De Queen bee. [volume], September 24, 1897, Image 2

About De Queen bee. [volume] (De Queen, Ark.) 1897-current

Image provided by: Arkansas State Archives

                
de queen bee,
EVANS & WINFORD, Proprietors.
DE QUEEN. • • • ARKANSAS.
MADE UP IN MAINE.
(■terr* 11 i>K Fact* About the Grarili
of Spool* and Shoe Pep*.
••Oxford county, Me., turns out near
er all the spools on which the sewing
thread of the country is wound,” said
a wholesale dealer in such articles to
Ue writer. “The spools are made from
•rhite birch timber, and they are pro
duced by the million in Oxford county.
There are many other parts of western
Maine, also, where the industry is im
portant. There are numerous saw
mill* in that, part of the state which are
kept busy all the year round sawing
white birch logs into strips four feet
long and from one to two inches wide
and of the same thickness. These strips
■re sent to the spool factories, where
they are quickly worked into spools by
the most ingenious labor-saving ma
chinery.
“The strips of white birch are fed into
wne machine, and they are not touched,
Id fact, are hardly seen again, until the
■pools, all finished for market, except
polishing, drop out by the bushel from
Another machine several rods away
from where the. strips started in. The
•pools get. their gios® by being rapidly
•evolved in 'barrels turned by machin
ery, the polishing resulting from the
•ontact of the spools in the barrel.
“In tlfe backwoods villages of Oxford
•eiroty one sees scarcely any other in
dustry but spool making, and every per
•on in the neighlrorhood is in someway
interested in the business. The fac
tories have been eating into the Mains
Birch forests for years, but there still
seems to be enough of the timber left
to feed the machinery for many years
to come. Hundreds of thousands of
feet of logs are cut and sawed into spool
timber annually.
Shoe-peg factories are also an im
portant branch of business once pe
culiar to Maine, although it has of late
Ween followed to some extent in other
eastern states, and is spreading to the
hardwood forests of northern Pennsyl
vania. Maple is used largely in the
manufacture of shoe pegs, although
white, birch is used at some factories.
Shoe pegs are sold by the. bushel and are
Worth all the way from 75 cents to one
dollar a bushel, according to quality.
Store than $150,000 was received by
Maine shoe-peg factories last year for
poods.
A curious and profitable (business has
grown up in the Maine woods near the
sawmills in the utilizing of the immense
quantities of sawdust by compression.
Thousands of tons of this waste ma
terial are bought for a mere nothing,
and are pressed into compact blocks
•nd bales, ansi in this form is finding a
ready market for kindling and fuel in
•astern states. —Washington Star.
A BOY’S AMBITION.
,Bon ■ Determined Indiana Lnd
Worked Hi* College Course.
Many boys and men have worked
ftheir way through college, but, so far
as is known, Indiana holds the only one
•vho milked his way through. Martin
A. Quinn was a ragged farmhand when
Be made up his mind to get a college ed
ucation, and set about obtaining the
means.
Hie began by trading with his neigh
bors until he owned a pig, which he
raised and sold to buy a calf. The calf
ffrvw into a cow, which was sold, and
snore pigs and calves bought. By the
time he was 18 Quinn had earned S2OO.
With this money he bought six good
milch cows, which he shipped to Chi
cago, riding along in the freight train
to care for them.
He reached the city with his cows and
sn in cash. Leaving his cows at the
•fork yards, he went straight to the
University of Chicago and matriculated.
Having done this, he sought the steward
■I the college, told his story and laid a
before him. Milk was cost
ing the college 25 cents a gallon. Quinn
Agreed to furnish it at 20 cents.
The deal was made, and the young
’Undergraduate dairyman went to seek
ca place to house his herd. One was
iound, and arrangements for pasturage
made. For four years Quinn eareel for
those cons, milked them every morning
• t four o’clock, strained the milk and
carried it to the steward. From it be
• veraged $3.60 a day, and on this he
lived and furnished food and shelter
for the cows.
When he graduated this year he sold
-the cows for SIBO, with which he bought
books to study law at Lafayette, lnd.—
Y. World.
Crushrd Agnin.
He had been on a long bicycle ride,
•nd when he reached the mther preten
tious hotel he decided that the time
had come for him to have something to
rat.
Going in and sitting down at one of
th* tables in the dining-room, he wax
immediately approached by a waitress
with a plate of soup. Ax he did not
"know as yet whether or not it was a
table d'hote dinner that he was about to
devour, he thought it advisable to find
©»it. So he addressed the waitress, "Is
this a la curie or table d'hote?” he in
quired. “No, sir," replied the maiden
tt'.tli some asperity, as though impa
tient of siieli ignorance, "this i* vege
table soup!” N. Y. Journal
WOMAN AND HOME.
MISS NELLIE ELY.
Appointed a Colonel on the Staff of
TenneMMev’N Governor.
Woman’s sphere has extended to
every field of human effort except the
field of battle. No states can lay claim
to better right to extend this preroga
tive to the sex than Georgia and Ten
nessee. Nearly every foot of soil in
these two common wealth* has known
the fury of shell and fire.
In the absence of any constitutional
prohibition in their respective states,
Gov. Atkinson, of Georgia, and Gov.
Robert L. Taylor, of Tennessee, have
seen fit to appoint ladies on their staffs,
with the commissions of colonel.
Those martial qualities and those sol
dierly instincts which Joan d’Arc de
veloped on the field ore not looked
for nor expected from these young
women. They are not asked to buckle
on armor and go forth seeking whom
they may devour. Their commissions
were graceful recognition of the fact
that "Peace hath her victories no less
renowned than war."
The fair colonel from Tennessee is a
typical representative of an illustrious
lineage. Col. Nellie Ely springs from
a family that has contributed to the
history of two state*.
Her antecedent, Gov. Isaac Shelby,
enjoyed the unique distinction of hav
ing been the first governor of Ken
tucky and the subsequent governor of
the later sister commonwealth of Ten
nessee. She comes of a race of beauti
ful women. Her mother was Miss
Ruth Whiteside, of Shelbyville, Tenn.,
who was noted in her day for being
one of the south's most beautiful and
cultured women.
An aunt of Col. Ely was the famous
southern beauty, Miss Maggie White
side, now Mrs. Judge Bearden, whose
fame as a bell was coextensive with
the south in antebellum days. Another
aunt of this gifted and accomplished
officer was Mrs. James Mather, who
is well remembered in New York so
ciety.
Col. Ely has been the leading spirit
in the chief military functions of this
state since her debut. She received the
best educational advantages and sup
plemented them by close application to
the finer arts.
She has been a social favorite wher
ever her presence has been felt. At
<7l?
3 tv x#
MISS NELLIE ELY.
(Appointed Colonel on the Staff ot Ten
nessee’s Governor.)
Richmond, Va.; at Dallas, Tex.; at
St. Louis and other points all who have
come within the radius of her influence
have succumbed to her wonderfully fas
cinating personality.
Gov. Taylor has known her since
childhood. Warm friendship has ex
isted between the governor and the
colonel’s father, Mr. Jesse Ely, for
years. Her appointment is perhaps due
in some measure to this friendship,
but chiefly to the social triumph she
achieved on the occasion of the late
reunion ball, when, as vice president
of the club, she devoted all her ener
gies to its success. She wore neither
jewelry nor flowers upon this occasion,
but appeared in a plain gown of red
satin. Her beauty, however, with her
native refinement and modesty of de
meanor, made her conspicuous when
least she sought to be. It was on this
occasion that Gov. Taylor announced
his intention of commissioning her a
colonel.
She is a brunette of medium stature.
In her every movement there is grace,
and in every glance of her large, bril
liant e/es there is that peculiar charm
so noted in the southern type. —N. Y.
Herald.
PRETTY TABLE LAMP.
How Io Obtain a L’*efnl and Orna
mental Piece of Art.
The illustration shows the design for
a table lamp that can be made by most
any woman who is handy with tools.
The materials which will be required
to make it are seemingly the least
worthy, and an old box, some burlaps or
bagging such as furniture comes
packed in, a few thin sheets of stove
pipe iron and some nails and paint.
In the first place, obtain a box at a
grocery store such as canned goods are
pai ked in, carefully break it apart,
taking care ?ot to split any of the thin
boards. Os these boards make a box
eight inches square and twelve inches
high; the wood used for the top and
bottom should be thicker than that of
which the sides are made, and in the
top cut a round hole, largt enough to
admit a metal lamp fount. A rim
around the tup edge of the fount will,
if the hole is made the right size, pie
vent it from falling into the box.
All over the top and sides of ths
box fasten ordinary burlaps with
liquid glue, : id when it is thoroughly
dry give the bagging a few successive
coats of light olive green paint. Sand
paper the burlaps before applying the
last coat, so an even and smooth sui
face may be obtained.
Bind the edges of the box with strips
of sheet iron, allowing about three
quarters of an inch of metal to show on
a side. Fasten the iron on with large
(pal-headed brass upholsterers’ tacka
driven at equal distances apart.
On a sheet of paper draw the pat
tern shown on one side of the box and
HOMEMADE TABLE LAMP.
cut pieces from the thin iron to work
out the pattern on each side. Tack
these pieces on with good-sized oval
headed iron carpet tacks and then give
ail the metal work a coat or two of
ivory black paint, thinned with japan
d refer.
At a hardware store purchase four
clawfeet and screw one fast under each
corner. They w ill probably be of brass,
but when painted black will appear as
of iron.
A good centra I-draft lamp fount and
burner can e purchased at a lamp
store, with them a canopy shade flame
can be purchased, over which a pretty
shade can be made of silk paper or oth
er light material that will shed a pleas
ant light, rnd if arranged as shown
in the illustration a satisfactory result
will be obtained.
If a central-draft burner ana tount
is used it will be necessary to have a
few holes through the bottom of the
box to allow a vent for the air, other
wise it would cans the light to be dim
or the wick to smoke. —C. Harry Adams,
in Chicago Record.
HINTS ON CANNING.
Mr*. Rorer Give* Timely Direction*
for Putting Up Fruit.
In the Ladies’ Home Journal Mrs. 8.
T. Rorer writes on "Canning and Pre
serving.” At the outset of her lesson
she emphasizes the value of securing
perfectly sound and fresh fruits, aud
the necessity of getting the cans and
canning appurtenances in readiness in
advance. "To prevent breaking when
filling the jars," Mrs. Rorer advises that
they be slipped "sidewise into a kettle
of hot water, rolling them so that every
part may be quickly and uniformly
heated. Fold a damp towel, place it in
the bottom of a pudding pan, then near
the preserving kettle; stand a jar on
the towel, and if the fruit is small ad
just the funnel; till quickly to over
flowing. Run a heated silver knife
around the inside of the jar, to break
any air bubbles that may have been
caught with the fruit, and adjust the
rubber, then lift the lid from the hot
water and place it at once. If large
fruit fill with a wooden spoon, arrang
ing the fruit so that the weight of one
piece will not destroy the shape of
another. Fill to overflowing with the
liquid, water or sirup, and fasten tight
ly. After sealing stand the jars out of
a draft over night. The glass by that
time will have contracted, and the lids
will, in consequence, be loose. Wipe
each jar carefully ami give the top an
extra turn. Put away in a cool, not
cold, dark closet. At the end of a week
examine each jar carefully, without
shaking or disturbing more than neces
sary. If you find the lids slightly
indented, the contents free from air
bubbles or froth, ami the liquid settled,
you may rest assured 'they will keep.'
if you do not find it so, open the jars to
prevent bursting. Reheat the fruit, be
ing careful to bring it to a boiling point,
and re-can.”
Polinli for the Furniture
A little turpentine and oil applied to
furniture with a flannel cloth, the fur
niture then thoroughly rubbed, will
give it a bright, clean appearance. If
your rosewood refuses to polish have
your furniture num repolish it for you.
He will rub it down with sandpaper,
and varnish it, so it will last for six
years. —Ladies' Home Journal.
Two Color Fnvorlte*.
Prof. Joseph Jastrow, of the Univer
sity ot \\ iseonsin, who lias made an in
vestigation of masculine amt feminine
pivfetences in color, says that blue <s
o» < rw helmiuglv the masculine favorita,
while the color which stands al the
bt ad of the w ontan’s list is t ed.
FARMER AM) PLANTER.
FEEDING THE SOIL.
Reatoriug »ud lucre**iug the Fertility of
Our Run-Down Field*.
That our soils are badly in need of
something to restore them to their
former state of fertility, no one will at
tempt to deny. They have been crop
ped for many years, until the supply of
plant food is nearly exhausted. In
many cases but little attempt has been
made to prevent the loss of fertility,
and, perhaps, just as little effort has
been made to restore it after being de
pleted and run down. Constant crop
ping will eventually impoverish the
best of soils, although some will stand
more abuse than others. '1 he deep,
rich alluvial soils of the west have in
some cases been planted to corn for 15
or 20 years in succession with little or
nothing returned in the way of manure.
Such unwarranted abuse cun have only
one effect-that of wearing out and I
impoverishing the soil. How best
to restore their worn-out soils, is one
of the grave questions confronting
thousands of farmers to-day. I he.same
condition exists more or less every
where in the older and more-densely
populated states.
The methods to be employed in re
storation will necessarily vary some- j
what iu different localities aud under j
different circumstances. If the land
needs under draining (and there is but 1
little that would not be benefitted by
it), the first step should be to attend to
that. Money judicially spent in tile |
draining is nearly always well spent.
It does not require any great skill to
lay tile successfully, but it does re
quire judgment and forethought. It
is simply a waste of time and labor to
attempt to grow crops on land that is
liable to be saturated or perhaps cov
ered with water the greater part of
the growing season. AH crops re- ,
quire more or less moisture to
make satisfactory growth, but an
excess is sure to be detrimental, and if
continued for any length of time will
be fatal. The best way to obviate the
evil effects of a wet season is to pre
pare for it by tile draining. The low,
wet spots that formerly produced little
or nothing, will be found to be the most
productive, except perhaps in a few ex
ceptional cases.
They have been receiving the wash
from the surrounding hillsides for cen
turies, and have been depleted by con
stant cropping, because in not more
than one season iu three would any
thing but wild grass grow there.
Thorough tillage is another effective
means of increasing the productiveness
of the soil. No matter how rich the
soil may be, if it is not thoroughly pul
verized and fitted for the reception of
the seed, the young plants will make
but little growth in comparison to
what they will if the soil is prop
erly prepared. The mechanical con
dition of the soil must be right to pro
duce an extra yield, and in this era of
low prices an extra large crop is the
only one that pays. Next to fertility
and moisture, tillage is of the utmost
importance. Soil that is thoroughly
fined and compacted holds the moist
ure much better than a loose and clod
dy one. Au inch of real tine soil acts
as a mulch ami prevents the loss of
moisture. It is like covering the
ground with a blanket; the air can
not enter so readily and evaporate the
moisture. The earth mulch is of the
greatest value in a dry season. Mulch
ing is nature’s method of restoring fer
tility.
Os the green manures perhaps none
is superior to clover. While rye is ex
cellent and produces more material to
the acre, yet it is doubtful whether it
is equal to clovor. Clover contains 20
per cent, more nitrogen, which is one
of the necessary elements of plant
food, it is also one of the most expen
sive. Clover is also beneficial by its
peculiar mechanical action on the soil,
loosening it and making it more friable
as well as bringing up fertility from
the subsoil. It has proven itself the
farmer's best friend and most willing
servant. By growing clover extensive
ly, and plowing down when in full
bloom, the farmer is enabled to enrich
his land easily, quickly and cheaply.
It grows just where it is wanted, re
quiring neither hauling or spreading,
the only disadvantage being that the
rich spots which require the least plant
food, usually have the rankest, growth
of clover. This is easily remedied,
however, by removing the clover on
these places before plowing. The
knolls and poor spots can be fertilized
by hauling manure on them, thereby
insuring an average all over, ( lover
should have a place in regular r tation,
whether the rotation be a long or short
one. Many good farmers cut the
clover for hay the first season and al
low it to grow up the second season
and , ’• i! u Icr then. Tl:. growth
of to;- 1 usually not so large, but the
roots wliicti contain as much plant food
perhaps ns the tops are secured.
1 he careful farmer will exert every
effort to make as much stable manure
as possible, knowing that in it he lias
a certain means of building up his
worn out. soil. The manure heap is the
farmer s deposit bank, and he should
not only endeavor to keep his deposit
large, but to make the best possible use
of it. The value of manure does not
always depend upon the amount. A
pile of straw will rot, mid be called
manure, but its value as a fertilizer is
very much less thin- if t he same amount
of straw hail been used for bedding
well-fed slock. With the most careful
feeding our animal* ■till leave a large
per cent, of the *leiuun ta m th*
eaten; it i* u °t all digested
similated. The manure from fatten,
ing steers or other graiu-fed stuck wil|
be much more valuable than the sa Illt
amount from stock fed on hay >r straw
alone. Not only should the solid ex. j
cremeut be carefully saved, but th* /
liquid as well. About half the plaQ|<
food is found in the liquid manure, yet*
many farmers permit it to go to waste
by uot using sufficient bedding to ab
sorb it, or by allowing it to leak
through the floor.
Many farmers do uot even »l*bl*
their stock, but feed them all wtnterin
the yard or field, around a straw stack.
The feed is thrown on the ground and
half wasted by being tramped u n .
dvr foot. The straw is pulled down
aud tramped into the mud, it is then
rotten straw, and there is very little
manure about it. The value of manure
depends upon the feed, the manner of
making and lhe care that is taken of
it. Even stable manure that has been
properly made, and is afterwards
thrown promiscuously into a large
yard and left there during the winter
and greater pari of lhe summer, to be
applied to wheat in tile lull, loses much
of its value by leaching. Whether it
| will pay to erect a manure shed de
i pends somewhat upon circumstance*.
Several years ago we planned and in
' tended to build a combine 1 straw and
I manure shed. We meant to make it
! two stories, using the basement for
manure. Lack oi time aud lunds pre
vented its being built at once, and now
we ure well satisfied that it was uot
built.— Q. J. Vine, in Rural World.
A PERTINENT QUESTION.
T* What Extant Shall W* Hal** Live
StocX ?
The question as to how far the condi
tions warrant Mississippi iu becoming
> a stock-raising state is oue which may
bn very properly discussed. The im
pression seems to have gone out that
i the Southern Farm Gazelle advocate*
the raising of stock as the main occupa
tion of our farmers, but uo more erro
neous impression could have gone ouL
I The fact of the matter is, that proba
bly no farming country can be said te
be a stock-raising state to the extent
of making stock raising the main
product of lhe farm. Certainly the
most prosperous farming commu
nities in this country are those
which make stock raising a prom
inent feature of their agriculture, but
even in those sections st >ek ia mainly
raised for the general purpose of con
suming grain and rough forage that
in a proper system of rotation are
raised on lhe farm. One of the great
est stock raising states in this Union
is lowa, yet she has imported hog* in
considerable numbers and cattle by
the thousands to consume her corn
crops, in short the great misfortune
o! lowa farmer* to-uay is that they
' have not the stock raised on their
farms to consume the corn produced on
' those same farms.
The business of raising thorough
bred slock to be sold for breeding pur
poses is such that only a few men are
fitted to succeed at, and the demand is
of necessity limited; therefore it is ab
i surd to suppose that any person would
advocate the raising of breeding stock
as a general business for farmers.
What we do advocate and shall give
our best efforts to accomplish i* that
i Mississippi should raise stock enough
to consume all the cotton need product*
i and all the forage and pasture a prop
er proportion of her lands will produce.
By a proper proportion, we mean
such an amount of each farm as it is
necessary to plant in grasses aud res
storative crops in order to maintaia
aud improve it* fertility. If every
food product now raised in the slate,
and all that might be raised on idle and
so-called worn-out lands, together with
what might be produced on lands that
do not produce cotton profitably, were
fed to well-bred live stock, there would
be less talk of hard times, ami our soil!
would be improving instead of becotn
| ing poorer year by year.—Southern
Farm Gazette.
HERE AND THERE.
—ln the English market the general
purpose horse has no place; they breed
for special uses only, ami therefore th*
business is uniformly profitable.
If you set out a strawberry lied
this fall aud want a fair crop of fruit
next spring, cut off all the runners aa
soon as they appear,
--To get Lhe fullest profit from your
hogs, butcher as inan v as you can at
hoim n <1 turn them largely into sweet
country lard and bacon.
j —There is no profit in ten-cent butter.
If you are not sure of your ability to
do better than this, keep out of th*
dairy business.
—There are instances where a breed
ing sow has been kept a dozen year* or
more, but, as a rule, it is believed that
seven years is the limit of usefulne**
as a breeder.
—Precise experiments have show*
that it is very nearly impossible to feed
n such a manner that a pound of pork
can be produced with profit from any
animal over a year old.
—The care given fruit plants this sea
son practically determines the product
next. The strong raspberry canes must
be stimulated by the removal of th*
weaker ones.
—The mistake of keeping ami using
cross-bred males aids materially in de
generating the hogs on many farms.
The boar should be a thoroughbred, or
there will be uo uniformity iu the off
spring.