?^II0TBJED^qF^0l5?U^ ?
1 Penal Institutions in Many States Proved to Be |
f Breeding Places of Tuberculosis J
It is the duty of the state to protect
its citizens—even those condemned to
pass a term of years in jail. The dan
ger to the inmates of prisons, from
pulmonary disease, has only lately
teen realized. A short time since a
man who had served a sentence in
the Ohio penitentiary, declared that
to send him back meant death
tuberculosis. Inquiry was made. Tt-e
head physician announced tha? the
building was a hotbed of consump
tion. A prominent official stated that
a ten years’ sentence was equivalent
to condemning a man to death—by
pulmonary tuberculosis.
Dr. S. A. Knopf, the greatest Ameri
can authority on tuberculosis, was in
vited to visit the penitentiary. With
out hesitation he pronounced it the
most unsanitary penal institution he
had ever seen.
The output of many prisons is
enough to convince of the truth of the
above statements. The sallow com
plexions, weakened bodies, sunken
chests of the ex-convicts, all are the
stamp of murderous prison hygiene.
All the rules for combatting the great
white plague are reversed. For sun
light, they are given darkness; for
fresh air, a damp, musty atmosphere;
for out-of-door life a weary in-door
grind, a large part spent within the
narrow confines of a single cell.
Is it not enough to take from a fel
low being his liberty and appropriate
the labor of his hands, without forc
ing him to live under such conditions?
Dare the state continue to condemn
any of its citizens to such a death?
Shall the sentence in a public prison
cease at its legal expiration, or shall
the poor victim continue to suffer
from its dire effects until he fills a
consumptive’s grave?
In this day of Anti-Tuberculosis
agitation, it would seem that public
institutions, whether asylums, schools,
prisons or assembly halls should be
the first to be brought under proper
sanitary conditions. It is useless,
hopeless to educate the masses in re
gard to the cure and prevention of
tuberculosis and then maintain at
public expense hotbeds for the de
velopment of consumptives to be fin
ally turned loose in the community.
The Tonic Use of Water.
Cold water is the universal tonic.
The best time for taking a cold bath
for tonic effect is just after getting
cut of bed in the morning, when the
body is warm. A cold bath should
never be taken when one is chilled.
One not accustomed to cold bathing
should begin carefully with water not
colder than 75 deg. F. The bath should
be short, not to exceed a minute, and
for feeble persons not more than fif
teen or thirty seconds when applied
to the whole surface. The bath
should be immediately followed by
rubbirg and exercise for fifteen to
thirty minutes. There should always
be good reaction; that is. the whole
surface, including the hands and feet,
should quickly become warm. The
1 ath should not be followed by lan
guor, headache, lassitude or other in
dications of excessive reaction. When
one experiences such symptoms, the
indication is that the bath was too
long or too cold or not followed by
sufficient exercise. For feeble, very
>oung or elderly persons the water
used should rarely be lower than 65
degrees to 75 degrees in winter. The
bath should be taken in a suitably
warmed room.
As We Live, We Are.
If we look down, then our shoulders
stoop. If our thoughts look down,
then our character bends. It is only
when we hold our heads up that our
body becomes erect. It is only when
our thoughts go up that our life be
comes erect.
Physiology In English Public Schools.
Sixteen thousand English physi
cians have signed a petition request
ing Parliament to inaugurate syste
matic instruction in the public
schools of Great Britain in relation
to the preservation of health, especi
ally in relation to the evil effects of
alcoholic drinks. It is hoped that
this petition will be granted.
Slaughter of the Innocents.
A study of statistics reveals the ter
rible fact that nearly one-half of all
the human beings born into the world
die before the age of five years. In
the city of Stetten. Germany, nearly
one-half—473 out of every thousand—
die during the first year of their lives.
In Ireland, Scotland, Norway and Swe
den, where children are given better
care, have more outdoor life, and
more intelligent attention is given to
feeding, the number of deaths is only
one-fiftieth as many as in the city
of Stetten, beim; ten per cent.
Physicians are coming to recognize
that the use of cow’s milk, which is
infected with the germs of tubercu
losis, is one of the most active of
ail the causes of death among young
cbild-en. This should be remem
bered in the artificial feeding of in
fants. The milk should either be
boiled or well scalded before being
fed to the infant. This rule should
be universally observed for adults as
well as for children, and, if applied,
will save thousands of lives annually.
A Safety Valve.
In the Ladies’ Home Journal a
writer tells of an interesting visit
which he paid when a boy to the
“Autocrat of the Breakfast Table.”
After breakfast Dr. Holmes took the
boy into a basement room, which was
fitted up as a complete 'carpenter’s
shop, and gave him the following ad
vice, wrhich he considered would be of
more value to him than anything he
had ever written:
“You know I am a doctor, and this
shop is my medicine. I believe that
every man must have a hobby that
is as different from his regular work
as it is possible to be. It is not
good for a man to work all the time
at one thing. So this is my hobby.
This is my change. I like to putter
away at these things. Every day I
try to come down here for an hour or
so. It rests me because it gives my
mind a complete change. For, whether
you believe it or not,” he added, with
his inimitable chuckle, “to make a
poem and to make a chair are two
very different things.
“Now. if you think you can learn
something from me, learn that, and
remember it when you are a man.
Don't keep always at your business,
whatever it may be. It makes no
difference how much you like it. The
more you like it, the more dangerous
it is. When you grow up, you will
understand ,**hat I mean by an ‘out
let.’ Every man must have an ‘out
let’—a hobby—that is, in his life, and
it must be so different from his regu
lar work that it will take his work
into an entirely different direction.
We doctors call It a ‘safety valve,’
and it is. I would much rather," con
cluded the poet, "you would forget all
that I have ever written than that you
should forget what I tell you about
having a safety valve.”
For a Cold.
The daily cold bath is one of the
rrost effective safeguards against
taking cold. Of equal importance is
abundance of fresh air in the sleep
ing apartment. Upon the first symp
toms of “a cold,” deep breathing ex
ercises in the open air or in a well
ventilated room should be taken at
frequent intervals. In nearly all
cases where this simple treatment is
taken, there will be no further de
velopment of the cold, and the symp
toms will disappear. A doctor con
nected with a large institution for
children recently tried this method
upon the inmates with surprising suc
cess.
“There is nothing,” he writes,
“more irritable than a cough. For a
time I have been so fully assu-ed of
this that I determined, for one min
ute at least, to lessen the number of
coughs heard in a certain ward of
the hospital of the institution. By
the promise of rewards and punish
ments. I succeeded in having the chil
dren simply hold their breath when
tempted to cough, and in a little while
I was myself surprised to see how
some of the children entirely recov
ered from the disease.
"Let a person, when tempted to
cough, draw a long breath, and hold
it until it warms and soothes every
air-cell, and some benefit will soon
be received from this process. The
nitrogen which is thus refined acts
as an anodyne to the mucous mem
brane, allaying the desire to cough,
and giving the throat and lungs a
chance to heal.”
RECIPES.
Noodles with Cranberries.—Beat
well one egg. or more according to
the need, incorporating with each a
tablespoonful of cold water and a
pinch of salt. Knead in flour sufficient
to make a stiff dough. Roll as thin
as thin pasteboard. Let it dry on one
side and then on the other, frequently
turning it. but do not let it become
dry enough to crack when rolled. Roll
it very compactly: with a very sharp
knife cut thin slices from the end
until all is used. Let these dry thor
oughly (they may be prepared sev
eral days before needed) and cook in
boiling salted water about twenty
minutes. Drain in a colander, and
give a dash of cold water to prevent
pastiness. Reheat, and serve with
strained cranberry sauce as a dress
ing. Any other fruit may be used.
Any of the various forms of macaroni
may be substituted for the noodles.
Lanse Brod.—Beat one egg into one
cup of milk. Add salt and a spoonful
of sugar. Dip Into it slices of stale
bread and brown them nicely on a
well-oiled pancake griddle. Serve
while hot.
Remarkable Pension Claim.
George Staff, a Civil War veteran,
living near Prospect, Pa., has a pecu
liar claim against the government for
back pension, amounting to $1,400.
He was discharged at the close of the
war and given $12 a month for disa
bilities. Some years ago Staff, while
living n jar in Beaver county, was the
subject of lunacy proceedings insti
tuted bj the local authorities, and as a
result was sent to Dixmont and later
to Danville. Here he was allowed
considerable freedom, and acting on
the suggestion of a farmer whom he
frequently visited, Staff decamped.
He resided in turn in Virginia, Ohio
and Missouri, and then drifted back
to his native county. He bases his
claim on the ground that he has been
restored to his rights for a number of
years and is entitled to the back pen
sion. He seems in full possession of
bis faculties.
Test Soldiers’ Uniforms.
Trials are now being made in the
German army as to whether the blue
and dark uniforms of the infantry had
better be exchanged for gray clothes.
■A-r'i-i-.v. ~T"inTifM»r iipt iinnr~~i irrn' iniroxi umi'ii i n n m
At Least One Case on Record.
When Isaac O. Barnes of New
Hampshire, who was collector of cus
toms about fifty years ago in Boston,
was confined to his bed in his last
sickness, about six weeks before his
death he sent in haste for his physi
, cian and upon the doctor’s arrival
| said: “I’m dyin’, doctor. I’m dyin’.”
The physician ridiculed the idea,
and reaching under the bed clothing
said: “Mr. Barnes, your feet are
warm. Did you ever know of any one
djing with warm feet?”
The answer ('f.me back quick as a
flash: “Yes, John Rogers did.”
Russian Vegetarian.
One of the most extreme vegetari
ans is the well known Russian sculp
tor, Prince Troubetzkoi, who recently
visited Paris. He considers meat eat
ers not much better than cannibals,
taboos even eggs and milk and lives
on vegetables boiled In oil. salads,
fruits and bread. At his home in St!
Petersburg he has a number of ani
mals, including a bear, two wolves
■ and nine dogs, none of which is ever
1 allowed to eat meat
I STORY of FREAK TRAVEL
Here i£ a travel story somewhat dif
fering from the parlor-car variety: A j
son of ex-Treasurer Harmcn of Vir
ginia, with but three cents cash capi
tal, but millions in love cf excite- |
ment, adventure and nature, be
thought himself, when in San Fran
cisco, to take a stroll across the con
tinent. He induced a friend—like i
himself, an educated man—to accom- ;
pany him, and in three Weeks they
reached I.os Angeles. Five weeks ;
more brought them to Albuquerque
(N. M.), where they decided to walk i
the rest of the distance by proxy, as j
they had earned a few dollars and
could buy a rickety covered cart and
a span of three donkeys, one of which
gave birth to a colt, thus the wagon
entered New York as a four-in-hand.
That, however, was after a two
months’ pause in St. Louis, so that the
•travelers might take in the World's
I
fair and, incidentally, add to their ex- j
chequer, for to get across Ohio, fer- i
riage must be paid (at Steubenville) i
to evade which would not be possible.
As it was. they came near breaking
down there for lack of one cent neces
sary to complete the toll, but 96 per
cent of which they were able to pro
duce to the ferryman. They had fa- ,
vorable weather to Pittsburg, there
after it was otherwise. Illinois coun
try people, they claim, are singularly
inhospitable, refusing even water to
the wayfarer.
Between San Francisco and New
York they collected over 2,000 auto
graphs on their wagon top of canvas.
Otherwise their long trip appears to
ha-.? been disappointingly uneventful,
for they tell no tales of adventures,
nor of hair-breadth escapes.—From
the magazine “Travel.” Illustrations
from Brooklyn Eagle.
DOG THOUGHT IT ALL OUT.
Circumstances That Proved the Ani
mal Reasoned.
“I see,” said the St. Louis man,
“that the question of whether animals
think or not is now being much dis
cussed in the papers.”
“And which side do you take?” was
asked.
“I know they think. When I was a
boy I went after harvest apples once
and the farmer's dog drove me up a
tree and kept me there for five hours.”
“But that doesn't prove that he had
thoughts.’
“Hold on. The farmer was away
from home and didn't return until sun
down, and then he took me down out
of the tree and gave me the walloping
of my life. In the first place, the dog
knew his master was gone; in the sec
ond, he know that he wouldn’t be back
until sundown; thirdly, he knew that
if he came back and found me, I'd
get a hiding; lastly, if it wasn't all
reasoned out, why didn't he leave me
at the end of four hours to bite a
tramp who was stealing turnips far
ther down the road? I still have one
more reason.”
“'nd that is?”
‘*'hat three months later, when I
met that dog on the steps of the
meeting house of a Sunday, he bolted
fcr home like a streak of greased
lightning. Would he have done that if
he hadn’t thought I had a brickbat un
der my jacket?”—Chicago News.
Japanese Woman’s Generosity.
No Japanese in the struggle before
Port Arthur ever showed more gen
erosity and courage than did an ob
scure Japanese woman far from the
scenes of war. When Miss Helen
Keller was at the exposition in St.
Louis she visited the Japanese tea
house, and for a few minutes shook
hands with some of the waitresses,
little olive-skinned women who spoke
almost no English, but expressed
their interest and intelligence without
rt'ords. Many weeks after Miss Kel
ler had returned to Boston she heard
from an official of the exposition that
cne of the Japanese waitresses had
gore to a St. Louis physician
and asked to have one of her eyes
taken out and given to Miss Keller.
When she. told that such a gift was
impossible, she wept in bitter disap
pointment.
Died of Improvements.
A good, poor German of Saxonville
recently sent his sick wife to the
Framingham hospital. For many days
he wended his weary way there to
find out how she was getting along.
He was told each day that she was
improving. Though he called daily
for three weeks he regularly got the
same answer—“improving.” At last a
telephone message informed him that
she was dead.
He was seen going along with head
bent with gr’ef, and when one of his
neighbors asked whaf his wife died of
he answered: “Died of improve
ments.”
Agreed With Him.
Marcus Morton, the Democratic gov
ernor of Massachusetts, who defeated
Edward Everett by a single vote, was
a politician of much sagacity and
finesse. One election day. as he stood
in line at the rolling booth, when he
was a candidate for governor, he tore
off his own rame from the ticket, ex
claiming with spectacular modesty,
calculated to increase his vote: “I
can’t vote for that man; I know him
too well.”
“Neither can I,” said the man be
hind him, tearing off his name also.
“I know him too well.”
Father Gopon as He Is To-day.
Father Gopon of St. Petersburg is
reported to be greatly changed in his
appearance, his long, luxuriant chest
nut hair and flowing beard having
been shorn. He is now clean shaven,
except a small bristly mustache. HU
hair Is cropped close, like a prize
fighter’s; his complexion is pale and
sallow, his health delicate and his
eyes bright and feverish. He is re
ported to be studying French and
watching event*.
| “The Scapegoat Sex.”
“The Scapegoat Sex” would be an
excellent title for a lightly written
article.
“Personally, of course, I do not want
a title, but it would please my wife to
be addressed as 'my lady,’ ” says one
man, and as a matter of fact he is
much more anxious to be knighted
than his wife to be “her ladyship.”
“I have to go to the duchess of
to-night. Those entertainments bore
me terribly, but they amuse my wife
and daughters.” If the women of the
family are eager to be identified with
“society” they have probably caught
the disease from the father.
“My wife,” says another, in the
strictest confidence, “makes many en
emies for me by not asking old and
r
FOUND IN OLD OAR
WAS WILL OF NATHAN WEATH
ERSBY OF NEW YORK.
Title to Much Valuable Property In
volved in the Discovery—Plate and
Jewels Also in Receptacle Strangely
Brought to Light.
Concealed for a century and more,
the will of Nathan Weathersliy lay in
the heart of a giant oak that long had
been a landmark of the old Dale place,
opposite the Lackawanna station here,
rays a Lincoln Park (N. J.) corre
spondent of the New York Press, until
Charles Gulickson this morning chop
ped down the tree and lay bare the
secret of lit! years. The musty testa
ment, signed in 1789, lay among other
time-yellowed papers in a battered tin
Lox at the bottom of the tree’s hollow.
It looked like little mere than a
scrap of paper when Gulickson turned
it out of the box. yet it may be worth
hundreds of thousands of dollars, for
in it Weathersby bequeathed to his
sons Charles and Andrew twelve acres
cf land on Manhattan island, now sup
posed to be a valuable part cf Harlem
of Washington heights. Save that the
land left to the sons is in the bor
ough’s upper part, its location is not
known, but if it is anywhere in Man
hattan its value logically has in
creased hundreds of times.
That the will is a serious document
and yet may be the basis of extensive
litigation is evident from the fact that
a deed to the land lay beside it when
Gulickson opened the box. In the sec
ond instrument it is stated formally
that the twelve acres are at the north
ern end of the island, and the boun
daries of the plot are set forth in the
stilted legal phrases of the period, but
they are not clear when read in the
light of the modern metropolitan plat
ting system, it is said, and much-diffi
culty doubtless will be experienced in
establishing their accuracy to the sat
isfaction cf Jhe courts. Nevertheless,
laymen who have seen the deed be
lieve it ultimately will be accepted.
Other papers were found in the box,
but they were not the whole of the
f.nd. A dull glow at the bottom of the
hollow when the Swede’s ax let the
first ray of sunlight into the cavity
betrayed the presence of pieces of sil
ver that plainly once were the treas
ured ornaments of a colonial home.
Battered, dented, tarnished, the silver
ware still showed its fineness under
the coating of decades. It included
twelve teaspoons, . as many table
spoons. the same number of forks and
a gold-lined tea set, consisting of a
sugar bowl, spoonholder and cream
ewer. A faint sparkle glinted from
gems crusted with the dust of many
years, most of which were in heavy
gold settings.
The box lay close to the plate and
jewelry. The documents, in addition
OVER MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL
The First Transporter-Bridge in Britain, Connecting Widnes and Runcorn.
The bridge, connecting I^ancashire
with Cheshire, a detour of about thir
teen miles round by Warrington. A
j lattice-work bridge is hung between
two high towers, and along this runs
the transporter—a car for the convey
• ance of vehicles and foot-passengers.
I The car receives its complement at i
the level of the ordinary roadway
and is then raised to the rails on the
bridge, 82 feet above the estuary of
the Mersey. The great height is to
allow the passage of ships on the
Manchester ship canal, crossed by
the bridge at the Chester end.—Illus
trated London News.
■wV^i^WWWVW^WNA^/VSA^VWWV'
dear friends of mine to her entertain
ments.” May he be forgiven, for it is
he who has suggested the list, as they
would not look well among those of
the more fashionable men and women
who now condescend to come to the
house.
‘‘We were happy in Bayswater, but
my wife was determined to move to
Belgravia." It is commonly said that
women are Indiscreet; were they to
tell a thousandth of what they know
there is scarcely a man who would
look his fellow men in the face.—
London Truth.
Wealthy Man Is Punctual.
One of the traditions at the Stand
ard Oil building at 26 Broadway, New
York, is that Henry H. Rogers, vice
president of the Standard Oil Com
pany, arrives and departs exactly at
10:30 in the morning and 3:30 in the
afternoon. One morning recently the
veteran watchman, who stands at the
Broadway entrance to the building,
was seen to take out his watch when
Mr. Rogers hurried in, look at it and
confidently set it forward ten minutes.
Cullman Diamond in London.
The Cullinan diamond, 3,032 carats, !
which arrived in London from Cape
Town, by mail, was at once taken to
the Standard bank of South Africa.
St. Clement’s lane, where it will be
kept for the present. It may be
placed on public exhibition.
Exterminate Mosquitoes in Panama.
Every week the canal commission
imports no less than two hundred
tons of insect powder, and two hun
dred tons of sulphur bars into Pana
ma. These are used in exterminating
the mnsnuitoes
•
to the will and deed, were mostly re
ceipts, but one of them was a mort
gage on another parcel of land in Man
hattan. By whom the documents and
treasure could have been placed in the
tree is beyond the conjecture of the
oldest dweller in this region. The
tree is so old that it was a veteran
when Lincoln Park’s grandsires were
boys.
Charles Dale owns the property on
which the tree stood. The land once
belonged to a wealthy old family
named Harris. The Harris homestead
is a fine old house, even to-day.
Mrs. Mary A. Livermore’s Grapes.
A good story is told by Mrs. Mary
A. Livermore about some boys who
were stealing grapes from her yard.
Looking out of her window she saw
them taking her grapes without her
permission. She raised the window
and told them to wait a minute and
she would cut some for them. One
boy spoke up and said, “There ain’t
any to <?ut.”
China Grants First Patent.
China has just granted its first pat
ent. It is for an electric lamp, the
inventor of which is an inhabitant of
Nankin, the old capital of the Chinese
empire, who calls his lamp the “bright
moonlight,” and asserts that it is far
superior to foreign glow lights that
hitherto have been sold at Shanghai"
and other Chinese cities.
Send Money to Austria*Hungary.
The money sent by former citiaens
of Austria-Hungary, who have emi
grated to the United States, to their
relatives at home will amount to be
tween $40,000,000 and $46,000,000 dur
ing the year 1904
The Poorly Drained Pasture.
One has but to keep his eyes open
to see that ^he number of pastures
that are only partly drained are very
numerous. Last summer we noticed
one of these pastures not far from
Chicago. There was an undrained
pond in it and the cows were standing
in the shallow water, which they had
churned into a thick paste. As water,
the liquid was a failure. It was
simply a source of contamination to
the milk supply.
We could point out pastures that
for a generation have failed to pro
vide the feed they should provide for
the reason that too much water stands
in them at all times of year. All
around, this wet area is a damp area
on which grows blue flag and duck
grass, neither of which is eaten or
can be eaten by the cows. The land is
doing its best to produce something,
but the grasses that are valuable to
man cannot grow in such a soil.
It is a small matter to drain such
land. Usually the fall Is sufficient to
make it necessary only to dig a ditch
through the wettest portion and draw
off the water. Even the open pasture
ditch is better than nothing, though
this is not to be compared in service
ability to a pasture ditch that has tile
in the bottom and is closed up and
seeded over to grass.
Most of the poorly drained pastures
have no drainage except that given
them by nature. The draining that
has been done on the farm has been
given to the parts of the farm that
are regarded as arable or that are
kept in meadows and orchards. It
will pay to drain the pasture as cer
tainly as it will pay to drain the rest
of the farm, though the profits from
draining there may not be so great
as in the case of the orchard land
or the hay meadow.—Farmers’ Re
view’.
Putting in the Bean Crop.
The bean crop is always a profit
able one if it is obtained in good con
dition and is cleaned properly. The
time to plant beans is after most of
the other crops have been put in. The
bean will not stand frost and it is
of no use to plant beans while there
is still danger of even a light frost.
For the same reason it is better to
plant on ground that is not low and
cold, for such land is affected by
frosts at times when other lands
escape.
Beans will grow on very poor land,
but we have found that It pays to
raise beans on good land also. The
bean does not need a heavy applica
tion of manure. In fact, a heavy ap
plication of manure is likely to de
stroy the bean itself before it can de
velop into a plant.
Beans are planted either in the row
or in the hill. Where they are planted
in rows the application of manure in
the row should be light. This should
})e tramped down and some dirt scat
tered over the manure to prevent the
seed coming in direct contact with the
manure. Then the beans should be
sown and the dirt lightly scattered
over them to less than a half inch in
depth. This is necessary, as the bean
pushes itself up through the soil,
rather than remaining and sending up
a sprout.
After the beans are up they should
be cultivated as soon as the weeds
begin to appear, but this should never
be done while the dew is on the
leaves. If care is not taken in this
regard rust is likely to result.
Beans must be in early enough to
be able to mature completely before
the coming of the fall frosts. We
have seen them sown after the fourth
of July, make a fine growth, but get
caught and be destroyed by a frost in
September.
Mulching With Paper.
T have used paper for mulching to
some extent and in a way find the
practice is to be commended. Paper
is made out of vegetable matter and
there is no reason why it should not
make as good a mulch as grass or
straw. The principal objection is that
it looks bad if it is within sight of
the house, and then too if it is placed
in the rows during a high wind it is
hard to keep it from blowing about.
Nothing looks more untidy than pa
per blowing about the farm.
I have a very large number of news
papers which cost me nothing. I pack
them around the grape vines after I
get done cultivating and this mulch
stops the growth of weeds. After a
rain I find the paper beaten close to
the ground, and after that the wind
cannot remove it. I have used it also
between the rows of strawberries.
When the paper is removed we find
that it has not entirely stopped the
growth of weeds, but they are yellow
and sickly and evidently have not
drawn much nourishment out >of the
ground. The best results have been
obtained between the rows of cur
rants. The currant bushes protect the
paper from the wind till it gets pack
ed close to the ground, and the green
leaves of the bushes hide the paper
from sight.—John Y. Smith, Alexan
der Co., 111., in Farmers’ Review.
Smut on Onions.
People that raise onions from seed
sometimes notice dusty outbreak on
the plants raised from seed. The fun
gus becomes established in the soil,
and such soil should be avoided for
the growing of onions from seed,
though it may be used for the growing
of transplanted onions. If it is neces
sary to continue to use the soil for
the growing of onions from seed the
following treatment is recommended:
Mix 100 pounds of sulphur with 50
pounds of air-slaked lime. This
should be the application for one acre
of land and it should be sown in the
drills at the time of planting the seed.
The Connecticut station reports that
one pound of formalin in 30 gallons
of water makes a mixture that may
be sprinkled over the seed before it
Is covered with the soil and that this
will prevent the growth of the rust
fungus. Some growers use a fertilizer
drill and drill into the land per acre
from 75 to 125 bushels per acre of
ground lime. This helps to hold back
the disease.
' I
«
Plant Breeding.
Plant breeding is a modern idea,
though it has been practiced unsc -
entifically for thousands of years. The
breeding of plants is not exactly par
allel with the breeding of animals, f*>r
crossing is not a very large factor in #
the work of the so-called plant
breeder. Selection of the best plants
for parentage is the main factor aT
the present time as it ever has been.
Thus, the various kinds of celery
that we have on our markets can ■
from careful selection of the best in
older varieties, and very seldom re
sulted from crossing except as nature
made the crosses.
We are just at the beginning of the
science of plant breeding, and will ul
timately use the principle of eros~ in -
plants to get new varieties. Some re
markable things are sometimes done
by means of this crossing. We have
seen yellow tomatoes growing be? !e
red tomatoes, and from the interm x
ing of the pollen, seed has been pro
duced that the next year gave toma
toes the form of the yellow ones but
with the rich color of the reds.
This is but an example that wi 1
illustrate the great possibilities in
plant breeding. The slow progress
we are making is due to the fad that
we have left almost everything to na
ture, and nature is not interested, in
producing plants of unusul service t<»
man. Nature is as much interested in
a tomato as in a man. and her only
plan is to preserve it on the earth
Within the next twenty year? the
science of plant breeding will entire
ly revolutionize the conditions under
which our gardening is being earned
on. The vegetables that today are
standard will have dropped behind
and be little grown. Other varieties,
better for eating or with a better ap
pearance, will have come to the front,
and we cannot but see that this
change will go on indefinitely, as
there seems to be no end to the p --
bilities in the science of plant breei
ing.
Barrels or Boxes.
In a communication to the Farmer
Review. David Ruble says: “Why
don’t the fruit dealers adopt the arp -
box in place of the apple barrel*.
The box is easier to handle, pack? up
in less space, does not bruise tt<
fruit, sells better, and should not b
so expensive. The lumber here (Ore
gon) costs but ten cents per box an i
the cost of making is two cent?. For
holding a bushel of apples we make a
box here of the following dimension?
18 inches long, 13 inches wide and
ten inches deep. We use beards cut
as follows: Two boards three-fourth?
inch thick 13$10 inches; two board?
one-half inch thick 14x19*4 inches;
two boards five-eights inch thick lOx
19*4 inches.”
We publish Mr. Ruble’s figures a?
he gives them, but we do not qui'e
understand the force of the last three
sets of figures. The apple box is
coming into use more and more, but
it is evident that it will have to be
made very cheap to drive out the bar
rel. According to the estimate of
cost by Mr. Ruble, three boxes would
cost 36 cents, which is about what
barrels can be purchased for in some
parts of the apple producing region*
The box will have to be made much
cheaper than that unless barrels g
still higher. Barrels have some ad
vantages over boxes in the mind? oi
the men that handle apples. They
claim that less handling is require
with barrels than with boxes, and
that the barrel can be rolled while the
box cannot. In loading and unload
ing barrels from trains and ships a?
well wagons many establishment?
have arrangements for rolling the bar
rels up or down inclines, which fact.:
tate their handling. Mr. Ruble say
that “the boxes pack closer.” but It -
is used as one objection to the box
by shippers of fruit, as they say th> re
is then no room for the circulation f
air around the fruit packages.—Far
mers’ Review.
Kerosene Emulsion.
To make kerosene emulsion use twc
gallons of kerosene, one-half pound
common soap and one gallon ol
water. Dissolve the soap in hot
water, add the kerosene, and churn
all together until a white creamy
mass is formed which thickens on
cooling. This must be diluted before
using by adding nine gallons of water
to each one gallon of the emulsion.
Powdery Mildew of Cherry.
This disease is shown by the forma
tion of a cobweb -like growth over
the leaves, and in fall also forming
numerous minute black bodies, espe
cially on under surfaces. The disea se
is worst on young trees, especiallv
in the nurseries. It is controlled by
spraying with Bordeaux mixture or
with Potassium Sulphide.
Hellebore.
This is one of our best insecticides
for use in checking currant worm and
asparagus beetle. It has the ad
vantages of not being highly poison
ous, though it is poisonous to
some extent and should be kept
away from children and animals.
It can be scattered on the wet bush
es or may be dissolved in water for
sprinkling on dry bushes. This latter
is probably the best way to use it and
the way in which there will be least
waste. It is so effective that It is a
wonder that anyone will try to keep
down the worms by hand-picking.
Winter or Summer Eggs.
Wo hear much about getting win- ^
ter eggs, and yet many people
make more money out of summer
eggs than out of winter eggs. We
visited a large poultry establishment
in the latter part of the winter and
found the hens not laying at all. The
owner said that he was so feeding
them that they would not lay till
spring. He sold his e^gs at several w
dollars per dozen to people that want- *
ed fancy fowls and such people gen
erally used the old hen to do their
incubating. The old hen doesn’t get
to work until spring, and that is the
time the producer of fancy eggs finds
the greatest demand on him.
