TOPICS OF THE TIMES.
A CHOICE SELECTION Of INTER-
E8TINQ ITEMS.
Coaaaseats as4 CritlcUau Baa4 Vpom
the !
tevtaal Newe
Kentucky la opposed to all wnr maas
ore under pint.
What kind of an old tub la that new
gunboat Wogenes, anyway?
"Brain fag" Is an expressive phrase.
' The man who luveuted It was not Buf
fering from It.
A number of Boston girls have or
ganised an association for promotion
against marriage. Ia this really ueces
aary? If Philadelphia Aldermen noil thlr
votea Jn open market for $5,000 apiece
their very names shortly will become
buy words.
But wby should those Colorado wom
en prefer to organize a cavalry troop?
Their arms are much better fitted for
Infantry service.
It must not be understood that Phil
adelphia altleniien are really worth
$5,000 In open market. They bring
$5,000, but they are not worth It.
A Tennessee man fainted on receiv
ing new that his wife hud given birth
to four of a kind. There are some
things even worse than war.
The gentlemen who have for years
been nursing schemes to drop explo
sives on an enemy from balloon have
not neglected the present opportunity
to hurry to the front.
A Chinaman named Nguongg Fongg,
residing In California, has sued a San
Francisco firm for damage because it
"made a play upon his name In adver
tising matter." How?
A St. Louis clergyman says that the
earth will pass away before the year
2Xi0. But, unfortunately, he uegleels
to elate which one of the several claim -fiats
who are after It will get It.
Those Danish Islands In the West In
dies mig'lit conn! iu handy iu certain
contingencies. Itut In another contin
gency the I'uited States, having Cuba
and Porto Kieo, would not need them.
A woman who claims to lie 101 years
old says she never has been kissed. If
she had had her share of the general
osculation who kiwn but she might
have been 150 years old by this time?
A special dispatch from Callfoniln
announces that a woman out there has
secured a divorce from her stomach
and feels no Inconvenience whatever.
That settles U then; there is a cure for
dyspepsia, after all.
The Boston Herald kindly explains
that "a ptomaine Is an alkaloid sciIh
etance resulting from the activities of
micro-organisms which disintegrate
and decompose (lie animal tissues after
death." Now you know what not to
cat
The British advance on the Nile finds
that the dervishes have modified their
style of lighting. They "still depend
upon Allah, but seek the additional pro
tection of breastworks built of sand,"
which deserves lo go with Cromwell's
pious rule on the subject of dry pow
der. The act providing for the union of the
Australian colonies, ou a plan closely
resembling thai of the United .States,
has leeti adopteil by the Constitutional
Conveullou, and will now be submitted
to the p-op',e. Its ratification seems as
sured, and thus a sort of United States
of Australia, or of Australasia, will
come Into bolng, and we shall bo a
step tie&rur the "federation of the
world."
A claimant for Cllpperton Island,
long a bone of contention between
France, Mexico, and the United States,
has appeared In the ierson of J. Itos
well Cllpperton, a resident near London.
Ho declares that the little coral Island
was discovered by and named after his
ancestor, who accompanied Captain
Cook. "The little speck on the map,'
fays Mr. Cllpperiou, "iwtl to be point
ed out to me as mine when I was a boy
at school sixty years ago."
The Immediate result of the convic
tion of Zola was a decline iu the Inter
est shown abroad for the coming Paris
exhibition. The Nleuws van den Dag,
Amsterdam, says France must "hurry
up and show that she can lie Just, else
the will be her only guest at the exhi
bition;" and the Herman papers relate
that many Ocniian Industrials and
artists will withdraw their promise to
participate, as a country which Is un
4uttoJs own citizens will not lie
likely to protect foreign property and
foreign lives.
In this age of engineering triumphs
.atn strophes by flood or Ore should be
ibsolute ImiMissibllltles. It la criminal
carelessness lo permit the occupancy
it a building liable to swift destruc
tion by (Ire or the breaking of a levee
which bloU an entire community out of
xlstence. Cheap construction of build
ing and protective works or tbelr In
adequate Inspection should be con
demned by authority, Indorsed by pub
lic opinion. If Individual are not alive
to their responsibilities In guarding
against such calamities the strong arm
of the law should Ik- Invoked to protect
human life. Inspection of all tinc
ture should Imi rigid and unflagging.
Iteport of lnMctors should be fol
lowed by authoritative measures to do
twajr with all possibility of dancer. It
arraatBoownaeto protest against the
expense of such steps as shall be
tlve. The losses of one catastroDtee far
outrun the outlay necessary to prevent
many disasters.
The ability of the United States to
furnish the sinews of war Is almost In
calculable. Our per capita Indebted
ness Is now about $14. and the balance
of our foreign trade Is approximately
$7100,000,000 Ip our favor. Our strength
Is In the credit of the nation and not
In the revenues of the country, unless
they are largely Increased as a war
measure. The showing made by the
statement of national income and ex
penditure Is not encouraging. In the
last five fiscal years-from July 1, 1883,
to March 1, 1N0H the revenues of the
Govi Tiimciit have amounted to XJMX,;
919,7:!H, while the expenditures for
that period aggregate $1,708,012,640,'
show ing n deficit of $2OU,0tC,0O4. To
meet this shortage the Government has
Isued bonds to the amount of $.'62,315,-,
400, upou which It realized $293,481,
894, and on which we are now paying
interest at the rate of ltl,4SJ2,10 annu
ally. All the proceeds of these bonds,
excepting $,788,!f.0, have been ab
sorbed by the existing deficiency. To'
furnish money to carry on a war we,
should be obliged to have recourse to
a bond issue, but If the contest were a'
cl..et ...... , hi. ,.nHm nttiniuil tosi ,1 1 injf
might possibly be sold to clti.ens of the
United Slates. A long war would inevl-1
tably result In a foreign loan or a re-j
sort to paper money, as was the case In
the last war. Then we lind only about!
.'W,(KMj,0oo people to absorb the Issue
of paper money, while now we have a
population of over 70,000,000 to util
ize it.
England's troubles are not all beyond
the high seas. Discontent Is rife be
yond the Cheviot Hills. The puuetlll
otis Scotchmen we Is-g their pardonJ
the "Scotsmen" have given her Britan-j
nlc majesty to distinctly understand)
that they are not English, and do notj
propose lo be shouldered out of thedr
rights. A monster isHilion, signed by
over a hundred thousand Scots or
rather "Scotsmen" has been presented
to the queen, culling her attention to
the fact that, by the treaty of union en
tered Into In 1707, the United Kingdom
was to be called "Great Britain," and
that an Increasing tendency Is observed
In treaties of state. In diplomatic cor
respondence as well as in common
speech, to use the terms Knglnnd and
Englishmen Instead of Great Britain
and Britons. The petitioners have the
temerity to point out that her majesty
herself has similarly offended the hon
or of the Scottish people in speeches
from the throne and orders In council.
The modest Scot asserts that no ques
tion of material advantage prompts his
complaint, but mere afTcction for the
cross of St. Andrew, regard for his hon
or, and. love of fair dealing, stir bis re
sentment when any one esjieclally an
Krigllshmnn "trends on the tail of bis
coat." Let the haughty Briton who
seeks to anglicize the Scot "baud hi
nlue-tail cat a wee."
One of the characteristic features of
an election In England and Scotland
is the cross-examination of a candidate
by voters. This process begins before
be is accepted by the party organiza
tion, aud it Is continued whenever be
addresses a public meeting. Every
voter Is free to ask him to state his
views on any public question, and an
answer Is expected. If the candidate's
ma u tier be evasive, tt create an un
favorable Impression. He must have
an opinion on one side or the other, and
must have the courage required for ex
pressing It, even If it costs him votes in
a close election. The ordeal is a severe
one If a candidate Is a trimmer, or If bo
lacks fluency aud readiness as a speak
er. Every candidate for Parliament la
exposed to a hot cross-lire of questions,
and his opinions on every matter of
public Intercut are subject to searching
Inquiry. Some of the greatest minds In
England have objected strenuously to
this method of canvassing. John Stuart
Mill sternly refused to acknowledge
the right of the local constituency rep
resented by him in Parliament to exact
pledges from him. He contended that
the fret; action of the representative
ought not to be hampered by any obli
gation to those voting for him. ' Lord
Maeaulny asserted that a legislator
passing his life In the transaeUoin of
public affairs ought to be credited with
superior knowledge, Just as a physician
was regarded as having a better under
standing of medicine than the ordinary
man. His argument was that a pny
sicinn ought not to be required to pre
scribe particular pills or draughts, nor
a shoemaker to be told how to make
shoes; and that a member of Parlia
ment familiar In the affairs of state
ought not to be Instructed respecting
his dutis by those who bad empowJ
ered him to reprwHcuvt tbm. The dem
ocratlc spirit in England, as In Amerj
lea, has continued to assert Itself III
spite of the remonstrances of theorist;
like Mill and Macaulay, The repre-,
sentatlve Is considered to tie an agent
responsible to those who have chosen
him and who are governing through
him. As such he may be closely quesW
tloned In a canvass, pledged to certain
policies and Instructed when he Is elect
ed. The time will never come, how
ever, when any self-respecttog mnn
whether In Parliament or In Congress
can be Justified In speaking or voting)
against his conscience. Convictions
are a sacred trust which ought neveij
to be sacrificed at the demand of any
body of c Wrens. In the old-time Amor-i
lean phrase, "It to better to be right
than to be President."
Very tfloae, Indeed.
"This gentleman," said the phrenolo
gist at the open-sir performance, "Is a
closo observer a Tery close observer.
"Bo much so," continued the phnsn-l
ologtet, "that I doubt exceedingly If be;
would bare been here to-night had we)
charged any admission fa." Www
York Journal
L
The Valac of Good Road.
There la all over the country a deep
and growing Interest In the subject of
good roads. The people generally hare
learned that good roads pay and that
bad roads are terribly ex penal vs.
There Is not a State In the Union
which bus not done more good road
work In the past five yuurs than It ever
did before In an equal period of time.
Some of them have done ten times as
much.
Professor Latta, of the Purdue Uni
versity, Lafayette, Ind., estimates that
the annual loss from bad roads in Jef
fersou County. Kentucky, In which
Louisville Is situated, Is fully $1 an
acre. This means nu annual loss of
$250,000. The loss for one year due to
bad roads would pike every mile of
road In the county,
Iu attempting to convluce the farm
ers who are opitosed to large expendi
tures for roads, President Latta gives
the following as some of the good ef
fects of good roads:
1. Economize time and force In trans
portation between farm aud market.
2. Enable the farmer to take advan
tage of market fluctuations in buying
and gelling. .
3. Permit transportation of farm
products and purchased commodities
during times of comparative leisure.
4. Keduee the wear and tear on
lKirses, harness and vehicles.
5. Enhance the market value of real
estate.
President Lntta says of the Increased
value of land from road Improvements:
"As already stated, this Increase Is
estimated by the farmers consulted at
$! jicr acre. This would enhance the
value of each section of land $5,7JO,
w hich Is more than double the estimat
ed cost $2.2!I2) of the two miles of Im
proved highway, which constitute the
.quota for the section. Just here the
objection may be raised that the im
proved roads would not increase the
productive capacity of the hind, while
the enhanced commercial value would
Increase the taxes. Let us, for the sake
of argument, grant this plausible but
fallacious objection, and then And
what It amounts to. Let us suppose the
Increase In appraisement for taxation
to lie $4 per acre and the tax rate 11-4
per cent. This would mean an annual
increase In taxes of live cents per acre,
or $5 per hundred acres. Would not our
objector, after enjoying the benefits of
good roads, be very w illing to give there
for the extra $5, If necessary? Would
he keep the money and go back to the
thraldom of mud roads? If so, he has
the eptlon of selling bis farm at: an ad
vance, according to the average est.'.
iniiles ol Ms brother funnels, that will
more than doubly reimburse him for
his expenditure on highway Improve
ment; and be can then remove to some
'native wild whose quiet waters have
not been 'troubled' by the spirit of
progress."
Tim gospel of good roads Is being
.preached by newspapers In every Slate
ami In almost every county. Let the
good work go on. Atlanta iGn.) Jour
nal. German Education.
The Germans are the mont thorough
ly educated people In the world. What
they know they know well.
A fellow traveler had taken his de
gree of B. A. In the University of Penn
sylvania, and went to that of Berlin,
-where he spent three years. Subse
quently traveling In Switzerland he
iniet a young German whose range and
accuracy of knowledge was simply be
yond that of any man of the same age
he had ever met. In i, :r y walks and
talks the German bad i!im lutely pump
ed the American dry, while his own
store of knowledge h.:d only been
(touched. "Ach," said the German stu
Klent one day, "1 shall never get my de
gree. It is so difficult. It is so much,
Iso hard, so long. I must have patience.
I used lo see you at the University of
Berlin, and forgive me the question,
Ihow did you got into the university?"
"Why, I was admitted on my B. A.
from the University of Pennsylvania,"
replied the American.
"Meln Gott!" gasped the German
scholar. "I knew it must be some way
ilike that,"
No itettor comment on the relative
standards of knowledge and the thor
oughness of the method by which It Is
(pursued could be asked. Philadelphia
Times.
The Lady and the Tortolxe.
Fearful and wonderful has been the
decorative wear of woman everywhere
ihrough the ages. She has worn skew
ers In the nose of her, rings on the toes
bf her. She has tied a snake around
her neck and tangled fireflies In her
hair. But she has never, go far as our
record goes, served her lovely self up
(to us en tortue till now. But now, it
..,. tnt'iului. In iolnir to In. In n tuns
I her only wear. Of course, the tortoise
he wears Is the live variety the dead,
tin tills case also, would soon cease to
'Interest her. The live tortoise conies
Pi her from the Landes. It first passes
through the hands of her Jeweler the
'unadorned tortoise Is not beautiful. The
Jeweler fits the tortoise with a filigree
'coat of mall studded with precious
'stones. The animal Is then secured by
a One gold chain. The wearer attaches
'the chain to an ornamental hook In heir
dress, first taking a turn with It round
'her own neck. The resplendent tor
toise then fulfills Its mission by exhibit
ing Itself upon the wearer's shoulders
to the extent of Its tether; and thus
enables lovely woman to exhibit her
self at what, we should hope, will be
tke extant of hers,
It ssm struck the French Society (or
the Protection of Animate that t bar
lu shell set thickly with precleoe
stones, and to be fastened by a gold
chain to the corsage of the wearer,
must be distasteful, If not positively
painful, to the tortoise. Legal step
have therefore been taken to put a
atop to the practice; but the Jewelers
and their fair clients will not yield
without a fight. They assert that so
far from being Inconvenienced by car
rying a few diamonds and rubies on
Its carapace, the tortoise enjoys the
distinction, and not being given to over
much locomotion the chain has no ter
rors for it, while any little discomfort
It suffers Is more than counterbalanced
by dainty fare and good treatment
London Pall Mall Gazette.
MOST CURIOUS OF ORGANS.
Perfect in Tone, bat No Ordinary Mu
sician Can Hue It.
An organ which the leading organist
of New York could not play In now be
ing used by professors of Cornell Col
lege. This organ Is not, as might be
supposed, out of tune. It Is because It
is In perfect tune that It differs so rad
ically from an ordinary organ. The or
dinary organ, such as is used in church
es and drawing-rooiim, la not in tune,
even after the maker has Just declar
ed it to be in perfect order.
The Cornell organ was invented by
Von Helmboltz, and It contains a pure
ly mathematical scale. It Is made for
the composition of chords such as are
not t' be obtained ou an ordinary In
strument, and Is used to study the vi
brations of notes, and of what tones
an organ note Is made. Every tone in
mimic is to lie found on this organ. For
instance, what are known as sharps
and fiats on a piuno are not really
sharps and fiats. C sharp and D flat
are struck on the same black key, but,
strictly speaking, that black key is
neither; It is a note or tone situated
midway between G sharp and 1 flat.
If Isith of the latter were on the piano,
however, the difference between them
is so slight that It would confuse the
player. So n compromise is made, and
the two ore blended, or, rather, the
tone midway between them is used.
But In Cornell the organ contains
keys for every note In the scale, no
mutter how fine the gradation. With it
students can see Just how a note on the
organ Is built up. Certain notes on the
organ are made up of certain oilier
tones. On the ordinary piano you
would not lie able to Illustrate what
these notes are. You would need the
true sharps and fiats In order to com
pose the notes. The overtones on the
domestic Instrument would be quite
different The pure fifth, which can
here le accurately denoted, Is very
much curtailed on the piano. Used in
connection with this organ are a com
plete set of ret-'onators, or tuning forks.
In order to find out how many resona
tlons ore contained In a given tone, It
Is only necessary to strike that note.
Those forks which resound in sympa
thy with It are sure to be Included In
the makeup of the note. The silent
ones are not Included In It.
An Amn.ing Announcement.
Probably the most serious dejurivntlon
for Americans in England Is the lack of
ice. It is not wholly unknown there.
Now and then a, barroom has it for lux
urious customers who dcmaaid it, and In
that case the fact is annmuiced to an
amazed isiptilace by a placard with the
word "Ice" In the front window. Some
hotels have it, too, and guard It ns a
Immure, handing it around hi dishes
of the size of sugar basins. But they
do not put it 1n a cold drink as a mat
ter of course. Candy Is niiotlnir Ameri
can luxury that is scarce lu London. Up
to a short time ago and jurobably It la
so sitilll there was only one sJaop in all
London that could supply caudles of
the quality to lc found at forty shojis
In New York. This shop was making
a fortune In candy, and was also doing
a good business in ice cream soda; yet
such Is the conservatism of the Briton,
It ran for years without an imitator.
Full credit was given to Its origin, and
It was known ns the Aniylcnn candy
shop. There are confecMancrs' shoqis,
of course, but there are chiefly devoted
to cakes and pastry windows full of
tartlets, wltih strawberries ta them
cookisl and sugared to look tike gleam
ing rubb-8 of the size of English wal
nuts amd tiiey seJl some kinds of can
dles, too. And there are Ubtle shoiis
for the sale of taffy British "toffy."
But wbohtwnne and Ingenious Ameri
can candles have never been thorough,
ly Introduced,
The Drink a, Man Needs.
An average man requires fifty-nine
ounces of food per diem. lie needs
thirty-seven ounces of water for drink
ing, and In breathing he absorbs thirty
ounces of oxygen. He eats ns much
water as be drinks, so much of that
fluid being contained In various foods.
In order to supply fuel for running the
body machine and make tip for waste
tissue he ought to swallow dally the
equivalent of twenty ounces of bread,
three ounces of potatoes, one ounce of
butter and one quart of water. The
body Is mostly water. The body of a
man weighing 154 pounds contains
ninety-six pounds, or forty-six quarts,
of water.
Gift to the Queen.
Queen Victoria has accepted as a
Jubilee gift from a private iierson the
engraved signet ring of Queen Mary
II., wife of William HI. The same col
lector gave her majesty tne diamond
signet ring of Henrietta Maria, King
Charles I.'s queen, ten years ago.
No Hope In 2073.
Statisticians claim that the earth will
not support more than 5,WM,0J0,000
people The present population Is esti
mated at 1,447.000,000, the Increase be
ing 8 per cent each decade. At that
rate the utmost limit will be reached in
the year 11072.
m
A Bandy Stone Boat.
A stone boat la a necessity on most
farms and the one shown In the ac
companying illustration will be found
very handy. The runners a are about
0 Inches thick with a natural crook at
the forward end. The narrow strip b
running parallel with the runner and
holding down the cross boards Is of
three-fourths inch elm. The front plank
in the platform Is two inches thick.
The whole structure is held together by
wire spikes. In driving these use a
small bit for starting the hole, as this
Mill prevent splitting the material.
The pole, e. shown detached Is an
Important feature and should never be
omitted. The chain d passes freely
through the mortise in the pole and by
passing a small bolt Chrough a link to
the chain, better control can be bad
of the stone boat descending a hill or
VIEW Oif 8TO.VE BOAT FK0M ABOVE.
backing the team. The draft however,
should be wholly from the steel coup
ling and not from the chain. The small
standards can Is? used for supporting
side boards If these are wanted.
Orange Judd Farmer.
For Watering; Hoars.
A device for watering hogs which Is
semi-automatic in its operation is con
structed as follows: A barrel Is set on
a small trough made out of fence
boards, and a plug an inch and one-half
tn size that Is lonj; enough to reach
down about half the depth of the
trough (a vinegar faucet will answer),
with a half Inch hole bored through It,
Is lns-.xrted In Its bottom. While the
barrel is being filled the lower hole Is
closed by a stopper, the barrel filled at
the top and the top hole plugged up
tight and the lower plug removed,
when the trough will fill to a certain
point and remain so as Jong as there Is
any wafer in tlie barrel.
As a funnel an old washpan with the
bottom 'out may lie tacked on the head
of the ban-el directly over the hole.
mm
14 lVlvvUV
DEVICE FOIt WATERING HOGS.
The barrel will have to be anchored on
the trough If the hogs are in the same
lot.
Water for Hoitn.
There In no domestic animal that so
suffers from the lack of sufficient water
as the hog. This i partly because,
though hogs are cooped up In pens and
can get notiliing except What Is given
them, it Is supposed that the swill,
made mostly from dlshwashings, which
are generally very salt, and the milk
mixed with it, serve the hogs in place
of drink. More than half the fevers of
sows in parturition come from their
having too little fresh water to drink.
Salt water onOy aggravates thirst
Much of tiie bulk of milk Is solid, as
any one can test by letting It curdle.
Cilvliu the hog too little water Injures
the quality of Its pork. If swill or
skim milk are given the animals drink
eagerly, only to find later that their
thirst is greater than ever. Some eo
tirely fresh water should be kept In the
pens where the hogs can get at It to
drink, and cannot easily put tbelr feet
In It to soil the water. Kxcb.-uige.
Calves for Veal.
While we believe under present con
dition in keeping for cows all the
heifer calves that promise to be good
milkers, there are many even among the
heifers tliat show by thick necks and
other signs that they are better for
meat than for milk. Nine-tent hg of the
male caives should also be fattened ami
killed. It takes so much mlJk to prop
erly raise or fatton a calf that many
will not do It. Yet If fed with part skim
milk and partly with a porridge made
of oatmeal sifted, llhe calf can be fat
tened until It Is two, three or four
months old with a profit for all the feed
given. Most calves are killed too
young. Their veal Is not good by law
until It Is four weeks old. It Is better
stIH when It Is eight or ten weeks old,
If It has been fed ho as to keep growing.
American Cultivator.
Wonderful Holl Kenoratnr.
The cow pea Is a wonderful reno
vator of soil, the value of which Is not
yet generally recognised, even In the
South, where It has been moat largely
grown and experimented with. At the
Louisiana station (bnlktln 40) slxty
three varieties barn bona tested. For
Tinea and tor greaa taaorlng the tant
m it ,r -A
ill i t -t - - j
varieties are the unknowav, black, ekay
and red, while the strictly bunch rarity
ties, whlppoorwlll, blue, blackeye, 1
give larger returns In peas. Cow
can be converted into bay or preserved
as silage, both being palatable and as
trltlous as food for stock. A tbraa
years' rotation with five crops (oaCS,
cow peas, cotton and corn, and cons
and cow peas), with suitable ferttllaen
for each crop, has been found most af
fective In building up worn soils. It
the vines are not plowed under they
should be fed to stock and the man art
put on the land. Plots on which thai
crop had been grown for three yean
showed an estimated gain of 190
pounds per acre of plant food In the
soil where the crop had ben removed
and nearly 400 pounds per acre where
It had been plowed under. For econ
omy's sake It Is recommended for the
growth to plow under the green ma
nure In the fall and sow the ground
later In some winter crop, like rye, to
be turned under If a spring crop la de
sired. Orange Judd Farmer.
Concerning Hen's Neats.
It is a wonder to us often how It la
that hens will consent to deposit their
eggs In such filthy nests as are often
seen among the class who do not keep
fancy fowls. They may have been
"brought up to It," and this may ac
count for their apparent want of re
finement, but the only excuse the own
er of the birds can have is laziness.
Filthy nests engender disease or sick
ness, and the owner, from these two
causes alone, loses far more than h
saves in time, by not attending to them
properly.
The nest for laying hens should be
overhauled I and renewed two or threa
UmesJlurJtg the season, the boxes be
Ingwhltewashed thoroughly as often
as Is necessary, and fresh material be
ing abundantly supplied. The nesta
for sitting hens should be renewed
every time a fresh batch of eggs Is set
By this means you need have but lit
tle fear of lice, the great pest of the
poultry-breeder.
Whlle fine hay, or fine, well-broken
straw makes good nests, a very good
nest can be made with shavings from
wood. Select only the thinnest and
softest, and make the nest well with
them. They can be lightly sprinkled
with diluted carbolic acid, to keep
away lice, and, being very porous, will
retain the smell and effect of the acid
much longer than any other material
Poultry World.
Oatg and Peas for Peed. '
We do not believe there is much If any
profit in sowing oats alone to be cut
for green feed or for soiling. The oat
crop Is a very exhaustive one, and even
if cut green it leaves the soil In poor
condition for any other crop. But with
pea the case is different. They really '
enrich the soil through the nodules
which grow on pea roots, as they do on
the roots of all leguminous plants. But
to sow pens alone is very unsatisfac- '
tory. The pea vines cannot hold them
selves up, and as they fall on the
ground the vines are mildewed. One
third weight of oats sown with peas
will probably make the growth of each
about equal. There will be some pods
with peas In them on peas thus grown,
and when cut green for soiling these
peas in their pods can be eaten without
danger of hurting the stock fed by
them. If some gypsum or land plaster
Is sown with this mixture it will great
ly help the peas, a.nd will also be good
for the oats by keeping the soil moist
Exchange. Why Totatoes Stain.
Every farmer w'ho cuts potatoes fo
seed, and also every housewife who
removes the skin by peeling them,
knows that the potato Juice Is sure to
stain hands, and to rust knives or other
metal which cornea In contact with It.
This Is on account of the potash In the
potato, which Is more than In amy other
root. Wetting the hands and holding
them in the fumes of burning sulphur
Is a quick and effective way to bleach
them white. The bleaching power of
sulphur fumes Is well known. But
care should be taken not to breathe'
them, as they are very Injurious. Thlsi
may be due to the fact that It Is the
oxygen of the air which turns blood a
bright red by rusting the Iron which'
blood ought to contain. If fumes of
sulphur are mixed with air as It goes td
the lungs, they may dissolve some of!
the rod or Iron corpuscles of the blood
on which Its healthfulness depends.
Plowlnsr Under Clover for Corn.
Where clover is a new seeding, by
which Is meant such as was sown a)
year ago this spring, It mny pay to let
it grow until nearly the first of Jpne,
and then plow It under as a preparation
for corn or potatoes. There will In th
biter part of May be considerable clove
growth, which being succulent and rlcl
will not rot rapidly iu the soil. But fort
the second year's clover ley there Is no)
use In waiting. More or less June grass
will have come among the clover by th
second year, and this needs to be plow-j
ed early, so as to set It to rotting a
quickly as possible.
Patnrinif Orchard Oraaa.
Orchard grass can be pastured earlier
than most other grasses, as Its roots run!
uiosUy near the surface. This grass)
ikmhIs to be eaten down pretty closely
for It Is not ouly more productive If
Urns pastured, but that ia the way tot
prevent the teed stalks from hootinc
up. - Then the grass toon becomes poos
In quality, as th seed stalka art ummiy
woody fiber, and bare eomnaxntirely
:ittlt feeding valne.