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About The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 14, 1905)
Woman in Snakeskins. Wonders in dress never cease. The ! anaconda snake is to oust the beaver. I This snakeskin is the newest novelty in the dress of women motorists. At present there is only one anaconda skin coat in existence, and its in ventor, Mr. Ganner, proudly showed it to a reporter ta London, the other day. It was an elegant production, three quarter length, in delicate shades of cream color and brown, with cuffs, col lar and revers of beaver fur, and lined with brown satin. “Although anaconda skin is not dif ficult to obtain," said the inventor of the coat, "the matching of 'sufficient skins is the great difficulty. The coat is made of four skins, and one of the most attractive points in its favor is in its extreme lightness. “Anaconda skin is as flexible and soft as broadtail, and its durability is practically everlasting. Its bright and scaly surface is never duller, and will never wear out. “It is several degrees warmer than any known fur, and as a trimming anaconda skin is a novelty this sea son. "Collars, cuffs and revers of the skin are all the rage, and toques and even muffs are being made of it.”— Montreal Herald. For the Afternoon. luswi _ n Afternoon gown of mixed lavender and heliotrope with plain darker cloth ' accessories edged with silver brain i and fine plaitings of lavender silk. Lavender hat with heliotrope plumes. A Rose Jar' Without Roses. A rose jar, properly cared for, is an unending delight. Without the rose petals a sweet-smelling jar can be made of a quarter of an ounce each of mace, allspice and cloves, all coarse ly ground or pounded in a mortar; half of a nutmeg grated; half an ounce of cinnamon, broken fine; one ounce of powdered oiris root and a quarter of a pound of dried lavender flowers. After these have been mixed in a bowd a few drops of different essential oils i are added—rose, geranium, neroli and j bitter almond. perhaps—with an ounce of good cologne. It will need an addition, from time to time, of one of its ingredients until all have eventually been renewed, for leaving the jar open, even for a half hour each day, which is enough for a pretty thorough scenting, takes away something of its strength. The All-Black Dress. For some occult reason the all-black dress has been “de mode” for several years, but next winter we are told that it is to be extremely smart. In j or out of style a black gown must j remain the most distinguished one a ! woman can wear. A black confection j for evening wear, trimmed with bands i of handsome jet, is always charming | for a matron. Nothing for this pur pose is more effective than one of the new black nets. Speaking of net re minds me that the net day frock of the moment Is a more economical pur chase than one would expect. In the dark colors so quaintly modish nowa days it is a charming contrast to the light colors in which every one ap pears on smart occasions. For Street or Theater. An ideal calling gown or one quite appropriate for matinee wear is made from very supple dark blue broad cloth. The skirt is walking length, of circular cut and flaring prettily from knee depth at each seam. A most at tractive jacket accompanies it. Wide straps of the cloth form the revers and extend around the bottom, two points crossing where a closing is ef fected. The flat collar and strappings on sleeves are bordered by a narrow plaiting of blue taffeta and dull gold buttons trim sleeves and jacket. Plenty of fur scarfs have appeared in the street. The new derby for woman’s dressy wear is queer. Velvet dome crowns with beaver brims are novelties. The deep pink felt hat promises to be immensely fashionable. Hand-embroidered blouses are like ly to be worn throughout the entire winter. Linen shirt waists, tucked, and as plain as a pipe stem, will be worn by younger women. The smartest waists are worn out side the skirt and finished with a bias fold of satin or velvet. The chiffon veil has a new use. It is tied into a big bow and tacked to the back of the hat, with floating ends. A funny little round white hat of corded silk, for a child, has ,the straight brim, edged with a band of mink fur. Velvet Didn't Get Left. Velveteen street costumes have put in an appearance already and the good qualities of chiffon velvet and all silk mousseline velvet are in de mand even at this early date. The crushed velvet so parodied and abus ed last season has mercifully disap peared, but some of the new velvets show a shadowy ripple almost like a modified moire effect over their sur faces. The princess skirt with short bolero is fancied by many designers for the velvet gown, and where a princess skirt is not liked a very deep pointed girdle forming the greater part of the bodice is used with the plain sweep ing skirt and abbreviated bolero. Modish and Popular. Among the rewest in coats at the New York horse show were the em pire models. There is no reason to doubt that the empire lines will be extremely modish and popular among the winter coats and the innovation is not confined *.o picturesque carriage, visiting and evening coats, but has in vaded even the province of the tailor ed street costume. One fanciful but exquisite empire coat is of petunia cloth. The collar is of a darker shade of velvet and the sleeves and bodice are draped and garnished with but tons of taffeta. Pretty Epaulets. Women w-ho do not like the full puffy sleeves that stick out from the shoulders, and who, at the same time do not find the sloping shoulder effect becoming, are finding little epaulets all that they desire. On many of the pretty lace blouses little frills of lace form a plastron of embroidery top the sleeve. The dress of cloth, too, has a shaped piece of embroidered silk or velvet, or from the collar it self will start an ornamentation that widens out, and, falling over the arm. is there edged with a frill of lace or a silk fringe. Velvet Trimmings. It is an English fancy to use vel vet trimmings on checks, many of TWO SMART WALKING COSTUMES. The costume at the left Is of green cloth. The skirt is slightly gathered at the top and is made with groups of gathers at the bottom, headed with motifs or velvet and shells of silk gal loon with large flat buttons of the cloth forming a most original trim c* ’ The' draped blouse and the I Sleeves are trimmed to correspond. and the girdle is of velvet. The other costume is of brown cloth. The skirt is encircled with a band of the same. The new gathered redingote is trim med with bands and bretelles of taffe ta to match, of which the girdle is also made. The collar and cuffs are of em broidered taffeta, edged with violet velvet. them being rich, dark plaids which demand trimming of dark colored vel vets. Velvet tight fitting coats are also worn with both checked and plain cloth skirt, which revives a fash ion of long ago, which always has good possibilities. These checked tweed skirts already are worn abroad with plain cloth jackets, which, is a forecast of what will be followed here in another season. Fur-Trimmed Gowns. Fur-trimmed gowns are in fashion once more, after a long retirement. At present the trimming is mostly con fined to coats, but a fewT fur-trimmed skirts are seen. Short-haired fur is used, the popular caracal being much In evidence. This fur is so pliable and so easily manipulated as to make it valuable for trimming purposes Collars, cuffs and jacket of fur appear on some of the smartest of imported street gowns. Sometimes the skirt shows a few medallions of fur to match the jacket, but more often it Is quite untrimmed. Evening and recep tion gowns are being trimmed with sable, mink, eimine and other costly furs. Lady’s Morning Jacxet. This charming design for a dressing sack is adapted to a variety of mate rials. although as here pictured it was developed in pale blue China silk, ac c 'dion pleated. The garment is si ped by shoulder and underarm si ms and gathers in the upper part of the front afford sufficient fullness. The mode is distinguished by a deep cape collar, trimmed with lace inser tion and finished by a frill of lace. The elbow sleeves are trimmed with two deep ruffles of the silk, further elabo rated by bands of insertion and lace frills, as Is also the lower edge of the jacket. If accordion pleated material is not desired, other fabrics such as cashmere, flannel, silk, dimity and lawn could be used. Empire Coats. Empire coats of three-quarter length are among the many cloth coat and skirt models, and though these cos tumes are tailored great originalltt is shown in the little details of collars, buttons, etc. One seen recently was in dark blue, with strappings of cloth set on in design. There is an invis ible closing and the collar is sealskin It is lined throughout with pearl gray satin. Do not lea.e scrubbing brushes with the bristles turned up, or the dampness from them will run into the body of the brusn and loosen the bris tles in their sockets. A glass decanter may be cleaned by breaking up eggshells Into small pieces, putting them into the decan ter, which is half filled with water, and thoroughly shaken. When housecleaning the bedroom wash the toilet ware with soap and water, and then fill the vessels with boiling hot soda water; put them in the air and leave them filled for half a day until thoroughly disinfected. Never put summer clothes away In a soiled condition. They may be needed in a hurry when the first warm days of spring occur, and then there is much discomfort. Linen and muslins should be packed away un starched, however, to prevent their becoming yellow. The Latest in Stocks. Many of the newest gowns are fit ted with a stock that is especially created for the wearer who, perhaps, disdains the use of ready-made neck arrangements. Some of the newest stocks are graduated in size, and are shaped behind the ears and come down low in front. Many, of them are transparent, and are invisibly boned. The high, stiff stock, by the way, is distinctly growing out of favor. To Clean a Mackintosh. Spread the cloak out on a deal table and go over it carefully with a small scrubbing brush and some soap suds moistened with rain water. Rinse in plenty of clear cold water and hang out in the shade to dry. Stains which will not yield to soap and water will probably be easily removed by rub bing them with a little ammonia. Novelty in Gloves. Among the newest gloves are the piques. The kid pique Is quite a nov elty. It has two large pearl buttons. The top of the glove has a smart fin ish of two edges, pinked, one below the other, and contrasting in color with the shade of the glove. Linings for Wraps. Satin brocade has been used bv Paouln for the lining of some of hi® three-miarter and long costs, tnn pypr nlwnnlen o1 ***♦<• *n OtnV Old Age. It Is too late! Ah! nothing is too late Till the tired heart shall cease to palpi tate. Cato learned Greek at eighty; Sophocles Wrote his grand Oedipus, and Simonides Bore off the prize of verse from his com neers, Whenleach had numbered more than four score years; And Theophrastus at four-score and ten. Had but begun his "Characters of Men.” Chaucer, at Woodstock, with the night ingales. At sixty wrote the "Canterbury Tales.” Goethe, at Weimar, toiling to the last. Completed "Faust” when eighty years were past. What, then? Shall we sit idly down and say The night hath come; it is no longer day? The night hath not yet come; we are not quite Cut off from labor by the failing light; Something remains for us to do or dare, Even the oldest trees some fruit may bear. For age is opportunity no less Than youth itself, though in another dress; And as the evening twilight fades away, The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day. —Henry W. Longfellow. Bouton’s Battery. At an artillery review in St. Louis in February, 1862, Gen. Halleck stated that he considered Bouton’s Battery the finest battery he had ever seen in any service either in Europe or Ameri ca. At a review of troops at College Hill, Miss., in December, 1862, Gen. Sherman stated that, at the com mencement of the war he had felt great concern regarding what we should do for field artillery, as It had always been considered in the old regular army that the three years’ service was necessary to make good and efficient artillerymen, but in Eu rope five to seven years, but that Bou ton’s Battery, though hardly yet a year in the service, he considered equal in efficiency to any battery In any service. Although Bouton’s Battery was or ganized in Chicago, it had men from several of the Northwestern states, quite a number from Ohio and from the sawmills and lumber regions of Wisconsin, and it is likely that a finer body of men from an athletic and physical point of view were never embraced in an organization of the same number. Capt. Edward Bouton recruited this battery largely at bi3 own expense, so that even when it was mustered into the United States service it had cost the state of Illinois but $13.53 per man, at a time when it was cost ing the state an average of $154 per capita to put soldiers in the field. The battery consisting of an aggregate of 154 men, proceeded to St. Louis in January, 1862, where it procured six fine new James rifles, caliber 3.80, throwing projectiles weighing four teen pounds. At this time the government was purchasing from 500 to 1,200 horses per day, at St. Louis, and was getting splendid animals from Missouri, Kan sas, Iowa, Illinois a:vi Indiana. Bou ton obtained permission from Capt. Parsons, the purchasing quartermas ter, to take his pick from these horses as they were inspected and accepted, and he selected from three to ten a day, until he had procured 128 ani mals. Four guns and their caissons, requiring eight teams of six horses each, were supplied with bright bays, and the remaining two guns and their caissons with jet black horses. These teams were perfectly matched, and any pair of them would be likely to attract attention if driven through any city attached to a carriage. The battery wagon, forge, ambulances and baggage wagons were furnished with equally fine animals. From the first organization of the battery, the officers, under Capt. Bou ton's direction, applied themselves diligently to drilling the men, so that when the battery was brought into ac tive service in the field, the men had acquired a great degree of perfection in drill and discipline, and were well prepared to attain the high reputation for efficiency for wh.ch they became noted. In over foul years’ service, this battery never faded to win favor able mention on ma-iv a hard-fought field, particularly distinguishing itself at Shiloh, Nashville and Franklin. At the battle of Nashville Bouton's Battery was attacned to Hatch’s division of cavalry, which constituted the extreme right of the Union forces. In the night some 600 men hoisted one of the guns up the almost perpendicular face of a high hill well in the rear of the left of the rebel army, and at daylight fired the signal shot for the commencement of the attack on the rebel position. This battery participated in seven teen great battles and forty-six im portant skirmishes that were officially ronnrtpH anri nrnhfl'i’v a hunrirpr! minor skirmishes that were never re ported. They were with the extreme advance in the pursuit of Hood’s army, after Nashville, and in that pur suit went into action on an average of six times a day for ten days. Among which was a very hard fight at Duck river, lasting several hours. There was a flood rise of fourteen feet in this river and Hood had to abandon nearly all of his wagons and artillery, and supposed he was clear of the Union batteiies as well, but Bouton’s Battery took their ammuni tion chests across tne river on rafts hastily constructed, principally from the beds of abandoned rebel army wagons, swam their horses across and, splicing their prolongs, dragged the guns through fourteen to eighteen feet of water, and in two hours were pounding away at Hood’s forces again. This battery not only never lost a gun, but with the exception of Shiloh, and perhaps two other instances, where the entire line fell back, they never receded from a position they had taken. Their guns were especi ally adapted to throwing canister: each charge of canister weighed four teen pounds, contained 240 projectiles and when- hard-pressed they would double-shot, and for a short time could fire six rounds per minute, o •’.880' missiles from each gun, 17,28r 'rom the entire six guns per minute which no force could withstand. Bon 'on’s Battery was noted throughon the army for rapidity of fire and ar curacy of aim. Gen. Hatch used t' say that Bouton’s Battery could shoo* piairie chickens on the wing. On one occasion during the Nash ville campaign, in a hard fight be tween Nashville and Duck river, Bou ton's Battery not only silenced a rebel battery, but drove the man entirely away from it, and went with their own limbers and took the guns and carried them off. Two of the guns proved to be James rifles that had been captured from Waterhouse's Bat tery at Shiloh. So far as known, this was the only instance during the war of one battery capturing another's battery and actually carrying off its guns. A high testimonial of the character of the men composing Bouton’s Bat tery is the fact that fifty-three of the enlisted men were promoted to be commissioned officers during their terms of enlistment.—Los Angeles Times. To Department Commanders. Allan C. Bakewell, national patri otic instructor of the Grand Army of the Republic, has issued the following letter to the department commanders: Dear Sir and Comradf—As you are undoubtedly aware, the National En campment assembled at Denver adop ted amendments to rules and regula tions whereby patriotic education is to be governed. The rules now provide for the ap pointment by the commander in chief of a national patriotic instructor, and by department commanders of depart ment patriotic instructors, who, by virtue of their office, will be members of the Council of Administration. In view of the importance of this department of Grand Army work, its acknowledged benefit to the country in whose interests every soldier and patriot deems it his duty and privi lege to serve, and which, through the grand results attained, reflects credit and renown upon the order, it is ur gently requested of you that the ap ! pointment for your department be | promptly made and that the appointee i be instructed to report his acceptance I to these headquarters. It will be of great benefit to the ! cause of which we are all so justly | proud if the comrade appointed shall be of those who have ability and phys ical strength to take up this service with deep interest and energy, and it is earnestly requested that the ap pointments shall be made only of those who will accept the same for the sole purpose of aiding patriotic instruction. The rank of the department patri otic instructor will be designated by an official badge with a silver eagle upon the strap, and he will be entitled to a commission issued from your headquarters. These instructors will be privileged, when advised from the headquarters of the method, to appoint, with your approval, district aides, whose rank will be designated by one gilt bar on the badge strap. Full instructions to department in structors will be issued from these headquarters, and blank forms for re ports, etc., to be made annually, will' be furnished from national headquar ters. Gen. Grant’s Pilot Dead. Capt. Charles Powers, a noted Mis sissippi river pilot who distinguished himself in the civil war, died recently at Chicago. He was 72 years old and was born in Charleston, Clark county, Ind. In his boyhood days Capt. Powers' ambition was to be a pilot, and when he was 18 years old he left home with the announced intention of becoming a steamboat official. He began as a knife-scourer in the cook house and ended as owner of several large boats. When the civil war broke out the steamer W. F. Curtis, owned by Capt. Powers and run between PiPsUi”— and St. Louis, was chartered by the government. At one time L was cap tured by the southerners, but Powers wrapped the government papers in oil cloth and sunk them in the river. Later he recovered them. When the federal government was handicapped in search for pilots to conduct boats up the Tennessee river to Forts Donelson and Henry, Capt. Powers responded, despite the confed erate threat to kill any river pilot that aided the northern troops. After he had safely brought the boats before the forts a reward was offered for his capture, dead or alive. At one time Capt. Powers was cap tured and taken before Gen. Pillar. He escaped to Cincinnati and enlisted as a first-class pilot in the Mississippi sauadron. At the battle of Shiloh, when the gunboats were ordered up the Ten nessee river to Pittsburg landing, Capt. Powers was the only man in the fleet who knew where the landiBg was. Gen. Grant sent for him to thank him, and after their meeting the two became close friends. At Johnsonville Capt. Powers was se verely wounded. As a pilot Capt. Powers knew the Ohio river from Pittsburg to its mouth, the Missippi from St. Louis to New Orleans and the navigable por tions of the Tennessee and Cumber land rivers. Naval Veterans at Denver. There was a large attendance of the '■’aval Veterans at a reunion held at Denver during the G. A. R. encamp ment. All the different squadron were represented, and nearly ever ■•essel in the Western flotilla. The oral committee provided headquar “rs .and also a band for the parade >nd extended other courtesies to theP isitors. The reunion was held unde1 he auspices of the Flying Squadro’ f Naval Veterans, and to which a’ laval veterans are eligible for mem ■ership. The officers elected were ommander, William Simmons, Phile alph.a; lieutenant commander, Job ~r. Don. Morocco, Ind.; secretar ihn Black, Cincinnati, Ohio; treae r?r, W. F. Comstock, Denver, Co’ Mef of staff, W. L. Palmer, Carthage *. D. Headquarters will remain i biladelphia, where arrangements w" -> made for a reunion at Minneapol' ->vt year during the G. A. R. enc"m The Ben Davis Apple. The tree that to-day is receiving the greatest amount of attention from fruit growers is the Ben Davis. Its increase in popularity has been unusual. The Ben Davis apple to-day has innumer able enemies among the fruit growers who have fought its progress step by step. The apple does not stand high in quality and sells low on the mar ket; sometimes it sells $2 per barrel less than the Jonathans, Grimes Gol den or Kings. Yet for all this, the Ben Davis apple trees are being num erously planted and are exceptionally favored by great commercial growers. There are fruit growers in all of our western states who are putting in Ben Davis orchards consisting of thousands of trees. Not only in the West, but in the Middle and New England states the Ben Davis apple trees are being extensively planted. The tree is cer tainly remarkable, in that it thrives well on the prairies in the West and on the clay hills in the East. Having originated in Kentucky one would hardly expect to find it a fruit adapted to Wisconsin, yet such is the case. While the Ben Davis is only medium in quality it has a rich red color when it is allowed to fully ma ture on the trees. Tbis often has been its greatest help in selling. People will buy fruit on its looks even if they know that its quality is not as great as the quality of some other fruit. This is illustrated in the experience of the fruit exporters. At the Paris Ex position in 1900 among other fruit Ben Davis was shown there in consid erable quantities. The fruit after a few days’ showing was each time auc tioned off to the Parisians to make way for new consignments of fruit coming from the United States. It was a surprise to the men that had opposed the Ben Davis apple to find it selling under the hammer of the auc tioneer at 35 franc or about $7 per barrel. No other American apple brought the same price. The Parisians were not deceived in the quality of the fruit for they continued to buy the Ben Davis apple even after they had tested their quality. The bright red color caught the eye of the Parisians who were said to have a longing and a prejudice in favor of the yellow ap ple. The fact is that the Ben Davis ap ples vary In quality according to the place where they are grown. The Ben Davis apple grown in Kentucky, southern Illinois, Missouri and in oth er localities having a humid atmos phere and a long season, reach a large size and bright color and have quite a good flavor. We have seen these ap ples in Missouri so highly flavored that they were considered a delicacy upon hotel tables. We have also seen some good Ben Davis apples as far north as Wisconsin, but in most cases the Ben Davis apples in Wisconsin, Northern Illinois, and adjacent regions are lacking in size, flavor and color. This is due to the fact that the sea son begins late in the Spring and closes early in the Fall. Make Cuttings Now. Few people realize how simple a matter it is to propagate one's own grape vines, currants, gooseberries and most ornamental shrubs. If the work is properly done these plants may be readily propagated by means of cut tings made late in autumn after the leaves are off of the plants, but prefer ably before cold weather comes on. Only well ripened mature wood that has grown during the preceding sum mer should be selected for the pur pose, all soft or immature parts being discarded. The cuttings themselves should be made six to ten inches long and the base of each should be cut squarely just below a bud, so the bud is retained at the lower end. They should be tied up in bundles of con venient size, say, one hundred in a bundle, their butts, or basal ends, ah one way, well shaken down, so as to stand level on a flat table. They may, then, be packed in fresh, moist saw dust and be kept through the winter in a cellar or callus pit. Upon the approach of spring, as ear ly as the soil can be worked and be fore the buds have begun to grow on them, they should be planted out in good garden soil. The rows should be about four feet apart, to admit of easy cultivation, and the cuttings should be set very firmly in the soil, so as to leave no air spaces about them, and set deep enough so only the uppermost bud is above the ground. They should then be given clean cultivation and hoed to keep down all weeds during the summer, when usually an excel lent growth of plants will be secured. Currants, gooseberries, the Marian na and Golden Beauty plums, some varieties of quinces, the barberry, spirea, mockorange, privet, most var ieties of shrubs, willows, poplars anu some other varieties of forest trees, root readily from cuttings handled in this manner. J. C. Whitten. Professor of Horticulture, Missouri Agricultural College. Lime in Garden Soil. I heard one man the other day as Bert that as he was not trying to grow legumes there was no reason for liming his land. Now he may be badly mistaken and may be paying for that mistake by losing annually on ibout all of the garden crops he grows [f the land is sour from any cause lime will sweeten it and allow the yeasty ferments in the soil to grow rhese ferments do a work that must be done if we are to have good crops [f there is a good supply of this vege table matter, a part of the organic matter is changed by the nitric fer ment organisms into nitrates which make the nitrogen of organic matter ivallable for plants. The lime also aids to break up som it the insoluble compounds of potash md renders that element available for the completion of the work of the nl trie ferments. Especially for land* levoted to truck gardening and tha ire constantly heavily fertilized th bse of lime everv few h„s rery beneficial e^ec* - Knleh* ""iierry Co., in Sweet Clover. We have in this country what is known as sweet clover, which is purely a local name. There are two varieties of this plant, known locally as white sweet clover and yellow sweet clover. The name by which this plant is known throughout the world is malilotus. The white clover is known as malilotus alba, and the yellow clover is known as malilotus officinalis. This plant was introduced from Europe a great many years ago. One would think, to see it growing along the roadsides of Northern Illi nois, that it had taken possession of the entire state. He would be the more sure of this if he followed the Illinois Central railroad from Chicago to Cairo; for he would And this plant growing luxuriantly all the way. But if, a short distance below Chicago, he should strike off into, the country, he would find people who had never seen a sample of this plant. If he went 200 miles south of Chicago he would find vast stretches of territory where as yet the malilotus has not come. It is evident, therefore, that the plant has followed the railroad. One reason for this has been the tearing up of the soil in the making of the tracks. The seed of the ma'ilotus never takes root in a field already covered with grass. It is able only to get a foothold on bare ground and hard ground. It does not usually grow well in the plowed field. It has even been said that it never grows in a culti vated field, but this is a mistake. We have regarded this plant as a weed, but now it is coming to be looked upon as one of the greatest benefac tors to our agriculture. Instead oi fighting it, our best agriculturists are planting its seeds in their fields and are encouraging its growth. They have found that it is a wonderful col lector of nitrogen from the air—that by means of the root tubercles it 1? continually collecting nitrogen from the air and adding it to the soil. The writer, this summer, visited one oi the experiments in Southern Illinois that is being conducted by the Illinois Experiment Station. On one end ol the field had been sown the seed ol the malilotus. These plants had de veloped into a forest. A photograph was taken of the field with men and horses standing in it and all were nearly hidden by the plants, which went above their heads. The same day the photograph was taken the crop was mowed down and plowed under to further enricn the soil. The ease with which this plant may be grown and the wonderful amount 01 substance it produces makes It one of the best possible plants for the improvement of the soil. In some parts of the south this p’ant is being grown for hay, but anyone who has tasted of malilotus will understand why the cattle refuse to eat it until they have been starved to it. Eventually the time will come when some man will produce a variety ol malilotus that will lack the bittei taste now so characteristic of it When that time comes we will have discovered a plant which will be in calculably valuable to the farmers ol this country. One of the greatesi benefits coming from the presence ol this plant is the fact that the bac terium which grows upon its roots if the same variety that grows upon the roots of the alfalfa. If a man plants alfalfa on a field where the malilotus has grown he is certain of obtaining a thrifty growth of his alfalfa. Alsc a man who wishes to plant alfaira on a field where neither the alfalfa nor the malilotus has grown before can tak the soil from around the malilotus plants and scatter it in the field where the alfalfa is to grow, and by the second year he will have a strong growth of alfalfa. The germ? thus placed in the soil will remaiD there for all future years, providing that alfalfa or malilotus are grown upon that field. Manures on Truck Gardens. Truck gardeners can use to advan tage much more manure than can the general farmer. For instance, it hard Iy pays the general farmer to buy ni trogenous manures because he can grow leguminous crops and turn under the stubble. But in the case of the market gardener it is different. He cannot do that. He must buy his ni trogenous manure if he needs it, for his land must bring him in hundred? of dollars a year per acre. The far mer that raises on an acre of land a crop that sells for twenty dollars and under cannot afford to put very many dollars into fertilizers. But the truck gardener that grows two hundred dol lars worth of crops on an acre can af ford to put into fertilizers more than the crop of the farmer would bring. He must buy some nitrogen, for he needs a big growth of plant with most of the things he supplies the market. So we see the truck garden ers hauling out for use on their land vast quantities of barnyard manure. We also see whole trainloads of ma nure from the stockyards brought into requisition. I have observed that the ‘ruck gardener farms more intensive ly than the general farmer. I have also sometimes thought that it would pay the general farmer to farm more ntensively and let part of the land lie idle, if need be DuPage Co., 111. Albert Bates. Learn About Fertilizer*. Every farmer that has to use commercial fertilizers should make a study of them. There is noth ing more essential in his farm work. He should understand what are the elements of plant food ~nd why he needs to buy certain fer il zers and not certain others This 'aution is needed badly, as among tbe nultitudes of retail venders of fertil zers are many that are selling farm 7s fertilizers that are of no vliueTo ’er". lh°ugh those same fertilizers would be of value on other farms. Tbe rs r:stheprofit °° *£ aie. This is not true of all. but is 'UP of so* • **r must hira needs in