Fisherman & farmer. [volume], September 27, 1889, Image 6

About Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??

Image provided by: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library, Chapel Hill, NC

                
THE SONG OF THE RAIN.
I sing of the rain, the pitiless rain
That pours forever down,
On mountain height, and level plain,
And every dripping town
The rainbow that for ages shown
Seems vanished from the sky and gone,
While cloud-bursts rise and thunder by
Like drops of some great deluge nigh.
The lightnings flash like arrows shot
From the armies overhead,
Like Parthian hosts who flying fought
And conquered as they fled
On many a field, in many a home,
The swift and deadly bolts have come,,
Where youth and strength and beauty? lajf
So still beneath the lightning's play.
The swelling streams, like hosts below,
Shout to the hosts on high, .
And heedless all of human woe,
They sweep resistless by
And on the field of battle dreal
The living come to seek their dead,
Where songs and laughter on each shore
Are drowned and hushed forevermore.
And blacker than the blackest storm
Of whirlwind fierce and strong.
The sjecter, evil-dreadful form
Of falsehood and of wrong
The sin that stalks through all the world,
With curses deep at heaven hurled,
Its footprints on the ages gone,
Its reign of terror not yet done.
But for the whirlwind and the flame.
The evil dark and dim,
The answer to the patriarch came,
And calmed the storm for him
And 'mid the thunder and the rain
The "still small voice" is heard again,
To calm for us the sea of life,
Or make us still amid the strife.
I hold the thunder in my hand,
The whirlwind and the rain,
Amid the brooding darkness stand,
The sorrow and the pain
As brightly as it shone of old
Will shine again the arch of gold,
And life's dark secret stand revealed,
Some day its pain and sorrow healed.
"My father steers the ship for me,"
The sailor boy once said;
And this the word that calms the sea
For us when sore afraid
From chaos sprung the world at first,
From midnight morning glories burst,
And storm and cloud like birth-pangs come,
The prelude of the heavenly home.
J. II. Cuthbert, in Mail and Express.
Vf:
NAN.
Bang !
A snow-ball whizzed through the air,
and away over the fence sailed the Pro
fessor's hat, battered and dishonored.
A ripple of girlish laughter floated up
from some one behind him, and looking
aroynd angrily, the Professor caught a
glimpse of a pair of dark, roguish eyes
peeping at him out of a pretty hood,
which did not hide the saucy face of the
maiden who had 1 1 own the ball.
She watched the Professor as he
climbed over the fence and regained his
disfigured tile, and tried, rather ruefully,
to smooth its battered sides; then she
scampered toward the school-house.
Joel Sherwood had just emerged from
the university at W , with consider
able honor and the degree of good opin
ion most men of his age entertain for
themselves. He really was entitled to a
great deal of credit for the courage and
steadfastness of purpose with which he
had toiled to make his way through the
tedious university course. He had done
it alone, and at the same time managed
to help his widowed mother in keeping
what had proved to be a very guant and
persistent wolf from the door. But the
world, as is its custom, had been some
what slow in recognizing his genius ; so
that when the winter term of school at
Weston was offered to him, he was only
too glad to accept it, hoping that mean
time something better would come to
him.
He picked up his hat, with some sense
of disgrace, and strode on to the school
house. It was the eventful ''first day," and
it must be confessed that Joel's heart for
a minute sank very low as he saw the
roguish face disappear through the door
of the building which was to be his castle
for the next few months. He had a dim
fereboding that trouble was in store for
him. But shortly his courage rallied,
and with his lips closed a little more
firmly than usual, he stepped to his desk.
Nan, with many a girlish giggle, was
relating her adventure to a circle of ad
mirers. "The idea of a young fellow like him
bringing a tall hat down here! My!
how mad he looked when the thing went
over the fence! Well, it was rather
mean, after all; but I'll never see him
again. I don't know who he is. Some
city chap, I s'pose, down to look at the
natives I"
Just then the door opened and the
Professor walked in.
If Joel could have seen the glorious
crimson which swept Nan's face, he might
have known how poorly prized was her
victory. But he was busy and had al
most forgotten the episode a moment la
ter. It was brought back again, however,
when he chanced to glance at Nan. Once
more the flood of crimson dyed her
cheeks, but she buried her face in a book
and waited until it had vanished.
That winter Joel Sherwood learned
manv valuable lessons. It was a good
school for him. He knew more about
himself when the term was over than he
ever had before. He put away the silk
hat. and wondered why he ever should
have worn it down to Weston.
By this time he did not feel himself so
very much superior to the people there
as he had felt. They proved to be kind
hearted and intelligent, and he liked
them better the more he knew them.
He had found Nan a disturbing ele
ment in his little dominion. Not that
she meant to do anything wrong; but
she had too much mischief in her nature
not to be at the bottom of many a pro
ject whih brought the new teacher into
disrepute. She never pretended that she
had no hand in these plots. There was
no deceit in Nan. Whatever she did
was so frank that Joel's reproof was
tempered by a strange feeling which
caused him to forgive the spirit which
prompted Nan's action a feeling he
knew not how to analyze.
Once, when she had perpetrated some
especially annoying trick on him, and he
had met her out of school hours on the
way home, her pretty smile and look of
respect had driven every spark of anger
from his heart, and he broke out :
"Oh, Nun ! Why will you "
But she had pulled her hand out of his,
and fled before the words were out of his
mouth.
And Nan she was the same thought
less girl, as far as Joel could see, as the
weeks sped quickly by and brought them
nearer the end of the term. She led the
boys and girls in every game. She could
outskate them; not a boy dared to
challenge her to a race on the ice for fear
of the defeat he knew would await him.
Her happy laugh rippled everywhere.
Not a boy but would have risked his
life for her. Not a girl but fled to her
in time of trouble, for she was ever to
them a champion equal to every emer
gency. To all she was simply "Nan"
kind, loving, mirthful "Nan."
About the time Joel's school closed,
the river, which had been frozen all
winter, began to break up, and the ice
gave signs of going out . Here and there
great seams appeared, and a warning
roar sounded through the valley.
Some of the older boys who had ex
plored the stream higher up, very sagely
predicted that there would be trouble
before night: but this brought to Joel's
mind little fear. He thought the stream
might rise, and carry away the ice, but
that would be all. He knew nothing
about the fearful gorges which sometimes
dammed the river, and flooded the entire
country for miles around.
At noon the report came that a gorge
was forming a short distance above the
school house. There never before had
been such a pile of ice crowded into that
part of the river, and water was be
ginning to flow over the valley. A heavy
rain set it, falling for hours in torrents.
Still Joel had no idea wdiat danger was
impending. This was his first experience
with the river, and when some of his
pupils begged to go home, he thought it
best for them to wait until the storm be
came less terrible or their parents came
for them. This latter thing happened
sooner than he had thought likely, and
some of the sturdy yeomen came for their
little one quite a while before the usual
time for their dismissal, and gravely ad
vised Joel to close for the day, as they
feared trouble from the gorge up the
river.
At length the young man, impressed
more by the anxious faces of the chil
dren than by any thought of real dan
ger, told them to go, and quietly pro
ceeded to help them get started for
home.
Night wras dropping down over the
valley. The storm king was abroad in
all his fury. The night gave promise
of being a terrible one.
Joel's heart reproved him for not let
ting the children go sooner when he
opened the door and heard the sullen
roar which came from the gorge.
He listened sharply.
Yonder came a man on horseback,
riding rapidly.
What was the matter.
The rush of waters smote his ear. The
truth flashed over him.
The ice gorge had given way !
The young man's face grew pale as he
drew the children back into the house
and shut the door. He could not let
them go now. It was too late.
A few minutes more and a wide cur
rent of water swept around the build
ing, cutting off all hope of escape on
foot. It was now plain that they were
hemmed in.
The horseman waved his hand toward
them, and then wheeled away to seek
other means of reaching the school
house. It was a trying place for the
young teacher, and some courage was re
quired to look calmly into the faces of
the awe-stricken children and try to
quiet them.
But in this he had a helper in Nan.
The girl's face showed nothing of the
terror Joel expected to see in her. The
woman seemed to have suddenly come
in place of the rollicking girl. She was
here there, everywhere, cheering the
younger ones in a most motherly wav.
H ow this crisis had transformed her !
Joel noticed more than ever now what a
strong face she had. He had always
thought her pretty ; now a look had come
upon her features which indicated the
spirit which makes women heroic. She
had become a calm, self-possessed woman.
While Joel was thinking of this,
through the dusk came a boat, manned
by two farmers. It slowly pushed its
way through the current, fighting hard
against wind, ice and drifting wood; but
it was not long before the rescuers reached
the imperiled house. Joel could no
longer open the door without letting in a
Utile ocean. Tiny rivulets were spread
ing over the floor. The only way to get
the children into the boat was through
an open window.
Not more than half the number were
able to get into the boat. The rest must
wait.
"Hadn't you better get in now, Mr.
Professor?" asked one of the men when
the boat was ready to push off for the
bank.
"Not as long as there is any one else to
go, Zeb," was Joel's firm response, as he
gave the boat a steady shove away from
the house.
A half-hour of suspense passed. Then
the dim outline of the boat appeared
through the gioom again.
"The boat is full enough," said Joel,
as he tucked the last one of the children
securely into the boat. "The load would
be too heavy and trouble might come of
it if I should get in. I hope the worst
is over anyhow. Even if the water rises
two feet more, I can still find a way to
keep out of it until morning, perhaps."
" 'Tain't just the thing to leave you
here." said one of the men, hesitatingly.
Get in, and we'll get through all right, 1
guess."
"No," was the auick response. "Go
ahead.
li you
If not
can
come for me, all
right.
He paused. Something in Nan's eyea
awoke a tumult in his breast A strange
light shone in them, and as Joel leaned
down from the window toward her, in
answer to a slight movement of her hand,
she whispered :
"Mr. Sherwood, I'm sorry I've made
you so much trouble this winter.
didn't mean it. Will you forgive me?"
The only reply Joel gave was a warm
pressure of her hand. That was enough.
She understood it. Then the boat
pushed out into the twilight.
But it left behind a very happy young
man, in spite of his desperate position.
After such a confession from Nan, what
could he not venture? Floods could not
sweep the joy which thrilled him.
But an hour sped by and still Joel
was alone. The water kept rising steadi
ly till it drove him to the top of the
desks. He noticed that the tide was
coming up much taster than at any time
before
There was no longer such a rush
about the house
Studying the situation for a while,
Joel made up his mind that a gorge must
have formed somewhere below him, and
the water, no longer able to run out,
was backing up, leaving him in the midst
of a great sea. If this were true he out
look was not at all encouraging.
He peered anxiously out over the
waters for some sign of the returning
boat. Nothing but intense darkness met
his gaze.
Another hour passed. Inch by inch
the river crept up, driving him from place
to place until he was now on the highest
possible point. Now he must quietly
await his fate.
But it was not very heroic to be
drowned like a rat. He must do some
thing to save himself.
At length a star glimmered in the dis
tance. Hope sprang up again. Some
one was kinder to him than he deserved.
How slowly the light came. It was a
hard battle with wind and torrent.
Suddenly the awful ruh came again.
Had the gorge below given way? Then
heaven save him!
He felt a shock. The building trem
bled
Something had struck it heavily
and it was being carried down into the
raging flood.
It was time for him to act. To re
main where he was would be death.
He flung up the window and looked
out. One thing he had learned well in
years gone by to swim. It seemed al-
most madness to think of trusting himself
to such a current, but there was nothing
else to be done.
The light was nearing him more swift
ly now, although it was apparently a long
way off yet. He bravely leaped into the
surging water and struck out for the
shore.
Something below the surface of the
waves caught him and dragged him
swiftly down the stream. He struggled
with all his might to get away, but in
vain. One of his legs was held as if in a
vise. His head whirled.
Then a flash of light fell upon him. In
another moment a strong hand grasped
his arm. The rays of a lantern lighted
up the face of his rescuer.
It was Nan !
Joel awoke the
next morning with a
delicious sense of
peace.
There was no pain anywhere. A
woman's hand was on his forehead. He
was in a woman's room. He lay with
his eyes closed, and tried to put things
together. Then he looked up into the
face of Nan.
"Don't speak, Nan! Let me be still.
If this is a dream I don't want it to end !'!
"But it isn't. It's real, and I thank
God it is!" said Nan, reverently.
Joel reached up and drew Nan
toward him, and their lips met.
"So do I," was all he said.
Vincent, in New York Weekly.
down
-E. L.
The Largest Connty.
The County of Custer, in Montana, is
the largest county in the United Staccs.
It contains 13,569,920 acres and is 15G
miles long and 125 miles wide. It is a
place of historic interest, containing as it
does the site of the great battle of the
Little Big Horn, where Custer and his
force were massacred. Chicago Inter
Ocean. A well in the South, from
strong breeze rushed for years,
denly taken to spouting water.
which a
has sud-
THE FARM AND GARDEN.
ASPARAGUS BEDS WILL LAST A CENTURY.
An asparagus bed, if properly treated,
will last a century, or longer. The own
ers of beds are usually so anxious to con
tinue cutting as long as the grass corn-
mands a irood price
that thev kill the
roots through repeated cutting late in the
reason. LAte cutting am mucu tun iuuic
asnaramis nl.antations than neglect of
manuring
Sun.
I
and cultivation. New Yurie
now
TO GIVE CHICKS
A FAIK SnOW.
When chicks of different ages are run
ning together and older birds are about,
the food for the little ones should be
thrown under slated coops into which
only such can enter. This will save the
youngest .and the delicate from being
trampled upon and crowded out, and will
give them chance to eat their till at their
leisure. They will soon find out what it
means, and more often than not will be
found waiting in the pens for the food
to be thrown to them. Fancier & Journal.
TREATMENT OF BUCKWHEAT.
Buckwheat, often called "the lazy
man's crop," deserves better treatment
than it generally gets. It is a "catch
crop," easily grown between regular suc
cession crops, and will respond to more
generous usage than is frequently ac
corded it. The grain itself is nutritive
CD
and palatable, giving both heat and muscle-making
constituents, and brings, as a
rule, fairly remunerative prices, com
pared with other cereals. Manure with
a liberal hand, or fertilize with, say, 300
pounds of a good superphosphate, and
see the difference in the result compared
with the one grown on the thin, poor
land to which it is generally allotted.
Sow from one to one and a half pecks of
seed to the acre. New York World.
SALT IS NATURE S VERMIFUGE.
All animals using vegetable food re
quire more or less salt to keep them
healthy, for salt is nature s vermifuge, as
it destroys intestinal parasites. As a
rule, farmers do not give their hogs salt,
but this does not prove that they would
uot be better, and be more comfortable
with it. About one ounce daily is suffi
cient for swine weighing from 100 to
200 pounds, and this should be increased
to two ounces when they are fattened
upon corn or other raw grain. When
pigs are fed on slops from the house they
will usually obtain all the salt they need
in their food, but if a little more is added
it will do no harm, and may prevent
cholera and the much-feared kidney
worm. Many experiments have been
tried in feeding swine salt, and all show
that in moderate quantities it is beneficial.
New York u?i.
PROFIT IN DUCK FARMING.
A duck should lay 120 eggs a year if
of
good breed, and in March and April
the
2rs sell for twice a much as hens'
eggs. If we take the weight of the eggs
in consideration, the duck lays as much
in one year as the hen does in two years.
A.s ducks make rapid growth and lay
large eggs "early and often,-' they are,
as a consequence, very voracious, and re
quire a large amount of food, but as they
will eat anything that is eatable, and pre
fer bulky food, thev are not expensive.
considering the service they perform. A
good Pekin, Aylesbury. Brazilian or
Rouen duck will show excellent results
from the management given, and will
yield a profit far beyond anything that
can be derived from the common duck.
A mess of cooked turnips or potatoes
makes an excellent meal for them. Grass
chopped fine and sprinkled with meal, is
another cheap food. If they have a pas
ture they will seek their own food, re-
quiring only a ltttle grain at night. In
winter, chopped, scalded hay is excellent
for them. When laying they should be
given an allowance of chopped, fresh
meat three times a week. Soft food is
preferred by them to whole grains.
Though an aquatic bird, the duck loves a
dry place at night, and should sleep on a
board floor. Farm and Fireside.
SOW FALL SPINACn.
Spinach is a crop that can be obtained
for the table continuously all the sum
mer by successional sowing. But spring
and fall are the times when one looks for
a dish of spinach. In the, -spring-time it
is especially valuable as among the first
green crops to come in. In localities
where the climate is not quite so severe
as with us, it is easily kept out-of-doors
all winter and ready to start into fresh
growth as soon as the frost leaves. In
the North, where the snow covers the
ground early, there is also no diffiulty.
For ordinary culture a slight protection
is easily applied with corn stalks, straw
and so on. This, however, does not pay
for the marketman.
The time to sow for fall use is August.
If the growing weather continues late,
some cuttings are obtained as soon as the
Jeaves are large enough to handle, even
up to November. If these leaves are
plucked, others continue to grow, so that,
for fall or spring use, one sowing will
furnish a good many dishes. When the
crop is growing in the summer, it quick
ly goes into seed, and the whole plant is
then cut off and used.
An ounce of seed contains some 2400,
and is enough for family use. If to
otand all the winter, September is early
enough to sow. The best winter spinach
is the prickly or winter; for summer use,
the round-seeded.
Except the months of January and
February, August is a month requiring
less labor in the vegetable garden than
Usually all the panting has
in July. Such as may still 1.,.
planted are late celery. Radish and
other salads are always in season, and
may yet be sown. Prairie Far mt r.
POTATO r.OT PRECAUTION.
Many a potatogrower who natuisHy
expected, and ought to have. 900 boshi
per ICie, write Professor Byron I). I ( li
sted, in the Ntw York Tribune, finds the
yield less than 100 bushels of second-rate
tubers, some of which are decayed an 1
many more affected disheartening out
come largely due to excessive growth of
a fungus that first attacked the upper
leaves, and from there rapidly passed
into the stems and down to the tubers.
This mildew is so small that when su;,
in quantity it appears like a frosty cover
ing on the surface of the decaying 1 if.
In a short time the vims become aff cted,
turn brown and die. after which tin re
can be.no further growth of tubers. 1
find many large fields thus prematurely
dead. The soil is loaded with water
by recent heavy rains a condition m t
favorable for decay of the potatoes, it i
therefore evident (the mildew being :
lover of moisture) that the tubers should
be removed from the soil 'and kept dry
and cool. It will be well to leave the
potatoes on the ground long enough to
dry off completely, after which tin y may
be stored where they will not be covered
with any moisture. A good way. until
cold weather comes, would be to plai
them in an airy loft or barn, either in a
thin layer on a dry floor or in shallow
bins. A sprinkling of air-slaked lime, a
handful to a bushel, may be applied when
placed in the bin to kill any germs that
may be on their surface. The vines
should have been burned before the po
tatoes were dug. Frequent visits should
be made to the storage-room and any de
caying tubers removed before they con
taminate surroundiug potatoes. Pota
toes this year are likely to be high-priced,
and will repay the extra care hen- recom
mended. A damp, warm, close cellar
would be sure to furnish the conditions
that would result in decay.
FARM AND GARDEN NOTES.
Barley should always be cut before it is
dead ripe.
Sweat and dust, as well as ill-fitting
collars, causes the horse's shoulder to
gall.
In an overripe barley field even a heavy
dew will sometimes stain the crop while
standing.
After August clover seed should not be
sown, as the young plants will be too
tender to stand the winter.
Nature should be copied as noar as pos
sible in the care of fowls, and there
be less complaint of disease.
It is stated that the road fence0 are
being rapidly removed in the vicinity of
Boston, adding much to the rural beauty
of the suburbs.
Pigs can be reared so as to have seventy-five
per cent, of lean meat in them by
feeding bran and middlings. Skim
milk may also be fed.
Nothing like a good old fashioned
summir fallow to cleanse lands from
noxious weeds and fit them for undisputed
occupancy by useful crops.
A Western dairyman thinks that dairy
farmers as a class do not fully appreciate
the importance of the speedy withdrawal
of the animal heat from fresh milk.
Sheep eat into the ground, it is said,
but that is a great merit when they are
engaged in exterminating weeds, an of
fice in which they display great merit.
Millet seed will not retain vitality
longer than two years. If not fresh when
sown a large part will not germinate, and
when two years old only a small portion
will grow.
Perhaps the best remedy that can be
used to keep chicks in ood condition is
pulverized charcoal mixed with cooked
feed. A daily ration of it can do them
no great harm.
He is not a very enterprising farmer
who, if naturally slow, cannot hurry his
steps a little in haying, especially when
unfavorable weather has delayed the work
far beyond its season.
It would be good for farmers if some
of their number would write out farm
experiences and observations for publica
tion, thereby conveying to all interested
many useful lessons that otherwise must
be lost, except to a few.
In the olden timt it was thought
necessary to dry the entire moisture out
of the new cut grass before it was put
away for hay. This has been discover'"
to be an error. The best hay is that
which has been but partially dried before
going into the stack. The study and ex
periment with ensilage led to this dis
covery. Cracked hoofs frequently r suit from a
wound of the coronet and should be
treated as follows: The coronet should
be blistered where the crack starts, and a
V-shaped mark should be cut with a file
at the top of the crack to separate it from
the new horn. Glycerine should Df
applied to the hoof, which should be
bandaged with leather drawn tight
means of a lace.
Stale butter may be much improved
by washing it in clear water, cutti
the butter into thin slices with
the ladle. It is then worked over with
sweet skimmed milk in a churn.by whieh
the acidity is neutralized to some extent.
The butter is then washed in brine t n
move the milk, resalted and made up for
use. It cannot be kept without de
terioration longer than a few days.
any other.
been done
i