want to kill her, too, I sup
pose?" he answered, glowering at me.
"No fool! I want to save her!" I
retorted wrathfully. "Tell her that,
just that and no more, and you will
see the result."
"I shall not," he said sullenly. "I
shall not tell her. A message from
you, Indeed!" And he spat on the
ground.
"Then on your head be It!" I an
swered solemnly. And I turned my
horse's head and galloped fast after the
others. For, In spite of his refusal,
I felt sure that he would report what
I had said—if it were only of curiosity
and it would be strange if madam did
not understand the reference.
And so we began our journey sadly,
under dripping trees and a leaden sky.
The country we had to traverse was
the 3ame I had trodden on the last
which had glowed with ruddy light,
were naked now mere black trunks
and rigid arms pointing to heaven. An
earthy smell filled the air a hundred
paces away a wall of mist closed the
view. We plodded on sadly, up hill
and down hill now fording brooks al
ready stained with flood-water, now
But up hill or down hill, whatever
the outlook, I was never permitted to
forget that I was the jailer, the ogre,
the villain that I, riding behind in
my loneliness, was the blight on all,
the deathspot. True, I was behind the
Dthers I escaped their eyes. But there
was not a line of mademoiselle's droop
ing figure that did not speak scorn to
me, not a turn of her head that did
not seem to say, "Oh God, that such
a thing should breathe!"
I had only speech with her once dur
ing the day and that was on the last
•Idge before we went down into the val
ley to climb up again to Auch. The rain
had ceased the sun, near Its setting,
shown faintly and for a few moments
we stood on the brow and looked
southward while we breathed the
horses. The mist lay like a pall on
ajl the country we had traversed but
beyond It and above it, gleaming pearl
like in the level rays, the line of the
mountains stood up like a land of en
chantment, soft, radiant, wonderful,
or like one of those castles on the
Hill of Glass of which the old ro
mances tell us. I forgot, for an in
stant, how we were" placed, and I cried
to my neighbor that it was the fairest
pageant I had ever seen.
She—it was mademoiselle, and she
had taken off her mask—cast one look
at me only one, but It conveyed dis
gust and loathing so unspeakable that
scorn beside them would have been
a gift I reined in my horse as if
she had struck me and felt myself
go first hot and then cold under her
Byes. Then she looked another way.
I did not forget the lesson after
that I avoided her more sedulously
than before. We lay that night at
Auch and I gave M. de Cocheforet the
utmost liberty even permitting hitn
to go out and return at his will. In
the morning, believing that on the
is to nee, with their carbines on their farther side of Auch we ran less risk
knees. Last of all I rode myself, with attack, I dismissed the two dra
my eves open and a pistol loose in my S°ons
holsier. M. de Cocheforet, I saw, was
Inclined to sneer at so many precau
tions ami the mountain made of his re
quest but 1 had not done so much
fu:d or..e so lav, I had not faccd scorn
and ms :hs, to be cheated of my prize
at last. A\v:irc that until we were be
yond Auch there must be hourly and
pressing danger of a rescue, I was de
termined that he who would wrest my
prisoner from me should \pay dearly
for it. Only pride, and, perhaps, in a
degree also, appetite for a ftsjht, had
prevented me borrowing ten troopers
Instead of two.
an^
Be* ou^
an hour after sunrise we
again. The day was dry and
ind cold, the weather more promising.
planned to go by the way of Lec
toure, crossing the Garonne at Agen
ind I thought with roads continually
improving as we moved northwards,
we should be able to make good pro
gress before night. My two men rode
first I came last by myself.
Our way lay for some hours down
the valley of the Gers, under poplars
and by long rows of willows and pres
ently the sun came out and warmed us.
Unfortunately, the rain of the day be
fore had swollen the brooks which
crossed our path and we more than
r-
place and finally, just as mademoiselle
and monsieur came up to them, flound
ered through and sprang slantwise
up the father bank. ]'•-l"''
we
at my
once had a difficulty In fording them, tion. lie retreated before me for some
Noon, therefore.. found us little more paces, but thenv losing courage, he
than half-way to Lectoure, and I was di-opped his sword and, wheeling round
growing eacli minute more impatient, cantered off"down the road, clinging to
when our road, which had for a little his pommel... There remained only the
while left the river bank, dropped fellow engaged with my man and I
down to it again and I saw before, us turned to spe how they were getting
[another crossing, half ford, half! on. They were standing to take
slough. My men tried it gingerly and I breath, so I ran towards them but,
gare back and tried it again in another seeing me. coming, this rascal, too,
The delay had been enough io Wing
me, with no good will of my own,
weymfto.) close up to the Cocheforets. Mademol-
seile's
on
horse made a little busipess of
either side was steep while cross-
could see neither before nor
leisure, when the sudden report
of a carbine, a second report and a
yell of alarm in front, thrilled me
through.
On the instant, while the sound
was still in my ears, I saw it' all. Like
a hot iron piercing my brain, the truth
flashed into my mind. We were at
tacked! We were attacked, and.I was
here helpless in- this pit, this trap!
The loss of a second while I fumbled
here, mademoiselle's horse barring the
way might be fatal.
There was but one way. I turned my
horse straight at the steep bank'and
he breasted it. One moment he hung
as if he must fall back. Then, wjth
a snort of terror and a desperate bound
he topped it and. gained the level,
trembling and snorting.
It was as had guessed. Seventy
paces away on the road lay One of my
Men. He had fallen, hbrse and man
and lay still. Near him, with his baclc
against a bank, stood his fellow, on
foot, pressed by four horsemen and
shouting. As my eye lighted on the
scene, he let fly with a carbine and
dropped one.
I snatched a pistol from my holster,
cocked it. and seized my horse by the
head—I might- save the man yet. I
shouted to encourage him and in an-
other second diojild have charged Into
the fight, when a sudden vicious blow,
swift and unexpected, struck the pistol
from my hand.
I made a snatch at it as it fell, but
missed, it and be-fore I could recover
myself, mademoiselle thrust her horse
furiously against mine and. with her
riding-whip, lashed the sorrel across
the ears. As my horse reared madly
up I had a glimpse of her eyes flash
ing hate* through her mask of her
hand again uplifted the next moment,
I was down in the road, inglorioufcly
score of paces from me.
I don't doubt that but for that she
would have trampled on me. As It
was, I was free to draw and ln a
twinkling I was running towards the
fighters. All I have described had hap
pened in a few seconds. My man was
still defending himself: the smoVe of.
the carbine had scarcely risen.. I
sprang with a shout across a fallen
tree that intervened at the same mo
ment two of the men detached them
selves and rode, to meet me. One,
whom I took to be the leader, was
masked. He came furiously at me,
trying to ride me down but I leaped
aside nimbly and evading him, rushed
at the other and. scaring his horse, so
that he dropped his point, cut him1
across the shoulder before he could
guard himself He plunged away,
cursing, and trying to. hold in his%
horse, and I turned to meet the masked
man.
"You double-dyed villain!" he cried,
riding at me again. And this time
he manoeuvered his horse so skilfully
that I was hard put- to it to prevent
him knocking me down and could not
v/ith all my efforts reach him to hurt
htm. "Surrender, will you!" he con
tinued, "you blood hound!"
I wounded him slightly in the knee
for answer but before I could do
more his companion came back and
the two set upon me with a will, slash
ing at my head so furiously and tower
ing above me with so great an advan
tage that it was all I could do to guard
myself. I was soon glad to fall back
against the bank—as my man had
done before me.. In such a conflict my
rapier would have been of little use,
but fortunately I' had armed myself
before I left Paris with a cut-and
thrust sword for the road and though
my mastery of the. weapon was not
on a par with my rapier-play, I wa
able to fend off their cuts and by an
occasional prick keep the horses at
a distance. Still they swore and cut
at me, trying to wear me out and lt
was trying work. A little delay, the
least accident, might enable the other
man to come to their help, or made
moiselle, for' all I knew, might shoot
me with my own pistol and I confess
I was unfeignedly glad when a lucky
parade sent the masked man's sword
flying across the road. He was no
coward for unarmed as he was, he
pushed his horse at me, spurring it
recklessly but the animal, which I
%vhf) have
unhorsed, the sorrel was galloping «Yea» answered, with, a touch of
away, and her horse, scared in its
turn, was plunging unmanageably a
several times touched, reared lip in
stead and threw him at the very mo- haste.
ment that I wounded his companion a «We shall overtake it,
second time in the arm and made him
give back.
This quite changed the scene. The
man in the mask-sta£gei-3d to his feet
and felt stupidly for a pistcl. But
he could not find one and was, I
saw, In no state to use it if he had.
He reeled helplessly to the bank and
leaned against it He would give no
further trouble. The man I
TIB.
OTTtJM WA OOURIEI*
whipped round his horse and disap
peared in the wood and left us mas
ters of the field. The first thing I did
—and I remember it to this day with I
pleasure—was to plunge my hand into
my pocket, take out half the money
I had in the world and press it on the
man who had fought for me so stoutly
and who had certainly saved me from
disaster. In my joy I could have:
kissed him! It was hot only that I
had escaped defeat by the skin of my
teeth—and his good sword—but I knew
and thrilled with the knowledge, that
the,fight kad altered the whole posi
tlon. He was wounded in two places
YOU VILLAIN."
and .1 hn-d a scratch or two and had
lost my horse and my other poor fel
low was dead as a herring. But speak
ing for myself, I would have spent
t,le
foe]jn?
Wjth
8peait
(0
ds
sjstcr
pushed on one side, was openly
weeping. Her brother, who had scru
pulously kept his' place by the ford
from the beginning of the fight to
the end, met- me with raised eyebrows
and a peculiar smile. "Acknowledge
my vlrtiie.," he said airily! "I am here,
M. de- Brrault—which is more than
can be, s-rid 6f the two gentlemen
just ridden off."
bitterness. "I wish they had not shot
my poo^ man
before-they went."
were my. frisads," he said. "You must
not expeet me to blame them. But
that Is not all."
"No," I said, wiping my sword.
"There is this gentleman .In the mask."
And I turned to go towards him.
"M. de Berault!
thing abrupt in the way in which
Cocheforet called my name after me.
I stood. "Pardon?" 1 said, turning.
"That gentleman?" he answered,
hesitating, and looking at me doubt
fully. "Have you considered—what
will happen to him, if you give him
up to the authorities?"
"Who is he?" I said sharply.
"That is rather a delicate question,"
he answered, frowning, and still look
ing at me fixedly.
"Not from me," I replied brutally,
since he is in my power. If he will
Let us be going."
"Well—but my horse?" I said, some
what taken aback by thin extreme
fAMTlf
ORCHARD:
am
BY
J.S.TRIGG
REGISTER,
DES MOINES, IA.
CORRESPONDENCE
SOLICITED
he replied
road. Lectoure is no more than a
league from here, and we can give or
ders there to have these two fetched
in and -buried."
(To be Continued'.)
with
had
1
wounded was In scarcely better condi- lar looks- suspiciously like a failure,
a success, but the man without a dol-
W
We once knew of a man who made
good money by buying rundown
farms and restoring their fertility and
then reselling them at a very substan-
tlal advallce
,n price. The wise? farmer y°ar
will tend to this matter for himself.
Most ladles love flowers, and a gen
eral favorite with them is the pansy.
Right now in February is a good time
to get a paper of pansy seed and sow
it in a box to be kept in tie kitchen
and so get the young plant well start
ed by the time that spring comes.
The west is enjoying a rather re
markable winter, more open and mild
in type than any which has visited
that section since 1S56. Stock has had
the run of the fields up to February,
and hardly any draft has been made
upon forage supplies, the blue grass
pastures seeming to afford an abun
dance of palatable food.
One corn raiser and a very success
ful one tells us that he can add ten
bushels per acre to his yield of corn
by simply giving the field a thorough
hand hoeing after the corn is laid by in
July and cutting out all ttie barren
stalks. If this is true it is something
worth knowing, as the extra yield of
corn would more than pay for the work.
The merchant who counts upon his
country trade to work off his odds and
ends need not go around howling be-
half te blood in my body to purchase cause the mail order houses are get-
which I turned back ting his trade. The time has passed
Cocheforet and his when, because of remotely located trad-
had fought before them. ing points and meager knowledge of
Mednmoiselle had dismounted and prices and quality, the farmer can be
with her face' averted and her mask sold any old thing. Nowadays the man
in the country is generally as well post
ed and knows as well what he wants
as many of the people in the towns.
farmer who Is indifferent to the neces
sity. of proper crop rotation and soil
renewal to found ln some districts of
the south where land which had been
cropped to death is being increased in
value from 60 to 100 per cent by the
scientific employment of fertilizers and
the practice of crop rotation. The
He shrur-ed his shoulders. "They good seed gospel is a great one, Jrat it
can never prosper to any great extent
unless hitched up with the gospel of
good soil brought .about by a proper
take off,His mask I shall know better ^^rl^ad of
what I Intend to do with him."
The stranger had lost his hat in his
fall and his fair hair, stained with
dust, hung in curls on his shoulders.
He was a tall man, of slender, hand
some presence, and though, his dress
was plain and almost rough, I espied
a splendid jewel on his hand and fan
cied I detected other signs of high
quality. He still lay against the bank
in a half-swooning condition and
seemed unconscious of my scrutiny.
"Should I know him if he unmasked?"
I said suddenly, a new idea in my
head.
"You would," M. de Cocheforet an
swered simply.
"And?"
"It would be bad for every one."
"Ho, ho!" I said softly,' looking
hard, first at my old prisoner, and then
at my new-one. "Then, what.do you
wish me to do?"
"Leave Aim here," M. de Cocheforet
answered glibly, his face flushed, the
pulse in his cheek beating. I had
known him for a man of perfect honor
before, and trusted him. But this
evident earnest anxiety on behalf of
his friend touched me. Besides, I
knew that I was treading on slippery
ground that it behove me to be care
ful. "I will do It," I said, after a mo
ment's reflection. "He will play me
no tricks, I suppose? A letter of—?"
"Mon Dleu, no! He will under
stand," Cocheforet answered eagerly.
"You will not repent lt, I swear.
ar«
There was some- predate the value of good blood in all
their breeding animals many are
strangely reluctant to apply the same
rule to the seed sown and planted in
their fields. It matters not whether it
be corn or any of the small grains, the
fact remains that the poor and inferior
seed if sown or planted is certain to
be the prime begetter of a poor and in
ferior crop. No work done on the farm
is so well paid as is that devoted to
careful selection and thorough prepa
ration of the seed to be sown.
The men who undertake for the first
steers for the market nearly always
come out losers. The profitable feed
ing of steers is just as much of a spe
cial business as dairying. The usual
cause of such failure is the fact that
they pay too much for their feeders
and nine times out of ten buy the
wrong kind then they quite often sell
at the wrong time. The safest thing a
man can do who wants to take up this
line of business is to go and work for
some successful feeder for a year and
learn the A of the business.
were being stolen, but as there was
never any squealing ln the yard he
could get no clew to the matter. He
finally hired a detective and presently
found out that a man who had prevl-
a stick, would saturate lt with chloro
form and then go to the sleeping hogs
and soon have some of them In a con
dition where they were easily handled
and put into the wagon without any
fuss. ......
urgcntly. "It. will have kept to the money each year. For while they can
For the farmer who cannot afford the
before
lime to attend to his lawn with a lawn The serious question of the existence
moweV a few sheep will be found an of tuberculosis among the bogs in^-be
excellent substitute and will pay a
good return in keeping the home place
trimmed up.
The common striped gopher is not al
together a pes on the farm, for, while
it will frequently dig up some corn, it
will at the same time destroy an enor
mous number of cutworms, which,pests
area very favorite food of the gopher.
It is a noticeable fact that as the
years go by the world is consuming
more and more corn and making it take
the place of the higher priced staple,
wheat. Comparatively few people know
in how many appetizing ways this rela
tively cheap cereal can be prepared.
A reader in Michigan wishes to know
how to prepare a piece of land for on
ions. This work should be donie the
cr°P ralsed"
crop ,of clover or cowpeas along In JUly
fanners have to contend with, the hard-
foothold. And the worst of the case is
this pest gain a lodgment on their
farms and cither do not know what it
ridding a place of rats is to shoot them
with a small rifle. If fed a little th
will come out of their holes In the even-
Ing and offer an easy mark, and the
shooting of them is considered pretty
fine, sport by the boys. We once rid our
place of them entirely by this method
when cats and traps had utterly failed
in the work.
Water and air, two of the essentials
of life, have been so long free to all
that lt Is hard for people to accommo
date themselves, as they are being
more and mbro Compelled to do, to the
idea of economizing In their use. The
figure "{ree as air" is no longer apro
pos with large portions of the world's
population which is congested in the
unhealthy confines of the larger cities,
while the question of pure water even
at a price is often a serious one.
An Interesting object lesson for the ^preach this subject with much can-
tilizers, that there Is nothing to work
on. Tlo ImprovemmB, ttom.rket..
dear at any price.
Whether a man likes to do it or not,
the time has come when in the conduct
of hi3 farm he simply compelled
care of the tame. closely study In every way possible
how to make a machine take the place
^1* ®ost t*™*™
°P and do the work of a man. In fact.
suceessfuj
j. .. .. northern Illinois, where equally good
ously been ln his employ would drive material for piano legs and
the team at night up to the hog lot and, bedroom suits and with their annihila
fastenlng a large sponge on the end of I tlon passes forever what should be .on®
North of latitude 42 degrees It will
raise the big corn and the big ears, lt
Is only rarely that lt is enabled to
properly mature before the frost
catches lt It Is every way better for
a man to have his cribs filled with a
thousand bushels of good
which
bushels
Bound
corn
will keep than lt is to have 1,600 jng
mi i. who do this dirty work thejy often find
The man
der saTe-
r^ Ji}V
farming Is becoming more
and more a matter of the sensible han-
dling of machinery. The most expen-
and needs the most careful attention.
land commanded a prlce of
Here is a new scheme on hog steal
ing: A large stock raiser became satis
fled that in some manner or other his __
bogs, which had the run of a large lot, ing before the greedy ax. The lofty matic conditions be as they alwayi
redwoods of, California, centuries old have been. Much has been learnedL
before the white man first set his foot however, in the line of methods of cnlf|
upon the virgin soil of the continent, ture which hare for their object the
are sacrificed to the demands of com
merce and yield their ancient trunks to
of the most glorious birthrights of fu
ture generations.
Inaculately ci an and
do
™hlte.
be found, taking a series of years, yme they made a slurring com- most sure to perish. If a park Is da
that lt will be safer and mpre profita-1 ment upon the social position which sired the better way is to plow tSfc
ble to plant varieties of corn which ^jg womaa-occupled. Why should they whole tract deeply, and If it is well fer.
will ripen within a period of 100 days
than It will to grow the larger and Q^cted -with the woman and the wash- year the land should be put ln the bes
later maturing kind. Olie temptation D0ins this work for others, why possible condition, when tbe trees ma
to grow big corn along the northern
Bhould
limit of the corn belt coats the com fo, the cities a young man whose bust- land that would require a thorough cul
growers of that latitude a vast sum of
nesg lt la to sort out
The more civilized we beco
dirty work there Is to
clean clothes are needed, and lt serves
Women just right if by foolishly plae-
a
a million may not be which he must feed out at once ln or- themselves unable to selcure much
tidisRcciosis among rum hogs.
corn, belt is one that is attracting a
great deal of attention, as well it may,
It has been generally supposed this dis
ease has been confined to the bovine
animals and that the hog is rarely af
flicted with It. This conclusion is whol
ly wrong, as the slaughter tests /it t&e
stockyards of the country show that" it
is becoming a very common thing, so
common that certain of the hog produfc*.
ins sections of the eountrv have be-,
come blacklisted in the markets, and
buyers are instructed to refuse to take
any hogs from such blacklisted ter
ritory, owing to the large per cent of
the hogs which at the packing houses
are condemned as being affected
with tuberculosis and which are sent
to the rendering tanks. One of the
largest of the packing houses in Chi-,
con-
.o
,A,
goo,i
way is to plow uuder a good heavy
cago reports the loss from hogs
demneel for thJs cause to have becn
?700,000
or August. This forms a good founda- general movement is now on foot by
tlon for either potatoes or onions for pa^rs to make the growers of
the next year. these infected hogs stand the loss which
1
It is probably true that q-ack grass terest to note In this connection that
is the worst seed of all that western
est to get rid of when once it gets a ij0gg
uctg of
that thousands of farmers are letting termUk
very
1
Some attention Is being paid by 'west- __
ern farmers to the low priced farms of
during the past year, and a
accrues from this source. It is of In-
biacklisted section
represeuts
of the country
the
dalry secuona
are
where the
largely raised on the biprod-
iaJry_skimmed. milk
gender dlsease ln the hlilnan
but.
etc._showiag conehlslv iy a
close relation between the tuber-
cujar cow aml
means or else do not care.^^!^ as it is generally admitted, the use
.. ~7 -v milk from a tubercular cow will Cu
One of the most successful methods of
yje tubercular hog. If,
lt lB easy to account for thft Bppead
disease amongthe
hogs and, further,
eagy t0 see how use of a meat prod.
uct 80 lnfected may become a pr olIfl
source of Btui
fUrther Infection. S
serlous has matter beC0me
not
only from Its possible danger to human
life, but as affecting the profits of the
hog business at large, that the matter
demands the prompt and united atten
tion of our government and state au
thorities. It is almost useless to take
action to use sanitation for the treat
ment of persons suffering from tuber
culosis while such provoking- causes of
the great white plague are permitted
to exist.
________
prjee t0
the cast. The western farmer should profitable to produce them, especially
tion, for on many of these farms the the reason that all the meat eating
soil .is gone beyond redemption, so erod- countries are demanding more and
ed. so burned out with commercial fer-
t}
FINE OUTLOOK FOR SHEEP.
The sheep Industry never looked
more promising than it does today. It
looks as though it would be impossible
to so increase the production of wool
and mutton that either would fall in
a point where It would not be
llne of meat Thls Js true tor
more We bolieve ln
nectloll witIl tbe fai.ms o(
food reJe^-
to
we regard
sive machine on any farm and the one hundred ewes of some good mutton
most difficult to handle is the hired breed on the average quarter section
man. He is the oftenest out of repair
So small a matter as the shrinkage,
on the shipment of stock to market
proved the turning point on which the
sale of a large farm blnged recently.
The farm was a very desirable one, and
the would be buyer was a man fromr
farm as ono of
$150
corn be'
CM bc jait
supply may. all be of the highest order,
,, ... a scavenger In that it lives large}y on4
but if the soli is dead these things are
p^.
by other animal's lt'1
a better farm fertilizer than the -hog'
and enjoys a much greater degree of
freedom from disease. It Is also trtie*
that a pound of mutton can be produc
ed on a corn belt farm as cheaply as: a
pound of pork or beef, and the pros
pect Is that a producer would receive
more for his pound of mutton ln the
market than he will for either his beef
or pork. Taking the outlook as it is.
the putting of a
the very best things
that could be done.
SCTWNTIFTC
per
acre, while the farm which he sought
to buy could be had for $76 per acre,
but was forty-five hours from market.
Figuring up the shrinkage on car lots
of hogs and cattle, he decided to buy
the higher priced land nearer to mar-
Man Is essentially a selfish creature, rainfall during the growing seavoii
and his conception of what is ultimate- which has resulted in the production oi
ly the best Is often distorted by the al- very large and very profitable- cropsjoi
luring prospect of Immediate material wheat and corn. By some it Is though'
gain. In no case is this better illus- that the cultivation of the land hai
trated than in the destruction of the brought about a permanent change .ii:
magnificent forests which have for the amount of rainfall, but this is prob
ages been a source of beauty and pleas- ably an error, and the probabilities an
ure, but which are rapidly disappear- that dry seasons will return and ell
TILLAGE!.
A friend writing to us from south
western Nebraska gives a very glow
ing picture of the agricultural prosper
ity which prevails in that section. Th
discovery that winter wheat could
most successfully grown on what ha
always been considered land worthl'
for any other purpose than pasture an
the further fact that the growing of al
falfa is proving a wonderful succes
have together brought a wonderful an
radical change ln the condition an
prospects of that country. Coupled'
with these things has come for two on
three years past an unusual amount o:.
conserving of the moisture, and bj
these methods lt is now claimed thai
great success is obtainable.
STARTIRO PARK.
We overheard recently some ladles
talking aboutthe woman who did their ered.wlth sod and planting young treel
washing. They admitted that the work to boles dug ln such sod. From this
was well done, the clothes returned lm- very nature of things a tree so planter
We notice ln many of our small
towns attempts being made to securi
public parks, and It is very fre^uentl^l
done by taking a piece of ground, covr-
At the never be a
js there unladylike con- tillzed so much the better. The nex
it place a social ban upon her? be planted and some crop put on th
social ban on those pf their sex
of soft and immature corn whn do thin dirtv -work theiv often find
,1 deeded assistance In the doing of Jt
atsf.
TWH
success. They are al'
t^ dirty duds tlvatlon. 8o planted the trees wll
which come to a public ijaundry and 1healthy and thrifty, and at th?
do up and deliver th laundered
goods can'move in the best society.
ne the more
the more
*4£ iW4i«j
end of two years the lot may be seedei
down and a good park obtained.