*
■
By JOHN R. MUSICK,
Author "ol “Mjr»terlou* Mr. Howard,” "TI.J
Dark Stranger,” “Charlie Allendale’a
Double," Etc.
Copyright, 18«7, bp Robut Boxsbb'b Soa».
All right* referred.
CHAPTER II.
The Storm Bursts.
There was a cloud hanging over the
distant mountain peak, and occasion
ally the low muttering of far-off thun
der could be heard, but it did not dis
turb the young pleasure seekers, who
had come out from Fresno, California,
to have a good time. One tall, grace
ful girl whose golden hair and deep
blue eyes would have attracted any be
holder, was standing in the shadow of
a tree, whither she had wandered
alone. She took very little interest in
the sports of her youthful companions,
no more youthful, however, than her
self. As she strolled under the shades
of the pines her pale blue parasol half
concealed a face that was exquisite in
its loveliness.
“Oh, Laura, why are you alone?”
asked a pretty, dark-eyed girl leaning
on the arm of her lover as she passed.
■“There are plenty of young fellows
who would be glad to take Paul’s
place. Shall I tell them they can?”
“Thank you, Nellie; I do not want
them,” while a faint smile flitted over
her face.
At this moment another couple
passed where the three stood, their
faces half hidden behind a pink em
brella. Nellie, smiling, said;
“There goes Clarence and Nellie
Bush. People say they are to be mar
ried in the spring and start for the
Klondike.”
Laura sighed and her little friend
went on. The gaze of Laura Kean was
now riveted on Clarence Berry and
Ethel Bush. The rumor that they were
going to that strange, far-off northern
country awakened in her mind a new
Interest in them. Ethel Bush was one
of her dearest friends, and Clarence
and Paul had been boys together.
As Clarence and Ethel sat in the
shade of a tree, they built anew their
air castles amid the glaciers and ice
bergs of the frozen north.
“I hope I don’t intrude,” said a
sweet, silver-like voice, and, looking
up, they beheld their friend Laura
, Kean standing near, a smile on her
pretty face. “My excuse for coming
is to discuss your intended journey to
the Klondike. I have heard you are
going in the early spring.”
“We have so decided,” Clarence
l Berry answered.
A > J I# --T Lnirn .1 ,, 1 A s. .1 i/x
accompany you.”
Ethel Bush was delighted, and de
clared if they could find a preacher in
Alaska the wedding would be cele
brated in the frozen north. The three
sat on the green and planned and
talked with increasing enthusiasm, and
Laura, with her pretty face beaming
with happiness, arose, left the lovers
to themselves, while she strolled down
the grove, that her mind might con
jure up her lover’s joy and surprise
at meeting her in those faraway re
gions.
Unconsciously she strolled deep into
* the wood and was lost to the sight of
her friends, when a footstep near
caused her to start in surprise if not
alarm. Before her stood a young man
of twenty-eight, with a pale cast of
countenance and keen blue eye. He
was of a figure that might have been
called handsome, but to Laura Kean
he was repulsive. She gave him a
glance and gasped:
"Mr. Lackland!”
Theodore Lackland had followed
Laura to this picnic and into this wood
with a set purpose in his heart. He
was wealthy, a young man of good
family and reputed ability, but a man
of firm and fixed purposes. To accom
plish an end he would go to almost
any limit. He had known Paul Miller
long before he set off for the Klondike
and hated him because he loved Laura
Kean. Why should this beautiful girl,
the only woman whom he had ever
loved, prefer this rude, penniless coun
try boy to himself?
Mr. Lackland failed to realize what
so many have in this life—that it Is
f. the soul that attracts and not the face
and figure. There is no freemasonry
so subtle as the freemasonry of the
soul.
"I am pleased to see you happy, Miss
Kean," he said. "There has always
been something wrong with me, and
while others are happy I am sad.”
"Surely it is a morbid fancy,” said
Laura. The light was dying out in
her eyes. She made one quick down
ward look at the path, as If wishing
to pass him. He observed her glance
and said:
“No, no, Laura, wait a moment; I
have something of great importance
to say to you, which I must say now.
“I have just been told that you
have decided to go to Alaska in the
spring.” He looked earnestly Into the
girl’s glowing face, and added, with
deliberation:
“Laura, there are reasons why you
should not undertake such a journey.”
“What reasons?”
“A million natural obstacles are in
t-ixc v> a.y .
“If Ethel Hush can go, why not I?"
He did not answer Immediately, but
stood at the side of the path carelessly
kicking the leaves with the toe of his
boot. At last he answered:
“Laura, if your love had been a
great love, you must have read my se
cret, just as I have road yours.” In a
low tone he continued: “Long ago I
knew that you loved, or thought you
loved Paul Miller. I saw it before he
* did—even before you realized it.”
The red glow covered her cheeks
more deeply than before. She was si
lent. and he was tramping nervously
backward and forward. Then he went
on rapidly in a tone of irritation.
“Laura, I understand you. It is not
for a rude man like this Alaskan miner
to (io so." Then in an eager voice he
said: "Dearest, I bring you a love
undreamed of among such low crea
tures.”
“Low creatures!” she hissed, almost
breathlessly.
His cheeks quivered; his lips trem
bled; his voice swelled, while his
nervous fingers were riveted to his
palm. He approached her and took
her hand. She seemed benumbed by
the feeling. She stood as one trans
fixed, a slow paralysis of surprise tak
ing hold of her faculties. But at his
touch her senses regained their mas
tery. She flung away his hand. Her
breast heaved. In a voice charged with
indignation she said:
“So this is what you mean! I un
derstand you at last!”
Theodore Lackland fell back a pace.
“Laura, hear me—hear me again.'1
But she had found her voice at last.
“Sir, you have outraged my feelings
as much as if I was at this moment
l ain miner s wue:
Theodore Lackland felt his self-con
trol rapidly slipping away, and in the
height of his passion said:
“You shall never marry Paul Miller,
Laura Kean! I swear it! I hold your
fate and his in my hand, and have
more ways of crushing you than you
imagine. Be sensible; recall your in
sulting words, and do not throw your
self away on that impecunious ne’er
do-well—a hulking brute, made for a
pick-ax and shovel-”
“Enough!” she cried. “I would
rather marry a plow-boy than such a
‘gentleman’ as you!”
Face to face, eye to eye, with pant
ing breath and scornful looks, there
they stood for one moment; then Lau
ra, without a word, swung about and
walked away to where her friends
were preparing to return to town.
The features of Theodore Lackland
underwent a frightful change. The
gathering thunder cloud was not more
black than his face. He raised his
clenched fist to heaven and cursed his
rival, heedless of the rolling thunder
and on-coming storm.
“It is a long way to the Klondike,”
he finally muttered, while the smile
of a devil flitted over his face; “but,
great as the distance is, he will feel
my power, and so shall she.”
A heavy peal of thunder and the fall
ing of rain roused him to the fact that
the little excursion had all gone, leav
ing him alone in the wood and storm.
‘ He hurried to where his horse and
buggy were, and, leaping in, drove
furiously to town. He took the train
that night to San Francisco and spent
a whole day in consultation with two
ill-favored looking men.
In a few weeks Laura had forgotten
the unpleasant scene with the wealthy
Mr. Lackland. She was busy prepar
ing for the journey in the spring.
It was the last of February, and on
the next day Laura was to draw her
money from the savings bank and put
it in the hands of a friend to secure
her a passage and outfit for the Klon
dike. Late in the afternoon she saw
a great crowd of men on the street
talking in an excited manner, and a
moment later Mr. O’Bourne, the butch
er, came running toward her, wringing
his hands.
"What is the matter, Mr. O’Bourne?’’
she asked.
“We are ruined, Miss Kean; we are
ruined. The savings bank has failed;
can’t pay a cent!”
She grew dizzy and clutched at the
door for support. Quickly all her
bright dreams of surprising her lover
vanished.
iuio. ifiimi luuooicu uci wuii iuc
assurance that the loss would be made
up by the great fortune Paul was tak
ing from the Klondike. A few days
later she learned that the bank had
been wrecked by Mr. Tom Harris, the
cashier, speculating on San Francisco
Board of Trade. Later came the whis
per that Harris had fled to avoid ar
rest, but before going had confessed
his crime, and said that he was in
duced by Mr. Lackland to speculate.
He went on the wrong side of the
market and was ruined.
The evening post brought Laura a
letter. It was addressed in the well
beloved hand of Paul Miller. But
there was something in the chirog
raphy to alarm her. It was in a scrawl
ing, feeble hand, and with many mis
givings she broke the seal and glanced
at the contents. Then, with face ashen
white, she shrieked;
"Wounded, robbed, ruined!” and fell
senseless to the floor.
Ethel Bush, learning of her friend’s
trouble, hastened to see Laura, who
sank so rapidly under the double blow
that she was confined to her bed.
Ethel tried to console her.
"Don’t worry, dear. We shall soon
be with Paul, and if I find him I will
nurse him back to health, and Clar
ence will defend him if he is attacked
until he is able to defend himself.”
"Will you take a message to him
from me, Ethel?”
“Yes, dear, a thousand.”
"Warn him, Ethel; warn him!”
"Of whom or what shall I warn him,
dear?”
"Of Theodore Lackland. He is our
evil genius.”
"I fear you wrong Mr. Lackland.”
“No, no; he threatened me last au
tumn when we were up the valley to
the picnic. I forgot it at the time, but
it is all very fresh and vivid to asy
mind now.”
Ethel remained with her for over
two hours and spoke encouragingly,
then left, urging her to recover her
strength and spirits in time for the
wedding.
For downright luck and pluck the
bridal trip of Clarence Berry was with
out parallel. On the day he and sweet
Ethel Bush were married they were
poor In everything but luck, pluck and
faith in their future. Their wordly
possessions consisted of just enough
to pay their passage to San Francisco,
thence to Juneau, and on to Forty
Mile Camp, and provide themselves
with the necessary stores for a year.
On the 15th they were married at
the pretty little church In Fresno, and
their friends in great numbers gath
ered about them to congratulate them
and bid them a tearful adieu.
Next day the bride and groom took
their departure for San Francisco.
Laura imprinted a kiss on the young
bride's lips and whispered:
“Give it to him! Oh, I wish I could
go with you!”
They went to San Francisco, where
they met the remainder of their party
bound for the Klondike. Among the
party was a tall young fellow named
Dick Ronald, from Seattle, who from
his height soon acquired the soubri
quet of Long Dick. There were half
a dozen other men, some young and
some middle-aged, but Ethel was the
only lady in the party bound for the
frozen north.
The voyage and journey to Juneau
was made without any unusual discom
fort, but from that on it became peril
ous and every mile marked with dan
ger.
They engaged some Indians as
guides and an Esquimaux with the
euphonious name of Umstich, which
Long Dick translated for convenience
into “Hemstitch."
Umstitch was engaged as a sort of
general superintendent of the dogs and
sleds, of which they had several to
convey themselves and packs across
the bleak, white deserts, the dog being
the only animal capable of making
those journeys in all weather.
The accommodations for the young
bride were poor, but Clarence did the
very best he could for her. They car
ried a stove and tent, and every night
the latter was pitched in some spot
where the snow was hard. Beds of
boughs were made, and Ethel waB
wrapped in furs until there was little
chance for her to suffer from cold.
She rode all the way from Juneau to
the mining camp well muffled in bear
skin robes and furs, strapped on a sled
or boat as the case might be, and
while this method of travel was much
better than walking, the uncertainty
of her position made it anything but
comfortable.
CHAPTER III.
Paul s Discovery.
It Is essential at this point in our
story to return to the Klondike. It is
again night, and the little camp on
the densely wooded stream is wild
with excitement and confusion. Men
were hurrying to and fro and giving
utterance to angry exclamations.
Among the most excited was our old
friend Gid Myers. Gid had a rope in
his hand, and was gesticulating wildly
toward a cabin that had been erected
on the banks of the stream, around
which stood four or five men with
rifles in their hands.
»*> wonder the gold-diggers were ex
cited. A terrible crime had been com
mitted in their little community. It
was the first that had ever been
known on the Klondike, and these
hardy frontiersmen felt like wreaking
vengeance upon the perpetrators.
“I tell ye, boys, we ought to make
a holy example o’ that precious rascal
in yonder shanty. We have found gold
here by the million o’ dollars, an’ when
we thought we had an honest com
munity four thieves pounce upon us,
rob one o’ us, an’ almost kill him. Now
let's hang the feller Crack Rash
wounded.”
“Wait, boys,” cautioned Glum Rals
ton, who had listened to the harrangue
of Gid Myers. “This chap what got a
little more lead in his skin than he
calkerlated on ain’t goin’ t’ git away.
I tell ye that robbery warn’t done by
accident. It warn’t planned in a min
nit neither-”
“Now yer shoutin’, comrade,” put in
a grizzled veteran.
(To be continued.)
DAMAGE DONE BY LOCUSTS.
Seventeen-Year Specimens Have Be
gun Their Work.
The 17-year locusts are beginning
to show what real damage they can
do. When they first appeared in num
bers in parts of Maryland a few weeks
ago the farmers charged them with
but very little damage; now the resi
dents’ tune has changed, and all about
you can hear them saying: “The lo
custs are ruining my snade and fruit
trees.” According to the farmers, the
greatest damage being done by the
locusts is to the limu3 of trees. After
the locust emerges from the ground
it at once makes for the body of the
tree, and sticks upon it until ready to
emerge from its shell, which is exactly
the shape of the insect, legs and all.
The shell breaks lengthwise of the
looust, from the middle of the back
to the head. Out of this opening the
locust comes forth as white as a sheet.
It immediately begins to crawl to the
trunk of a tree. It is not long be
fore it begins to get darker in color,
until within a few hours it becomes
almost black, with the exception of
the body and the eyes, which remain
a reddish brown. As soon as they
turn dark they proceed to the extreme
ends of the trees where they do the
damage. The female’s sting kills the
branches. Chickens, dogs and spar
rows are making short work of the
insects when they come in contact
with them. The crops in the fields
have not suffered as yet.
Birds Fly and Sing.
Besides the skylark a number of
other birds sing as they fly. Among
these are the titlark, woodlark, watei
peppet. sedge warbler, willow warblei
and whin chat.
REAL TARIFF ISSUE
HOW THE COMING CAMPAIGN
MUST BE FOUGHT.
Leading Republican Journal Declares
Tariff Revision Is Unavoidable—
Meaning of Ex-Secretary Vilas’ Let
ter to Chairman Warden.
Ex-Secretary Vilas’ letter to Chair
man Warden may or may not be a per
fectly spontaneous utterance. Possibly
Judge Griggs, manager of the Demo
cratic congressional campaign, may
have had something to do with this
dramatic reappearance on the politi
cal scone of a leading Democrat of the
old school, and we may perhaps expect
to hear these voices from the past at
regular intervals—as part of the light
for recognition. This, however, is of
minor importance. Despite the wrig
gling of the Bryan faction, the issues
of this year’s campaign for control of
the house will certainly be the trusts
and the tariff. This letter from Mr.
Vilas is symptomatic, and Mr. Bab
cock will not miss its significance.
There is no great difference between
the position taken by the ex-secretary
and the famous Cleveland message on
tariff reform. Mr. Cleveland de
nounced the tariff as “the communism
of pelf;” Mr. Vilas demands "the over
throw of the grand, central governing
conspiracy of protection.” There were
few trusts in the eighties, but even
then Mr. Cleveland, in almost the same
language as Mr. Vilas employs to-day,
warned the people against the “con
federacies of protection” and the con
spiracies against popular liberty and
popular opportunity.
Recognizing the ability and political
effectiveness of Mr. Vitas’ “keynote”
epistle, the question arises as to how
the Republican congressional com
mittee ought to meet it. There is an
issue between the two great parties
here, beyond all question, but what
form and shape shall it be given? The
Republican party cannot and must not
enter a general denial, and either ex
pressly or by Implication assert the
sacredness of high protection as ex
emplified by the Dingley act. It must
admit the need of revision all along
the line. It must place itself squarely
on "the Buffalo platform.”
The Democrats, to be consistent,
must advocate a revenue tariff pure
and simple, free trade being out of the
question. They will have to descend
to particulars and tell the people ex
actly what they propose to do and how
they propose to demolish “the grand
central conspiracy.” Will they, if re
turned to power, reduce the duties hor
izontally BO per cent? Will they with
draw protection from trust-controlled
industries and leave the present rates
of duty where combination is still
weak? Glittering generalities will not
answer; the voters will demand def
inite suggestions and businesslike
statements.
And the Republicans must meet this
demand for definiteness and certainty.
They will naturally deny that protec
tion is robbery, “a false and deceitful
name,” a conspiracy, etc., but they
must admit that the system has been
misapplied and abused. Certain sched
ules, as Mr. McKinley said, are no
longer needed either for revenue or for
legitimate protection; they must be
lowered, repealed or so "employed," by
means of reciprocity, as to increase
our foreign trade.
In short, tariff revision is unavoid
able. Shall it be undertaken by the
friends or opponents of protection?
This is the real, the immediate tariff
issue. The fanatical and militant
high-protectionists In the Republican
party must be sent to the rear.—Chi
cago Record-Herald.
SETTLING CANADIAN LANDS.
.
Chicago Tribune Calls Attention to
New Situation.
Director of the Mint Roberts, who
has returned to Washington from a
visit to Iowa, says that in that state
and other western states there is a
rage for land speculation. There is
hardly a crossroads community in
Iowa, says Mr. Roberts, which has not
organized a syndicate to operate in
lands in the Dakotas or Canada. To
this speculative fever Mr. Roberts as
cribes the movement of money from
the east to the west in advance of the
time when money is usually sent for
the purpose of moving the crops.
Back of this speculative activity in
lands—an activity which has often
been disastrous—lies the price of
wheat. There is a good demand for
that cereal, which promises to con
tinue. The Dakota lands which are
being sought after produce good
wheat. So does the land in the Can
adian northwest. The price of land in
the Dakotas is low compared with the
price of lands in Iowa. The price of
the fine Canadian government lands is
extremely low. Hence the surprising
rush of farmers to the Canadian north
west. Iowa farmers sell their farms
at a high figure and go north, many of
them crossing the international boun
dary line. It is estimated that 25,000
acres of Canadian lands are sold to
Americans every day. If sales are
kept up at this rate and the lands pur
chased are brought under cultivation
it will not be so long before Canada
will be raising 250,000 000 bushels of
wheat a year instead of the 80,000,000
bushels raised now.
As the volume of Canadian wheat in
creases the reciprocity santiment in
the northwest will increase. Mr. Rob
erts was struck by the present
strength of that sentiment and the de
sire of the milling interests of Min
neapolis and St. Paul to secure recip
rocity with Canada, so the Canadian
wheat lands may supply grist for their
mills. At present none of the Cana
dian wheat is made into flour in the
United States. It all goes to England,
to English millers. As it Is thrown
upon the irvrket there as fast as it
can be shipped the price of competing
American wheat is much more seri
ously affected than it would be if the
duty on Canadian wheat were removed
and considerable of it entered this
country to be held here till the foreign
demand warranted its shipment.
Reciprocity with Cuba is the burn
ing question of the moment. Recip
rocity with Canada is a question which
will come to the front soon and stay
there until it is disposed of. There
will be bitter opposition, largely petty
and selfish in its nature, to freer trade
relations with Canada, but such rela
tions will bo of great value to the
United States. Next to Great Britain
and Germany the dominion is the larg
est purchaser of American products.
It will be a still larger purchaser Id
the event of reciprocity—Chicago Trt
bune.
mckinley and reciprocity.
No Nearer Free-Trade Than When He
Framed the Tariff Act.
President McKinley was, as he said
himself, in favor of reciprocity that
would "afford new markets for our
surplus agricultural and manufactured
products, without loss to the Ameri
can laborer of a Bingle day’s work that
he might otherwise procure.” In hlr
last speech he declared in favor of
"sensible trade arrangements which
will not Interrupt our home produc
tion.” That does not sound much like
free trade. President McKinley has
been grossly misrepresented on thU
reciprocity question. The efforts of
the Democrats to try and make use of
President McKinley's utterances to
make it appear that he favored any
step toward free trade will only react
on the Democrats.
Mr. McKinley did not even assert
anywhere that the duty in any case Is
now too high. What he did say was
that If "perchance” there should be
any surplus duty then he was in favor
of using it for reciprocity purposes, a
statement with which every sensible
man should agree. But he did not
say anywhere or to any person that
there were surplus duties.
In some cases, however, there may
be surplus duties, as, for instance, In
the case of hides. In that event the
duty on hides should be used for rec
iprocity purposes, as President Mc
Kinley suggested, and it would be fool
ish to abandon that duty in favor of
South American countries, which Im
pose duties on every dollar's worth of
goods we send to them, without secur
ing something In return. A great mis
take was made In taking off the duty
on coffee Instead of using it for recip
rocity purposes. As a result, Brazil
to-day discriminates against certain
products of the United States and In
favor of such products coming from
other countries, because those coun
tries have reduced their tariff on cof
fee, whereas we buy pretty much all
of Brazil’s crop without imposing any
duty whatever. Brazil gives the Ar
gentine Republic a lower duty on flour
than is given the United States In re
turn for a reduction of the Argentine
tariff on Brazilian coffee. And yet the
United States Imposes no duty on cof
fee, and buys about twenty times as
much from Brazil as does the Argen
tine Republic. That shows the folly
of the United StateB In not making use
of the duty on cofTee for reciprocal
purpose^.
No such mistake should be made in
the case of the duty on hides. The
United States imported in the last
fiscal year over $10,000,000 worth of
hides from South American countries
which admit nothing whatever from
the United States free of duty. Under
President McKinley’s policy, if the
duty on hides is a surplus one. It
should be used for purposes of rec
iprocity. If it is not a surplus duty it
should be retained. President McKin
ley wa3 no nearer the free trade theory
in his policy at the time of his death
than he was when he framed amd
helped put through congress the Mc
Kinley tariff act.—Philadelphia Press.
Barking Up the Wrong Tree.
Certain political quidnunces in
Washington have jumped to the con
clusion that the four Republican con
gressmen from Michigan who have
failed of renomination have been re
pudiated by their constituents because
they opposed reciprocity with Cuba
in the interest of the beet sugar indus
try. The eastern newspapers have
taken up the cry vociferously and
point to the “straws in Michigan” as
showing the way the politcal blizzard
is setting throughout the West against
the opponents of reciprocity.
Ordinarily we would be pleased to
join in the cry and point the moral to
all those reactionaries who have re
fused to recognize our duty to Cuba.
But the truth, told in our dispatch
from Lansing, Mich., knocks any spec
ial significance out of the failure of
Congressmen Aplin, Weeks, Shelden
and H. C. Smith to secure renomina
tions. They were beaten on persona!
grounds, and beet sugar or reciprocity
had nothing to do with their discom
fiture.—Chicago Record-Herald.
Wise Words of Caution.
The tariff has too many ramifica
tions and is too far-reaching in its ef
fect to be made the football of purely
local judgment. It is true, there are
not lacking “reformers” who feel that
they are inspired with wisdom from
above to lead the party through the
wilderness, but it is noticeable that
the reformers are seldom able to agree
among themselves, and that their fol
lowers are of uncertain number and
allegiance. The few of them who get
into a national convention are quickly
lost to view In the vaft expanse of na
tional Interests which tower Et«ova
mere local environment.—Burlington
Hawkeye.
Transpiration of Plants.
A bulletin of the Virginia Weather
Bureau says:
We may understand the essentials
of this complex process best if we
compare it with our own breathing:
for transpiration and respiration of
land plants have much in common
with the breathing of animals. Both
the plant and animal breathe air, and
while breathing It, both give off large
quantities of water from the organs
of respiration. If you hold a cold,
clean mirror In front of a person
breathing, its surface becomes at once
clouded with the moisture from the
breath. So, ft>o, if you hold the same
cold mirror close to the foliage of a
growing plant, the moisture escaping
from that will also cloud the mirror.
Now the primary object of the
lungs in our case is not to remove
water from the system, but to provide
a means for oxygen to enter the blood
from the air, and for the carbonic
acid gas to escape from the blood
into the air. This can take place rap
idly, however, only when the delicate
lining of the air cblls in the lungs is
kept moist; and so the chief function
of the water escaping from the lungs
is to maintain uieir inner surface con
tinually wot. Let the lung lining once
become dry, and the rate at which
oxygen could enter and carbonic acid
gas escape from the blood would be
so slow that life could not be main
tained; and in order that this fatal
accident shall not occur, the lung sur
face is placed on the Inside of the
chest, where the rate of the evapora
tion Is very greaA Impeded.
When we turn to the breathing of
plants, we find that they, too, are only
able to accomplish that very Import
ant work as rapidly as It needs to be
done by having a very broad surface
against which the air may come, but
so placed that It shall be kept always
wet; and, just as in our case. It
would never do to have this surface
exposed to the open air, so the real
breathing surface of plants is spread
out on the inside of their structure,
where hot, strong winds can never
reach it. If it were true that no wa
ter need be used by plants except that
which is assimilated during their
growth and reproduction, and in keep
ing the cells distended and turgid, so
that wilting shall not occur, then
there would be little need for irriga
tion anywhere except in the most arid
of arid regions, for then even the
hygroscopic moisture of a dry soil
would be sufficient in quantity to sup
ply the demands of almost any land
plant.
Melllotus Alba.
Recently a press bulletin from the
Ohio Experiment station contained
the assertion that melllotus alba
(sweet clover) grows only upon hard
trodden land or land that has been
"puddled" and cited the fact that
Bweet clover grows luxuriantly on
the hard roadsides. The inference to
be drawn from the articlo is that this
plant grows only on soils that are
trampled and that It will not grow at
all In fields. The writer of these
lines has abundance evidence that
melllotus alba grows not only on poor
hard soils, but on rich mellow soils.
The northern part of Cook county, in
which the writer lives, is largely over
run with this plant. It has taken not
only the roadsides but also the fields
wherever the latter are left unculti
vated and aro suitable for the en
croachment of the sweet clover. This
soil Is rich in lime and the plant finds
this lime serviceable to it. Some
plastering was done in the house of!
the writer and the surplus mortar
was thrown onto a spot of grass behind
the house. This occurred in the
spring and on that spot melllotus alba
came up and flourished to such an ex
tent that it was the occasion of re
mark. The inference was that the
sweet clover grew luxuriantly there
because the lime had been thrown on
to the soil. To-day at Winnetka the
parkways are found quite frequently
covered with this plant. It certainly
does not refuse to grow on soil mere
ly because that soil is rich and fairly1
mellow. It seems to have an affinity
for lime. Moreover even on limy land
it is easily driven out by the grasses,
especially varieties of the blue grass.'
Yve wonder if the Ohio experiment
station has tried liming on the soil
where it has attempted unsuccessfully
to get a catch of sweet clover.
Nurse Crops.
It appears from our results that
nurse crops, as a rule, are inadvisable.
Harley is the best, as it is more open
and does not shade the young clover
and grass plants so much, and as it
comes off the ground earlier than oth
er cereals, it does not extract so much
moisture and leave it in such a dry
condition. Oats, wucat and rye are
not considered successful nurse crops,
and in fact our experiments indicate
that it would be much better to dis
card the nurse crop altogether and
devote the land exclusively to seed
ing to clover and grass. The attempt
to “kill two birds with one stone” in
that it is hoped to get a crop of wheat
and also a crop oc grass anu clover
from the soil during tne same year
has been s-own to be a failure so re
peatedly that further discussion is
unnecessary.—Andrew M. Soule.
Halter break the heifer, it will add
co her value as a dairy cow.
Good clover hay is hard to excel as a
| feed for the dairy cows.
