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'IHE INN OF When t, gray year plods down Toward the end of the hill, Where 1hma white little town Lies aileep. wonder-still. Then he mends his dull pace, For a ray. streaminig far. Strikes a gleam or. his faec From the Inn of the Star. Then the staff is set by, And the shoon from his feet, And the burden let lie, And Le-sitteth at niat; Old jesti. round the board. Old songs round the hlaze, While tie faht bell. accor Like !. it ous ol old days. ***** CAUGHT 1 HE N l-John Jubber. veteran butler at the Grauge-took in the 5 o'clock tea things one evening (it was the foot man's place, strictly speaking, to do so. but knowing that the two old ladies preferred we. I always made a point of doing so). one of them. I think it was Miss Matilda. said: -Well. Jubber. and what do you think of the. new housemaid? Tell us candidly, do you think she will suit?" "I think, ma'am." I replied. "she is a remarkably good-looking young wo man. You see, ma'am. she only came yesterday. so it is impossible for me to tell exactly. I can only say she seems a respectable girl enough. and certainly very clean and tidy. ma'am." "Yes. she is very presentable. cer taiuly," chimed in Miss Jane; "but you know. Jubber. we want something more than good looks. Yu see. .Tubber, Ann Preedy had be:n here so many years, and my sister ad i were so familiar with her ways. that we cannot get used to a new maid very qjulckly. Still, you un derstand. we have such very great faith in your opinious upon all domes tic affairs. .lubler. that it you ex pressed yourself satistied with Mary BLake we should feei quite easy in our zuids. "So we will ask you. Jubier. to keep your eyes on her. and to report to us on her general couduct. and so on. in $:IV. .1 w1eek'~s time from now." Well. I did keep my eye on the young womau. :a-z I was totld. and a week of her acquaintance only confirmed my original impression-namely. that she was as good-looking a girl as one would ,wish to see-auburn hair, slightly in clincd to red, liquid blue eyes, pearly teeth, a trim. compact little figure, and such a foot and ankle! I wouldn't give a thank-you for the prettiest woman in Englaud. I assure you, if she hadn't meat feet and ankles. And those Mary BT2k-e certainly possessed. She was Vonderfully quick, and neat, too, in .:hor housework. .The first morning after she came I ~superintended in person her dusting 'of the old china in the drawing-room. I ,couldn't have done it better my self. Well, it's a remarkable circum stance, that every blessed morning after that did I find myself drawn to 'ward the drawing-room where Mary .Blake was -busy dusting the orna ients. i -'Are you fond of china?" said I. 'one morning, as I watched the new houtsemaid tenderly taking up a little Dresden shepherdess. - 'Qh! yes," she exclaimed. "I can assure you. Mr. Jubber, that dusting trhis room of a morning is a labor of love to me; it is. truly. My late mistress gave me a book all about old - uhna, and I-I know something about it. sir. Next to listening to music 1 think I like to look at beautiful china. .And oh! Mr. Jubber, how lovely you do :perfornm on that violin! When you was piaying last night in your room I sat .sudi listened, and it was a treat to a poor girl. Yes, and when you played 'kfome, Sweet Home,' oh! Mr. Jabber, you don't know how I felt. "Oh! Mr. Jubber, I could not help crying. I-I c-c-cannot help it Dow. Oh! Mr. J-J-Jubber, f-f-forgive me, wo-o-n't you? I c-c-can't help it, yon are so k-k-kind to me." And, with that, blessed if she didn't throw herself into m'' arms, sobbing as if her heart duald break. Well, all I can say is. when a young and lovely ;woman in distress twines her arms round the neck of a susceptible man, and goes on as Mary Blake did to me that morning. I imagine there is only one thing that man can do under the circumstances. and I did it, you may be sure. I-in short-kissed her: I beat a somewhat undignified and .hasty retreat. - Curiously enough, that very morn iing made up the week my mistress had given me in which I was to form an estimate of the character of Mary Blake. "I am happy to .say." I reported, "that I consider Mary Blake perfect in *ev"ery possible way. She is modest and unassuming in her manner, and I - bound to say that as a housemaid I never yet saw her equal. I think., mna'amn." I wound up. "the most fragile .chiua in the world would be perfectly :sa fe if she had the .' nndling of it." "Mv dear .Zane." exclaimed Miss Mn ti:La. clapping her hands together in great delighit--my <%ar Jlane, never were. I do believe, such lucky People .as we are. We have actually found aunother treasure." Well. dear reader, the interest I took 1I. Mary 1-lake's career still coni tinued, and I fouit u myself cver'y moruing superintending the dusting -operatioas it. th" drasv~iig-room. The r''guish blue eyes (no longer with tears in 'euu wouldi still lont in'to mine i:1 the samie pleading. trustful ay the br'othe:' and s sterv k -s would. ta. eeibae :o go falin in love like t'his. for that's what it is. there's no mistake about it: you ought to be ausLhamed of your'self." The niext muorning I a-oided the dra wingt-r)oom at dnsting time. Re su:t--:here was a reprcachf~ul look in the hiue eyes. I determinmed. though. to be irn:, and the next morning, as Ifo'e, to keep cear of the dr'awing ro.Alas: for'.my resolution. Happeniuis to pass the door--quite by nedn.of ectre-I heartd a sound ais of some oue chouking withiu. Mary ill, THE STAR. In the sweet bed of peace He shall sleep for a nigh;, And faith, like a fleece, Lap him kindly and light; Then the wind, crooning wild, Mystic music shall seem, And the brow of the Child. Be a light through his dream. And we, too. follow dowa The long slope of the hill; See, the white little town, Where it shines, wonder-still! Be our hopes quenched or bright, Be our griefs what they are, We shall sojourn a night At the Inn of the Star. -British Weeky. V THE TOIL *,*i perhaps, I thought 'o myself, and at once opened the door. Yes. there she was. sitting on the sofa with her bead burled in the cushions, sobbing as if her heart wKould break. "What is the matter. Mary. my dear?" I exclaimed. drying her eyes with her own duster as I spoke. "Oh! go away-go-a aw-a-a-y." she sobbed. "NO. no: tell me what is the matter what are you crying for?" I said. "Oh! Mister Jubber. I I-o-o-ve you so-o. and you're s-s-so cruel," she re plied. sobbing away louder than ever. Well, here was a pretty go. Of course, I made a fool of myself. and swore I loved her in return. and all the rest of it, if only to keep her quiet. "And you will be k-kind to me, and let me help you clean the P-p-plate, as you promised?" said she. "Oh! yes. of course I will. Mary, my dear," I replied. sealing the promise w'ith a kiss. "And now be off, and I'll finish your dusting for you." Well. I dusted away at the china ornaments, thinking all the while what a fool I had made of myself, and was about to leave the room, when by the sofa on which I had found Mary reclining I caught sight of a crumpled piece of paper. It was a letter. and as it commenced "Dear Poll." i guessed at once who it be longed to. So I pocketed it, meaningi to hand it to Mary when I next saw her alone. Now. I am not an inquisitive man, as a rule, but before I got to my pantry I could no more resist reading that let -ter than a moth could avoid going at a candle. This is what it said: "Dear Poll-Hasn't that. there old Spooney let you have a sight of the plate yet? Get to see it immediate, as Bill and me want to do the crack next week. and Oliver's (the writer alluded in his slang to the moon) not on the job then. If you can get hold of the old girl's diamonds, you can do em up ready for us at the same time. Further pertiklers on hearing from eou. "The kids is all well, and so am I, mnd I remain, y'ours affectionate, "Joseph Maggs." "P.S.-Is there a barker on the prem ses?" It didn't want much acumen to un lerstand this precious epistle, it was as plain as day that the party who wrote it meant carrying off my mis :resses' plate, and that the newly ound iTeasure (?), Mary Blake, was in with the thieves. The next thing to be done, thinks I o0 myself, is to see whether "Old Spooney" can't get the best of Mr. .To eph Maggs. With that in view, after naking a copy of the letter, my Erst met was to go and replace it exactly where I found it. And it was lucky 1 lid, as it happened. for just as I came ut Miss Mary Blake bounced in. She ramne to look for her duster, she said, mnd it was quite refreshing to, note :he dash she made for the letter tbe nomnent she saw it. Of course. I pre ended not to notice thaL part of the >erformance. Apparently much relieved in her mind, she now !.urned her attention to me. "Is my dear old Johnny--you are my .'Tohnny now, aren't you?-going to show me his pretty plate, as he promised to-day?2" says the artful little mninx, looking up into my face with those great lilue, innocent-looking eyes of hers, and putting up her face for a kiss, which I hadn't the faintest ob jection to giving. "Of course I will, my dear." I re plied. "Come to my pantry about 11.30 and I'll show you the lot." "Dear old thing!" exclaimed she. "I'll come, nev'er fear." At the time appointed she duly made her appearance in the pantry, when out came the plate for her edification. TIhere was a tremendous lot, and I showed her every bit of It. Directly after luncheon, finding that several, things were wanted for the house from town, I volunteered to go myself and see about them. Now, Mr. Benjamin Bagshaw, who was an in spector of police at that time (you rec ollect he retired last year?), was a particular friend of mine. So straight to Ben's house I went. "John. my boy." said Ben, when I had told him my story, and showed him the copy of the letter to Mary Blake. "give us your dipper." Ben was always a bit slangy when excited. "I think that if we only use discretion and hold our tongues we shall make such a haul as will astonish 'em at Scotland Yard. Now, look ye here, John," says he; "in the first place all letters to and fro between Mary Blake, housemaid, and Joseph Maggs, bur glar. imust be intercepted. That will be. of course, my 'business. 'In the second place, you must go home and makL- love to blue-eyed Mar'y-oh: the (ear-, sweet little inno 'eut." laughed Ben-"fiercer than ever. "Thir'dly and lastly, you must go out every after noon and meet me regular v.as the letet from Joe Maggs to along the Wallington road, so that we can keep eac-h other well posted." What we were aniously waiting for wa sthe letter from .Toe Maggs to Mary Blake, saying when the plant was :o come off, and at last, on the eighth day. Ben, with the very broadest grin you ever saw on a human countenance, annouueed that it had arrived. Joe Maggs thanked his dear Polly for the plan of the house and the par ticulars of the swag, at~d he and his pal would be waiting outside the house at 2 o'clock in the morning on the Thursday. She was to undo the bolts of the front door. so that they could s!ip in. and they would then go straight to "Old Spooney's" room, gag and hind him if necessary, and walk off with the plate. Finally, she was to give some of "she knew what" to the dog. "Ah! that bit about the dog re minds me." said Ben; "you'd better get the noble animal away somewhere, John. for he night." We .,ettled all our plans. When everybody had gone t- bed I was to let the inspector and two of his men into the house, and secrete them on- the qrawin,-room landing. My next move was to undo the bolt, sa that any one could walk in. Finally. I was to go to bed and await results. When I kissed "Blue Eyes" behind the pantry door that evening. I felt more like Judas than ever. The only consolation I had was that she was as false as I was. On Thursday night. having seen the last of the servants off, I went softly to ,he ball door and let Inspector Bagshaw and his two men in the house. Now. though I was not jealous of my friend. the inspector, yet I did not see why I should not contribute' my mite toward the capture. Therefore, before I went to bed (-vbieh I did with my clothes on. underneath my night shirt) I was careless erough to leave a decanter three parts frall of port wine on the table. Was that port wine doc tored. do -ou think, especially for the burglarious party? Well. I shouldn t wonder if it was. At 1.30 o'clock I went to be.. -Short ly alter 2 I heard a noise. and I set up the most awfui snoring you ever heard. I kept m.' cars open, though. all the time. I heard them at the plate chest; I had fo'olishly left 't ope:. I heard 'em shift its contents into a bag or bags, and then-and then (and I give you my word I almost burst out laugh ing) I heard 'em pegging away at the wine. "Blimy! the cove might ha' been genteel enough to ha' left us out a wineglass-what do you think. Bill?" I heard some one say, as he filled one of the tumblers which I had purposely left on the table so as to be handy. I had not long to wait for what I had expected. "Joe," I heard the other man say. "I feel coming over precious queer about the chump-quite drowsy-like." "Oh, you'll be all right directly you gets into the fresh air," growled .Toe. in reply. "Come. fill up once more, and then we'll mizzle." A loud snore was the response. Out of the bed I jumped like a harle quin. fished out some strong cord I had purchased expressly for the occasion, and bound the legs and arms of tb insensible Joe Maggs and his friend until they looked for all the'world like a pair of trussed fowls. Next I lit my lamp and every candle I could lay my hands upon. and finally I blew my vhistle for help. In rushed Inspector Bagsbaw and is two men, and stopped paralyzed ith wonder at the sight before him the plate all packed. the two burglars eatly secured. Ben, for once, was fairly puzzled. "Why, how the-what the-what's he menning of it all?" he stammered. ooking from me to the two men and hen at me again. I struck an attitude, and, pointing o -Toe Maggs and his friend,. observed. -uietly, after the manner of a con urer at the conclusion of a difficult ~eat of sleight-of-hand-"That's how ts done'"-Finch Maton. in Illustr-at ~d Bits. The skeleton of an average whale eighs about twenty-five tons. 'Adolescent insanity, defined in the ictionary of Medicine as Hebephrenia, a form of insanity characterized by reat mental depression, deterioration f moral qualities and of mental power, nd self-centred, selfish delusions. It sually terminates in demaentia. There is scarcely a gem known to the lapidary which has not been found in America. There are several gems that are almost peculiar to this coun try and that should be better known for their intrinsic beauty. Among these rre the golden ber-yl of Connecticut (it is a brilliant yellow, full of life and sparkle) and the curious chlorastro lites and thomsonites of Lake Superior, which are useful as a green and mot tled background in designs. A Swiss geographer. Dr. Volz, Is about to undertake an enterprise of exploration in a part of Africa hitherto somewhat neglected. Dr. Volz will leave shortly for Sierra Leone. where e will acclimatise until the autumn. He will then enter upon his exploring expedition. which is to be in the hinter land of Liberia, which is believed to have hitherto been explored only by a negro native of Liberia, named Ander shiiT ani that thirty-five years ago. Dr. Volz is an experienced explorer, how ever. He once spent three years in In a recently invented acetylene blowpipe oxygen is used with acety lene. and very high temperatures are obtained, owing to the absence of inert nitrogen from the flame. It is claimed that with this blowpipe a rod of pure iron serves as a soldering stigk, and the beat is so great, that a little of the carbon in the flame unites with the iron, converting it into mild steel. Con siderable use is predicted for the new blowpipe in making repairs at sea. It is believed that a ship's frame could be soldered with its aitd. By combining the most trustworthy data obtainable, the French scientific journal. La Nature. estimates the total amount of gold that has been ex tracted from the earth within historic time at 17.000 tons, valued at $12,000, 000,0)00. The total amount of dia monds taken from the earth during the same pe'riod is estimated at about twenty tons, valued at $700,000.000. Basing the comparison upon weight. the amount of iron daily produced is nearly equal to the total qjuantity of g31ld taken from all the earth's mines ine they were first- onened. , :5 EXPLAINS RATE BILL Facts About the Leading Piece of Work By Last Congress ITS STRONG AND WEAK POINTS Salient reatures of the Measare Which Became a Law After Lengthy Consideration. It is something of a task to study in detail the "rate bill" as it has become law. It may, therefore, be useful to our readers to make a sum mary of the salient features that work important changes in the inter State commerce law. The definition of common carriers includes for the 'first time express companies and pipe lines for the transportation of oil, but not seelping car companies. The defnition of a railroad covers all the appurtenances connected with tracks and terminals, and the term "trans portation" covers all the instumen talities used in receiving. conveying and delivering persons or property, including -what is necessary for venti lation, refrigeration, storage. han dling, etc. This brings under the law the so-called private scar companies and elevators. The clause restricting the use of pasres or free transporta tion is new, but it is pretty liberal in the exceptions made. The provisions intended to prevent common carriers from competing in production and trade in commodities which they carry is limited to railroad companies and takes effect on the first of May, 1908. The main purpose of this, which was one of the Senate amend ments, is to divorce the ownership, control and operation of coal mines from the railroads engaged in trans porting the product. but it applies to all other commodities except such as may be fqr the use of the railroads in their business as common carriers. Railroads are required to make on reasonable terins such connection at shipping points by means of spurs.sid ings. etc., as may be "reasonably practicable,' where it will result in "sufficient business to justify the construction and maintenance of the same." Whenever they fail to do this and complaint is made, the com mission after investigation may re quire it to be done, and its orders in the premises may be enforced by the same proceedings as its other orders. The provisions rega'rdinz the filing and posting of schedules of rates and charqes are faller and more expicit than those of the law aA- present. Thcv must include all throvbh and joint rates, or, where these are- not established. all the separate rates and charges "applied to through tra-ns portation.'' No change can be made with'out a notZice of thirty darys-. eT cep't that the commission may "in its dese-rction and for good causes shown,." allow changes on shorter notiie' or modify the requirements- o~f :he~ l'aw "ini respect to publishing. posting and fling tariffs." All cou traces- agreements or arrangrements~ between common carriers affecting their- rates or charges must be fi~ed with the comnmission, and it nm-y pre. scribe the form of all schiedules. Sim lar rei'uiremnents arc made regarding rpassenger fares. There is. a- strin gent anti-rebate provision. which is ;ubstantia?y that of the Eiki-s Act. but some'what strengthenect It makes it unlawful for "a-ny person or persom or' corpora tion tr-> o4der. ran-t or give, or to solicit.. a-e epti or reeive any rebate. concessioni or ds rimination in respect to the- t'rans portation of any pr'oper!ty,' whereby ueh property shall ' hy any dvice haterer be transport at a jess rate than that named" in the pn~ihed ehednfes, or whereby " any other ad antage is given o-r disci mnationb praetieed." ThJt penalty. is, a heav ine~ ior each offecnse, hut an-y per.. or any officer. director or agecnt ofa corporation who shiall be conv'itedC of the offense is made also subject to imprisonment. Ample provision is made for the enforement of this rlause. and offenders who receive re bates or peenniary advantag.e .are made liable -to forfeit three times the value of tihe consideration r'eceived in proceedings brougtht ." :niithicrity of the Attorney General. The section giin the co~mmission power to preribe r'ates has been made familiar in t hie'ong discussion of this measure. It is onily. necessary to recall that where upon comp!aint ad after full hearing' the c:ommrission finds that "'any. of the' rates or char ges whatsoever demnaded. charged oi collected," or' any. regu lation or prae tice "effecting such rates or. trants pcrtation."' ae iC*'unjust or unreanou able, or unjust ly discri:ninatory or unduly preferential oir prejudicial or othersxise in violation of any'. of the provisions of? this A ct." it may. '"de termitne and preScr'ibe what will h1 t he just and i reas~ibon ' " ratIes 01 ebarges to be observedL as the max mum. and wha't practice is .inst. f'air and( reasonable to be thiereafter fol their observance. whichi "shall take effect within s'ih reasonable time. not less than thirty days. andl shal~ coatijnue in force for 5Luchl period nth exceedingz two years. as shall be pre scribed in the order of the commus sion, unless thle sa me shll be i' neuded or' mod ified. or. 51t asidebx the comm~fission or he suspondedi. or set aside by a court of comapetenti jurisdiction."' The power' to pe seribe' rates extends to thr'oughi and joint rates whefre the~ carriers have failed to a2*re(' upon them and1( 'omf plaint is madeui. Elabr'ate pro~visioni is made for enforcing the orders of the comnlission. by proscutinSfr 2failure to coraly with the reruire ronts of the lawv and for' forfeit res and pe:1alties. lu,'eientalv in de-ig nat in2Z the venue' for' suits against the e' mno'ission to '"en!join, se't aside. an nul or' suspend any order or' recirire mnt of the comiSSion,' jur'isdie tion for such suits is specitieally vest ed in the Cimanit Courts of the Unit ed States. This is a point which pro voked such a ponderous and prolong ed debate in the Senate. The provis ions of tlhe former Act for expedit ing " the hearing and determination of sait ii equity an so forth" is made applicable, with some further specifications. and here the proviso over which so much contention was made is interposed, "that no injunc tion or interiocutory order or decree suspending or restraining the enforce ment of an order of the commission shall be granted except on hearing after not less than five days' notice to the commission.' The other important provisions are those relating to annual reports to the commission. the details of which are fully prescribed, giving the commis sion power in its descretion to pre scribe forms for all "acounts, re cords and memoranda to be kept by the earriers'' subject to the Act, in cluding those relating to the move ment .t traflie. as well as receipts and- expenditures, and enlarging the cominwsion to seven members with seven-year terms and increasing sal aries to $10.000 a year. There is no. doubt that this bill has greatly stren.' gthened and improved the inter-State commerce law. How this provision giving the commision power to pre scribe rates will 'work can only be determined by experience. Probably the only effect it will have will be to put the carriers on their guard and induce them to take pains with their schedules to avoid conflict with the authority of the commission. The commission may also be cautions about conflict over rates, but if there should be serious conflict the cum bersome system would probaby break down by its own weight. THE LABOR WORLD. The teamsters of Miami, Fla., have secured the recognition of their union. The boilermakers of Mattoon, Ill., have' secered increased wages and other concessions. Butchers of Evansville, Ind., have received an increase of ten to fifteen per cent. in wages. Engineers have formed new unions In Atlantic City, N. J.: Jefferson City, Mo., and Milwaukee, Wis. . Thousands of girl workers in Chi cago bookbinderies may strike on ac count of a cut in wages. All kinds of new local unions are being formed. A baseball stitchers' union was re-ently formed in Phila delphia. Ithaca (N. Y.) sitriking carpenters started a full:- equipped planing mill, and are now competing with their former employers. Japanase barbers fn California are working for about $5 per week, and are actually driving the white bar bers out of business. Street railway employes of Detroit are agitating for an increase of scale from twenty-three arnd oine-half to twenty-seven cents an hour. The Building Trades Council of San Francisco has distributed .~0 complete sets of tools to mechanics who 'ost theirs in the recent earth quake and fire. One hundred Chinese recentlyv ar rived at Gainesboro, Fla.,. to tak-e the lace of' the striking men in the tur pentine fields. They are to receive eighty cents a day, while the strikers ask for $1.50 and $2. A significant speech has been de livered by Samuel Gompers,. Presi dent of the American Federation of Labor,. in which the labor leader again serves notice of the active en try of organized labor into politics. NEJWSY GLEANINGS. A record wheat -^rop is predicted. One pe'rson in 400 is insane in hio. Some Americans are to open a big epartment store in London. New York has . :cided to erect a monument to- Ce'l Schurz. Heavy rain spoiled King Edward''s birthday celebration; London rel ays were flooded. The Wels-,. Fargo & Co. Express Company has been put on a ten per ent. dividend basis. Six hundred men in Indian Terri tory hanged and bnrned a negro who had assaulted a girl of fifteen. A Japanese expert said that most f the earthquake losses in San Fran cisco were caused by faulty construc tion. A. B. Hepburn, President of the Chase National Bank. estimated that Americans spent $4 00,000,000 abroad early. Tt is reported that the suits which the Administration expects to bring against the Standard Oil may result in $2,000,000 wt th cf fines. American delegates to the Interna tional Wireless Congress will propose a plan to punish companies for re fusing to communicate with other systems. Two whipthong makers who went into bankruptcy recently in South wark, England, declared that they had been ruined b~y motors. and es pecially by motor omnibuses. An ape in the Bronx 7.oological Park, New York City. seized a lighted cigar thrown into his ca.;e and set fire to a bunch of hay, almost caus ing a panic among the spectators. Morrison G. Swift was fined $10 for posting placards denouncing "noney kings" on the doors of the oflices of J. P. Nlorgan & Co. and the Standard Oil Company, in New York City. A NOVEL PUNISH-MENT. Corporal punishment is said to be the resource of a lazy and uninven tive mind. A Washington womani does not believe in it. She makes theC punishment fit the crime, according tc Harpers Weekly. On one occasion one of her boys had surreptitiously ap)ropriated an orange belonlging to his younger brother. The nmisdemeZan or w-as discovered before the culprit had disposed of his spoli: so the two younsters we're summoned to the judgment seat. "Jame~s." was the stern command~ of the mother. *take this seat, and vo. Thomas. that one. Now. Thom as. give James the orange you have toen from hin." When the lads had dlone as they were ordered. the mother added: "Jamies, i want you to take as long as p)osible to eat that orange. You, Thomas. are to sit there and watch him eat it. U.nder no circumstanlceS ar yon to leave the room. SOUTHERN *: TOPICS OF INTEREST TO THE PLAN Facts About Plant Food. Manufacturers of fertilizers make a great mystery of the art of mixing the various ingredients that go to fill up their 200-pound sacks, writes E. 31 Landsberg in the New York Evening Post. They tell the farmer that it Is necessary to have skilled labor and high-priced machinery to effect a per feet mixture, but a few experiments will soon convince any farmer that he can easily equal the best efforts of the factories and save a substantial sum on each ton. The process is very sim ple. The farmer empties on the floor of the barn the: sacks of die various materials he is about to use, spreads them in alternate layers in a pile, shov els the whole over and under thorough ly for -fifteen minutes. throws the re sult through a screen,. sacks it up again, and he is ready to apply it to I land. Screens are easily made and are ex tremely useful; they -educe the chem Icals, etc., to a perfect form for drill ing, besides insuring a thorough mix ture. A strip of heavy wire cloth. four holes to the inch, is nalled to half-Inch boards, making a sieve three feet wide by five feet long. Say a farmer wants to apply to eace acre of cotton 500 pounds of 8-3-4 goods. and instead of paying from $2 to $28 to a dealer, he wants to mix i1 himself. He pours on the barg floor it front of the sieve a sack of sixteen per cent. acid phosphate. two sacks of cot tonseed meal and half a sack of kainit. Acid phosphate will cost him about $15 a ton; meal he will probably have on his farm, but we must reckon It ai $25 per ton; kainit will cost $12.50 a ton. Sb a ton of fertilizer made ac cording to this, a common formula in the cotton regions, will cost him $18.50, a saving of from $7 to $10 over the manufactured article; furthermore, he has absolute assurance of the contents of his own goods, something he can never know with the ready-made fer tilizers, unless he goes to the expense of having them analyzed. Most fertilizers and most soils need a higher percentage of potash thau the general run of "goods" furnish. But as soon as the farmer tries to buy any tiing other than the standard analysis he must pay such high prices that he usually drops the idea. By mixing at home he can make any formula he thiuks necessary, with only a slight in crease in cost. Suppose the tobacco farmer wants an -4-7 goods (eight per cent. phosphorie acid, four per cent. nitrogen and seven per cent. potash). Materials needed are: One thousand pounds sixteen per cent. acid phos phate: 300 pounds dried blood: 280 pounds sulphate of potash; 420 pounds gypsum er plain dirt. The blood runs about fourteen per ent-. ammonia, and costs $50 per ton, Sulphate of potash runs fifty per cent. pure potash and costs about $00 per ton. Thie farmer must pay the dealer from $30 to $35 per ton for 8-4-7 goods: he can mix them himself for $23 to $25 per torn, saving from $10 to $12 per ton on their cost. These materials can probably be bought enough cheaper than the com merciaI fertilizers to allow the farmer $ or $10 for his work. Clover. veteh, soy beans, eowpeas and similar crops will furnish most of the nitrogen a crop needs; ground bone or acid phosphate is a cheap source of phosphoric acid. But. potash can - be restored to the soil only by the use of kainit or sulphate or muriate of potash. t is usually advisable to supply the growing crop with twice as much pot ash as ammonia. and a slightly larger quantity of phosphorie seid. It need hardly be pointed out that since the manufacturers have to buy all their potash in Germany, they do their best to make the farmer believe he needs but little of it on his lands.,. On stiff clay soils. when growing wheat or cotton, kainit prevents rust, also damage by frost and drought. To baco, potatoes, strawberries and pea nuts need a heavy percentage ef pot ash. Corn Meal vs. Corn and Oat Meal. 0. G. B., Burk, Va.. writes: I wish some information about the meal made by grinding in corn with the cob. is there any value in it for feeding either cattle or horss WVe have fed cor-n and cob meal to several classes of stock with good sat isfaction during recent years. If corn is cheap, say less than forty cents a bushel, it will hardly pay to grind It, but when it gets over fifty cents a bushel, it seems to us that grinding the corn with the cob is profitable, partic ularly as a miachine canr be purchased that will do this wvork fairiy well at a cost of about $40. Corn and cob meal in our experience gives the best result when finely ground. This ,ecessitates very often passing it through the ma chine twice arnd setting tim burrs up closely the seccnd time. Corn arnd cob meal has given us about the same value. pound per pound. as pur-e corn Miscellaneous Happenings.. Czar Nicholas administered a se vere reprimand to the commander of the famous Preobrajensky regiment, whichi adopted resolutions indorsing all tihe acts of Parliament and declar ing ibat the men would no longet pertifor police duty. tiring on their fathers arnd brothers. Arn attempt to prov-oke a massacre f Jews at I'sov-ky by desecratinga an ikon failed. Sei:t who: is har.:ed with man slauthter ifl. causin~g the. dleathI Ot Major J1. N. Wh~yte. vleaded nrot gnil T1he Fren'.ch Minstr of JutsticC has reduced the te'rmr of inmp-isonIfeat imosed( upon Ellin F. Shrepard gra1dson oft he Ia:e W. }1. ade bilt. for runnim:iire an iln girl, from thre'e membi s toni~ek The conferees oni tire Railroad Ratt bill mwet. but rei: her reaching a lina omrweci'Ct rARM V /ITES. ER, STOCKMAN AND TRUCK GROWER. meal. Ihe cobs have little if any nutri tive value, it is true, but c6rn meal is a heavy, concentrated food, and when fed in large quantities it is often not thoroughly digested and assimilated by live stock. The benefit from grinding the cobs with the meal is thought to be due to the lightening of the meal somewhat, enabling it to be completely digested and resorbed. Our experience briefly summed up is about as follows: A ,bushel of corn and cobs weighs about seventy pounds; a bushel of corn fifty-six pounds. By grinding the corn and cob, therefore, we have added practically one-fifth to - the Teeding value of a bushel of corn meal. This is an item to be carefully considered in all sections of the coun try where corn is high priced.Xnox ville Journal ind Tribune. succotash. The American Indian gave to the world a dish composed of green corn and -beans variously compounded, and its name was,.and is, succotash. More recently our agricultural andlive stock experimenters have utilized this name for mixed feeds for live stock, and fed to them green. Corn, pease, oats and barley were sown together with satis factory results in the way of food, but produced no second crop after the first one was cut off. This was in some ex periments made at the Agricultural Experiment Station. Later on, corn, pease, oats, rape and millet were planted together and a successful sec ond crop was got of rape and millet, provided the first crop was cut with a scythe and not grazed off. These ex periments have been. carried . on in Michigan owing to the great necessity there for green crops for soiling dairy cows. With us in Louisiana a supple mentary supply of forage Is very fre quently needed before the new hay crop comes in in the regular way, and it might be that some of our experi menters, or some of our experiment stations, could lay the plans for us by means of which we can successfully produce green soiling crops at the ear liest possible date-in the season. It has been usual in Louisiana to sow corn broadcast, or drilled in close rows. for such purposes, but so far as we know, we have not yet gone on to the point of succotash, which we ought to avail of if it can be made as successful here as it seems to have beer made at the Michigan station. - Louisiana Planter. When to Sow Cowpeas. Peas should not be sown until the ground is warm. If sown earlier the seed may germinate, but if cold -weath er follows the growth may be perma mently stunted. The best* fertilizer to use on peas is 100 to 150 pounds of high grade .acid phosphate, Or basic slag, with twenty-five to fifty pounds of muriate of potash. An application of 300 to 500 pounds of agricultural-lime will sometimes prove helpful. The principal objection to the use of this kind of lime is oftenTh manufacturers ask an exorbitant for it,. but it is in- a convenient form to apply. Nitrogen; as a rule, is not necessary for the pea crop as the pe'as generally .produce an abundance of nodules, enabling the plant to feed freely on the nitrogen contained In the 'atmosphere. We generally prefer to sow the peas in drills, say twenty-four inebes apart. An ordinary grain drill may be used, stopping up two out of every three tubes. Cultivate lightly with a weeder or any surface working implement until the vines begin to spread. Peas sown in drIlls do not tangle so badly and stand up better; hence they can be cut for bay to better advantage.-Professor Soule. Black Pepper For Poultry. There is as mueh difference in the effect that black and red pepper has on chickens, as there Is almost between wheat and corn. Red pepper acts as a hurtful stimulant, black pepper as a wholesome corrective. Chickens and turkeys thsat are fed black pepper al ways thrive. In the writer's experi enee, whenever I have a chick that seems out cf sorts, the very first thing I do is to give a grain' of black pepper. Of course, the chick must have grit that is gocd and sharp to digest it well, but sharp grit must always be at hand, If birds would in any measure thrive-Poultry Life In America. Never Overdo the Thing. The experienced strawberry growers of the county will plant the s. me acre age this year as they did last. notwith standing the fact that the season just past has been one of the most success ful in the history of the county. . The growers who have planted strawber ries for years. plant the same number of acres each season. They never over-, do the thing on the strength of a very flattering season. We trust that our farmers will give strawberry growing a trial and will find it profitable enough to continue.-Lake Butler (Fla3 Star. Current Events. The American Farmn Products Company has been incorporated, with $2.000,000. to control but ter, spring chickens and eggs. It is estimated that the peach crop on the Peninsula will be i~he largest in many years. Secretary Ch~arles J. Bonaparte was Ielected president of thte Alumni As- j sociation of Harvard University. Mirs. James Tanner. wife of the Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic. was killed at H !elena in an automobile accident. Robert (G. Proetor. Senator Lodge 's former seeretary, was found guiltyv by a jury of emb~ezzling money received as a campaign fund contribution. The attorneys for the& convicted ice d1ealers in Toledo. Ohio. denounced tibe Court us prejudiced and were in turn s.ce by the judge. The Pubile Ownership Commission was dine by the Lord Mayor of. i T ndan -