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PiOCHE WEEKLY RECORD T. J. UeBORSE. MakaCK. PUIM, URCBU CO. MVAOA ALONG lllh COAST. Interesting Occurrences From all Over the Coast. NEWS OF THE WEEK CGt'D JSED A Mrakif of HIimIIumu Jottiags Briefly and Curtly Teld Tbl Colamn.1 Colton may issue 120.000 bund to keep in shape ita new water system. The university's enrollment at Bel keluT ii 2159. or 400 more than last year. The Grand Hotel at Redwood Citj has been burued. It is a total loss. Insured for (5000. The average iu crease in fruit ship menti over last year is about 40 per cent at Sacramento. Bloomfield. Sonoma oonuty, in ex cited over the discovery of ledge oi gold-bearing rook. The 8.1'. R. R. ishaving ita baggage eara remodeled for greater convenience in handling bicycles. The report com eg from Anaheim and Ventura and Chino of a very low ton nage of beets this season. Creditors of Fresno oonuty will have to wait nntil December next for their money, as the County Treasurer is empty. Less than half the students who attempted the entrance examination in English at the California university at Berkeley, passed. San Perdo oitizens are petitioning the Terminal K. It. Co. to establish a ferry between the Kan Pedro and Long lieacli aides of the channel. Rough lumber is selling at f 14 per thousand at Visalia. At Lindsay the prioe of mountain lumber is $18 per thousand, and at Porterville (14. Rev. Wm. Ruder of San Franoisoo is in sympatby with the movement to ward the establishment of an inde pendent church in San Francisco. He mny be made pastor. The City Council of Seattle has passed an ordinance prohibiting the wearing of high bats at theatrical performances. The penalty is a fine of not less than (5 nor more than fin. The university regents of Berkeley talk of advanoing money to enable the State printing office to start up and run until its next appropriation can le used to repay the loan. A Central California Counties Asso ciation has been organized ac the Palace in San Francisco. Its objeot is to promote the interests of the middle section of the State. Arrangements have been closed in San Francisco for the colonization by Hermans of pver 10,000 acres of beet lands in Monterey county. Clam Spreokels will take all the beets. Thu San Franoisoo Furniture manu facturing company's factory on Bryant street has been destroyed by fire, to gether with its contents. The loss is placed at (20,000, with (4000 insur ance. A petition is being circulated pray ing the Board of Supervisors to pass an ordinance prohibiting the shipment of game from Santa Barbara oonuty. It receives the sanction of the local gun club. The Santa Cruz City Counoil has de nied the petition of saloon-men for a reduction from (20 to (200 per an num. By paying the present license they are allowed to keep open after midnight. It is anuouuoed on what is said to be the highest authority that the Southern Pacifio will extend a branch of their road to Rundsburg. The At lantic and PaoiQo is already building to that point. The San Franoisoo Board of Under writers is in Oakland having a survey of the annexed district made on whioh to base rates. The Counoil will be asked to provide better fire protection for this district. An arbitration committee will de termine the value of the water plant in Los Angeles. The city and the water company will each appoint a member of this committee, these appointees to select the third. The Valley road will not run its passenger trains iuto Visalia before September 9th, when the event will be celebrated by the people of that oity There will be a barbecue, a bull fight, bicycle parade, etc. By an almost unanimous vote Au burn has decided to establish a high school. The old Sierra Normal College building baa been leased for a term of years, thus eliminating the usual waste of time in the erection of a necessary building. J. B. Webster of Stockton has com menced sixteen suits against the Valley railroad. Webtser owns sixteen lots which he claims were damaged by the building of the Valley road in front of them. The suits were brought in a justices' court. E. Spalsbury, a prominent attorney and well-known citizen of Santa Ciuz, is dead. Be was a native of Hew York, and was aged 62. He served during the war as captain of a Mew York company. He resided in Santa Cruz for the past twenty years. Stockton has a peouliar bioycle erdi nance. It is unlawful to ride on side walks between the hours of seven o'clock in the evening and six o'clock in the morning, but at other hours the sidewalk may be used, though the wheelmen must dismount on meeting a pedestrian. Suit was oommened at Los Angeles by Wells, Fargo & Co., against the John F. Cutting Company of San Franoisoo to recover various sums of money alleged to have been loaned the defendant oompany aggregating about (10,000. The suit is brought to bring about the sale of property pledges to ettle the debt. Louis Rebordors, a prospector who bus long been bunting a missing ledge on Bear Creek about sixty miles north east of Fresno, recently found a slight stringer of gold quartz, which was fol lowed up a few tm and developed a two-foot lfdge very rich in free gold and lulpbureta. Experts who have examined the find say that there is at least (40,000 in sight. The annual timber fires on tbe lower Colombia River, Oregon, have set iu, and on the Washington side the fires are raging furiously from points in the iuterior between Kalama and Vancouver to Calumet and Skamowa. From tbe banks of the Cowlitz about Clifton and along the high-timbered bluffs overtopping the river for miles on that side snd in that vicinity the fires are visible at night from the river, and passengers on boats say the spectacle it beautiful. There is not much destruction reported as yet, but unless it should rain there will be ex tensive damage. MONASTERIES OF METEORA. Am Extraordinary Bceaa oa tha MMcdo alaa Frontier. Between the curve of the Macedo nian frontier of the mountains of Kb as sia and tbe open town of Kalabaka, which terminates tbe long western plain of Thossaly, lie tbe monasteries of Meteoru. A casual glance gives tbe idea of the whole space being occupied by liuea of bare bills, but on a uourer inspection a curious amphitheater is found, carved out among tbe moun tains, and this is occupied by a most extraordinary collection of rocks, on which are perched, like storks' nests or the turban ou a Turkish tombstone, the aerial monasteries of Meteors. In one pluce a huge monolith is found lit erally crowned with buildings, as in the case of the monastery of All Saints, popularly known asHuglos Barlaam; in another a group of jagged rocks will have one point capped by a monastery, as is seen in St. Nicholas. The most striking feature about these monaster ies is tbe method by which they are reached, either by loose ladders hanging outside the perpendicular rocks or by being wound up by means of a windlass in a net at the end of a rope. From its beautiful position, its size and the fair preservation of its build ings the monastery of Haglos Barlaam is a very good specimen of these fifteenth century monasteries, but what makes this one of especial interest is that the rope is said to be the longest used for tbe purpose 840 feet The ladders to this monastery are not so difficult to climb as some, but inasmuch us they pull out every time you grip them and oscillate frightfully it is pleosauter to risk the net The monastery of Huglos Nikolaos appeared to be in a totully dilapidated oondition and entirely deserted when we visited Meteors, whilo the ladders, which rise from a neighboring peak and hang from the bare rock, are impractica ble. All these monasteries are under the archimandrite, a man of command ing presence and saintly countenance. The village of Kustraki is jammed iu between the outer rocks of this curious amphitheater, and iu the slit of this rocky wall at the bock of tbe village stands a most peculiar hourglass look ing monolith. The rocks on either side are perforated with strnnge holes, which in the fourteenth century were inhubited by the monks of St Anthony. London Illustrated News. Color liilndnttu. The term oolor blindness implies on entire absence of the color sense, and there are a few persons who are in this oondition, but it also includes all the forma of partial oolor blindness in which the perception of one of the fundamental colors red, green and violet is wanting, and which are known as red blindness, green blind ness and violet blindness. The line be tween these various kinds of color blind ness and a perfect perception of colors is not sharply drawn, so that a large number of persons have what is called a feeble oolor sense, which fulls short of actual color blindness. Thcro is no doubt thut color blindness iu its vari ous forms is much more common than is generally supposed, and it is more common among the imperfectly than tho well educated classes, and it is, cu riously enough, still more common among Jews and Quakers, probably from hereditary causes. It is teu times more frequent among males than fe mules in tho general population, but among Quakers it is nearly the same in both sexes. In tho general popula tion 4-16 per cent, or about 1 mulo iu very 35, are color bliud. New York Ledger. Dry, Loose, Boll. ' One of the most important aids of modern agriculture is the capillary action of the soils in drawing water from deep down in the earth to feed our orops. As a Bimple illustration, dip a piece of olotii in some water and tbe water will immediately begin to oreep slowly up the olotb iu direct opposition to tbe law of gravitation. This water is forced upward by capillary attraction, ana n is practically tbe same process that goes on in our fields in dry weather. To get the full advantage from this foroe we must keep tbe ground well stirred to form a mulch that will prevent the soil where the roots are from drying too fast. If the top soil is allowed to become too hard and baked frjni any cause, the sun's rays seem to penetrate very readily and exact so much of the mois ture that the plants begin to suffer in a oompartively short time after rain. A mulch of almcst any material would answer tbe purpose of keeping tbe soil nioikt, but there is no other that is so available as two inches of dry, loose soil, and this is obtainable everywhere by frequent cultivation with tbe richt kind of implements. J. H. Carpenter, founder of the Carpenter Steel Works of Reading, Pa., of whioh be was formerly general manager, has prepared a statement showing that steel armor plate can be furnished to tbe Government at a tri fling figure compared with what is now being paid. Mr. Carpenter claims that by new pneumatio prooesses steel of tbe best physical properties and chemical conditions can be uniformly made and much waste avoided. A plant can be buiK for less than half the money, and the steel can be made and oast in a quarter of the time now required. The striking miners atPittsburn sav that if free speech is denied them and Leader Gompers is arrested, the whole federation of labor will be oalled out. TELEGKA1MIIC BESliME Things lhat Have Happened Over the Country MENTIONED IN THESE PARAGRAPHS. elrtlona That Will Oraailjr Oar Header Beth Old and Voting. A Meet of six torpedo boats, ordered to cruise along tbe coast as far as New Orleans, is believed to be in readiness for use in Cuba, if necessary. Tbe ocean rate war between New York and Texas has brought about a reduction of rates from California to Houston by the Southern Pacifio Rail way. Tbe Burlington Railroad Company has placed a party of surveyors in tbe field to survey a route for a road be tween Newcastle, Wyo., and Lead City, 8. D. It is reported from Cincinnati that the combine of the manufacturers of wood working machinery of tbe United States has become a fixed fact within the last few days. Charles E. Breder, formerly cashier of a national bank at New Bethlehem, Pa., has been arrested at St. Clair, Mich., on a charge of embezzling (30, 000 from the bunk. The Commissioners of the District of Columbia have refused to allow horse less carriages to be used on tbe streets of Washington, on the ground that they frighten horses. The Naval Bureau of Yards and Docks is now having condemnation proceedings brought at Port Royal, S. C, preparatory to dredging the chan nel to tbe dock at that place. There was an advanoe in the price of Bessemer pigiron at Cleveland a few days ago. The price asked is (9.60. This advance is due to the recent ad vanoe in the price of structural steel. James K. Andrews, former cashier for C. P. Kimball & Co., carriage manufacturers of Chicago, is under in dictment for alleged forgery in secur ing (i000 from the Union Trust Com pany. Kansas has harvested the second largest crop of wheat in its history. It will approximate 00,000,000 bushels of excellent quality. Tbe corn crop there is estimated t 150,000,000 bushels. A New York dispatch says Rev. - Henry Van Reuselar has taken the vows of the Sooiety of Jesus, giving all his property to tbe Jesuit brother hood. He is the son of Gen. Henry Van Reuselar, and inherited one-fourth of the General's vast estate. The strike of the 1400 white em ployes at the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills at Atlanta, Ga., against tbe employment of negroes, has been ad justed. The oompany agreed to em ploy no more negroes, but declined to discbarge those employed previous to the strike. The first tin plate manufactured in America to be sent to Europe is, ac cording to local manufacturers of El wood, Ind., on its way to Italy. It was a oarload oonsisting of 500 boxes of tbe most expensive tin plate made there. Tbe company will make a sim ilar shipment to England. The Illinois State Board of Phar macy descended on drug stores in Chi cago recently and found 200 violation of law. One firm was selling as cream of tartar a concoction 87 per cent plaster of paris. In some oases prescriptions were filled without the prinoipal ingredients being reported. The Old Dominion line steamship City of Columbia, which has been run uing in the freight and passenger trade between New York and ports in Vir ginia, has been purchased by the Pa' oino Coast Steamship Company and will replace the ill-fated Bt earner Mex ico, whioh foundered off tns Alaskan coast whilo returning from Alaskan points to Seattle. Consul-General Haywood, in a re port to the State Department, states that, during 1896, American vessels numbering 247, of 243,893 tons, en tered at Hawaiian ports, while vessels of all other nationalities numbered 139, of 234,014 tons. These are the only foreign ports where a majority of the carrying trade is now under the Amer ican flag. It is announced that a convention of women interested in good " health, social, and philanthropio questions, will be held in Battle Creek, Mich., October 1 to 17. The conference will be nnder the direction of Rev. Samuel G. Smith, professor of sociology in tbe Minnesota State University, and J. H. Kellogg, M. D., superintendent of Battle ("reek Sanitarium. Assistant Secretary Howell has de oided that hides of American cattle slaughtered abroad are dutiable on be ing returned to tne united states at a rate of 15 per cent ad valorem, under Section 437 of the new tariff bill. It is held that taking tbe bides from oat tie, salting and drying them materially changes and improves their condition as an artiole of oommeroe, so that the article imported is entirely different from that exported. Railroad ofticials in St. Joseph re port that there is a danger of a oar famine in Western roads caused by tbe immense grain orops. All roads en tering that city are taxed to their full est capacity now, and the switching force has been increased twenty-five per oent. Tbe Burlington oompany has issued orders for no more coal to be loaded in tight box oars, stock oars being used instead. All tight cars are needed for moving grain. The Hhootlng- of a Judge. Woodstock, Vt. Thomas O. Seaver, Judge of the Probate Court, was shot through the right lung by William Lawrence because the Judge had issued restraining order against Lawrence involving tbe custody of tbe latter's child. The wound is dangerous. The greater part of Silesia, Ger many, has been visited by severe storms, and soveral persons have been killed by lightning. Typhus fever is rampant at Rogan in oonsequenoe of the water used for drinking there hav ing become infected by the refuse ac cumulated by the floods. FOHEIUtJ NEWS. Tbe Tokio. Japan, Chamber of Com merce is agitating for an abolition of export duties. Sir Istiao Boldtn. inventor of tbe locifer match, died at Keighley, Eng., recently, aged 60 years. Electric cabs bave now made their first appearance on the streets of Lon don competing for business. Advices from Bombay, India, state that tbe ravages of cholera are again on tbe increase in tbat vicinity. In auarchistio circles in London is stated tbat a number of exiled anarch ists who recently arrived in Enlgand started for America. There has been further fighting in the Shat Valley, India, between tbe British and rebel tribesmen. The latter were forced to retreat Fire did considerable damage to the Ching Cbong match factory at Shang hai, China. Besides tbe factory forty five native houses were destroyed. Tbe Japanese press is now moderat ing its position regarding the Ha waiian question. Tbe papers gener ally favor arbitration of tbe question. Tbe national legislature of Norway has abrogated tbe law excluding from tbe country Roman Catbolio religious orders with one , exception, the Jesuits. According to statistics, the trade between Japan and Formosa has largely increased since the island be came a Japanese possession. Since that date imports and exports bave about trebled. Ruth, aged 8, and Randolph, aged 5, the children of Station Agent King, of Mount Forjst, Ontario, are dead from eating canned salmon. Arthur, aged 14, is not expected to live. Tbe other three children are ill. It is semi -officially announced that tbe Italian government has decided to abandon tbe entire Italian colony of Erythrea, on tbe Red sea, except Massopa, and is negotiating for a transfer to Belgium. An Imparoial Havana special to Ma drid, states the Spanish forces after four days' fighting, during which they lost ninety killed and wounded, have driven the rebels from their mountain strongholds in the provinoe of Havana. Signs of trouble in Chile are again being manifest. Tbe president is re ported to have deolared that it is im possible to govern the nation under ex isting conditions; and it is expected that the coalition scheme will oeae to be. Big finds of gold have been made in Nicaragua, and steamers arriving at New Orleans from that oountry have brought in gold dust in proof of it. Gold is found there in large quantities, say those who have investigated the matter. Lady Henry Somerset of London has engaged passage on tbe steam ship St. Louis of the American line for October 2. She goes to attend the world's and National Woman's Chris tian Temperance Union conventions at Toronto, Ontario, and Buffalo, N.Y. Tbe German Government has en tered a formal protest against the duty imposed by the new Dingley Tariff Bill upon sugar upon whioh export bounty has been paid, as is the case with oertain grades of sugar coming from Germany. A dispatoh from Ottawa, Ontario, states that the Dominion Government has decided to rescind the royalty tax of ten and twenty per cent on all gold taken from mines in the Klondyke re gion. This action is due to tbe protes tations of Canadian miners and busi ness men in the northwest. Officers of the Navy Department were mnoh interested in tbe report of the trial trip of tbe Yashima, the new Japanese battUship built in England. She is the fastest battleship afloat, and it is claimed from the showing made on her trial trip that Bbe is ond of the greatest of fighting machines ever built. The official returns, just published in Paris, show that the imports into i ranee for the past seven months were 20,217,000 franos below those of 1896. On the other hand, tbe exports foot up 177,637,000 franos more than during the same period of 1S96. A decree has been gazetted to temporarily admit bard and soft wheat for milling pur poses. A cablegram from Rustchuk, Bui garia, says it is asserted there on good authority that the Austro-Bulgarian dispute whioh arose over oertain re marks made by tbo Bulgarian Premier, M. Sterloff, with reference to-Austrian authorities in a recent interview with a representative of the Lokal Anzeiger, is on tbe eve of a satisfactory settle ment. A dispatoh from Congressman James Hamilton Lewis to E. Q. Graves, Pres ident of the Chamber of Commeroe of Seattle, Wash., says that through tbe joint efforts of Seattle oitizens and tbe Washington delegation in Congress, the Canadian Government has in- rorrned tne Treasury Department at Washington City that all miners' out fits and supplies for each man amount mg to (100 will be exempt from further duty. There is great exoiteroent over the most extraordinary state of affairs on board tbe British battleship Royal Sovereign, whion is about to sail from Portsmouth, England, for three years' service with the Mediterranean squad ron, i be relations between tbe off! cers and seamen are acutely strained Fifty men have deserted, all the cells on board ship are full and the supply oi irons is not sufficient for the large number undergoing punishment. The Ordnance Bureau of the War Department has awarded tbe contract for building five disappearing gun carriages to the Bethlehem Iron Com pany of Bethlehem, Fa., at (28,560 each. The first carriage is to be ready in four months, and one is to be com- pleted every five weeks thereafter. These carriages are to be not only dia appearing, but they are to be set on a swivel for all-around firing. They will mount 12-inoh guns. A cloudburst in Normanskill valley, New York, washed away ten bridges and mined orops besides doing other damage. FOR THE FARMERS. Some Interesting: News for the Rural 1st SPOKEN OF IN THIS COLUMN. Ymw Seaaible Hlata ta Salt tha Km; AaTtealtarlnt. Itama Tbat May Reaeflt ear Kaadara. 'laa Hopper. Bulletin 116 of onr own Experiment Station is by Professor C. W. Wood worth, and is devoted to tbe California vine boppnr. We do not review it at length for the reason that any one of our readers can obtain tbe complete bulletin free by asking for it by postal card of tbe director of tbe Experiment Station, Berkeley. All viueyardista should obtain it, for tbe vine hopper is one of tbe most annoying of pests ani this bulletin contains v hat is now known of possible methods 1 f dealing with it. For the benefit of more dis tant readers we will say tbat the vine hopper is a small winged insect which lives upon tbe leaves of most plants, preferring tbe grapevine when avail able. In California it does not hiber nate, but is active during the winter, the greater part, however, perishing during tbat season. Ordinarily the numbers remaining in tbe spring will be too few to do serious damage, and this is probably always tbe case in our Coast districts. In the dry interior, however, an open, comfortable winter, like our last, will leave quite an army ot tbe pests still alive, wmcn rapidly multiply and do serious injury by sheer foroe of numbers. It is a sucking insect, and so cannot be in jured by poisonous sprays. They can, however, be killed by caustio sprays like kerosene emulsion, applied in tbe morning, when the hoppers are sluggish. This, however, is very ex pensive after tne vines get large. Tbe hoppers do their injury by destroying tbe leaves, which ripen and drop when seriously infested. The insects can only be dealt with effectively when they become abundant, and all at tempts at prevention by any form of winter treatment are useless. In the opinion of Professor Wood worth by far the cheapest and best method of deal ing with them is to let them alone until it is seen whether they are likely to so increase as to do injury, and, when that appears likely, to make cheese cloth nets of the form usually employed by scientific bug-banters and put men in tbe field to oatoh them, The necessary skill in the use of tbe net is readily acquired by any one, and there is a good deal of fun in it when the day is not too hot. By this means tbe majority can be oaptured and killed, and tbe numbers so reduced that no injury results. The wby and wherefore of all this is fully explained in tbe bulletin. Point on Berry Culture. All berry bushes should be proteoted from summer heat and drought. This may be done in two ways, viz: First by frequent cultivation and hoeing thus forming an earth mulch, which prevents the rapid escape of moisture from tbe soil; second, by covering the ground around the hill with coarse manure, straw and other material which prevents evaporation and retains the moisture about the roots. A good mulch well applied is one of the great necessities in fruit growing. When new canes of the blackberry and black raspberry are 18 inches high, nip the top off about two inches; this will cause several new laterals to grow, wnion should bo trimmed severely in the spring. The pinching back of new growth is important. It largely increases the bearing surface, keeps tbe bush low, strong, well formed and less liable to injury by storms. Frequent cultivation makes plant food more available and is especially necessary after an irrigation. The ground must be kept mellow through out the growing season. Allow no fruit to grow on straw berry plants the first season; piok Off all buds and blossoms. The matted row with clean path between is best for most varieties and most growers. Avoid having the plants too thick in the row and you will bave large and better berries. With strong growing varieties remove first runners. The ideal method would be to allow first runners to make plants nntil a matted row is formed, give each plant five or six inches square space in which to grow and removing all runners thereafter. This is seldom accomplished in practical berry grow iug. Clean cultivation is the great safe guard against fungus diseases and in sect pests. These enemies are coward ly, they always attack the weak and unprotected plants first. Look for them olosely and apply remedies a once. rif Feeding. On most farms a few pigs can be profitably fed for market There are usually some products that are unmar ketable or tbat would feUh but little, as skim milk, small potatoes, etc, whioh, if fed in connection with some grain will produoe a good growth, and if judgment has been used in purohas ing the pigs and grain, the pork will sell for considerable more than it cash cost. E. T. Perkins writes to the Epilo mist tbat a neighbor who is a dairyman, is making a handsome side inoome by reeding pigs on dairy waste in connec tion with graio, bis grain bill being quite Bmall. Again, the manure ob tamed is quite a help in increasing tbe productiveness of the soil. I buy my pigs whsu lour to six weeks eld fied them till they weigh 125 pounds dressed, as that weight is in good de maud. Corn meal gives excellent results when fed in connection with skim milk, but in using mnoh carbonaceous food I want fully halt by weight of protein food. A by-product known here as mixed feed (similar to shorts) give good satisfaction. Most of tbe corn is fed in tbe form of meal, for I biy it as cheaply ground as on ground. If I raise the corn 1 am doubt ful if I should have it ground. Whole corn son Id not be ted in a trough, as too muoh will pass through unmaati- cated; it should be fed on a floor or on tne ground and always in a certain rlaA In summer I fenoe in a piece of rough, bushy pasture land and let tbe pigs run there. They enrich tbe i ground and get it in better condition I to plow. 1 think also mat exercise and pure air are good for them, and I much prefer tbe pork grown in sucn pasture to tbat produced in a small, filthy pen. Whenever I cannot keep my pigs in clean, healthful quarters, I shall quit feeding pigs. UiuU on Prune Planting. Leonard Coatee of Napa is one of tbe oest fruit authorities on tbe Pacifio Coast and is giving California horti culturists some good advice weekly through the columns of the Califor nia Fmit Growei. On tbe subject of prunes he writes as follows: There are two varieties of prunes which may be absolutely relied upon I should say three, with some quali fications and they are Splendor, Im periale d'Epineuse and Robe de Ser- gent, or d'Agen. Tbe first has all tbe good qualiites of the Petite or French prune, with much more size and stur dier habit of growth. Tbe second is equal in size and weight, but of the habits of the trees I cannot say more until they have been longer tested on the same ground. Robe de Sergent, I till believe, is superior in quality to any other, but rather more difficult to handle owing to its tender skin, the wood uniting only with the plum and the tree being an uncertain or shy bearer unless planted close to other plums that bloom with it. If this is done, experience has shown me for a number of years tbat it is an enormous beaier. 'Now for the application: Plant these three varieties only, land and location being suitable, or if they can not be bad in sufficient quantities, plant a few, using seedlings for tbe remainder whioh may be budded over the following year. Those who have prune orchards in bearing should every year graft over a few hundred trees to these improved varieties." Beea aud Alfalfa. The profits in growing alfalfa may be doubled by keeping bees in conneo tion with tbe same. Alfalfa is tbe best honey plant now known, not only in quantity, but quality. The products in honey gathered by bees from alfalfa may reach from 200 to 500 pounds an acre. This alone, at the present prices of honey, would be worth more, or at least as much, as the crop itself, Denver Field and Farm says that it is tine that much depends upon the management of the crop as to its value in honey production, and also tbe same as to its orop value. If handled so as to produoe the best results as a seed crop, it is always in tbe best oondition to furnish honey. If it is cut before it blossoms it is of no value as a honey orop. The harvesting may be done to get the best results in either by cut' ting a portion at a time, just as it be oomes ready, thereby having fresh bloom almost constantly, whioh would, of oourse, be necessary to get the best result in honey. Alfalfa will furnish money during dry and droughty weather, when all other blossoms, with the exception of tbe oleoma plant, are entirely dried up as to their nectar-producing qualities, and will continue right through severe drought. Irrigated Wheat. The fact that the irigated wheat farm has a fine orop to sell this year when prices are up and the lack of spring rains out the rainfall-crops so short, suggests tbat we do not give at tention enough to the subject of irri gating for wheat Wheat has been so low of late tbat it hardly seemed worth enterprise ot any kind but it is not so now, nor is it likely to be so in future. It is more than likely tbat wheat will not go as low again in a genera tion. And then if it is low enough more weight can be had by irrigation to make a good margin. The Fresno Expositor tells of Levi Goodell who has one of the finest places on the West Side. He raises wheat on an irrigated quarter seotion, on tbe Slough, and got 8000 sacks off it this year, weigh ing about 145 pounds to the sack This is over twenty-five bushels to the acre and it certainly cost him less to irrigate than it did bis dry land neigh bors to sow and reap nothing. The irri gated grain land on tbe West Side covers an area abont twenty-five miles long and three miles wide. It is heavy black tule land and wheat does well on it. we ought to nave much more irrigated wheat land. Life of Bees. A bee's life depends entirely upon tbe amount of work there is in it The little frail boy can only do juBt so muoh and then it is worn out. Bees batched late in the fall will live the longest, for they do not work at all and only get a few fights before they are shut up for tbe winter. Those hatched early in the spring live nearly as long if they are in a prosperous colony, for there are many days when they can not work. During the. busiest season tbe honey bee lives only about six weeks, and if tbe flow is heavy it will gather a tea spooniui ox noney. ween you are tempted to waste a piece of oomb honey or a little of the extract left the bottom of a dish, think bow many weary little fights there were before that could be gathered and how preo ions every drop of it was to some poor little worker. Prince Henri of Orleans, the royalist heir to the French throne, and the Ccant of Turin, nephew ot King Hum bert of Italy, fought a duel near Paris. Prino Henri was wounded twice and was deolared tbe loser. The trouble grew out of disparaging remarks against the Italian officers in the re cent Abyssinian campaign, made by Prinoe Henri in tbe Paris Figaro. His physicians consider bis oondition satis factory. The peaoe negotiations between the Embassadors of tbe powers and Tewfik Pasha, the Turkish Foreign Minister, are at a oomlpete standstill. This is due to tbe refusal of Lord Salisbury to allow a Turkish occupation of Tbessaly pending a partial payment of the in demnity agreed upon. Lord Salis bury's objection ii based upon a fear that an occupation thus begun might become permanent BABOON A SOU TH AFRICAN PEST Prer a Valuable Stock and Delight la MiecnieToue l'eeda. The Soirtb African colonists have got rid of their lions and elephants, but they have not yet been able to get the better of tbe baboons. A baboon, al though somewhat like a dog, has all the inischlevousness of a man. It is the ugliest animal in all creation. The Boers call him Adonis, and never des ignate him under the official name that has been given to him by science. -N'uw this creature is the curse of the Caj colony. He commits depredations for the love of the thing. Any impru dent tomcat that ventures too faraway from home Is sure to be captured and strangled for fun by a baboon. Nearly all the Angoras, tbe choices and most costly animals Imported by the colon ists, have been destroyed by these huge monkeys. Even the dogs share the same fate. The bravest and most pug nacious of the English canine breeds are unable to cope with adversaries, armed with Just as powerful jaws, and with the Immense advantage of having four hands Instead of four paws. With a dexterity tbat conspicuously exhibit his surgical aptitudes, the baboon bleeds his enemy In the throat, and In less than a minute the duel ends in the death of the dog. When the shepherd is away and the dog bus been disponed of the flock la left without defense. AlthouKh the mlioon generally feeds upon lizards and beetles, he does not despise a few mouthfuls of mutton, which he de vours seated ou the back of his living victim, rufortuuate are tbe goats and sheep that are attacked by these cyno- cephall. When Adonis finds his appe tite fully satisfied he enjoys at a little listance the contortions of his victim. He frequently attacks cows, but never atempts to get Into close quarters with ;i bull. The ostrich, thanks to Its extra ordinary speed, can easily get away from the baboon, but It Is very much afraid of him, and Immediately runa off on hearing his bark. It Is note worthy that nature has given the ba boon not only the head of a dog, but also the voice of a dog. All birds that are not remarkable for their Intelli gence have an Insurmountable dread! of the cyliooephalus. ' One of the principal amusements -of these big monkeys Is to gambol around tli wire fences that protect the tame ostriches Just to terrify them. The pan ic among them Is so great that they often break their lea in their wilt! rushes. This Is a pastime which the monkeys seem to enjoy hugely. It Is known that a broken leg for an ostrich means a death sentence. Paris Figaro. An Elephant' Monument. i On the village green of Somers. a little town In Westchester Oountv. New York, stands a curious memorial column, which, after some years of gradually Increasing dilapidation, la about to be restored and repaired, to the satisfaction of all the citizens of the place, but especially, one would think, to that of the children. For the monument preserves the memory ot ' Old Bet," probably the first elephant exhibited In this country, and is sue mounted by her image. Bet was brought over nearly a hun dred years ago by a French showman, who exhibited her In New York City, where crowds flocked, wondering, to see her. Hachallah Bailey, a wealthy Somers farmer, was among them; and becoming Interested In the animal, succeeded In purchasing a half-Inter est In It, gave up his farm work, and; traveled over Canada and the United States, exhibiting his marvelous ac quisition. 1 He proved successful as a showman, purchased other animals, bought out lesser shows, and was soli the man ager of a large and flour!.. hlng menag erie; but In 1821, while be was exhibit ing lu a little town In Maine, a great misfortune fell upon him: Bet broka loose during the show. People were not as well used to elephants then aa they are now, and did not understand that they are commonly gentle and friendly beasts. There was wild and Immediate panic, accompanied by th anger born of fear. Threats to shoot the managers were shouted aloud by excited men. Somebody got a gun, and though the managers were not shot, poor Old Bet was. After his beloved elephant's death, Hachallah Bailey lost heart and gave up the show business, returning to his native place, where the next year ha had plans prepared for a monument ta Bet, which was In due time erected. .' It consists of a single shaft of dress ed granite, fifteen feet high, resting on a triple base. This shaft Is about twenty Inches square at the bottom, tapering to twelve at the top, where it supports a scrollwork of wrought Iron a few feet high, which In turn supports a wooden Image of the elephant, four feet In height. This was at first glided; but when the gilt had become tarnish ed, It was replaced by a coat of niouae colored paint, more lifelike, If not bo gorgeous. This odd monument, which during the old showman's life was annually painted and cared for, and the green sward about it kept In neat and trim condition, Is now to be rescued from encroaching shabblness and neglect by Mrs. William Bulley, the widow of his nephew, and preserved In the condi tion it deserves. It Is certainly unique. Tomato Gravy. Much le said, and none too muoh. ot the dietetic virtues of the apple. Next to It, perhaps, we may rate the tomato. It has one virtue that we have never seem mentioned; the property of emul sifying fats. To tnls may be added a singular faculty of assimilating Itself to the flavor of meat gravy with which Its Juice may be cooked. Our house keeping friends may try & fried steak, for once, by cooking a little tomato juice in the alzzllug pna Just after re moving the meat. Any incited fat, ot baked ehreds and Jirlce adhering to the Iron, or butter applied to the mewt, en tirely disappear In am em-uislan, mak ing a rich, copious, reddlah brown gravy, with the true meat flavor scarce ly modified by a alight piquant acidity from the fruit. If the steak has been left In a veeeel to save Ita drain toga stace tt was cut, and thlfl Juice be put In with that of tbe tomato, the gravy will be by so much enriched and en larged, as well as thickened, by the coagulation of the additional albumen. Oolandered tomato pulp with this meat Juice makes a thick sauce of like rteh fumr fer roast or atew. The Saaltaxj Era,