ArriTfy 1 BY jMARY gEVEREVX nTrH ILLUSTRATIONS BY DON c. WiLSOrf CCopyrr^At, 1902, by l/ffie, &T»tft, arx/ CbntptHjd OU! &g/& ff*0tr*nf) CHAPTER XII. An hour before sunset the fog rolled up. revealing the man-of-war anchored ^^^ar enough for the men on her deck seen plainly without the aid of ^TS^Paae. The anchors of both vessels were raised at once, and the chase wan renewed, with the pursuer not a mile away, and heading about south west, which would soon bring her within range of the brigantine, whose course lay due west. A curl of smoke soon rose from the Englishman's deck, and a few seconds later there came the report of a gun. "A pressing invitation for us to show our colors.'* remarked La •Kte. as be watched the shot strike the water. A short time passed, with the “Black , PetrelV' crew uneasy and Lopez swearing softly in his native tongue. The pursuer then began a more per sistent firing with her bow-guns, but n«*oe of the shots reached their mark. Presently I.afitte. who was standing near Lopez. asked quietly, “How would a 'hot work now ? Try. and see." The o!<] gunner, w itb a shout due to his long repressed feelings, set about ! leveling his gun. calculated the dis- ; tacce. and obtained the proper eleva- j tion. There was a report, soon followed by a trembling of the enemy’s spars; and the brigantine’s crew crowded to 1 see the result. “You have struck their foremast. ' just below the futtocks.” announced I.afttte. lookirg through his glass. ’ Aye. sir; and I will sing them an other such sweet song” said Lopez j coolly, watching his men reioad the gun. The enemy had meantime come a little closer, and was dropping shot ticioufly about the brigantine. "ljofH-t, make haste with the gun!" cried lJtro. with an oath. “Give them a dose such as will set them to re pairing damages, and”—turning to the cp-w — should she get close enough As I.afltte’s lips parted to speak, the dying man, as if divining what might be about to say, cried with a sudden burst of strength, “No, no, boy; try to tell me no soothing lies! Uving, I never knew fear; and dying I scorn it! Ah—Madre de Dios! Christ have mercy!” And with this last cry, Laro’s voice was stilled forever. Lafitte's heart repeated the prayer, as he folded the dead man’s hands across the broad chest; and scarcely had he done this when he was startled by the noise of a commotion above him. Stopping only to draw a blanket over the face and form of the dead, he went on deck, where a number of ex cited men were gathered on the side toward the enemy. His glance had al ready followed the direction of their eyes, and he saw one of the ‘‘Black Petrel's” smallest boats being rowed by the Indian, Ehewah, toward the English vessel; and clinging to it, while his hoarse voice poured forth a volley of menacing words, was Lopez. Lopez had loosed one of his hands from the boat’s gunwale, and drawing his knife, hurled it at the Indian; but Ehewah dodged, and it fell into the sea. He then rowed on. and Lopez, no longer shouting, attempted to draw himself over the stern of the boat. At this, the Indian had stopped row ing. and struck the gunner over the head with an oar. continuing the blows until Lopez released his hold and sank from sight. A boat which had been lowered from the English ship was now seen pulling rapidly to where Ehewah, still pausing, appeared waiting for the gun ner's body to rise. This it soon did; and the Indian, showing an agile strength one would not have accredited to his slight frame, drew it into the boat. The crew of the brigantine saw Ehe wah parley with the men from the enemy’s vessel, after which he rowed in their company to the man-of-war; With a cursing cry he sank. lo try aty tricks with grappling irons, nan- the rut lasses ready, my hearties. And remember that it is no quarter.” A sound, half roar, half snarl, cam*' from the men; and the neat moment here was a whistling amongst them as a cannon ball struck the bulwark n inont of Ian*, filling the air with utt* of wood, and then glancing into the water. A large, sharply pointed piece of rigged w<«»d struck him in the side. «n i ’ &> rtmid be readily seen; for her .t« were getting the sails off writh • It possible sjieed. Her fore royal and loi-gallant sails were dewed up. and the topsail yard let go by the run, while the mast was swaying percept i O'. Iaw*. by l.aftte's command. had iJt-'D torre to the main cabin, where tie was laid upon a divan, and the hr gantine had been ordered to come tit anchor. The ecemy hail already done this. and. in her present crippled condition, there was nothing to fiar from her. as the distance between the Ttu i was too great for advanta re ons llrirr even had the tCnglishn an beer. In proper form to continue ' he fight I an* wa* breathing heavily. In brok en gasps; and beckoning to lAfitte he asked to have sent away those who were about him. still striving to check the blood that flowed so freely as to soak the red of the divan until It shewed black lAfitte seat the others away, srd sitting down by the dying man. U»k one of the hand* that were already graw tag cold. "Jean, you will take care of Ia «alle?~ And Lara's black eyes, tbelr mockery forever slain, looked at him with appealing wist fulness. lAfitte sodded, and pressed tbn hand he he’d. ~;*ke will have plenty of wealth, aa yon know; ae* that It ts delivered to her safely, aad kept securely after ward. Take the girl away. Jean; take her ro the auks, in N'ew Orleans, as I should have done before this: and no you nnd she have the church say masses fiar my soul. My soul!** he re posted. In u quick gasp. "To where will my soul goT and lafltte, watching through his saw the form of Lopez carried aitnard in their midst. lafltte, bidding Garonne accompany ■iim. went below, to loro's cabin. Ga ronne lit the brass lamp swinging over the small table, and turned to Lafitte, who stood looking about him. as if for some sign of Ehewah's treacherous in tention. when the gleam of a gold band, hanging over Laro'a bunk, caught their eyes. It was a bracelet which the Indian had always worn tipon his naked arm sine*' the day I.aro placed it there, in a burst of gratitude to Ehewah for having saved bis life. Both Lafltte and Garonne knew enough of the Indian's tribe-lore to understand that this was Ehewah’s mute announcement of ended friend ship and loyalty. "He doubtless stole in here to per form what to him was a religious rite, and having hung I^iro's gift where we found it. went his way, intending to attempt that which he has now ac complished.” mused Lafltte aloud. Then, as if struck by an after thought. he went to Laro's bunk, and throwing aside the rich draperies, dis closed a heavy wooden locker. Us lid was. contrary to custom, locked; and when I.afitte opened it. a disarranged collection of papers and canvas hags showed within. “It is as I supposed—not a coin nor jewel touched, but charts and papers gen*- that are of more importance than ail the valuables. The rascal know s the wav to the Barra de Hierro; aud the charts he has taken will in form others, showing them where to find what now belongs to the Senorita I jtzaiie.” Uaror.ne. forgetful of his usual re straint when in Lafitte*a presence, now tiroke forth into a flood of curses, which the latter checked at once. The mate turned to the cabin door, where he paused, and aske.l in a voice trembling with the anger he dared not show. “Have you any orders for me. captain?” "None save to let the men have their Kipper at occc, and see to It that ' oriy half-allowance of grog is served. J The fog is coming in. and we will sail as soon aa may be.” Like an army of shrouded ghosts, the fog was again about the "Black Petrel,” enclosing her in a world where she was the sole tangible thing. | But. as over a path familiar to blind | eyes, the hands that manned her ; could shape an unerring course for ! their secure haven. I.oug before midnight she waa feel ing her way north, toward the mouth of the treacherous channel that would bring the crew to their island strong hold. the Barra de Hierro. The early morning air was heavy with odors of aromatic shrubs grow ing beyond the beach, and the carol of wakening birds waa Ailing it with music, when Lafitte came ashore, leav ing Garonne in charge of the brigan tine. His course lay Inland, at first over waste fields, and then cultivated ones, of sugar cane, coffee and tobacco. Then came some banana and fig plan tations, interspersed with groves of palms and cocoanut trees, until, after a walk of twenty minutes, he reached a clearing In which stood many small huts, evidently dwellings; and apart from these rose the walls of a stone building, surrounded by a high wall, with circular towers at the angles. Lafitte crossed the open space, and stopping before a stout oakea. door in the wall, called for admission. But there was no response; and, after a longer silence than suited his humor, he fell to striking upon the door, while called still louder. This resulted in its soon being opened cautiously, to show a stalwart giant, whose black face and naked arms showed all the darker by con trast with the white cotton of his rai ment, draped in a barbaric fashion that told of its not having known thread and needle. “My young captain!” he exclaimed in Spanish, a pleased surprise lighting his grave face; and catching Lafitte’s hand, he kissed it as the latter re plied, “Greetings to you, Ezrah. Is it al! well here?” “Yes, my young captain. All Is well; but it will be more than well, now that you have returned.” Lafitte waited until the Arab (for such he w&s) had closed and barred the gate; and then, in a few words, he told him of what had taken place, adding that Laro’s body would be brought ashore later in the day, for burial. Ezrah listened with a face showing no emotion whatever, save perhaps that of anger that the nation his mas ter had taught him to hate should have been the means of the former’s death. His young mistress, the Senorita Lazalie, was of course not yet awake; and Lafitte, after bidding the Arab to leave her undisturbed, went to his own apartments. lazalie was row sixteen; and, since leaving a convent school in Seville, two years before, her entire time had been passed upon the Barra de Hierro, to which Laro—her only living rela tive—had brought her, and where she had seemed fully contented with her | lmurious and independent life. Laro, of necessity, passed much of his time away from the Barra de Hierro; and, during his absence, La zalie was its head and ruler, except when Lafitte found it necessary tc visit the island. Then the Spanish girl gave place—and with entire will ingness—to the man whom, from their first meeting, she had loved with all the fervor of her uncurbed nature. (To be continued.) ORCHIDS COST HUMAN LIVES. Dangers of Hunting for Beautiful Plants Are Great. It is said that 2,000 different spe cies of orchids have been discovered and introduced to civilization. A re cent investigator into the history of this plant, according to the Detroit News-Tribune, says that one human life has been sacrificed to each speci men of this flower. Orchids flourish in the most deadly swamps of Mexico, in the torrid and malarial districts of the Indies, in the Brazilian forests and in places infested by pestilence, fierce animals and fiercer tribes of savages, some of which believe that the orchid is an object of veneration, to tamper with which means certain death if caught. One of the most beautiful of all or chids, an exquisite white flower of the Sobralia genus, was actually discov ered in a fastness of the mountains on an altar on which human beings had recently been sacrificed. This was a grewsome enough place of discovery, but it has a parallel in the case of another equally lovely flower which was discovered wreathed around human bones exposed in a na tive cemetery in New Guinea. So firm ly were some of the plants attached to the bones that they could not be removed and one was actually brought to England growing in the inside of a human skull. Of eight hunters who went to Mexico to hunt-orchids seven lost their lives within a year and the sole survivor returned with his health ruined. Cause of Thanks. It was a Coffee county boy who mar ried and went to Texas, and upon ar riving there wrote promptly back to his friends that he ‘‘got there safe and well.” And that was the very last time that he ever did write to them. They waited and they waited, and they wondered and they wondered and they wondered, and never a word fur ther from the wanderers. Some anxi ety was felt, or would have been Telt, but for one old woman of distant kin, who whenever his name was men tioned would always say: “Well, he got thar safe, and they’re all well, thank God.” Finally his name was dropped, him self forgotten, till one day, ten years after his departure, something brought up his name, and the old query came up. ‘‘Why doesn’t he write?” And the same old woman piped the same old song. ‘‘Well, anyhow, he got thar safe an' they're all well, thank God.”—Nash ville Banner. _ Novel Relay Swimming Race. A novel crosschannel swimming race from Calais to Dover has been promoted by the Belgian Swimmnig federation for a challenge cup, to be known as the cross channel cup. The competition ie open to the world for teams of five amateur swimmers. The first swimmer of each team would swim as far as possible across the channel. The second man would then take up the task, and would be fol lowed by the others in tmn. The team whose men first reaches shore would win the cup. The race is tc take place in July or August. Howard 3ouid Spends Moi.ey. Howard Gould is not saving much money just now. He is building t sea wall arnund his Long Island home which will cost $1,000,000. His cow shed cost $'SO,000 and his chicken coop $150,00* and the new Killarney castle will cost $5.000000. WITH THE VETEB4INS __ imso*—-• Never Mind the Old Times. Never mind trie old times; I hey were bright an’ sweet! bunny skies above you— Violets at your feet; But the new times wear a smilin’ face l hat’s mighty good to meet. An yoH*d better find the light that makes the mornin’! Never mind the old times; They were great, I know: Old friends that we loved so! But the new times sing the song of Hope Where sweeter roses grow. An’ you’d better find the light that makes the mornin'! —Frank L. Stanton, in Atlanta Constitu tion. Eccentric Colonel Burke. “Yes,” said Gen. Coates. “I knew Col. Martin Burke, who was in com mand at Fort Lafayette when prison ers therein quartered made the fort and the commander subjects of con troversy. Apart from any controversy, Col. Burke was an interesting person ality and an old character. I remem ber him as one of the old school army officers given to some eccentricities that made me smile then and often cause me to smile now. He occupied a trying position, but he made mind ing his own business a matter of pro fessional pride, and he never would go near Washington for fear that some investigating committee would get hold of him. “The boys on duty at Fort Lafay ette had a constant reminder of the colonel’s kindness of heart. He found, on occasion, a dog hurt in collision with an army wagon or a gun car riage. The dog’s leg was broken, and he was in pitiable condition, and the colonel’s orderly reported that he was no better than a dead dog. The colonel, however, ordered the poor lit tle beast taken to his own quarters, and in due time the dog recovered, with a supreme disregard of all mili tary regulations and proprieties. “This latter quality undoubtedly grieved the colonel, but he stood by the mischievous puppy through thick and thin, and wherever the colonel went with his traditional dignity went Sam, the puppy, with his abnormally developed bump of mischief. The colo nel always appeared on dress parade in the full dress of the old-time regu lars, and he held every man in line to a most serious cast of countenance and most dignified manner. The uni form, as Burke wore it, was queer enough to make any man smile, but Sam, at these parades, was a full comedy in himself. “He w'ould caper about the colonel's legs, indulging in pranks that w’ould make a horse laugh, and yet the colo nel stood there in stately pose, blind to the puppy's pranks, but wratchful as to the expression on the faces of the officers and men in line. These poor fellows nearly died of suppressed laughter, and they were always won dering what Sam would do next. But whatever they expected him to do, he always did something else, and no matter wrhat he did, the colonel stood by him. “The men on duty at Fort Lafayette in the latter part of the civil wrar may have forgotten the most notorious pris oners held there, but I will venture to say that not one of them has forgot ten the eccentric colonel or his pa tient orderly, or the dog Sam. Those nearest the colonel testified that the orderly never showed impatience or irritation except on one occasion. The colonel had worked late one night on some perplexing papers, and, halting for a moment in his work, pushed his spectacles up well on his head, in stead of taking them off. “This wras his regular habit, but on this occasion he pushed the glasses back farther than usual, and when, on resuming his work, he put his hand up he found no spectacles. This wras disconcerting and irritating, and he shouted, ‘Orderly, orderly, come here, sir!’ The orderly had been sound asleep for two hours, but he jumped up, wriggled into his clothes, and pre sented himself to his absent-minded colonel. Burke looked him over in disapproval of his unusual appearance and snapped out, ‘My glasses.’ “The orderly turned on his heel without a word and in a minute placed before the colonel two glasses, a pitch er of water and a decanter. Burke looked at him in amazement and roared, ‘My glasses, you fool. My spec eacles, my spectacles!’ Then the worm turned. ‘Yure glasses, colonel,’ said the orderly, ‘are on the top of your head, sor. An’ ye call me from me bed to tell ye that’ The colonel in high dudgeon put his hand to his head, but found the glasses, and then said, ‘Having found the glasses, go to bed at once. I never would have found them myself.’ Any reference to Hotel Lafayette, or Bastile Lafayette, or Fort Lafayette alwrays brings to my mind the figure of quaint but soldierly Col. Martin Burke.’’—Chicago Inter Ocean. The Flag at Washington. Our recent articles about the dis play of the United States flag in for mer years bring out many reminis cences. Another old veteran writes: “It is a somewhat curious fact that previous to the War of the Rebellion the flag was not often seen in the national capitol or anywhere else. I know a veteran born in Kentucky, who says he entered the service in 1861, at the age of 17 years, and until he enlisted and was mustered into the service he had never laid eyes on the flag and did not know w'hat it looked like! A flag has been displayed over the capitol at Washington for a good many ytfars, probably fifty, though there is no authentic record of its hav ing flown ‘officially for that length of time. It. is only since the war that each end of the capitol has had its own flag. During the early days of the disturbances which brought on the war of the rebellion, the one little old flag on the west front of the capitol was discontinued. ‘It roused sectional feeling to see it flying there’ was the somewhat treasonable reason given by the officials, whose duty it was to see that the flag was kept flying. “This reason may hare teemed good to the Jellyfish patriots In Wash ington who were bossing things at the *.**.*.iiui at that time, but it did not go with the ‘First Defenders’ of Pennsyl vania, the gallant little body of 500 men, who hurried to Washington on the very first train after the presidents call for men to wipe out the stain of the fall of Fort Sumter. These ‘First Defenders’ antedated all other troops in getting into Washington, and they camped in the basement of the capitol on the night of April 17. They as-ked why the national capitol displayed no colors, and were told the reason as above. This angered one of the ‘First Defenders,’ and he climbed the peri lous height of the then unfinshed dome, carrying with him the large regimental flag of his organization* This flag he nailed to the dome, and there it remained until the elements whipped away the last thread of it, long before the close of the war. A storm was raised when people got up in the morning and saw the old flag flying from the dome, and many were the inquiries as to how it got there, but it was many a long year before the truth came out. The soldier who did it knew that he would be severely disciplined if he told what he had done, and his comrades who had help ed him were loyal to him. The flag was there, and no man could be found who would take it down.”—New York Press. The Badge Money Cannot Buy. A heavy disk of bronze, bearing the state seal surrounded by the inscrip tion, ‘‘Department of Michigan, G. A MICHIGAN'. R.f” designates the comrades of the Michigan department. Upon the re verse appears the little bronze button surrounded by the words, “38th Na tional Encampment G. A. R„ Boston.” This disk is pendent from an oxidized silver pin by a cherry ribbon on which is the place and date of the national encampment in gold letters. The pin is lettered “Organized May 6, 1868. Michigan.” Their Sons in Civil War. An inquiry whether any man was living in North Carolina who had sons in the confederate army is elicit ing replies of an astonishing charac ter. A letter front Hillsboro states that James D. Daniel of Orange county, now 97, had five sons in the confed erate army. Three of these are liv ing. In the same township W. G. Wright is still living, 88 years of age. His son, J. B. Wright, was in the confed erate army. At the soldiers’ home one of the inmates named Bunn served in the same company with tw’o sons. There is also at the soldiers’ home a veteran who served in the Indian war of 1835 the war with Mexico and the civil war and never received a wound. He is 93 years old and is active and interested in everything.—New York Herald. Point of Law Cleared Up. A decision upon a point involved in the law granting the wife or widow’ of an honorably discharged union soldier or sailor may, if circumstances re quire, after her death be provided with a funeral at the expense of the county has recently been rendered by the attorney general. In the case con sidered the widow of a soldier at Clif ton Springs went to Mount Morris to visit and died while there. The under taker who had charge of the burial presented his bill to the G. A. R. post at Clifton Springs. The question arose as to whether the county wherein she had her legal residence or the county wherein she died should pay the burial expenses. The attorney general de cided that Livingston county, where she died, was responsible for the bill. —New York Press. Regimental Histories. Regimental histories enriched by the reminiscences and documents . of surviving comrades produced under keen criticism are the best possible foundations for an accurate history of wars. It is to be regretted that so many organizations have neglected so far to record their doings, but recent ly there has been shown a general desire to repair the omission, and many regimental histories are appear ing. p Monument for Crater Battlefield. The survivors of the Forty-eighth Pennsylvania infantry have made plans to erect on the Crater battlefield in Prince George county, near Peters burg, a handsome granite monument to cost $7,000. The monument is to be erected in memory of those of the regiment who fell in the Crater fight. It was this regiment that dug the tun nel for the mine. Veterans Passing Away. The sad news is sent out from Washington, on the authority of Pen* sion Commissioner Ware, that the old soldiers are dying at the-rate of ISO a day. This is a higher rate than ever before in the history of the pen sion bureau. Build Up a Field. There is no lesson so effective as the object lesson. We try to induce the farmer to drain and fertilize all his farm, but we will have little impress ion on him till we have been able to place some object lesson before him, such as inducing the leading farmers ‘.n every locality to take one field and build it up, as it were, to a high state Df fertility. A few farmers have done this under the instruction of profess ors of the agricultural colleges, and more are doing it. Their example is being followed by the farmers im mediately around them, who have been impressed by the things that are shown. By the building up of a field the farmer himself will learn about his land many things that he never knew before he began that work. It is sur prising how many things there are about farms that their owners do not know. There was one man that lived in a locality where the popular im pression was that the land could not be drained. They said that the tex ture of the soil was such that the wat er simply evaporated from its surface, but did not pass through it. Under the instruction of the state agricultur al college the man put in a series of drains, and, behold, they worked to perfection. The other farmers in that vicinity came to see his drains and were moved by what they saw to con struct drains of their own. This man had land that was defi cient in potash. By draining he low ered the soil water more than a foot and lay bare a layer of soil that was rich in potash. The roots of the plants went down to it and the owner of the field was relieved of the necessity of sending away for potash. He possibly had never discovered this truth till he began to build up a field. One field on a farm should be made to bear the greatest possible crop; that the value of the farm for crop pro duction may be understood. It will be an experimental lot and its value will depend on the care that is given it and on the figures that are written down as to its cost and products. There are very few fields that cannot be improved either mechanically, in fertilizing or in moisture contents. Buckwheat, Rye and Fertility. The discussion of buckwheat as a feed reminds us to say that it has even a greater value as a fertilizer of the soil, as we demonstrated fully on sandy land that had been reduced to the unprofitable point by too much cropping to wheat; that was several years ago, however. Rye was used in connection with the buckwheat, but the element most needed was se cured through the buckwheat, the rye affording some feed during the opera tion, and helping to put the soil in1 good mechanical condition. First, winter rye was sown in the fall, pas- | tured then, late, and early in spring. Then allowed to grow until in bloom, when it was plowed under and sown to buckwheat. That, in turn, was plowed under and again sown to win ter rye. The following spring red clover was sown in the rye, when an excellent stand resulted and the soil was again in condition to play its part in crop growing. The Dust Bath. To keep the fowls free from lice during the winter months nothing is so good as the dust bath. Don’t think that lice don't multiply in winter, for they do, especially those great gray i fellows. Get a box, a barrel, or any thing that will hold the dust away in the dry, and now fill it or have the children fill it with road dust. Now is an excellent time, for later the roads will be too damp with the fall rains and heavy night dews to dry out and make much dust. Then when the fowls must be kept confined and the earth is hard and frozen, put some of the dust in the shallow box, set it in the sunshine or light of the poultry house windows, and notice how they enjoy that dust bath. Remember, the dust must be dry and if possible warm it, slightly warm. Chickens will not dust in damp earth in winter time.— Farm Star. Multiplier Onion. The old-time “multiplier’’ onion is not of much importance now. It is a persistent grower and succeeds most anywhere. Sometimes it gets to be little better than a weed. But it had some points in its favor. It had a habit of getting up in the spring at the first opportunity and for a short time was passably good. Its place in the garden could not be filled, even by the earliest of -vegetables. It would take care of itself when once planted, and would hold its own against grass ind weeds if given an equal opportu nity with them. It might yet be giv en a place in many a garden to the benefit of the owner. Building a Cistern. If after a cistern has been built in the customary manner with brick and cement a wash is made cf clear cement and water, and brushed upon the walls like whitewash, the walls will be found to have been rendered impervious to water. A cistern can be made of cement alone, and if the earth in which it is made is of a solid clajey nature the wall of cement need not pc over two inches in thickness. Bricks would have to be used for the arch, but it is better not to make an arch. Cisterns are usually under floors, and if not they can be,floored over and the under side lathed and plastered with adamant. It becomes hard as stone, is rot-proof, dirt-proof and moisture proof. Built In this way a cistern can be made more cheaply, as it does not have to be so deep, and can be larger in diameter. A cistern should always be circular, as it makes the walls stronger and takes less material for a given amount of water stored. Two parts of sand to one of cement are about right—The Rural New Yorker. A well-built drain is a permanent imsroyement. Alfalfa as Cow Feed. It has often been said that from a chemical standpoint alfalfa is an ideal ration for milk cows but this is not a fact. A cow weighing 1,000 pounds and giving her full capacity of milk should receive twenty-nine pounds of dry matter, 2^ pounds of digestible pro tein, thirteen pounds of digestible carbohydrates and one-half pound of ether extract daily.. If a cow should receive thirty pounds of alfalfa a day with no other feed she would not get enough dry matter by 1*4 pounds. She would receive thirty-two per cent too much digestible protein and not enough carbohydrates or fat. Theo retically speaking, in feeding alfalfa to dairy cows it should be fed in com bination with some crop which "will supply the nutrients in which alfalfa is deficient, such as corn fodder. Al falfa and corn fed in combination re sults in greater efficiency in that it requires less dry matter to produce one pound of butter fat or 100 pounds of milk. The nutritive ratio of al falfa, that is the proportion of protein or albuminoids to carbohydrates and fat is undoubtedly too narrow for best results. Corn and other crops supple mentary tc alfalfa must find an im portant place in farm practice in the irrigated west.—Denver Field and Farm. Cheap Man, Poor Butter. At one place that I called last sum mer, the creamery had but four months before passed into the hands of the farmers. They had asked vari ous creamerymen for advice and were told that the most important thing to do was to hire a first-class buttermak er and not allow a few dollars in wtges to stand in the way. They, however, were of the opinion that a good enough man could be obtained for $35 or $40 and got a young man for the latter figure. In four months they lost nearly $400 on the butter and the day I got there he had left them after washing up, and when 1 got there about 7 o’clock in the evening the cream was at a temperature of 70 and had oty degrees of acidity—plenty ripe enough to churn. There was no water in the glass on the boiler and no water In the tank, the pump was brok en, and the churn, which was a new one, was in a very bad condition. I got some ice and cooled the cream down and stayed two days breaking in a new’ man, who, I am pleased to say, has been having good success, some of the credit for which may be due to his wife, wiio works in the creamery with him—Prof. J. G. Moore. Magnitude of the Dairy Business. In an address delivered at the re cent meeting of the National Buttei Makers’ association at St. Louis, M. M. Wentworth of State Center, Iowa, in giving some figures of the magni tude of the dairy and creamery inter est, said that the production of butter this year in the United States would amount to 1,500,000,000 pounds. The value of the output, exclusive of Sun days and holidays, was, he said, $1,« 000,000 daily. To move the year’s pro duction of butter would require 43, 750 . cars, each containing 20,000 pounds. This succession of cars would extend 330 miles if placed end to end or from the world's fair grounds to a point forty miles beyond Chicago. II placed in sections of twenty-five cars, 1,750 locomotives would be required to haul the butter output, and it would take 8,750 train men to operate the trains. If sections were placed six miles apart the first section would be whistling in Manila, Philippine islands, before the last section left the world’s fair grounds. Cause of Stringiness in Milk. Stringiness in milk is caused by fungi w’hich develops in the system of the cow. In an affected cow the tem perature is raised one or two degrees above normal. Like most other fungi this does not grow out into filaments in the milk while within the body, but in five or six hours after the milking the surface layers are found to be one dense net-work of filaments. If a needle is dipped in this and lifted the liquid is drawn cut into a long thread. Care should be taken in the W’ater sup ply which is likely to cause stringi ness and two drams bisulphite of soda daily until the stringiness disappears is recommended. Foundation of Dairying. The motherhood of the cow is the foundation of dairying. This founda tion has not been understood in the past, and the mother quality was set at naught. The care and feeding of the mother are things that should receive our first attention, but they have been the things to receive at tention last. As soon as the cow is dry it has been the custom to cut down her feed and sometimes to let her go with only hay and a poor qual ity of hay at that. This is not a treat ment that is likely to develop the calf within her or to improve the milking qualities of the cow herself. Apples Good for Cows. One of the theories that have been exploded as worthless is the old im agination that cull apples fed to cows would dry up their milk flow. An other absurd proposition is that sour apples will create sour milk. As a matter of fact apples which are not decayed are the very best condiment for dairy stock and tend to increase rather than diminish the flow of milk. Scientifically speaking the composi tion of the apple as a feed is: Water, 80.8 per cent; protein, 7 per cent; carbohydrates and fat, 18.2 per cent. Avoid Mongrel Bulls. A farmer can afford to pay $5 for the service of a thoroughbred bull than to have the use of a mongrel bull for nothing. He can have a grade calf of the highest excellence; if a female, she would sell tor twice what a heifer by a mongrel bull would bring. If a male, It would bring one third more as veil, and if raised for beef, would bring nearly double what the mongrel steer would bring, and do it in the first cross.--Clark Bell la Country Gentleman.