t.s ta
fy(A-1 -i-
CHAPTER XVIII. (Continued. I
Esther was begiuuing to feel the quiet
Intolerable. She puihJ the wiudow open
and walked across the lawn to the gate.
Her heart was beating storm y; the Sow
It at her breast row .ind fell with its rap
Ir. bevy throbs. ilm had not la-en. at the
late Eve minutes wben she heard a horse's
hoof-beata.
They are coming! Ob. Vt rcj ! she
eried, with a sob of sudden relief and joy.
In her eagerness 8he opened the gate
and went out into the rai.- She could
ee a trap coming along rapidly. Then
sudden shyness crept over her; she felt
tshnmed to be discovered there, on the
lookout for her lover. Blushing even ia
the dark, and though there mail do one
to see her, she ran back to the walk, and,
when the trap drew up at the state, Bbe
m standing oa the doomep. Only oae
man was in the trap, and it vi a uot Per
sy! Her heart failed her, jet uot with
actual fear; rather with a vexed impa-
ttruce. This late arrival was Hugh Flem
ing. He walked quickly up to the door,
' bot at night of Esther's white figure on
the threshold be eanie to a halt.
"Where is Percy? What ha made
you ao late? We have been bo uneasy
about you.
Then you have not heard?"
He answered her question by a ques
tion, staring hard at her to the uncertain
Ugbt
"We have beard nothing. What is it?'
Then at sight of bis set, white face, a
host of fears rushed upon her, and she
earn down the steps and stood ob the
Walk beside him, trembling and paling,
' she did not know why.
"Baa anything happened? Is Percy
to he " Her dry lips failed her, all the
breath la her body seemed fluttering out
at then.
He took her hands and wrong them,
Wroac them hard.
"My poor girl! Bat come into the
bsmse; you mast not stand out here."
, The dining room was the first be came
ton be opened It and walked in.
"Bather, I don't know how to tell you
What I hare been sent here to tell you to
afght. Any other creature could have
tone it better, I think. All the way here
I bare been praying that you might bare
hoard It from someone else; but since bo
oe baa told yon, I must."
She atood before him, her hands locked ,
last together, her dry eyes fixed upon his
flee. The life seemed frozen in her.
OMjr out of tshose wild, wide-open eyes,
'the tortured soul looked, hungry, qnes
"tiooimtv This look unmanned Hugh
11 oa I i lit If she had cried out, and clung
"la aim, ae other women might have done,
"he could have borne it better, perhaps.
As it waa, she frightened him. . :
"SWy," be cried, going back in his deep
"Scitetneut to the familiar name of his
hay bond, "for heaven's soke try to ber
lp. Something ban happened to ePrcy.
He met with an accident going back rrooa
hare last night; lie"
i TOuohr she said. ' He is dead!"
She turned her bead and looked over
hot shoulders at the table set out behind
her the long, glittering table, loaded with
choice dishes, and rare fruit and wines.
His eye followed hern, and then he saw,
gr the first titite, that the wedding feast
i spread. The mockery of hurt him.
an actual blow. But only for an io-
t; he had time to think of nothing but
Bather. She stood quite still and upright,
ha hands tightly folded across her breajit
la the dim tight of the room, tier face,
rich its stiff lip a iid half-closed eyes,
looked ghastly, corpse-like. -
"Bother," he whispered, and laid !
hand on beT arm tenderly. He had !
thia girl dearly ouce, and the sight i-: .
taoe waa agony to bim.
"Bow can I live without han? Oh,
Hugh, now can I?"
8 be stretched oat her arms, and he
aught her to him and laid her heal
acataat bis breast. Suddenly she grew
hoary in his arms; the face against his
oat looked white as newly fallen snow,
flha bad fainted.
CHAPTEB XIX.
It wsa past miduight whan Duicie
haacked at her Uncle Durer'a door at
Jersirn atreet. The man who o;m ne l it
as rod at ber in amazement. He hod
kaowa ber from a little child, but that
last he scarcely knew her. 8he had
her veil batk tor air, aira tier
white and drawn, and with a ves-
f its old Hitting dimples, looked al-
; old in the lamplight.
' , Where Is my uncte. CilesT' ;
Ha baa just cOme in, mis! lie did
Mt axaect you, I think" staring a little,
"Hav he did not expect to-night
fail aomeone to get my rouui ready. 1
wfil ao ta bim."
: jQst passed on to the room where an
- tnrw ahe waa sure of fiudiug 'jit oncle
at that boor. He was there, hut sot
ajtoajaw A little shrewd-locking man ta
, black was with him. She remembered
tit face vaguely; she bad met bin somie
Cm, perils pi, but she was in no mood
ta) rattier aayone thtit night. At sight
tf bar ttanding oa the threholdr Dure
loaoaaqo root quickly, pushing his chair
isar girl, la it yoursHf, really V
"1 tUak as, nucle. J aoi not quite
:'fZf tnttaf want, as abe crossed the
-jem aaddea. yonr coming np like this.
t -J M MatfctDg wrong, I hope? Noth-
0 L 1'
.. TWOTBBBBl, nil
taf st ilL 1 wanted to ensue, as t
ii "-, I thaacht you wauid be 4ad ta
t
?aT Levsosja waa a tall man, broaat
tad IfBi eyed, with a faint sonpcoa
" about him. He waa a bard
yVriftMasa, but Duicie waa has
fcfj "'tit ha waa teader as a Woman.
' i iC hat (feca that aiira pat ad
-'-.'tahtSaaa oat of bia
' r ii Hi tug waa wrong.
Vf ? " ha
1
r - -J-:-. ' -
j waa busy, and I could not wait, so I
jut auie almie blUKhitis crluixoa.
"Aioi:e? At this hour?"
Vs trying to smile; "I would do it.
I raid do thought of coming till ten
o clock.'
iiirr Levesqtie's sharp eyes glittered,
but he was too much a man of the world
to ln-tray h'm intense monitiuatioo.
"Well, run away now, ami get to bed.
You slial tell me your news in the morn
inp." But, before to-morrow came there was
work for her to do. Percy must neither
write to Ktrther nor iro t hr tn fell thst
he had repented no terribly late of his
promise to ber. If he did thst. tben in
deed her pain would have been so much
uttering wasted. She knew him too well
to think that he had aJready written his
letter. It would hurt hini to write it, and
he would put it off to the last hour; she
divined that easily. She sat down in the
early morning sunlight to write to him,
never once denying that she loved him,
that it was like death to her to give him
up. but still insirting that it was the oniy
thing for her to do.
"For any other woman I con Id not do
it." she wrote; "indeed I should not try;
but she is so true, so gentle, it would tie
cowardly to hurt ber. I can't do it. I
thought that I could, but I was wrong.
The dishonor of it would darken both our
lives. It might even kill our love ia time.
Never let her know how near we have
both own to this great wrong-doing.
When she is your wife you will thank
tue for what I do now, when I seem to be
striking at your very heart by my fickle-;
nee." f
The words came straight from her
heart. Mie had no power to pick and
choose them. They were living words,
but the eyes that they were written for
were dosed in death. Wben she had fin
ished her letter to Percy, she wrote a
short one to Julian Carre. She did not
teli him where she waa, or why she had
left The Elms; ail she oaid was that she
had found she "could never be his wife,
and she hoped that he would forget her.
It bad all been a mistakel It waa a cold
letter a heartless one even, but then her
heart was full of Percy Stanhope,
When Duicie descended to the break
fast room, she found her uncle drinking
his coffee, and with a pile of letters before
him. He met her with his keen glance,
which her little wan smile could not baffle.
"Well, how are you this morning T"
"Oh, I am very well. But I couldn't
sleep when I did go to bed last night, or
this morning rather. You see tiie quiet
of the country has spoiled my nerve. I
fancied it was horribly noisy."
"Something baa spoiled them, certain
ly." She felt herself flushing nnsfly.
"Well, and what about ilatbex! She is
marrk-d, of course, or you would not be
here."
"No" faltering suddenly. "She is to
be married to-morrow."
"Humph! Who is she marrying? Ton
never told me his name, I think. Any
one I know? She's pretty enough to have
done well."
Toor Duicie! Her breath came pa.ntir.g
ly; her eyes fell.
"It is Percy Stanhope," she said, in
a kind of broken whisper.
"Heaven bit my sotil! Percy Stan
bop!" Durer Ix-vesque called out in his
iuteuse surprise. Then he repented ol at :
rawiness.
Duicie wan looking at him; her eleoid
hands had fallen on the uSwask ioth
In' fore ber, and ehe was looking tU bim
like a creature hurt to death and bleed
'ng inwardly. For forty years and more
Durer Levewque bud not felt hss eyes as
wet as be felt Hitna at that moment. An
imprecation rose to his lips as he saw bis
darling's blanched little face.
"Well, well, to be snrel I never thought
very much of Percy myself. It's to be
hoped she'll uof live to repent It"
. Then he stopped and got up from bis
chair in dismay; Dtilcie w.s laughing and
sobbing by turrm. In an uamistakaUe fit
of hysterica. When she hd come round
a iittie, and was able to speak, she looked
np at him, the tears slili heavy on the
long curled larbea.
"I couldn't help it, nucle; rfs not often
I'm so silly. Don't think that I fpeJ it so,
oiJy I'm tired, you know, after last night"
trying to wn'ile the sobs down,
"I know aU about it" stroking her
cheek with Ms brown fingers. "You've
been bored to death down in that dull
bole. I blame mywelf greatly for letting
you go to it. But I'll tell you what we'll
do now; we'll start off somewhere our two
selves, and e a bit of life. That will
set yon up again ia no time."
So it came about that before she had
been a week in London Dulcle was off
again on her way to Paris. A very wan
little Dclcie she was, too, But the color
and the dimples would come bark in tim.
How would it have gone with her if sh
bad known that this lover for whom ber
faithful little heart waa wej'-n'.go break
ing. In spite of all her prenching was ly
ing tinder the high headstone in the old
churchyard where his people for genera
tions had been buried before him?
Durer Levewitse knew It. He had read
an account of the whole affimr in one of
tile iwwspiiptfis, i,ut he dared not tell her.
Bbe never read theiapers, fortunately for
herself at that tin.
As it was, be suffered, suffered so hor
ribly that n any and many a time, lying
open-eyed on ber bed at night, she won
dered that ahe did not die, so sore waa
bar pain and the wearineas that followed
after It.
Bat she did not die. Her beauty did
Hade aa so many women's would bar
nhs craw aiors beautiful every
oaf, with a awbw, aplritoetle beauty that
haw aat beaa hen at beat heretofore. The
fatxatf eras aader the heavy laahea had
aww, aofter light la thea. The pretty
C?a wom aww sweet, '
Wtoawrtr saa want asaa fathered
M. hat aha wool aooa ar
he liked, in her way, ix.i.n nwii t - u
tnred to Mxwk to her of his lute for ber.
she looked up at huu iu K,Id surprtne. it
waa st the iiailM), and they had tmea
walking tjether.
"W!.at do i,a Me in rie'to love. Herr
Swiuer? Why" !a . ' irg a little, and
laying her hand on tl.t- JimiMer of a mar-
ble dryad iwat--"vm nrfsbt ss well love
tli in cunning bit of iit,nework. 1 Imve
no more in-srt thuri else."
"I believe it," the young man answered,
bitterly, gnawing at his mustache to keep
hotter win-ds lck.
"Yes, you mjiy," and then, with a swift
change of the upturned fae, and a look
in the frank eyes that melted all his
anger; "But do not blame me for it. It is
not my fault" smiling aadiy "tbat 1
possess a bert of stone, iu place of a
heart of flesh like otl-er women."
CHAPTKB XX.
"If I am uot tiiistuLen, Miss Levesqus,
this geutleman ia an old frii-nd of you.s."
Ititleie lurued round to look st the
speaker. It was Count Otho von Brun
tien, and one of the girl's few friends 'n
Baden. He wjs standiisg tcfiiini her
chair, and a leil genthiman in evening
drewi was standjiig a little wuy behind
him.
"An old friend!" she repe-itei, smilir.g.
The tad geutleman stepped forward
and bowed. Duleie's heart gave a great
bound as she looked up at hiji aud recog
nised Hugh Fleming. Thia was ao old
fr.end, iuoewl a ghost out of the pimt
she had Hed away from twelve long
months before, bbe hardly knew if she
W8 glad to ne him, but she put out her
hand. He drew a chair next to hers, and
they began to talk.
When Hugh Fleming, looking at her
grateiy, said: "Ksther gr.eved sorely for
yon. Miss Lvtjue, she thought ii ln:rd
you should Ktay away from her in her
trouble," she lifted hitr he-ni aud kuked
back at him, amazed.
"Her trouble!" wonderingiv, "What
trouble? I did not kuow mie'J lial auy."
You knew alout it at the time, of
eotirse, but perliaps you hiv foroilru.
It is a year past now, and you said once,
i remember, that you could forget any
thing In a year's time."
"Now don't speak to me like that, Mr.
Fieming" laying one gbVed h t .id oa his
arm and looking at him wistfully. "You
are thinking bard things of me. u:id I
don't know why. Believe we, it neter
entered my though U even that EUi.-r
was anytUiiig but the happiest of tb bap
pieat," It was bis turn to look amazed. The
band was playing noisily. Count Otho
was laughing aloud at some dry remark
of Durer Deveg,ue'. A waiter, in pass
ing, canght his foot in the lace of Dul
eie's skirt, ami flung a gutteral apology
lot- German. And Duicie, in ber rich
dress, her hands folded on her lap, sat
and looked at Hugh, the exquisite color
ing of ber cWkg and lips paling a little
in the nervous shock his words had given
her.
Was it ail a dream? be asked himself.
Was this only a phantom Duicie, born of
his own intense longing? Would he
awaken presently aud find it waa an illu
sion ? '
"What waa her trouble, Mr. Fleming?
Do tell me, please,"
"Why, poor Percy'a awfully sudden
death," be answered her, looking at ber
In deep perplexity. "It went near killing
her; ss it is, even, she'll never be quite
the seine again,"
"Percy's death t" Duicie cried, in a kind
of wail.
The count and her uncle had walked a
little way off to smoke a cigar together,
and just as it hapined the crowd had
drifted away from that form for a wbRe(
w that they could talk undixturljed. Hugh
Fleming as indescribably mined at the
ugouy in ber voice and look.
"That was poor Erty's trouble," he said,
gently. "At the time, we made sure that
you had known of it."
"Knows of It?" gaspingly. "Ko tel!"
She tried to iiuish, but she could
not.
Oreat sobs rose, choking hT. She
clnsjjed her hands tightly aud did her
be to keep back the sobs, but she couid
feet. The liorrtr of this new trouble wu
too strong for her. All the calm she had
lxn twelve months in building up broke
down at this blow. Ixx.kit;g at her, Hugh
Fleming saw teal's falling like rain down
her white :lwks. Then he remembered
Mrs. Uardinge'a words, oken to him iu
oouiMleoce, when the 6rst bitter sorrow
of ber sister's Uitics had untied her
tongue:
"There was something betweeu him and
Duicie. I am confident of that. He was
In the tip-train, you say, the evening tram,
and he had never been near us that day,
nor had Bstber been out But Duicie had.
lie came down to iter and not to i.tty. I
am gisd that he is dead."
Poor Percy was dead, and tfsid girl had
loved him; fate had dealt hardl? with
both. Very briefly he told her all that
there wnC to fe told. When she beard
that it was in the railway carriage be bad
died, on his wsy back to town, after see
ing lier m Brkfton Wood, she gasped.
It seemed to ber excited fancy as if she
were partly to blame for tlat awfully
sudden death,
"The doctors thought be must have
lately passed through some excitement,"
Hugh Fleming told her.
"Oh, It was cruel," tie said, at last, "for
my uncle never to tell me! Extber might
well think mo 'bard.' "
"He acted for the best, I am sare."
"lie had no right In sucb a case to judge
what was best for rue" reentfully.
When Hugh Fleming bade them good
night st the door of their hoK'l be saw
Duicie' face in the full light. The wan
pain cm It moved his pity. What was be
that he should Judge her? Whatever her
faults, she had at least suffered for them.
Why, that very night she had gone
through a fiery trial, and gone through It
bravely, too, as few women could have
done! And Hugh Fleming had an Kng
lishman's genuine admiration for "pluck"
of any sort Yet be did not seem angry
with bim, and he was glad of that.
It was nearly a week before be saw ber
again after that night.
"She has one of her tiresome nervous
attacks," ber uncle told him. "8he is
rather subject to them,"
She carue down one evening after din
ner. Bbe smiled, and gave Hugh Fleming
her hand frankly enough, yet he saw she
was not quite it ber ease with bim.
"Bbe ia angry with me," he said to him
self, "and perhaps site baa a right. Wbo
can Mil bow tbe poor girl waa tempted?"
Sb aat down on a law chair, at tba far
ther end of the laof attorn. , He saw her
through a vista of eoo! shadows, of f layer
ing hail of sunlight The wtedows ware
pea, hat tba jaltaalM war aawa, and
- r.ui. tun lo tier Ui.t.urL Uuicie di
' e.l - ills . are.
She w a diuner dress of delicate Cray
silk, trimmed with creamy lace, and ia
the I torn of her dress Has a pale tea
nw, lu'J blown and frajsraot. Jihe wsa
loveiii-r than rvt, he thought, and yet so
i difft-.ut frtim the Duicie that had bluh-
cd and laughed her way into his heart in
Kent. lie contented himself with look
ing at ler for a while, and tbt'ti just ss
she Lad known he would be he as
diswn to go and spesk lo her. As she
Batched him crossing to ber from the oth
er t-nJ of the long, bare salon, she won-1
di rf'd a little at her own interest in bim.
He Has not her judge, yet she longed
to appeal" his angr-r.
"It is horrible," she thonght, "for a man
so god and clever to think ill of me; and
besides he might turn Esther against me
if I quarrel with him uov."
So, for Esther's sake, and for fear of
future prejudice, she wl herself to soften
this rigid law-giver. A bis for the citadel
that has a foe without and imide a friend
ready to throw wide the gates to him!
Hugh Fleming's heart had not the ghost
of a chance.
crurTEn xxi.
"Dulcle, what makes you so restless to
day? Is it the heat, or ha one of yonr
old 'moons' come upon yon?"
"1 am sure I can't tell" swinging her
hat within an inch of the tiled floor. "I
feel as bot aud tired out and as wretch
ed as can be."
Esther Durrar.t laughed at that unfeef
Ingly. Sise as standiug before a long
dresser, (dlicg s dih with great, ripe
trawtx-rries. Her fingers were stained
with the juice of them, and there wsa
quite a pitk line about her mouth, which
told she was "taking her pay" as she
went on. But even strawberries could
not keep Duicie indoors any longer, She
was !e;iuing against tbe jamb of the kitch
en door, half in, half oat, the glaring ;!
low sunlight Iib thing her uncovered head
and shoulders. The kitchen et Holm Farm
was a picture, with its floor of tiles, deti
cau.'ly somtier in tint and polished like
marble, its stained walU, and wide win
dows, one on each id? of the doorway.
Then the pots aud the pa. a and tV
quaint old clmirs and tables, the wood
black with ngc! Though it wa one of
the hottest of August days, there was a
fire burning on the hearth-there was uo
grate hi a huge entered reeCM which ot
itnelf would have gone a good wy toward
ranking a city kitcheu. And over all flow
ed the sunshine, which came in through
open door aud windows, and turned the
platters to gold plate, aud the tiles to lap's
lazuli.
Iu the heart of this shade and glitter
stood Esther Durrant. Her tight-fitting
chintz gown might have been her grand
mother's; ber arms were bare to the el
bows, her pretty feet peejied from under
her "tied-back" skirt dainty feet in higfl-
tieeled allocs, which Uulcie declared re
winded her of the fairy godmother's bot
tines in the story of "Goody Two Shoes"
a beautiful woman in a quaint Idyllic
setting.
(To be continued.)
All Kinds of Pupil.
In tbe Cctitury, Anna Fulcomer df
Bcriben her experiences in leaching
"The Three B's at Circle City." Hiss
Fulcomer says of her school; Tblrty
slx puplU were enrolled, where I had
expected hardly a doan-n. Iu age they
ranged from five to thirty. Three race
were represented Caucasian, Ameri
can Indian, aud Jlorigollan; that Is to
say, whites, Indiana, and Eskimos,
with ail degrees of mixture of the
three. The six white children who
were In atteadlnce during the entire'
school year did good work, though
they were not far advanced. It was
no trouble to classify them; hut it was
difficult during the first two weeks to
classify the native children, very few
of whom, however, were full-blooded
Indians. Tbe majority of them bad
attended school before, though few of
them for a longer ierlod than three
months. Two bright girls of fourteen
had lived for two years In the Church
of England mission at Forty-Mile Post.
Both were In the same rending, wrli
Itig and spelling classes with a fen-year-old
w hite hoy who hud had about
the same amount of schooling.
fual Homesickness,
Whilst 1 in Old World capitals sojourn
ed In storied cities, rich with Time's ac
quest '
A pilgrim from our wide, uustoried
West,
Forever homeward I in spirit fnrned:
For me through each Atlantic sujim-)
burned
My homeland dawn In braver splendoi
drefed.
The bird divine that sang from Iswky
nest,
Beside my brown thrush scanty tribult'
earned.
Bnt now, wben I once more sit down a:
home.
What food perversity my soul pursues
SI roves afar, beyond ber native pale
And slips Manhattan Isle to pace tbronigl
Home;
Or leaves the brown thrush for tin
winged Mnse
For moonlit Cadetiabbla's nightingale.
Century,
Hnh hense in Pigeon.
Captain Benaud, tbe French special
ist in charge of the military plgeot scr
vice, Is a find liellcver in 2 sixth eti
In pigeons and other birds and an!
tuals possessed of homing instinct,
which he calls thu sense of "orlenta
tlon." He has defended bis theory a'
length in a paper recently rmd hefor
tbe French Academle des Hclcneps,
claiming to have smply proved It by
kyeciaJ trials of varioua kinds.
Paper Cigars.
Americana art producing paper
cigars as an article of commerce, and,
what la more, are lielns; backed up by
connoisseurs of tba fragrant weed.
Tba cigars are prepared from 'shed of
paper which have been soaked in to
bacco juice, aud then pressed arid cut
Into the requisite shape by means of
specially constructed machinery.
Marriage-1 .fW la Greece.
Ja aadmt tirveca a law provided
that If a man divorced hla wife be
eoold aat aabasaaaatly aurry a worn-
aa fi
w?.
I rf-.r- V-CC "1T.'5.
tt, J:
Pnttinsc t'p Hartied Wire,
The illustration, from tbe American
At-i WuhtirlHt, fihows a liundy coutriv
auco for ''paving out" Uarln-d wire
when buildiiig n fence of this material.
A stoutstotie drag has a rouudtakc8t
iu oue corner well braced. The reel of
wire Is put ou as suggested for attach
ing the upper wire and below the btact-s
at various btdebts wlit-u putting up the
other wires. This brings the wire rislit
along l-sidt the stakett ami at Jimt tbe
height desired. When ready to staple,
let the driver of the team ttiki? liolJ of
one arm of the rec-1 to keep it front turn
ing, starting up the team a few feet to
Rtretcb the wire. HI.h companion then
staph firmly, when more wire is, tin
revlwl tttid th jh-iK'css is repeated, A
FOR MAKIVO WIIIK fl.M'K.
slow-moving team sbouhl he tiwd, or it
will not he safe to attempt holding the
red.
Cost of Orowliig Corn. !
The University of Illinois has been :
trying to find out what It costs the
Illinois farmers to raise corn. It had '
niilles from 3oO farmers in all the '
corn-growing areas. Up to husking
the items of expense given In the re- j
piles do not' vary greatly, hut suIjwmv !
quent expenses are absurdly reported :
to vary 11.3 cent in one county to
ii8.8 cents In another. The average i
cost of raising corn was found to he j
for the state $&72 per acre, or 10.1 j
cents per buahel. Including Intercut '
on the farmers' equipment and the i
cost of the crllsi, shelling and In haul
ing to market the conclusion is rcach-
fr J-
ed that In ISisli, which waa an average i Fertilise the orchard,
year, with an avenigp yield of fifty-four I It U ce-rtoln that sny crop will ex
bnshcls per acre, the cost from hrnak- j hattst the soil In time, whether of grain,
Irig the ground to ddlvcry of the corn grass or fruit On sotm? farms may
at the elevator was 10.5 certs. This
covers the rent of the ground or Inter
est on the value of the land, interest on
depreciation on plant and wages for
the farmer and others engaged In thu
work of raising the corn. At this
rate, if he got 2!.5 cents per bushel be (
cieared p?r acre. He got this'trogen. 40 pounds of phosphoric acid
dear in addition to wages, interest, and T5 pounds of potah. When clover
depreciation and other costs. Ms grown In the orchard cho land Is
hem-lited by having its proportion of
Corafortablfl Fri.it f.adder, nitrogen !ncreiss,-l, but it will gain
Upon the ordinary fruit ladder one - notn)nK , mnttj.r T!)P
must aumd for a long time aud endure devoted to apples should receive fertll-
uieatrain ana me
ctHtlng into the I
feet Of a small i
round. A fairly
broad, flat step
gives firm and
comfortable sup-
pattern, wtuie j
you have plenty j
oi unie, aim jij
will he ready for
next season's
fnilt picking. Tlie
top of such a lad
der can narrow
to a point If dc-
lifi
F ROT I.APni' R.
sired. The main piece nittHt be of some
light innterlai free from knots and oth
er imperfections. Dres all the mate
ria! together, then palm. If kept un
der shelter when not In use It will last
many years.
Thinning A pplr.
Most of the early apples are almnd
aitt hearers and nr apt to tc small.
Tlios- that are sweet are not good for
much until r!pi, lint Early Harvest and
tlii' Twenty Ounce apple will lxar pick
ing when two-thirds grown and make
excellent pies. If tills Is done In ail
parts of the tree, plucking a few applm
where they nrc fullest on the bough. It
will make what apples remain much
larger and better, behldes supplying
early a-pph-s for household use, says an
exchange, "
Kecploar Fowl tint nf MlM-hief,
Komi-thing more than feed Is neci-s-sary
to keep fowls from running to the
garden or the newly planted corn field,
and scratching among the dirt. Hemi
do this, lees to secure the grain than to
rid themselves of vermin by thorough
)y dusting themselves. If a place close
by the henhouse Is kept plowed, aud
Is strewn twice a week with grain and
harrowed, fowla will rarely leave It
for auyihlnf.
Clean Milk.
A correspondent of the Practical
Farmer says: To bars clean milk, It
must always ba kapt ao. Commence
when milking. My sister, wbo baa
spent four years on the Isle of Jersey,
aaw the way they milked their Jenwy
aawa ia that aanaiijr. It waa throve
C
li'l 1
I I' I ' I I
: "512 w& ,
tela
muslin stretched over the pail. An at
tachment to silo over the pall can lie
made as follows: Take a plec of spring:
steel, hem! to a size umaller than milk
pail; cuds not to be fastened; ctit cloth
a aize larger than pall top, and when
hemmed aroubd slevl it w ill be the rlSbt
size io cover pail. Stretch over pail
when milking; will keep out all hairo
ami dirt that drop from cow. Can be
easily put on and taken off.
A Hnro t intern.
A liarn cisterp will be fl very gri-at
fidvanusu where a large nuiutwr of cat
tle are wintered. The cistern should he
placed on high ground, ao that the
water can he piped directly to the cat
tle sUills, The cistern should Im built
under ground. It may lie built out of
tbe ground six feet or more; use the
earth that comes out of the bottom to
hank up the ouuLle. The earth hank
meut should lie live feet thick and well
sodded. Thin will keep the water cool
In summer and warm Iu winter, A eis
tcru fourteen feet deep and seven feet
iu diameter will hold l.'lu barrels of
water, aud can he built for $5(. The
fall of thu year, before the ground
coiues saturated with watt r, Is a good
time to (lis one. The inlet pipe kIiouIiI
l tut down wfthlu one foot of the bot
tom. The Inflow of water from every
rain ami tht eomuant drawing of the
water will keep the IkhI.t of wau-r
Ktirred, and thus keep It pure. The rain
water that falls upon a Ivarti forty by
twenty-sU feet will keep the cistern
full. Baltimore American.
!nldi,;.
Buds from the largest and thriftlent
shoots generally w1ihinnd the winter
hotter than those from tho smaller, im
mature wood, which are liable to drop
.ff, leaving the hack attach'!. The
triplu bud ou the older and more ma
tured shoots of hearing tr.e often sur
vive when the single buds above them
kill out Apricom and plums can be
worked on peach 8to ks, hut plum
utockn are eonr.il!y jireferred fr them.
Budding should he done during Auguit,
titid If the weatluT ha been very dry,
so as to cause the stocks to stop grow
ing, it may even be too late; while If
there hits bn abundant rainfall the
work may lw contitHiei luto Septem
ber. Thu bark must separate readily
from the stwk In order to have the
I work sucreMif ul. Farm and Finwlde,
lm seen orchards of apple tr" over
half a century old. Every year thesw
tes have produced fruit, and In re
turn have received nothing in the form
of fertilizer. It Is eat I ma ted that an
ordinary apple crop removes from an
an acre of soil about fo pounds of rJ-
7.er t manur every year, awl when
there u a h,,avy of 8ppk.g Uj g,?ht
the fruit ahmilit hu thln..u.I i n.
.-- ........... . fc,,,,,,,. W I, i IU
early stag.-s of growlb.
Crop I iDi-riliicnU.
Tbe area t ground that can he u-d
port to the feet 1 for conducting a number of experi
The, ladder can i menu need not be large. An acre
lie niadi light, ! will give w'xty-four plots each 2o by
t(Kj, as the one 2." feet square, and a comparison 4
shown In the II-1 different crops, under various methods
lustration. Slake; of eulllvatlon. will give more practical
one In winter ac- i experience and Information to thos in
cordlng to this tert-sted than can be gained by many
years' cultivation without
Byaiem or regularity.
regard to
fotnmer Pruning,
Attention should ba paid to summer
pruning fruit trues, A tolling of the
growing shoots Just before they flulsij
growth wilt generally cause them to
set flower buds for tho next season.
Bcwidcs this It Is the beat time to pruna
in order to thicken the trees.
"outtrr Notes,
Better fait.-n and eat the
chickens.
stutlb'd
Do not mix thi bone meal with the
food.
Sell poultry alive during tb next
two month.
Keep eggs in a cool place until they
are marketed,
Sell Hid young docks as soon as they
are ready for market
Mixed with milk buckwheat makes
a good fattening ration.
It is easier to avoid disease in.ths
flock than to cure It
As t rule the eggs of hens grow wmall
er as the moulting season advam-es.
When the fowls are two fat an excin.
slve diet of oats will soon reduce them.
Poultry and eggs are Inseparable If
a fair profit ia derived fiom the invest
tnwit In the smaller breeds beauty of form
snd plumiige are the first retilr.
menis.
One of tbe disadvantages with guin.
cas Is tbst they art not a good market
fowl.
Tbe second yea of the hen Is more
profitable than at any other tlm dur
ing ber life,
A coroner estimates that sompthlng
like flfio Infants art overlaid by their
mothers yearly Iu London. Infanta, '.,4
aald, should sleep M cots, as It takes
Uttla to suffocate than.
r.f-