Cradle of Htimarn Race
Is Located in Yucatan
Although reports from the Isthmus
of Panama made by returned Ameri
cans who have encountered difficul
ties in extending the work of the vast
canal indicate that the spot is now
anything but a “garden of Eden,”
there constantly is developing evidence
to prove the assertion of scientists
that this apparently God-forsaken neck
of land was the cradle of the human
race. In the religious rites ot the
people there are traced by archeolo
gists references to the first known
members of the human race, and in
the ruins which are being constantly
uncovered and restored is being found
further foundation for the claims of
those who seek to discover the secrets
of the ages.
Archeologists have often amused the
world with curious speculations on
the puzzle as to whether the Isthmus
of Panama really is the cradle of the
human race, but now there comes
from mysterious Mexico the definite
discovery that down in Yucatan the
Turkish language is this very day
spoken almost in its purity by certain
native tribes.
These tribe's are not mongrel immi
grants. They are the simon-pure na
tives of the very heart of ancient Mex
ico, that Mexico which still in secret
worships the sun and the stone ser
pent and sacrifices its maidens upon
stone altars; that Mexico where a
regiment of Diaz’s soldiers sent now
and then vanishes as silently as the
mist. •
The students of the University of
Campeche, who, under the encourage
ment of the Mexican government
have gone deep into the subject of
Maya antiquities, have just taken a
pure-blooded Turk to the tribes ol
the interior and found to their utter
amazement that he could converse
fluently with the natives, who until
twenty years ago probably never
knew that there were white men in
the world, save as Toltec tradition
had brought them the story of the
god Coaxacoahtl.
Thus a flood of new light is cast
upon the problem by which students
may go on to fresh discovery. And
thus.'moreover, the theory of the
noted Le Plongeon, once a theme for
mirth, that here in the isthmus and
not in Asia was the cradle of the race
3s given new force and substance.
New Discovery Important.
This has long been a current belief
among the men who have lived in
these ruins and devoted quiet years
to the study of them, such as Ste
phens, Norman, Maudsley and the un
assuming Austrian. Maler. who came
to Mexico as a young lieutenant in
the train of the ill-iated Emperor
Maximilian. But until this recent
discovery no broad and definite proof
was had.
The Spaniards found in the Mexi
can speech words for many things
which coincided with their own and
wondered at it. Travelers and Curi
ous-minded people of the Pacific slope
marked that the Indians and Chinese
had many words in common and that
Spanish, which is half Arabic, re
sembled them both. This was easily
explained in a way. The Arab speech,
like that of Persia, was Mongolized 1
oy the conquering hordes of Tamer- !
■ane and Gengliiz Khan, who swarmed
“astward to ail the coasts of the Medi- ;
terranean. The Arabic that was taken
to Spain was tinged with Chinese. In i
Mexico, the wise meu have reasoned, j
•t met again with its own kind. The
narrow passage of Behring strait has
always served as an explanation.
It is probable that this discovery of
the students of Campeche university
will throw light upon another of the
most baffling puzzles with which mod
ern archeologists have had anything
to do.
The Egyptian sphinx, symbol of si
lence, has given up its secret; the
JFLrjsrJ- OT J^LL/LCE -R.T tHiCHru -Itzx.
pyramids have surrendered their royal
dead. The strange writings of Susa
and Persepolis are as plain to {he
scholars of to-day as a dry goods
store “ad.” But before the ruins of
ancient Mexico, hidden as many of
them are in the depths of almost im
penetrable forests, the lone white man
has stood dumb and helpless.
Ruins Older Than Egypt’s.
They are older than Egypt. They
go back to the period of primitive
men, for thus far all the excavation
into their miles of masonry has never
revealed the existence of an iron or
steel implement. Their innumerable
workmen carved those towering fa
cades and squared the millions upon
millions of wall and stair and founda
tion stones with chisels of obsidian.
But how they built!
In the mythology of Yucatan. Hon
duras, Chiapas, and Tehuantepec there
stands forth clearly the legend of
Cain, and Abel. The whole story of
Genesis is here written, the entire
symbol system of the isthmus coin
cides in perfect detail with that shown
in the later relics of Asia. The rela
tionship of this ancient, vast, but as
yet unplaced life of the isthmus with
that of Asia and northern Africa is
plain. Its greater antiquity is also
plain. That it was coeval with the
great submerged Island of Atlantis,
which furnished the story of Noah and
of which the West Indies and Azores
once mountain tops, alone remain to
speak, is practically proven by inter
nal evidences, but how this civiliza
tion, of which not even a dim tradi
tion remains among the present in
habitants of the land, made its way
into the eastern world, this is a ques
tion for which the scholars, who ever
since the Spanish conquest have been
delving into the mystery, have had
as yet no answer.
Le Plongeon traced Freemasonry
through the Egyptian mysteries and
the ceremonials of the Brahmin back
straight to Yucatan. Even the caba
listic phrases used by the priests of
Egypt and in the most profound rites
of every mystic cult in Asia he found
in the Maya, inscriptions of Uxmal
and Chichen-Itza, ruined cities of the
isthmus.
Ruined Cities Give Up Secrets.
In the temple ruins of Uxmal Le
Plongeon found part of what had
once been the statue of a priest. Over
the dress was an apron and carved
in relief upon it was the symbol of
the extended hand, so well recognized
among Masons of the day.
This symbol of the open hand is a
prevalent one throughout all the
Maya ruins. In the Casa de las Mu
jeres (“House of the Women”), in
Uxmal, and in other places, there
are dadoes all around the stucco walls,
formed by the impress of women’s
hands which had been dipped in the
brilliant dye of the sacred colors, blue
green and red. The lines of these lit
tle long dead hands are still as clear
as if they had been pressed there
yesterday and no feature of these stu
pendous ruins brings to the explorer
with more force the marvel that here
confronts him.
These mighty temples tower Into
the blue sky. Upon their pyramids,
with their endless terraces of solid
masonry, their wonderfully carved
facades, rich in all forms of symbolism
and ornament—facades which succes
sive dynasties superimposed, one out
side the other, as may be seen at
any transverse break in the massive
walls—the splendid burial monuments
rear themselves amid masses of vines
and orchids and tropical trees, the in
sects and burrowing animals turn up
bits of ancient pottery, the same ter
ra cotta that the taciturn natives
carry to and fro to-day, and with the
self-same ornamental designs. But
when one has clambered over it all
and pored over the unintelligible in
scriptions and shuddered amid the
rubble under the crumbling walls and
stood upon the pinnacles where of old
the astrologers of this lost race stud
ied the mysteries of the stars—when
it is all done you go back down into
those silent chambers, where in the
dawn of things women learned mys
teries which propriety holds up its
hands at in our day, and look in the
fading light at the primeval record
of the hands upon the wall.
The Aztec civilization which Cortez
found in Mexico was amazing, but it
was savage. It was, with some im
provement, the civilization of the
northern Indian races, who in recent
times, in an archaeological sense, had
come southward and driven out the
Toltecs. Underneath the City of
Mexico itself, only lately, a buried city
has been found. The Aztecs knew
their forbears came from the north
and had been dominant in Mexico for
3,000 years. The present Indians of
southern Mexico are a Toltec race.
Their only traditions regarding the
ruins is that when their ancestors, the
predecessors of the Toltecs. being
driven from their homes in the north,
had come into the isthmian country
they found the ruins very much in the
same condition they are now in and
took them for dwellings. The ancient
civilization of Peru, on the other hand,
correlates with that of the Quiches,
admittedly the most ancient people
of the isthmus. The belief of the best
authorities is that the Peruvians,
whose engineering works and tem
ples and wealth were the wonder of
the Spanish invaders, and who, as
their records show, had been driven
southward by more warlike races,
were really the builders of these tem
ples of Yucatan.
Of the sixty-two ruined cities of
Yucatan proper the most important,
or. at least, the best known and most
fully described, are those of Izamal,
Mavapan, Ake, Acanceh, Uxmal, Tikul
and Kabah, all centered in the north
west corner of the peninsula round
about Merida, the capital, which it
self stands upon the ruins of Tibu;
Chichen-Itza, about midway between
Tikul and the east coast, and Labna,
Nohbecan and Potonchan, in the
Campeche district.
Hate-Evil Colson Discovered.
The story of Hate-Evil Colson and
the overshoes, as told in the Herald
on a recent Sunday, recalls to mind
another story of this same itinerant
cobbler, who half a century or more
ago was known throughout the length
and breadth of Maine.
He had applied for lodging, as was
his custom, at the home of a farmer,
and was given a “shakedown” on the
kitchen floor. Along in the middle of
the night his host heard a disturbance
In the kitchen—a rattling of the stove
and the splashing of water. Going
softly down the stairs, he discovered
Hate-Evil, in the dress of Father Ad
am, sousing his underclothing, first
in "a tub of scalding water and then
in one of cold water, and muttering
to himself: “Sudden heat and sudden
cold will kill the devil!”—Boston Her
ald.
A Lesson In Fly-Killing.
There is one youth on the north
side Who will never again enjoy the
somewhat doubtful pleasure of killing
flies if his mother can reach him fifst
Daring the summer she purchased a
brush and George had often seen her
killing flies on the windows. The
other day she chanced to be near the
library, when she heard a crash.
Hastening into the room she discov
ered George looking in wonderment
at a hole in the window, from which
radiated cracks in every direction.
“George, what are you doing?” de
manded the mother, almost tearfully.
“Tilin’ flies, mother,” was the in
nocent reply as the little fellow ex
hibited a substantial hammer.—Pitts
burg Dispatch.
Burned Hi* Trousers Up.
After he had donned the garb of an
Indian warrior to take part in an op
era given by amateurs In the Tingue
opera house, Harry Barnes, a society
man, folded his trousers and hid them
in the furnace.
Later the janitor touched & match
to the furnace waste, and the trousers
went up in smoke. With a young
woman waiting to be escorted to her
nome, Mr. Barnes’ predicament can
be imagined. He was obliged to wait
until a late hour and scramble home
| in his Indian togs.—New York World.
| Wrote It Small and Hung It High.
In one of our suburban towns lives
“Bill,” a man of droll disposition, but
attentive to his duties as baggagemas
ter. At the station one day a travel
ing man saw him pick up a glittering
object from the ground. It proved to
be a diamond scarf pin of considerable
value. Some conversation ensued be
tween them in regard to the find, but
was interrupted by the arrival of the
train.
Several weeks later the traveling
man had occasion to again visit at the
same station, and, seeing “Bill,” said:
"Well, did you find the owner of the
pin?”
“No,” was the answer.
“Did you advertise?”
“Yes, but I writ it small and hung
it high.”—Boston Herald.
Imported Cigars.
Key West sent to the North the
first six months of this year about
15,000,000 cigars; Porto Rico threw in
to the United States during the same
period about 40,000,000 cigars, while
there came from Cuba during that
time 25,000,000 cigars
ELETHAftT SAVED THE BAB^
Lena, the biggest of the perform
ing elephants in Fairyland, now show
ing at Paterson, N. J., indulged both
her maternal instinct and her sense
of humor recently in a manner which
threw a large audience into panic.
A tiny girl of three, unobserved by
the crowd, had crawled beneath the
barrier and stood just within the ring.
So little was she that she was entirely
out of range of the trainers in the
center. But as she delightfully clap
ped her b;iby hands at the marching
and counter marching of the,huge
beasts the watchful Lena saw and
marked her, first, for removal from
harm’s way, and, second, for^the nec
essary maternal discipline, which
should prevent a recurrence of the
danger.
Lena's small eyes twinkled with
amusement as, leading her fellows,
she approached the venturesome baby
for the second time. The little one
looked up into her face with an en
chanting smile, but the elephant nev
er hesitated. She shot out her trunk,
wreathed it about the child's body
and in a second had whirled her high
in the air.
An instant the spectators saw the
little girl's fluttering skirts and
caught her frightened cry; the next
one she was whirling through space.
Women shrieked with terror and
hid their eyes. The trainers dashed
to the place where the child lay, ex
pecting to find her crushed and dead.
Instead she was as safe from harm
as though cradled in her mother's
arms. Lena, with unerring sagacity,
had tossed her upon a soft, grassy
spot, and had handled her so gently
that not a bruise was to be found
upon her. The child shed a few
alarmed tears and then promptly for
got the incident.
When a search was made for her
parents none could be found. The
child was apparently alone and had
wandered into the show unnoticed in
the crowd. She was taken to the
police station, where she was later
claimed by her father, Frank Spinel
iyr. The child, whose name is Josie,
had slipped away early in the even
ing. Her parents were greatly terri
fied when they learned of her peril.—
New York World.
CREDIT DVE WELSH REVIVAL
In the street of a Welsh village, says
Mr. G. T. B. Davis, in an interesting
article entitled “Wales Revisited,” in
the Sunday Strand, I addressed a po
liceman, who told me that St. Mark's
Fair, in a neighboring town, at whicti
he had been present a few days be
fore, had heretofore been a scene of
drunkenness and debauchery. The
young men and maidens from farms
in all the surrounding district annual
ly gathered together on that day, and
in former years the policemen 1 1
been kept busy in stopping fights and
quelling disturbances. This year, how
ever, he declared there had not been a
single disorderly scene. Instead a
prayer meeting lasting several hours
was held In the principal church of the
village in the afternoon, while at night
an open air gosped meeting was held,
followed by a great revival procession
through the town.
While I was talking to the policeman
several large breaks drove by filled
with young people returning from a
fair at another village, and they were
as happy and joyous a group of young j
men and maidens as one would wish
to see. As we looked at the smiling,
shouting people the policemivn re
marked that if I had stood there a year
before I would have witnessed a very
different sort of spectacle, as the young
folk rode homeward in a drunken,
swearing condition.
One of my most interesting experi
ences during my journey of investiga
tion was what may be termed a revi
val journey on a revival train. It oc
curred during the forty miles of my
homeward journey after leaving Mr.
Roberts. To my surprise and delight I
learned that the engine driver, the
fireman and the guard of the train
were prominent leaders of the revival
movement in their respective chapels.
The engine driver, Mr. R. Williams,
told me with pride that he was a dea
con in the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist
church. He began driving on an en
gine on the London and North-West
ern railway at nineteen years of age,
and is now nearly fifty-nine, having
been driving almost forty years.
PE/fAffG WTUffG TtAIJ^y SEASO/f
A resident of Penang thus describes
the rainy season there: “Our rains
have set in with all their attendant
comforts and discomforts and they
make one feel something like Robin
son Crusoe when he made up the list
of his blessings and evils. The plant
ers are all rejoicing- and are putting
out their seedlings and cuttings and
generally doing all they should do.
The bullocks are beginning to fill out
those ugly hollows between their ribs
and about their flanks, for the grass
on their limited pastures is growing
rich and rank and these patient, h&lf
starved beasts profit by it. Our trees
have all put on new coats of brilliant
green and the whole place wears a
newly washed appearance very com
forting after the dusty dry season, in
which our soup tastes gritty and a
piece of bread and butter seems to
have had a bit of sandpaper glued on
the butter side. But even our rains
have their disadvantages.
“When I come home, thoroughly wet
and disgusted with everything, and go
to bed immediately after dinner, the
roof commences to leak and I have to
get out and shift the bed. I interview
the landlord in the morning and he
tells me roofs can’t be repaired in the
rain and that in all probability as soon
as the tiles swell the roof will become
watertight of its own accord. That
doesn't cure either my lumbago or
rheumatism, and when I take my bath
I discover we are on the Ader Itam
water service and have to bathe in pea
soup.
‘T mention the fact to the municipal
president over a stengah at the club
and hi says: ‘My dear boy. I'm on
the same service and have been comb
ing mud out of my hair for a week.’
This doesn’t make me feel any cleaner.
The lizards on the ceiling are waxing
fat from the insects which are driven
into the house by the rain and I no
tice that the soup at dinner seems to
have more body in it from the same
sause. This does not improve my tem
per.”
FIHE WO'RSHIV AAD ‘BOflFI'RES
A peculiarity of fire worship not
unnaturally consists in that element
being treated with the greatest re
spect, and any act which could in any
way be considered as polluting it is
strictly forbidden. For example, a
conscientious Parsee never smokes.
Much more, then, is anything in the
way of sacrifice of a living thing ta
booed, and we must look elsewhere
for the origin of the Bel fires which
were up till recent times a common
custom in the Orcades, in Wales, and
in other out-o-the-way parts of Great
Britain. The reader will remember
the expression "passing children
tbhough the fire” used in the Old
Testament to describe a particularly
abominable and culpable form of idol
atry. There seems to be little doubt
that the blameless, if rather risky,
game played by children round these
fires may be directly referred to that
old Phoenician institution, only in its
old form the child did not pass
through the flame and emerge safely
on the other side, as do the boys who
jump over the Bel fires to-day, but
was burnt to death as a sacrifice—not,
however, to Baal but to Moloch. Still,
as the two deities were intimately
connected, and as accuracy as to
minor details was not a strong point
with our remote ancestors, it was nat
ural enough that the idea of the fire
should be transferred from the “hor
rid king” to his equally repulsive ally,
Baal.
A different kind of fire, better
known to most of us. has a very mod
ern origin, the responsible cause be
ing another king, a most unpleasant
character, but not a diabolical deity.
I refer to bonfires, the original name
of which was “bone” fires, so called
because they were lighted by Henry
VIII.’s agents to destroy the bones
of saints and other relics found in
the pillaged monasteries and churches.
—“Origins of the Commonplace,” in
the Grand Magazine.
t
TALE OF CAIlftEGIE'S BOYHOOD
A broker sneered at the recent story
of Andrew Carnegie’s reputed declara
tion that his epitaph was to be “That’s
d—d white of Andy.”
“Mr. Carnegie is a wise roan, not a
fool,” said the broker. “It is true that
he has done in his time odd and re
markable things. All those things,
though, had a wise purpose behind
them. The purpose of such an epitaph
as ‘That’s d—d white of Andy’ could
only be to evoke ridicule.
"I once visited Dunfernline, Mr. Car
negie’s birthplace. They told me there
a story about him that illustrated the
tenacity and perseverance of his child
hood—his bulldog determination to
ride down every obstacle and reach his
end.
••it seems that at the little Uunfer
line school the master called Andrew
I
up one day and asked him how much
seven times nine was.
"The boy, unable to hit on the an
swer immediately, began to go over
the entire table.
" ‘Twice nine is eighteen, thrice nine 1
is twenty-seven, four times nine is thir
ty-six, five-’
“But the master interrupted, impa
eiently.
“ ‘No, no,’ he said. ‘Give me the an
swer straight off.'
"After some thought the boy began ;
again: !
" ‘Twice nine is eighteen, thrice nine
is twenty-seven, four times-’ ’
“ ‘No. Straight off,’ repeated the
master. ‘
“ ‘Haud yer gob, man,’ the boy cried,
passionately. ‘Ye’ve spoilt me twice, '
an’ do ye want to spoil me a third ‘
* time?’ ”—Cincinnati Enquirer.
HEWS THE CHA.MVlOff EATE'R
\
i
A few years ago, in a small Rhode
Island town, a political club had a pig
supper. After it was over a few of
the members were arguing about how
much a man could eat. Mr. Reed, the
postmaster of the town, offered to bet
$10 that he could get a man who could
eat a whole roasted pig- Mr. Raraeay,
another member, promptly took the
bet, the match to take place the next
evening..
The next morning Mr. Reed met
“Sam" Waller, who was always hun
gry, and asked him if he thought he
could eat a roast pig. “Sam” said he
thought he could if he was hungry.
Mr. Reed walked all day with him,
oarer mentioning anything to eat un
til they arrived at the club house.
The table was placed in the middle t
of the hall, and the members were
seated in the gallery, and were told
to keep quiet, so “Sam” would think (
he was alone. Mr. Reed had the pig ,
cut up and made into four large pies. (
One by one Sam devoured them, until ]
the four were gone. Then, to show the i
members what an appetite his man
had, Mr. Reed brought in more food,
which “Sam” ate and seemed a little i
more satisfied. 1
After he had finished eating this i
Mr. Reed said: “Well, ‘Sam,’ do you t
want any more?”
“Sam” leaned back in his chair and
whispered: “No, don’t bring any more,
or I will not be able to eat the pig.”
i
uoctonng Trees With Chemicals.
More than a year ago we called at
tention to the fact that a certain com
pany of men were selling to the farm
ers a process for doctoring trees with
i chemical compound, says the Far
mers’ Review. The plan was to bore
i hole in tne tree ana insert in it
some kind of a mysterious compound.
Generally the loading agent of the
company went to the orchard, bored
the hole in the trees himself and in
serted the compound. He claimed that
this would protect the trees from all
kinds of blights and all kinds of in
sects. He charged for his work 50
cents per tree, but liberally allowed
the orchardist to pay half down and
the rest some months later. The ab
surdity of the thing should have pre
vented farmers from taking up with
the scheme. We published a warning
at the time these men entered the
field.
Soon we began to receive letters
from Michigan saying that the agents
were working there and that thou
sands of trees were being treated by
them, in a visit to southern Michi
gan the editor of the Farmer's Review
discussed the matter with many
orchardists and with the director of
the substation at South Haven. Mr.
Farrand as well as other experienced
orchardists warned the fruit dealers to
beware of the fraud, but the agent had
persuaded so many of them that many
hundreds of orchardists purchased
the treatment from the agent. In one
county alone 30,000 trees were treated,
'inis represented *15,000, of which half
was paid down, the agent thus receiv
ing *7,500.
i-dier a lew trees were treated on
the experimental farm and the com
pounds were actually taken out and
analyzed by the experiment station
men. The compound was found to con
sist of some very simple chemical, a
chemical which could in no way affect
the health of the tree. The thing was
a swindle pure and simple. It was re
ported that the agent never returned
to collect the other 50 per cent. It is
probable that he never will attempt
to collect it, and it is further probable
that he never intended to collect it.
It proved a mistake, however, to
allow trees to be treated on the ex
perimental farm, as it gave these
agents an opportunity to say when
they went to the eastern states to be
gin their work that the process had
been tried and approved at the Mich
igan station.
We hope that this lesson, though
costly to the fruit growers of soutnern
Michigan, will prove of some value to
other fruit growers that may have the
opportunity to waste their money
upon the same kind of treatment.
The idea is not a new one and has
been worked in various forms in dif
ferent parts of the country for a great
many years. As it has proved so ex
ceedingly valuable to the men who
claim to know the secret, it is certain
that they or others will continue to
work it from time to time in various
parts of the country.
Give the Trees Enough Room.
It pays to give each tree all the
■oom it needs, whether this tree be
i fruit or a shade tree. All the years
i have lived on a farm I have noticed
the great mistakes made by my neigh
bors in this regard. I once had a
neighbor who went into the raising
jf small fruit and also set out an
jrchard. He did well with his small
'ruit, but partly failed with his tree
’ruit, for the reason that he set the
rees too close together. He had only
t few acres of land at most and want
sd to make the most of each acre;
so he set the trees about a rod apart,
rhey made a splendid growth of wood
ind foliage. Whcc people would drive
last the house, they would be heard
o remark what a fine-looking orchard
t was, the trees being very thrifty
ind shading the ground. But that was
ust the trouble: they were too thrifty,
rhe apple tree that takes cm the ehar
icteristic of the shade tree is of little
falue for apples. It is too busy de
veloping foliage.
This man was sorely disappointed
with-his orchard, and in a few years
ifter it should have been in bearing
rot around to cutting out some of the
rees. But the trees were badly set
lack by the early habits they had
ormed. They were more set back by
he heavy trimming it was necessary
o give them before they would start
o bearing. But they did start, in the
■nd. The wood that was produced by
he first trees was just so much lost
rrowth so far as apple production was
:oncerned.
I have observed that it is the uni
versal experience that it does not pay
o cramp trees. Give each tree all
he room it needs, if fruit is wanted.
-Minnie Lacker, Brown Co., 111.
Wounds on Fruit Trees.
An eastern fruit grower says-.
Vounds of any considerable size
ibould be given a coating of paint or
lome other durable substance. A suit
Lble dressing must possess two dis
inct properties. It must check the
weathering of the wound and prevent
he growth of bacteria and fungi, and
t must be of such a nature as not to
njure the surrounding bark. The
[ressing is of no value in the healing
if the wound, except as it prevents
lecay. For general purposes, a white
ead paint is most satisfactory. It is
n antiseptic, and it adheres closely
o the wood. Wax, shellac, tallow, etc.,
.re lacking in both respects. Bor
ieaux mixture would be an admirable
naterial for this purpose if It were
nore durable.
Fall pigs are very unpopular with
he farmers. This is because they sel
lom make money out of the fall lit
ers. The cause of this failure is the
ack of facilities for taking care of
’oung pigs in cold weather.
Phosphorus is not so easily lost as
re nitrogen and potassium; as it is
ield in the bones of our animals, and
lost of these get back to the land in
ome form.
The "sound of the school bell” often
falls on the ear,” but it never causes
ny injury.
Dairy Associations.
Dairy associations have been of im
mense help to the country. They have
more than anything else stimulated
the production of milk and butter, and
have secured for the producer of these
articles lower rates on the railroads
than could have been obtained in any
other way. Considering the small size
of these associations the work accom
plished has been remarkable. Very
few of the state dairy associations
have more than two or three hundred
actual members; in some cases the
actual members do not exceed one
hundred. There are a great many
members that pay their yearly fee for
the mere sake of having their names
on the membership roll. In numerous
cases these are agents of dairy supply
houses, butter colors and otjier com
mercial interests connected more or
less remotely with dairying. The
small number of members have, how
ever, the support of the farming popu
lation. They are looked upon as some
thing of a parliament, where great
policies are discussed and adopted.
When the representatives of these as
sociations come before the state legis
lature, the members of the legislature
realize that these men stand for many
thousands of dairymen in their states.
Were this not so, the National Dairy
Union, an association composed of but
a handful of men, could never have
forced the oleomargarine laws through
Congress. The Wisconsin Dairymen's
Association, about thirty years ago,
took up the matter of railroad rates.
They sent one of their leading officers
to Chicago, and he spent days in con
ferring with the men of the railroads
passing through Wisconsin. He ob
tained a rate which, for lowness, was
unheard-of in those days. He also ob
tained the use of refrigerator cars for
shipping Wisconsin butter and cheese
to Chicago, New York and other east
ern points. The results were imme
diately felt in Wisconsin and through
out the entire West. It was the Illi
nois Dairymen’s association that really
created the existing state pure food
commission. It fought for years to
get the bill that created the commis
sion through the legislature. The good
work accomplished will go on from
year to year and from generation to
generation. Yet in spite of the great
v* 0.0 UUUC, UU UUUVt'UllUU
Illinois dairymen exceeds a hundred
or so of actual members. I think the
farmers everywhere should encourage
the formation of dairy associations. I
also believe they should lose no oppor
tunity in attending the meetings >f
dairy associations. It has been a n it
ter of remark that the farmers living
near the meeting places in many cases
seem to ignore entirely the existence
of the associations and the holding of
conventions, even when these conven
tions have been held in localities noted
for their dairying industry. Sometimes
the audience has been composed of
people from beyond the boundaries of
the county, with but a sprinkling of
the local farmers. The farmer that
has the opportunity to attend a dairy
convention almost without expense to
himself can afford to sacrifice two or
three days of the time on his farm for
the sake of being present at the meet
ings. The amount of information
that he will obtain will be worth vast
ly more to him than the amount of
work that he can do in the same time.
—John Stinson, Bureau Co., 111., in
Farmers’ Review.
Feeding Apples to Cows.
At this time of the year, when the
small apples from the orchard are be
ing sorted out and disposed of as by
products, it is a practice for many
farmers to feed some of the wormier
apples and small apples to the cows.
A limited amount fed each day will
prove of great help to the animals, al
though there is no great amount of
nutriment in the fruit. The great
value comes from the presence of
the fruit acid in apples; yet in the
feeding of apples great care is needed.
Large apples should not be given to
cows whole; in fact, it is better if all
apples of medium to large size are
cut in two before being fed. Many a
cow has been choked to death on large
apples. One boy, known to the writer,
started to feed a hungry cow apples.
She was so eager for the fruit that
she tried to swallow one whole to
make room for some more. An apple
of unusual size became fixed in her
throat. It was only by vigorous work
on the part of the owner of the cow
that she was saved. He put both
hands on her throat and worked the
apple down whole. A good way to
feed apples is in the form of pomace,
which is the remainder of the apples
after the cider has been pressed out
of the ground mass. This pomace con
tains a small amount of nitrogen, a
very small amount of potassium and
some phosphorus. The vegetable
sugars are also present. The phos
phorus is to a large extent locked up
in the seeds, and is not likely to be
liberated unless the seeds with the
other pomace, is mixed with hay
which will retain them in the large
stomachs and compel them to go
through their usual modes of diges
tion.
Brewers’ Grains vs. Distillers’ Grains.
Both brewers’ grains and distillers’
grains are on our markets, and the
dairyman frequently asks himself
which he will find more profitable to
feed. This is a question that will pay
any dairyman to study, as the prices
vary so greatly that he can sometimes
feed one to advantage and sometimes
the other. While distillers’ grains con
sist mostly of corn, brewers’ grain con
sists largely of barley. Although bar
ley is higher in protein than corn, yet
after the brewing has been done, the
grain contains more carbohydrates,
that is, fat-forming material, than the
distillers’ grains. For ordinary feed
ing, therefore, brewers’ grains are less
valuable than distillers' grains, but the
prices of those two are generally far
apart. When dried brewers’ grains
have been selling at $20, dried distil
lers’ grains have been selling as high
as $28. The loss, therefore, is on the
side of feeding distillers’ grains at
those prices. It is evident, however,
that there should be some adjustment
of prices in the market.