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About The Sioux County journal. (Harrison, Nebraska) 1888-1899 | View Entire Issue (April 2, 1896)
T ' ' ' . - . " " c f ? .... .The Sioux County Journal, VOLUME VIII. HARKISOX, NEBRASKA THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 1890L NUMBER HO. TOPICS FOH FARMERS A DEPARTMENT PREPARED FOR OUR RURAL FRIENDS. Baj for Market Bhoald Be Baled -To Rid Corn Boaaea of Vermin Don't OTerwork the Bore Charcoal for Fattening Fowl. Marketing Her. Owing to IU great bulk In proportion to value, hay wan formerly never sent Very far to market The hay press ha revolutionized that, and hay la shipped preened from all parta of the West when the price rises above a low fig are. It la probably true that the East rrn farmer who owna land near a good market can ue It to better purpose than producing hay. To sell any kind of bay from the farm exhausts iu fer tility quite aa fast as growing and sell Ing grain and straw. Besides, the farmer who draws hay In bulk on a wagon niust use at least a day's time for hiuiHelf and team. He la shut out from making many sales, for many peo ple who keep a single horse have not spare barn rumu to bold a full load of hay unless It Is first compressed Into bales. They pay more for It In this way, because in buying the bay they also pay at hay prices for much other material done up In the bale which Is practically worthless. Vermin In Corn Houses. Mire often get Into corn houses, and. as they breed rapidly, they do a great deal of damage before they can be de stroyed. They are so small that tboy harbor In the corn, slipping around be tween the ears where the cat cannot fol low 1 bein. Hals will kill off mice, but arc themselves worse than the vermin they destroy. If a good mouser Is put In the corn house she will catch a good many, and more yet can be taken In traps baited with newly-toasted cheese. The best way to prevent mice damages Is to keep the vermin out. It Is not a hard tank to set a corn crib In a well protected place on posts, each mounted with a heavy tin pau upside down. The mice cannot run up an luclluution with their heads downward and their feet tip. With such a corn house all Hint is needed Is to take care that no mice are brought In with the corn. Every corn lion should be cleared of nil rubbish, fitch as corn cobs and the like, at leaht once a year. Mice harbor In this rul blsh, and are ready to work with their numerous progeny when the corn house is filled. Do Not Overwork Them, Be easy with the growing colt and the growing Imiv. They cau be made to do a full day's hard, exhausting work for awhile, but It doesn't pay. Overstrain ed boys make stunted, round-shouldered, liMless, stupid men. Don't do It, even If the work does crowd a little In the busy season. Farmers' lioys who are fmnrt and who have a taste for sHence. will get better education at the agricultural college, than they would any w here else. Charcoal for Fattening Fowls. Four turkeys were eoiitini-d In a pen and fed on meal. Ixilled potatoes and oats. Four others of llie same brood were nt the same time confined In an other pen. and fed dally on the name ar ticle, but-wlth one pint of very line pul verized charcoal mixed with their food -mixed meal and boiled potatoes. They had alo a plentiful supply of broken charcoal in their jien. The eight were killed the same day, and there was a difference 0f one mid a half pounds each In favor of the fowls which had been supplied with charcoal, they being much the fattest, nnd the meat being superior In ioliit of tenderness nnd fl a v o r. To u 1 1 ry ("hum. Heavy feeding of Out. Ixxlglng of oals is due to the Imper fect development of the tissues of the sti'in, and this Is the result of an lusuftl cient exposure to sunlight in conse quence of the plants In-lug too close together. The greatest exjioMure, says the Agriculturist, will doubtless be se cured by moderately thin sowing. It is usually considered that the quan tity of seed per acre should vary with the condition of the lnnd and the time of sowing, a great, nimntlty being sown when the hind Is lu toor condition and when the seasou Is late. A greater quantity of seed Is required on poor land, as the oats do not "stool out" so well, and in a late season it Is neces sary to Increase the amount In order to hasten the harvest, as, where the land Is thinly sown, the "stoollng" process is liable to be carried on for too long it time, making the harvest bile. In England lis high as eight bushels per acre of oals nre often sown. In oilier year tests that quantity of seed yield ing sin average of forty -three bushels per acre; six hushis, llfty-thrce. Veal Calves. Here are some of the prospeef for a miser of calves, .not unlimited wealth by any means, but where are the farm ers' wives and daughter, who have much money for spending according to their own will? I have known of a calf to be nillk-fed, says a writer In the. New York Tribune, and perhaps fed on oilnitwl a little besides, until 0 weeks old, and then sold to the butcher for $0, and I could toll you by whom ami where I he calf was told. It la truo that the cases arc rare where such a price la realized, but still It la equally true that aa much or more might be made from a 6 to 8 weeks' old calf If said calf had been not only milk-fed, but well fed besides on ollmeal or some other equally good flesh-forming food. Pro viding the calf haa a good sized frame to build upon In that length of time, he will be capable of taking on quite good avoirdupois. When quite ready for sale, have him butchered at home, his pelt saved for sale, and bis car cass cut up Into the right kind of cook ing pieces, and then sell him by the pound. The cases are not rare where a good-slaed calf would bring from ten to fifteen dollars and more when sold out in this way. It is safe to assert that twice as much will be realized from such a sale than there would be If the animal were sold to the butcher by live weight Boot Out the Weeds. Winter Is not an Idle time for the far mer or gardener who does full duty, until the land he la on and the trees and roadways about It are free from Insect pests and weeds, says the Phila delphia Ledger. And Dr. Ilalstead haa shown us that weeds are the harboring places of some of the most Injurious of the fungi that vegetables and fruits are ruined by. Certain diseases pecu lla to certain vegetables were thought to remain In the soil for years, "once In a field, always," because, after a lapse of years, that particular vegetable grown there was attacked by It An In spiration set him looking for the weed the fungus had been boarding with In the meantime, and be found It. Some of the wise farmers who were told of It went immediately Into their fields and rooted out these enemy har boring weeds and burned rhem, and, when In their dally walks abroad and rides they came across them, they de stroyed them, even by the roadside or ou somebody else's land. Others didn't, but thought It was quite enough that they kuew where the trouble came from. Cochin Rantems. Of all diminutive or pigmy fowls there can 1 nothing as odd as the Co chin Bantam, while Its perfect similar ity to the awkward big Cochin makeslt a very comical specimen In a diminutive form, says the Independent. The Huff Cochin I In (it u in looks to me the pret tiest, yet that Is simply a matter of taste. The Game Kcabrlglit Polish ot Silky Bantams are really very showy and attractive. It being hard to single out one from the other. Itautanis are a study of themselves, and should be made a specialty to breed them success fully. They are more delicate, lucking the constitutional vigor of the larger fowls, hence they require the very best care under all condition. Good spec! meus sell from $5 to $100 per bird, the price lielng estimated by the blood and tho perfection of the specimen, and these prices are not fancy. There It nothing more attractive to a lady or child than a flock of Hue liautums of good breed lug. Successful FruU Htoraare. Fruit-growers In the famous Miehl gun fruit belt are making experiment In cold slorage of fruit without the us of Ice. In a recent farmers' institute essay a Mr. Ilillliiger, of Western Mich Igait, described a storage plant ou t small scale. It Is situated under t !? north wing of the barn, Is thirty-five feet square, and eleven feet high, l( covered with three layers of lumber, wllh two air chambers and pleuty of tarred paper. This applies to door and sides. The doors are cut In twe horizontally, to close the bottom agalns stock, when desired. A hallway, wltr doors nt either end, serves as an air lock In passing In and out dining warm weather. Ill I s room has repeatedly held over 1,100 barrels at one time, No mould has ever bothered nor has uu apple been lost by freezing. It hai been lu use for several years, and Is as good to-day as when built Such re sults are worth trying for. Can any of our readers give their experience In fruit storage? Durability of Hnsswooil Halls. There are not nearly so many rail fences as there used to be, and bass wood Is loss likely to be used than for merly, because so many Uses of tlib wood will pay better. ' Basswood l very porous, and whenever It is to lu cut up It should be as soon as possible after cutting, so that air may reach a larger portion of It nnd dry out surplus moisture. It is always noticeable that a thin I hi hk wood rail, especially If In a sunny place, will outlast a heavy one, the latter filling with water In every wet time, and taking so long to dry out flint Its center never becomes thorough !y dry. Ovcr-Ilrl vlnu Heavy Hnreea. The true draught horse can often gel over the ground union tasier man n supposed, Ills strength of limb mr.kei lit m whut an old fanner once called "a strong trotter." lie will not tire easily, but his extra weight throw an additional burden on his feet. II driven fast on hard roods he will almost certainly go wrong on his feet In some way. It Is this that gives rise to tlm Idea that heavy horses have naturally poor feet. They should be used mainly for slow farm work, and whenever It It necessary to use them on the road, cart should be taken to keep them at a med crate steady pace, which will make aa good time aa Is needed la marketing the farm crops. EDUCATIONALCOLUMN NOTES ABOUT SCHOOLS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. Oesaand of To-day la a Thorough El daloa of All Matter that Preventa a Thoroagh Midy of the Common Branches-Ad vice to Taachera. Fewer Bab J sets. There Is a reaction of opinion In the minds of thoughtful persons in rela tion to the work that public school ought to do. Ten yean ago the com mon branches were so strongly de nounced by prominent educators that only persons of exceptional coui'Age dared advocate their thorough study. To-day we are repenting. We see that the mob of subjects required in our curricula la all wrong that simplifica tion, condensation and concentration are the watchwords of the hour. But la It not a fact that, while we are crying out against this multitude of subjects, we still continue to teach them? How many of us have material ly remodeled our programs and courses In conformity with the Idea of simpli fication? We are crying "Wolf! wolf!" but we are doing nothing to drive him away. We are excessively afraid of the adverse criticism of specialists, who all demand a leading place for their respective subjects. We fear too much to change from the loaded course of our predecessors because, perchance, some one may accuse us retrogression. Let us forever ostracize the Idea that progression In education means a con tinual Increase In the number of studies. Progression In teaching means a continual Improvement In the adapta tion of the subjects and methods to the development of the whole move ment. Tho nature of the mind, care fully studied, will show the harmful character of crowded schedules; yet we fear to unload because of the ap pearance of retroversion. The sooner we cast out some of the studies now In our curricula, the better for our minds and manliness, and the better for the education of our pupils. Many teachers pay too little attention to reading In the higher grades. They claim thnt they have no time that Natural History, Physics, and other subjects consume the minutes so rap idly that reading must be dropped. Why not allow reading to displace the sciences in the seventh and eighth grades, and perhaps in the ninth? The ordinary fifth and sixth readers con tain gems of literature that, If proper ly taught, will exercise more Influence sver the child's soul that all the sciences combined. But these reading lessons must be thoroughly taught. Two or three par agraphs are often more than enough for a half hour's reading lesson In the fifth reader. Huskin sees a beautiful and significant Idea lu the expression "Man of letters." A literary man studies productions so closely that he may lie said to scrutinize every letter, a ml is therefore called a man of let ters instead of a man of words. So In our higher reading. Close and thor ough study of a masterpiece, word by word and sentence by sentence will bear rich fruit ion. What can we say of our spelling? Does the eighth grade pupil of to-day spell ns accurately as did the eighth grade pupil ten years ago? We fear not. Pronounce fifty words of every day use to our eighth grade pupil of lo diiy, and In most schools he will make a sad exhibition. "Throw uway the spelling book!" said the reformers ten years ago; and In many schools spell ing was expelled In disgrace. The re sults are wofttl. Throw away the spelling hook If yon will; but for pro priety's sake drill your pupils on the words of common usage, that they may write a decent letter. Tho days of leaching children foreign words, or En glish words that they mny never use. are gone; but to-day let us resolve to make our children perfect In the spell ing of everyday English. What can we say of our eighth or ninth or twelfth grade penmanship? Is It better llian It was ten years ago? Do our pupils present tu-uter work, on paper or on blackboard? In the ma jority of case, we far that tho answer miiKt 1h" In the negative. Is gmid pen manship desirable.? Certainly. It is an insult to a man to write hint a one- uiluute letter In such Illegible hand writing that It takes ten minutes to decipher It. How many druggists make errors In filling prescriptions Ix'causu tho doctor writes his proscriptions lu a careless way? If the Importance of good reading, good spelling, good writing, good lan guage, and good arithmetic he acknowl edged, and If we feel that we are not treating these subjects as fully as we ought, we must change our schedules. We must find time somewhere; and the only way to do this is to cast out some of our science work, some of our higher mathematics, and first . of all lay a firm foundation In the common branches. Then our pupils will lie ready for the more advanced work If they continue In school; and those who leave school will have a handwriting, an orthography, and en understanding of their resiling thai will commend it self to our buwtnem men, and may re sult In position and fortune, Reading and arithmetic ran arouse deep and consecutive thinking. Reading can call to Its aid many of the natural sciences, and can train through them the senses; but reading must not be displaced by what should be Its assistants. This article presents no churlish ob jection to science work in all grades. It only insists on thorough work In the common branches In the eighth and ninth grades. If this can be done and some science taught in addition, well and good; but if there is not sufficient time for both the common branches and the sciences, the latter must be subordinated and curtailed. What sci ence work there Is In these grades should be hygienic and sanitary. U the common branches are displaced by the h'gher branches before the former are properly studied. It Is very prob able that they will never be well stud tod lo the rush and press of subsequent work. There Is no time to return to them. A young man preparing for college was studying Virgil, Homer, and University Algebra; and this same person at that time could not divide a fraction by an Integer, nor a decimal by an Integer. He knew practically nothing of the common branches. He Is now a college graduate; and It Is to be feared that his future success will be jeopardized by the many weaknesses of his early education. The pupils of a certain county In this State, when between the ages of 13 and 17, pass In nineteen studies In two years, and receive a county diplo ma. Yet when these same pupils come to take the teachers' examination for the lowest grade of certificate, nearly all of them drop below BO per cent In one or more of the common branches. Instead of passing nineteen studies and knowing nothing about the most of them, would It not be more reason able to devote the time to half that number and know something about them? There would lie four times the mental development that the other case allows. The consciousness of pow er in a few subjects Is an all-powerful excitant to thoroughness In later stud lea; while cramming In many subjects produces a nerveless. Impotent, Insipid overfullness that crushes development. What our schools now Imperatively demand is a fearless excision of all matter that prevents a thorough study of the common branches; and he who does it Is an educational reformer. The Btadjr of Grammar. In fact, grammar Is the natural focus Ft d center of all philological study, and ir is easy to see that this must neces sarlly be so. For as the spring of all language Is predication, and as with the progress of development the act of pred ication becomes highly complex and elaborate, some habit of analysis Is re qulslte if the mind Is to keep pace with Its own creations. Grammar Is the psy chological analysis of predication. We ore too prone to hold elementary gram mar cheap, merely because It Is elemen tary, and because it Is supposed to be common knowledge; but It Is In reality the first condition of our bringing a scientific mind to bear upon the phe nomena of language. Whatever we learn by comparative philology goes but to constitute a periphery which re volves, or ought to revolve, round this central "hub" of linguistic science. When we have found out a new ety mology, what is It but a new instance of the recovery of an old and forgotten predication? When, for example, we learn that "umpire" has dropped an in itial n, and that the word represents non-par ("odd, single"), we find that the fact of his standing between two dis cordant parties as a single arbitrator was the predication of which this func tionary was the subject. There is a notion abroad that philolo gy is superior to grammar, that. It Is In a commanding position over grammar, and that It has a natural right to super vise the arrangements and terminology of grammar. The consequence has been of late years almost every author who has come forward as a grammarian has done so, more or less, in the guise of a philologist, a.s If this character Invested him with higher authority, and gave him power to Innovate upon the time honored Institutes of grammar. By this avenue some confused and hybrid doctrines have found their way Into current school books. Forum. Schools In Mexico. The principle of public Instruction, the necessary basis of all free. Intelli gent government, is appreciated, as there are at the present 12,135 teachers employed in the public government schools, at an annual cost of $4,Mi2,88, aside from llie large number of private and sectarian schools nnd colleges. Compulsory education Is enforced in the federal district and most of t',e States. (!ood sehoolhouses are snpJ plied, ns well as school-hooks. Partic ular attention is paid to the practhwl branches. The sludy of agriculture, engineering and mechanics Is particu larly encouraged. Advice to Teachers. (S-aln the confidence of the people of your district. Comply cheerfully with the request and wishes of your county superintend' ent. (Strive to exert such an Influence us will tend to make-your pupils belter men and better women,' ( Make your school room attractive and pleasant. (Jive the room a honie-llki) appearance as far as possible. Keep your records In a neat, work manlike manner, so that they will ha a credit to you and a guide to your suc cessor. Public Schools. TOPICS OF THE TIMES. A CHOICE SELECTION OF INTER ESTINQ ITEMS. ate and Criticlanu Based Unoa the Happenings ef the Daf-ntls" terieal and Mews Netea. A Detroit alderman says be refused s $6,000 bribe the other day; but the rumor cannot be substantiated. Lord Salisbury says that England's arm Is not long enough to reach Ar menia, but she stretches It to Vene euela without any apparent difficulty. i When Jerry Simpson says he has al ways worn socks be doesn't exactly kick over the ladder on which he :1 imbed to fame, but he yarns about It In a most astonishing way. Emperor William baa ordered the statuee of thirty-two of his ancestors for Berlin, but the fantastic young man will omit oue of the greatest of them til his English grandmother. The heir to ai Vanderbllt fortune Is In danger of being cut oS with an annual Income of $20,000, because be desires to fnarry a poor girl who will bring him only $2,000,000. But after all, there are worse things even than poverty so abject aa this. Spanish papers say all propositions that Spain should greatly modify Cu ba's colonial condition are "la.ugha.ble." The Madrid Government Is clearly bent on adding one more to the number of American republics, which Is the usual result of such stubborn pride and des pot irtm. At the trial of an Oregon murderer the fact appeared Incidentally that the prisoner had assassinated two other people besides the one named In the indictment This fact his lawyer ad vances as the basis for a new trial. The employment of a criminal record a.s a mitigating circumstance is new enough to be Interesting. The production of aluminum in this country lias Increased from 83 pounds In 1883 to 850,000 pounds In 1895, and the estimate for 180C Is 3,000,000 pounds, the processes for making it having been greatly Improved. The price at the reduction works ranges !froui fiO wilts to 55 eenta a pound. Ap plied electricity explains the ease with which the light metal Is now turned out. Kdtm Mitchell recovered a verdict for $20,000 for damages a gal not the Ta coma Railway and Motor Company for personal injuries. The Supreme Court lias given her the option of takiug $12,- 000 or else going to the trouble of a new trial. Of course the court has the right to do this, but one cannot help wonder ing if the court would have Increased the damages to $12,000 If the jury had only awarded $5,000. There are all sorts of clubs nowadays eating clubs, thirteen clubs, whist Hubs, fat men's clubs, and lean men's iiubs but the most unique of them all s I he one recently started in New fork, entitled "The Society of Pointed teards." The first article of the con stitution says: "No one shall be eligible unless he have a carefully cultivated beard, terminating In oue symmetrical point a half-Inch from the apex of the l-liin, of sufficient evidence to preclude l-ontroversy." It Is rather difficult to nmglue what the club talks, about They surely cannot always discuss one (mother's whiskers. The careful avoidance of a battle in Cuba indicates that the war Is not near (in end. It Is claimed tlmt there are iver 12.000 or 15,000 armed Insurgents n the Held, while reports allege 1hat (0,000 to 50,000 Spanish troops are in he armies commanded bv General lU'eyler. If General Wcjier has this lumber of soldiers why does he not ind t'ne Insurgents somewhere nnd ight them? If the Cubans have a sin gle army of (i,000 men. besides other on es, why do they not fiirht a battle? When both armies systematically dodge each other throughout the campaign the war Is likely to be a long one. A Southern magazine prints reports from 500 correspondents on the finan cial condition of the farmers of that poet Ion. It Is shown that the Southern farmers are carrying less debt than ever before; that they nre producing more provisions for home consumption, rapidly Impovlng their farms, and add ing to their household comforts. The corn crop of fourteen Southern States last year was 007,0('5f017 bushels, an Increase of 124,000,000 bushels over 1S04, and of 172,000,000 bushels over 1SIKI. Southern ngrhnilture Is In ex cellent shape, and grwa in proportion lis It Is Intelligently diversified. This fac. is now so dearly proved that It idntuld no longer be necessary to harp iipou It. A lthode Inland woolen manufacturer ins raised the wages of his employes I'roiti 10 to 15 per cent He made a cut- jlown altout two years ago In order to ntp his employes at work, and his mill n constant operation., But now that business Is again booming this true disciple of live and let live has reward si those wb t Mood by htm at a sacrifice by sending checks to them covering bi sum lost by the cat-down during hd dull period. This aort of voluntary ara fit sharing and loss sharing betwwsB mill employers and their "hands," If mada universal, would soon leave ao claMam with nothing practical to con tend for. Westminster Gazette: The deca dence of the British nation, ac cording to the "Vegetarian Alma nack," is due to beefsteak and tobac co. "The people of this country are, getting so that they are not able to make anything for themselves. We have no great inventors, we bare ne constructors of things either orna mental or useful. Women are even los ing the useful domestic arts which make homes happy and comfortable. This all arises from eating flesh and drinking liquor, and the smoking of tobacco caps the climax of ruin, for It la destroying the brains of the peo ple and reducing their Intellect to noth ing, so that they cannot see the erlis that are coming on them." Some per sons will think, after reading this, that the clearness of vision vouchsafed by vegetarianism Is not particularly remarkable. Another one of the many devices by whlcfh the French Government geeks to encourage the Increase of population la to be found In the new income tax scheme Just submitted by which a lery Is made upon every one with an lncotns of $500 and upwards. One per cent ll levied on an Income of $600; 2 per can on $1,000; 3 per cent on $2,000; 4 per cent on $3,000, and 5 per cent on $5,000 and upwards. The significant feature of the scheme, however, is the deduc tions which are to be made In propor tion to the number of children which a man may have, and which in case of a large family would wipe out half the tax. Numerous schemes have been tried in the past to increase the popu lation of the republic, which, after be ing comparatively stationary for many years, is now slowly but steadily dimin ishing, but none of them succeeded. II now remains to be seen whether a moni ey premium will offset the moral dis count In encouraging the domestic vir tues aud in heightening respect tor the the well-known scriptural injunction. The verdict of the committee which conducted the Investigation of the out rageous charges made by Lord Dun raven presents a complete refutation, which Is expressed In terms more cour teous than his petty lordship deserved to have applied to him. They sayi "I'pon a careful consideration of th whole case the committee are unanl. mously of the opinion that the charge made by Lord Dunraven, and which has been the subject of this lnvestlga tlon, had its origin in mistake; that it is not only not sustained by evidence, but is completely disproved; and thai all the circumstances indicated by him as giving rise to suspicion are entirely and satisfactorily explained." Whlld the committee are charitable enough to attribute his charge to a mistake, their report places Lord Dunraven in a position where he will forfeit the re spect of his fellows unless he takes ac tion to purge "himself. The only action he can take that will meet the necessi ties of the case is to confess his wrong doing and make an amnle anoloev. If he fails to do this he will have to fat the contempt of the two nations Inter ested as a malicious falsifier. In America it is the fashion to givo presents to servants at Christmas time, but. It has by no means reached the pitch as a nuisance to which 1t has ar rived In England. There a man is besieged by every human being who has done anything for him, from the railway guard who rakes his ticket to the man who hands him his hat at his club. But oppressive as the tax is now, it seems that one hundred years ago It was even worse. At that time the servants demanded Christmas-boxes from the tradesmen who purveyed to their employers. It Is still the catn. in the large fashionable households of England, and a butcher recently wrote to a nobleman there, his letter being marked "private" and reading: "Your cook has so enormously increased her commission terms this Christmas that I shall have no alternative but to In crease my prices to you during the ensuing year. If I had not compiled with her demand, she would have com plained to you of my meat" This re calls the fact that in 171)5 the butchers living within the parish of Hackney, London, were forced to advertise In the Times that they would be obliged to discontinue the practice of giving Christmas-boxes to servants, otherwise they would lose all their profits on the sale of meat. Good Municipal Government. The city of Talis raxes bicycles $2.50 a year and gets a revenue of $40,000 from them. She also makes the gas companies- light her public buildings and streets at their own expense and In addition to this gets about $4,000,000 a year In cash out of them from the profits they make. Paris also has water and paved streets, which are kept clean by companies which pay for the privilege of taking away, to be used as fertilizing matter, all sweeping- Form good habits, and you will find them as bard to break as bad habltl. vr