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'V/T '* ; ^ > BILL ARP FEELS THANKFUL 1 i HAPPINESS IN ALL OUR HOMES, j He is Glad We Have Good Things < to Enjoy in This World?Beauty in ] Autumn Leaves. "How small the part of what we all endure Is that whicn kings or laws can cause or cure." We make much ado over the rr.oney question, the tariff, the trusts, the combination of capital against labor and the greed and corruption of politicians,* but after all our felicity depends upon ourselves and what we choose to make of our domestic life. Compared with happiness at home all other joys are trifles, transitory pleasures that come and go and leave us at last to take refuge in the domestic circle. A hundred years ago the poet wrote : " If solid happiness we prize Within our breast this jewel lies, From our own selves our jovs must come - ? * _ 1 M And mat endearing piacs?oar uumc. How sadly sweet is the dream of home to the boys who have exiled themselves to a foreign land?to the daughters who have followed their husbands far away?to the soldiers who lie in the trenches in the distant islands of the sea, and to the wrenched convicts who toil in the mines for life or for a term of miserable years. 1 was ruminating about how much we complaining mortals have to be thankful for in this goodly land. It is well for us all to sometimes take an invoice of what we have got that neither k'ngs nor laws can take from us. The masses of our people have homes? humble homes, comfortable homes where, as William Pitt said, "The poorest man may bid defiance to the crown. It may be frail, its roof may shake, the wind may blow through it and the rain leak in, but the king of England cannot enter, nor his forces dare to cross its threshold." The masses of our people have good health, which is the chiefest of all the poor man's blessings. In this goodly Southern land we have pure air, good water, a temperate climate and a soil that responds easily and surely to the laborer's toil. Adam Smith said in his great work on the wealth of nations that a kind Providence had so ordained that the average labor of one man 1 ^ DimnAKt oi?Vi + norSdna ftriH citA ft UU1U ouppviv VAgu* . ?them all of the necessaries, many of the comforts and some of the luxuries of life. How nicely this fits the average family?a man and his wife and six children. If there are more children the older ones are able to help, and as the man grows old and feeble the younger children have grown up to take his place. Of course, there are exceptions, for the wife may be an invalid or the children all girls or the farm horse get sick and die, or the hogs take cholera or the house burn np, but most all of our ills are the result of indolence, imprudence or criminal conduct. If we violate a law of nature we are sure to suffer for it. If <> we spend more than we make and get in debt we chain ourselves to a hard master, for, as Solomon said, "the borrower is a servant of the lender." Frugal habits and contentment at home are cardinal virtues that ensure happiness. Then there are the pleasures that affect the heart and the emotions, the joys of loving and being loved, the innocent sports of children or grandchildren, as they play around us; the sweet $ha*-m of music, even . though it be a mother's song as she soothes her child to sleep. From my window I see beautiful flowers looking up to heaven or bending gracefully to the God who made them. M Flow ere that weep without woe, And blush without a crime." ^ And the vines on the trellis are fadjgPELJng into beauty and the forest trees tnlrinar rin their vn.riporR.tP.ri enlnm. What is lovelier than the autumn robes of if he chesnut and maple and sweetgum and the intermingled green of the pines ? Why not cultivate a taste for ail these outside ornaments of nature, for they are-not only beautiful, but the contemplation of them is refining. A beautiful flower is -a miracle ; ho human hand could fashi&q it and " Solomon in all his glory was aot clothed like one of these. The blessings of nature are gratuities. They cost nothing?the trees, the flowers, the grass, the sunshine and the rain, the songs of birds and the reverential sonnd of distant thunder that comes, as the poet says, from heaven's own organ. And so the invoice might go on. Of course, a good citizen will take an interest in the laws that govern him, but he should not forget the blessings that laws cannot take away, nor should he fret himself because of evildoers. A much traveled friend, on his return from Europe told me that as he journeyed through Germany he saw many and many a woman yoked beside a cow or a steer pulling a plow through the tough soil, and hundreds of women ^ going to market half bent under the burden of wicker baskets piled up with small wood or vegetables. The white man's burden is nothing compared with the white woman's burden among the peasantry of that country. Every young man owes military service to the government and is obliged to go when his time comes, but here every man is a king or a sovereign and can go or not, as he pleases. The truth is that our common people are the most independent common people in the woild and ought to be grateful to God that the lines have fallen to them in such pleasant places. Why be envious of the rich, the millionaires who have more care and anxiety than we have; whose children grow up in peril, whose - days are consumed in plans to increase their riches, whose nights are restless with dreams of gold, and whose health and appetite require constant nursing. The law of ccmoensation is as fixed as fate and it is entirely possible in this land of liberty for a poor man to be as happy as a rich one. But we must all work and be diligent in business. It is every man's duty to better his condition, if he can. He must make his home comfortable and attractive. His wife and daughters are competed to live there and they like comiorts and ornaments. It is the - nature of woman. The roof should not leak nor the wind blow in at a broken window pane. The doors should shut easily and the front gate hang well on its hinges. If you can't buy a carpet, you can make one of bagging that will , ' a comfort in winter. Beg a few rose bushes and vines from your neigh- 1 bors and plant them. Bring same 1 goldenrod from tho fields and place it < somewhere to look at. Keep a good, 1 clean dog, but don't let him lie by the 1 fire. If you can't hire a servant, then 1 do you or the boys make the fires and 1 milk the cows. Woman has enough < to do in nursing the little children and 1 making their clothes and caring for < them all the day and sometimes haif ' the night. My contempt for a man * who does not help his wife has no ] bounds. The catechism asks what is the ? chief end of man. And the answer is, J " To glorify God and enjoy him for ever." That is good theory, but the c fant is thai a man's chief business is to 1 raise Children and to enjoy them. The | * world is working for children and our greatest pleasure and our greatest c grief comas' from them. Wnat does 1 ' * politics or fame or money weigh com- I V. pared with the death or the dishonor 1 of a child. Bow does the great world I T shrink when affliction invades the family circle. The welfare of our j children is the all-absorbing business kr of our life. The desire to see them t, well and happy in childhood and later $ on to be weil mated and married and a l - prospering in business and ornaments e ?' ' to the church and the community is e the ideal hope of parents. "To glorify & God and enjoy him forever" is in a S measure postponed for another world. r< V* t must tz Uot the Lord and pray to ^ aim, but our most constant devotion iDd anxiety is for our children. But why this moralizing? The poets have long since sung the sweet song of filial and paternal love. Even David sang of the rich reward to the righteous man when his children grew up like olive plants around his table. Our little orphan girl came home yesterday as proud as nor Uncle Tom will be when he receives his thousanddollar sword, for she is on the second honor roll at -school and her picture will get into the papers some of these days. Another grandchild got the j second honor in another grade and the parents and we grandparents are as proud as the children. We had no marks or honors when we went to schocl, except to got head in the Friday evening spelling class, when the whole school stood up in a semi-circle and contended for the highest place. My sweet-heart generally held the fort and if 1 could climb to her side and hold her hand in mine it was enough for me. But, ah ! the beautiful books the children have now and the beautiful pictures. How we would have wondered and admired if we had 1 11 The nlri nau a smaii puriiiuu ui uuoui, v.. blueback spelling book had five, I think, and I see the rude boy up in the apple tree now stealing apples. And we had an English reader and I remember the picture of the two farmers quarreling over a cow. One had her bv the horns and the other by the tail and they were both pulling with all their might, while a lawyer was sitting on a 8tool milking her. How does that fit lawyers and a law case now 9 We had a grammer and an arithmetic and I notice that three times three still make nine and the multiplication table is the same, but I don't see the rule of three nor " tare and tret," that we used to whisper was enough to make the devil sweat. Our geography was a book and an atlas separate, but there were to pictures. But there is more in the boy or the girl than in the books, end either can get an education if they try to. Tbe best part of our education comes after we quit school and- settle down to the business of life. It comes from .reading good bookshistory, biography, magazines and newspapers. In our young days we did not read trash, for we did no: have it, but now the young people read anything and everything. If evil communications corrupt good manners, as St. Paul said, then a person's character is affected by the books he reads. Beading all sorts, of novels is as much a dissipation a9 gambling and I wish there was a commission in every State to decide what books were best for minors to read. There is a smart servant girl in my family and she Is reading 'Trilby" on the sly? ? .oilI ?..t7Q7?xj Hpvinsh th inf? r? ill UV v?v? J 0 they see the white folks do. I reckon that is the monkey that is in them. Bill Arp. AN HISTORIC REGIMENT. The First Tennessee Has a Record Extending From the Revolutionary War to the War in the Philippines, One Tennessee regiment?the First ?has been making history this hundred years and more. It was organized and commanded by John Sevier, when the State was merely " Tennessee County" of North Carolina. Sevier led it over the mountains when Revolutionary fortunes were at the lowest ebb, to fall upon Tarleton at King's mountain, and turn a wavering fight into a brilliant victory. Twenty years later Andrew Jackson was its colonel through the bloody Indian ware that broke the power of Choctaws, Creeks and Cherokees. A little later Gen. Andrew Jackson posted his old regiment in the very fore front at the battle of New Orleans, where, side by side with the Hunters of Kentucky, its unerring rifles mowed down the red coats like grass. Afterward the First Tennessee slept upon 1.8 laurels until there were grumblings of war in the Southwest. Many of its original members had gone to Texas, but they had left kinsmen aplenty to fill the ranks afresh. The renewed First Tennessee went to the f help of * Old Rough and Reaiy," as | Gen. Zachary Taylor was affectionately called, and soon showed that it meant to live up to its reputation. At Monterey, a walled and fortified town which Taylor was forced to carry by assault, it .was the First Tennessee which set the first American flag triumphantly in the breach?and what is very much more to the military purpose?kept it there until it was carried further forward. ^ All through Mexico it went, winning golden opinions from even the atarch and stately regular army men. When it came home after the old fashion, it kept up a sort of skeleton organization. A skeleton the civil war louna it, out a skeleton that quickly took on life and strength. A state of war supervened late in April; in May Tennessee seceded ; in June the First Tennessee oddly brigaded with the Seventh and Fourteenth regiments, left for Virginia, where the Tennessee brigade was assigned to Lee's corps, then operating in West Virginia. The next winter Lee took command in front of Richmond, and the Tennessee brigade became part of Jackson's "foot cavalry." It stayed with him till his death, bearing itself soldierly through all his fighting and more than once winning special mention for desperate and distinguished daring. At Gettysburg it made part of Pickett's charging column, losing more than half its numbers in killed, wounded and prisoners. " The cankers of a calm world and a long peace," even, could not destroy the fighting spirit in the famous old First regiment. When the Spanish war came on, sous and grandsons and great-grandsons of First regiment men went joyously into its ranks. They almost prayed to be sent to Cuba. The powers that be thought fit to send them to the Philippines instead. But it was October, 1898, before they embarked, and they grumbled mightily that the fighting was all orer. j Since events have proved their mistake, the regiment has lived up to its traditions. The regimental historian has an autograph letter from Admiral Dewey, saying: "I am too happy to have an opportunity of expressing my admiration of this Tennessee regiment, its splendid work in the Philippines in actual warfare, and of its late colonel." Gen. Otis adds: " Nothing can be said of it (The First Tennessee regiment) which is not commendable of it as a military organization. Next to its admirable fighting qualities, what have impressed me most forcibly is the universal good feeling and close comradeship which exists imong its members, and the regard which the enlisted men have for their officers, who look carefully after their wants. As an admirable fighting majhine, it has shown its excellence, both aere and at Iioilo." Col. W. C. Smith, commanding when ;he regiment went into action, died of aeart dfcease upon the firing line. His successor, Col. Gracey Childress, Keniucky born, but by adoption a loyal reunessean, will, therefore, have the listinctiou of being the la3t of a fanous line of colonels, for he is bringing he regiment home?it is expected jarly in October?for final mustering >ut. Under the new order of things he old regiment will lose its identity, t is not strange, therefore, that a hisory of it is now in preparation.?St. jouis Globe-Democrat ?A dozen years ago the very best /ia? nnnl^ ha hnilt fnr y PC 'JA Udl WUiU w wuu? AV& 10,000. That, in fact, was considered . n extravagant price, and included , very luxury of the period. At pres- ( nt a thoroughly first-class car costs . 22,000. The increase has been sinulariy steady, and about $1,000 a year 4 ^presents the evolution of the modern ' Leal of comfort and beauty. 1 , 0 SCARCITY OF STALLIONS, j Supply of Breeding Horses Skort . Next Season. j ' From all that can l>e learned Just now there is every prospect that the supply of breeding houses will be very 1 short next season, says The Horseman, i Last season a number of well to do 1 farmers and others interested decided j to put chase stallions to stand for pub- j 11c service in the vicinity of their ( homes, but refrained from doing so j when they found they could not for a few hundn^l dollars pick up a good horse such as had been going a beg- 1 ging In the dark days of the dull times. 1 Finding that for such a horse as they 1 wanted they would have to pay from i $1,000 upward, these intended pur- ] chasers went home, having decided to ( wait for another spring, and then they could buy at a lower price. It was the general Impression that the spurt values had taken would Induce so many men to go to Europe to import stallions tliat in iyuu rue supply would be far greater than the demand, prices accordingly being much lower. Alas for such carefully laid plans! The importation of stallions this year has been disappointingly small. Those who went to France found that the supply was so light and prices so very high that it was impossible to get together any sort of a large lot with the prospect of making even a fair profit on them. The Oaklawn importation, which consisted of 70 head, was fully 50 short of what it was Intended to be when Mr. Fletcher left for France. So with the other Importers of French horses. With those interested in British horses It was even worse. The prices paid for good geldings have risen so much of late years In Britain that the knife has been very freely used, with the inevitable result that only the tops were kept entire. There is a shortage of horses in Britain, and a good demand prevails for all high class stallions. This put the good ones away above the point at which they could be lmi>orted safely; hence only a few have !>eou brought over. One would be importer priced a good looking ton weight 4-year-old horse owned by a prominent English breeder of Shires. This was a whole colored brown horse of weight quality and symmetry and a prize taker at one or the important shows of England. The importer was fairly staggered when the owner asked him 1,200 guineas ($6,000) and decided there and iben to charge the expense of that trip up to health account ami let It go at that. How to Tie Wool Pleecet. The first thing to be considered is how to put up the wool so as to give the buyer a good impression when he ? first looks at it. There are a number , of ways of tying the fleece. Some pre fer using a box, into which the fleece is pressed and tightly tied so that ? when it is taken out it retains the ' shape of the box, 6ays a writer in the Montana Stockman. The fleece that Is | most attractive and seems .to get the most comments from buyers in general is the one that Is simply folded, as loosely as possible,*and have It hold its i shape, using as little twine as will ac' compllsh the object. Where this is well done light, bulky looking fleece Is made, which in the market is more appreciated than the more symmetrical fleece that comes i from the box, the criticism on the latter being that pressing it so tightly gives it a soggy and heavy appearance ? that repete a buyer. The twine used 1 should be the regular wool twine, and under no circumstances should sisal | twine be used. By sisal twine I mean such as is commonly known as hide , rope and some kinds of binding twine i made from the sisal fiber. The reason why it should not be used is that its fibers intermingle with the wool and cannot be got out in process of manufacture and have to be picked out of the goods in the shape of specks. Now, as to the condition of the fleece before it is tied. It should be free from all tags and heavy skirt locks and as free as possible of all seeds, chaff or straw as well as sand burs. Seeds and chaff are very hard to get out of wool, and where the fleece is bad with them the value Is hurt more than burs affect Its value. Wool and Clothe*. In a letter to The American Sheep Breeder S. S. Cole of New York says: "Having occasion to buy a suit of clothes for a boy, 1 will give you a few straws on wool. The merchant threw down a number of suits ranging from $8 to $14. He then brought forward one at $5 which was superior tn looks, feeling and texture to all of them. It' occurred to me that, as I grew wool and flattered myself that I knew something about It, here might be an object lesson. I proceeded to investigate the highest and lowest priced suits. Well, I found that one could pull a thread three or four Inches in length of long, staple, strong wool from the best one. From the other the yarn came out about one-quarter inch long and would break into one-eighth to one-sixteenth, etc. Please don't ask me which suit I bought If any repu table sheep breeder and wool grower will buy for his boy (who has been a shepherd, sheep dog fln/1 rv/\r?r? /?? ?vt ? -V - uutu oauuiu y\jLkj wuil'UJCU; OUVJU it BilUUdy outfit for his best suit, some sensible old ram that is master of the situation should not only butt him from the rear, but from all points of the compass until . be (the dad) learns the eternal Utnees ( of all things.' And the merchant?well, , he was an honest man. Had he been ( otherwise and put this showy suit up j to $10, so as to make $6 profit instead of $1, he would have sold about as many as at the extreme low price and not aroused the suspicion of his cos- ^ > tomers, as in my case."* ^ Xews nnd Notes. < The latest theory of tip blight in po- c tatoes is that it is not a blight at all, r but merely sunburn; that the cause is j the loss of vigor In the plant by long t cultivation of varieties and that It j rarely affects the newer varieties. It appears a theory on which a little care- t ful observation will enable each grow- t er to form his own opinion. ^ In the midst of the general gloomy r outlook for peaches New York, with c indications pointing to rather more ; than a half crop, and California, with g the prospect of something less than ^ three-fourths, according to the July ^ estimate of the department of agricul- ^ ture, seem highly favored. ^ Cold storage affords one of the most ? practical means that we have of pre- ^ venting waste in the fruit crop. Apples that fall from the tree when almost ripe and are lost are frequently jg ripe enough to be picked and placed tl in cold storage, as apples for cold ii storage should be picked while solid. aj Destroying: Bushes. a Bushes cut to the ground in August ta will often be entirely killed. The bush le has exhausted its sap in making the & summer growth of leaves, and if these *x are dried up it has not enough sap to fe Bend up sprouts this fall. Some may ct start next spring, and these should be ?? burned over if not where it will en- b( ianger buildings or forests. The fire ot will char the buds at the base of the| th leaves sufficiently to kill them. 1 ?> La SHEEP PROSPECTS. i Good Thing Rather Than m Btg j Thin*. The man at present without sheep j vho is not petting hold of a few or the j nan with sheep who is not extending j lis operations, intensifiing his man- | igement or reducing it to a scientific i jasis is not living up to his privileges, J says J. McCralg in The American j Sheep Breeder. Prospects never were j better for sheep business. The general I tendency of public choice in favor of sweet, Juicy, palatable meats is putting the sheep business on a lasting and solid basis. Sheep raising is thought by many to be a kind of primitive industry suited to poor lauds and undeveloped agricultural conditions. Many who raise sheep on good lands look on them as a sort of corner product or adventitious gain that demands no skill in management and little expenditure of labor at any time of the year. It Is true that sheep will do better than any other kind of stock on the minimum of care. They will yield a profit on ordinary or even poor pasture alone, but they are, on the other hand, most susceptible to generous treatment. Three hundred sheep to "the square mile on the expensive and highly cultivated lands of England does not look as though sheep were to be relegated to poor countries or poor pastures. Neither does it look as though the taste for mutton belongs to countries in a primitive state of Industrialism or of progress. There is every encouragement for a prospective shepherd to start now. Wool and mutton are both good and are both short of the requirements of the country. There Is a strong commercial Impetus which will affect labor, the demand for labor; hence population and foodstuffs for that population. Present prices are not boom prices, but are such as will enable the beginner to get a stand of stock at a price that will make it impossible for it to die in his debt. Sheepmen do not stand much chance for a boom, as their stock multiplies so rapidly that there cannot be any long continued failure of supply. There is not much room for the boomster or speculator in the sheep business, but there is always plenty of room for the steady, consistent and confident manager who is looking for an adequate and satisfactory return for a moderate Investment of capital and care. The sheep business offers a good thing rather than a big thing, and a good thing that is safe. If you haven't been in the business before, take a part of your available capital and begin now. If you have not bred sheep before, start easy and buy ordinary ewes, but figure on Improving your ewe flock in the future by getting a good ram. The grand principle of success is to raise each year youngsters that are better than their ancestors of the ewe flock, and this Is most economically done through the use of superior males. If it were not possible to vary your flock according to the character of the coupling, there would be no such thing as skill In breeding. Bank on a good sire, whether your flock is common or select If you have been breeding before, yon are acquainted with the individuals of your flock. You know the attentive mothers, the good milkers, the heavy shearers. You know the ones that breed singles and those that bring twins. Finally you know which ones answer to the accepted type and to your ideal. You know the coarse head, the heavy ear, the cloudy wool and dark skin. Hold on to the ones of tried breeding qualities and that conform to your Ideal and let the others go to some less ambitious shepherd who has yet to learn the expensive learat>r rvf old exDerience. A hard old mistress she is. Feeding Young Pigs. Professor Thomas Shaw recommends the following supplemental feed for young pigs where they do not get feed enough from the sow: If there is skimmilk on hand, partition off a place in the pen where the dam is, if necessary, but which she cannot reach, and there, in a iow trough, feed some skimmilk as soon as the pigs will drink it As soon as they take it freely feed them a slop of shorts and milk. Then give them a little oats or corn strewn on the floor in addition to the slop. Feed the slop so that it will not become stale at any time. If there Is no skimmilk at hand, a thin slop of shorts and water Is next best, presumably a little warm if the weather is cooL But when the trough room is ample young pigs may have their food supplemented by allowing them to eat with the dam at will. The same kinds of food that are best suited to provide an abundance of good pure milk from the dam will alone provide the right sort of feed for the pigs. But the trough should be low, and one or more planks should be in front of it, so that the little pigs can easily get into it, and care should be laiten not to reea macn Dran or toe hulls of oats to the sow when the pigs are learning to eat, as such food is too coarse for the digestion of the little pigs. It Is surprising bow soon they will learn to eat thus along with the dam. Take it all in all, there is perhaps no better mode of management than that just subscribed for average conditions. It Is the least labored. It answers very well and forces one to be cautious as to the character of the food given to the dam.?Indiana Farmer. Demand For Mutton. If the demand for mutton Is calling for greater supply, the Increase of supply of good mutton, on the other hand, s encouraging a taste and hence is creating greater demand. There is xx>m for more of us to foster demand >y contributing whatever is suitable o our circumstance, whether it be the tarnishing of baby lamb for the critic ippetite of the gormand, the feeding of he nice bunches for fall or winter rade or the more ambitions work of tlstributlng nice sires and ewes to aise the standard of quality in the arcass or to promote good mutton Orm and early maturity qualities. The pringtime of the shepherd is in the all. It is then he contracts for the quality and extent of his crop for the ear. Let beginners have hope and old [mere have renewed confidence In heir sheep enterprises, for the future i rosy. The spinach"leaf maggot, or miner, i a small, white maggot which mines le leaves of spinach and beets, cansig them to have a blistered appearace. The white eggs are deposited by fly and are usually to be found at- i iched to the lower surface of the 1 aves. It is the most injurious pest ' aown to infest spinach, as it attacks j )th spring and fall crops. The only j aslble plan of controlling it is clean i iltivation combined with late fall or ( irly spring plowing of old spinach j His. There are six broods through- \ it the season, the last brood passing ? e winter in the pupa stage, says c enver Field and Farm. ; - 4 ar - , VALUE OF SEED WHEAT. The value of any seed wheat is largely relative; it must be adapted to the soil aud situation for which it is recommended. Growers of experience know this, and do not pretend to accept the advice of some farmer five hundred miles away. All that he may sa\ may be true, but it is the difference in the soil and surroundings that determines for each the question of profit or Joss. A common and very satisfactory way of adapting new varieties of exceptional value to a locality is to mix it with some local variety that is suited to the soil and climate, and developing the result from seed wheat that may be of great value. Nearly all wheat will deteriorate if the seed is taken from the same field year alter year, and the only way is to obtain new seed. The most satisfactory way is to select half enough seed wheat each year from the field, and then mix it with an equal quantity of good seed purchased from some other place. See that the two are different but good varieties. They iuvaiiably mix well, and produce excellent results. In this way we constantly cioss the vaiieties and secure all the good that there is in the market. Of course the seed from the field must be selected with the greatest care, and only the very laigest and best grains should be taken. Likewise the purchased seed shouldjcome only from reliable parties, and it should not be inferior in any way to that selected from the home fields. In specializing wheat we are reaching a point that has its disadvantages. It is a good deal like inbreeding in fowls. Too much of it weakens the stock, and in order to instil new life and energy into them it is often neccessary 10 cross-breed. The raisers of fine seed wheat have inbred some of the leading varieties to the point where new blood is required to make the seed stronger and more productive. That is why, T LAIWUTA 1 knf oAniA TTon *?o fKn nrAnQ uciivrtj Luai ouuic j&aio iu& succumb so easily lo dry weather or the attacks of enemies. The seed8 are refined to the point of exhaustion, and while under the most favorable conditions the plant from such seeds might produce the banner crop, a very little thing might blast the whole field. As our crops have to encounter some pretty bad weather and many enemies, it seems wiser to have plants with more ruggedness even though they might produce a bushel or so less of wheat 10 the acre. In the long run the average wheat field will be in favor of the hardier breeds. We have inbred fowls which if kept in a hot-house may do better than any other breed, but out doors they are too sickly to do much. Cross-breeding occasionally or often is just a3 essential in wheat as in fowls or animals. Mixed varieties of seed wheat is my selection every time, although intelligence must be used in the selection.? William Conway, in Wisconsin Agriculturist. WHAT IS LIQUID AIR? Liquid air is just what its name implies. It is not a liquid distilled from some newly discovered vegetable, or mineral, but is simply airf such as we breathe, made so cold that it takes the form of water. The fact that air can assume that form is a recent discovery, as is also the method cf obtaining the intense cold necessary tothis result. The tern perature required is 312 degrees neiow zero?a temperature farther below the coldest arctic winter than that is below a tropical summer. Yet persistent efforts have at last developed a method by which it is readily produced. When air is cooled down to this degree it changes to a misty vapor and gradually foims into drops that fall like rain to the bottom of the vessel containing it. By a proper arrangement it may then be drawn off into an open receptacle ready for us. When seen in an open vessel it might be mistaken for boiling water, as it simmers and gives off a white vapor. When first poured out it boils violently, throwing off a cloud of vapor that rolls down the sides of the vessel. But as soon as the receptacle has cooled to the temperature of the liquid it quiets down to a simmer, which continues until all has .evaporated and returned to air. This may require several hours if care is taken to keep the vessel away from every conductor of heat. But if it be placed on a plate of iron or even on a block of ice it will boil violently and very soon mingle with its native air. If poured out on a conductor, as iron or ice, it will assume the gaseous state so rapidly as toamouut to an explosion. As a freezing agent the power of liquid air is terrific. It freezes pure air very readily, and freezes mercury so hard that it may be used as a hammer to. drive nails into hard wood; and so thorough is the chill given that the mercury retains the solid 'state for several minutes. It will sear living flesh like a red hot iron and may take the place of all chemical cauterizing in surgery. As a refrigerator, liquid air will be easily controlled and it can be made lo lower the temperature ot a room very slightly or to produce a degree of cold ihat no life could endure for a minute. jYs an explosive it certainly has great power and experiments already made indicate that it may be used in both gunnery and blasting; and it may thus take the place of both gunpowder and dynamite. Asthma Cuke.?The season is on now when many of our best mec :ine plants are maturing. The catalpa _,ean is now at its best. This is a tree and grows along the sidewalks in many towns and roadsides in the country; grows usually about twenty feet high, has beautiful branches of lilac colored floweis in spring and later long bean pods. These beau pods are a valuable remedy in many kinds of asthma, and especially the cases that involve the heart. Take a good handful of the bean pods and bruise wilh a hammer or mallet; put in one quart water and ; let boil gently until nearly half is 1 evaporated; strain, add one-third good ! whisky or brandy, and bottle. Take I one tablespoont'ui four or five times daily. In some urgent cases, however, I take a teaspooniui every nour. a.aministered in this way it has a more ( telling and rapid effect. If the nervous ] system or heart are involved this is one ? of our most useful remedies. If con- j stipation is present, take irom five to , fifteen drops cascara aromatic four times daily. If the tongue is pale, take r a half teaspoonful of bicarbonate soda c in half cup hot water three times daily ? until tongue is a normal color, btir the soda until dissolved. If the I. tongue is rather red and dry drink one 1 Dr two glasses lemonade three or four times daily until the tongue is moist. a rhese two conditions must be corrected 8 in any disease before a remedy can act kindly, and especially is this the case with chronic diseases. Gather a supply ^ )f the catalpa beans and make them up c: uto medicine. If costs little, and may )e the means of saving a dear one from n mffering.?Dr. W. J\ Maynes in Home b md Farm. i J< CATTLE IN THE SOUTH. It is particularly pertinent, ia this j issue of the Farmer, devoted mainly I to grass and forage plants to give1 special emphasis to the subject of cat-1 tie growing in the South. "We start; out with the broad, general assertion ! that stock growing in the South is and has been, like all other branches of farming, except raising cotton, practically a failure, and we wish to consider the question. Is it profitable that it should remain so ? If not can we profitably raise stock in competition with the corn belt of the Northwest? How is it feasible for the average cottrtn former f/"? eraf o oforf of if onrl milVft l?\yu AUliUVJL IV U CUiiU C*U X U UUVt the business profitable ? In a recent publication, Mr. William LaCroix, a well known stock man of Memphis, goes into this subject exhaustively. He says that the live stock business in that section is a failure ; Iliac there is but little done in that line, and what is done is not profitable to the man who raises them. The reasons for this being true, he epitomizes as follows : 1. Lack of financial aid and assistance to engage in the business properly, cotton being the money crop or the only crop that the farmer can obtain advances on to produce it. 2. The lack of attention on the part of the farmer who raises cattle in their breeding and care of the animal produced. 3. The production of a very inferior animal that commands scant respect in the markets and always selling for a very low figure. Now we are absolutely convinced from the success that has crowned the few rational efforts made in this line that, the stock business can be made profitable in any part of the South ; that it can be done in spite of the fact mentioned in reason No. 1 and that a reasonable effort on the part of Southern farmers will soon remove the difn ?iin XTao O onrl ^ ill;uilitis mtruLiuui u iu ^uj. - v. We all know that it is unfortunately true, under the present system of raising crops in the South, that the main crop is cotton and that in most cases the planter or farmer instead of raising at home his bread, meat, forage and many other necessaries that be could raise pledges his cotton crop in advance to pay the bill. We are sure that no thinking cotton grower can believe this is the most economical way of getting supplies, and we a.e glad to say many have quit it; but what they think is the difficulty of making a change deters a great many from even trying to make a change. The opinion prevails with the majority of them,1 that seems to inspire Mr. LaCroix; that a radical change must be made at oue time and right at the start. This is a great mistake, the beginning of raising one's own bread, meat, gram and forage ought to be made in a small way and gradually increased as the cotton planter understands the subject better, and in the matter of stock raising it would be absolutely a misfortune for a man who does not understand the business to begin on a large scale, even if he had plenty of capital. It is safer and more profitable in the end to start cattle raising with two or three head than 20 or 30 ; the sheep business with a dozen than 50 and the hog business with a single good sow than 10 or 20. Starting in this small way, it is within the power of every farm owner and most renters to make a beginning. But there is one thing that is absolutely essential to success : who ever goes into the stock business, in a small or large way, must not fail to raise good stock. As Mr. LaCroix truly oqttq iwn vPAr old rattle that weisdi v.. ? J only 300 and 400 pounds do not pay.at any price, though they of course, sell very low. They must weigh 600 to 1,000 pounds at that age. Razor-back hogs eat their heads off before they get fat, and scrub sheep don't pay the freight and commissions for selling. It is then essential that stock to be profitable must be well bred. How then is a farmer to make a start in cattle raising or with sheep or hogs. The only way if he has but little money to put into it, is to siait with native females and get a pedigreed male to cross with. In the case of hogs and sheep, any farmer who has summoued up the resolution to go into the business, can raise enough money to buy a boar or ram. With cattle it is different, but almost any farmer who will take the trouble to do it, can get several neighbors to join him iu buying a good short horn, Hereford or Galloway bull and one will suffice for a neighborhood. A year Defoie a start is made with the stock a pasture of ten or twenty acres ought to be started by planting Bermuda grass. The second year it will be a fair pasture on good land and the third year it will be excellent. This will be a fair pasture on good land ten months of the year ; enough food of other kinds must be grown for the remainder of the year. In one year's time cattle and sheep will have doubled themselves; hogs will probably be multiplied by ten or twelve. In five years time even though ihe beginning may have been small, the herd or flock will probably have reached the limit the owner wauls to carry aud he will be getting back some profit. During -- - I 1 S I . .1 i L . I mis time, too, ne win nave learueu uie business and have arranged his fields and pastures t<> get the best results. Will ii pay? It most surely will. In the 2forth with high priced labor, long wini rs and short summers it has always been me most profitable farming. In the South, with cheap labor, long grazing season and short feeding season and grasses ami forage plants that furnish more food for the cost than anywhere else on the lace of the earth, the business it at all properly conducted is bound to pay. < But one thing is needed to soon ] make the South the greatest meat pro- < ducing region on earth and that is the <' fully formed resolution of the farmers 1 to go into the business right and make < it so. We are giad to note that mere 1 are indications that the South is on the I eve of awakening to the importance * of making this change. Already breed- i ing stock of all kinds, but notably of 1 tiogs, sheep and poultry are being sold t ill over the South and the demand has s oeen as great as the local breeders fc :ould supply. Every farmer ought to e ise his influence to help the cause il ilong. Even if he does not care to aise stock himself, it will benefit him 'or his neighbors to do it. Whatever owers the local price of provisions or } edoces the acreage in cotton helps the u. :otton raiser. If one half the cotton ;rowers went into the stock business, he other half stuck to cotton and aised only the same quantity or a very ittle more than they are now doing w hey would get rich. As it is, the verage cotton planter is lucky if he ets out even at the end of the year. ? fc a A market gardener living near a w astern town says the most profitable rop he raised was lettuce, his sales of se lis vegetable grown under glass and ac larketed during the winter season se ringing him in nearly SI ,000 each ear. la VALUE OF CROWS TO FARMERS. The Department of Agriculture has been making an investigation of crows and their food and habits with a view to determining whether the crows is as much an enemy to the farmer as he is generally credited. There are few birds so well known as the common crow, but, according to the department, unlike most other species he does not seem to decrease in number as the country becomes more densely populated. The crow is commonly regarded as a blackleg and a thief. Without the dash and brilliancy of the jay, or the bold savagery of the hawk, he is accused of doing more michief than either. That he does pull up sprouting corn, destroy chickens, and rob the nests of small i i _ i l . _ .11 J XT".-... Diras nas utjeu repeaiuuiy pruveu. inn are these all of his sins, lie is known to eat frogs, toads, salamanders, and some small snakes, all harmless creatures that do some good by eating insects. With so many charges against him, it may be well to show why he should not be utterly condemned. The examination of a large number of stomachs, while confirming all the foregoing accusations, has thrown upon the subject a light somewhat different from that derived solely from field observation. It shows that the bird's nesting habit, as in the case of the jay, is not so universal as has been supposed; and that, so far from being a habitual nest robber, the crow only occasionally indulges in that reprehensible practice. The same is true in regard tc destroying chickens, for he is able te carry off none but very young ones and his opportunities for capturing them are somewhat limited. Neithei are many toads and frogs eaten, and as frogs are of no great practical value their destruction is not a serious mat ter; but toads are very useful, and then consumption, so far as it goes, must b< counted against the crow. Turtles crawfishes, and snails, of which he eat quite a large number, may be consider ed neutral, while mice may be counte< to his credit. In his insect food, however, the crov makes amends for sins in the rest o his dietarv, although even here the firs item is against him. Predaceous beet les which are useful are eaten in som numbers throughout the season, bu the number is not great. May beetles "dor-bugs," or June bugs, and other of the same family, constitute th principal food during spring and earl; summer, and are fed to the young ii immense quantities. Other beetles nearly all of a noxious character, ar eaten to a considerable extent. Glass hoppers are first taken in May, but nc in large numbers until August, when, a might be expected, they form the leac ing article of diet, showing that th crow is no exception to the general rul that most birds subsist, to a large es tent, upon grasshoppers in the mont of August. Many bugs, some cutcrp lars, mostly worms, and some spidei are also eaten?all of them either ham ful or neutral in their economic rek tion. Of the insect diet Mr. E. A Schwartz says:. "The facts, on th whole, speak overwhelmingly in fayc of the crows." Probably the most important item i the vegetable food is corn, and by pul ing up the newly sprouted seeds th bird renders himself extremely obnoi ious. Observation and experiment with tame crows show that hard dr corn is never eaten if anything else i to be had, and if fed to nestlings it i soon disgorged. The reason crow resort to newly planted fields is that th kernels are softened by the moisture ( the earth, and probably become moi palatable in the process of germinatioi whicli changes the starch of the grai to hugar. The fact, however, remain that crows eat corn extensively onl when it has been softened by germim tion or partial decay, or before it i ripe and still "in the milk." Exper ence has shown that they may be pr< vented from pulling up young corn b tarring the seed, which not only save the corn but lorces them to turn mei attention to insects. If they persist ii eating the gi een corn, it is not so easy t prevent the damage; but no details c extensive injury in this way have ye been presented, and it is probable thi no great harm has been done. In estimating ;he economic status o the crow, the department conclude that he does some damage, but 01 the other hand, he should receive mucl credit for the iDsects which he destroys In the more thickly settled parts of thi country the crow probably does mon good than barm, at least when ordin aiy precautions are taken to protecl young poultry and newly planted corr against his depredations. If however corn is planted with no provisioi against possible marauders, if hens anc turkey s are allowed to nest and to roan with their broods at a distance from farm buildings, losses must be expect ed. The ordinary farmer will doubt less pay much more attention to th; crow as a marauder than to the crow a; a benefactor. / Kerosene For Poultry.?A rater in Bartow Courier-Informant, advocates the use of kerosene in the poultry ) ard. The following article will, per haps; be interesting to poultry breeders: The many uses that kerosene can be put to in the poultry yard makes it an almost indispensable article -te> be charged to the expense account; arid no article will enhance the profit of the poultry yards askerosene diligently and intelligently used for painting the inside of ntst boxes; for setting hens there is nothing equal to it as it surel} kil s all and prevents other vermin from entering the nest until it is thoroughly evaporated, which, if the crude oil is used, will give the hen ample time to hatch her brood. A few jrops in tli^ drinking water occasionally .has a good effect upon the general health of the flock, and for colds or croup there is nothing better if carefully applied. Scaly Jlegs may be cured jy simply wetting the legs of the fowls iffected occasionally, and the crude oil , s best in this case also, as it takes a nuch longer time to evaporate. When he crude oil is not readily obtained ome kind of heavy oil or grease should ie mixed with the kerosene to stay vaporation. As a remedy for cholera t has been highly recommended. During cold weather most of the irds about the farm feed extensively nnn seeds, mid owere themselves un-I I 7 o - "O I .1 their stomachs and gullets become xtended. It is not at all uncommon >r a crow blackbird to eat from thirty ) fifty seeds of smartwood, or being eed, or a field sparrow 100 seeds of *ab grass at a single meal, relates the i t. Louis Globe-Democrat. In the ! omach of a tree sparrow have been < und 700 seeds of pigeon grass, wliile < snowflake from Shrewsbury, Mass., J hich had been breakfasting in a gar- < ;n in February, had picked up 1,000 eds of pig weed. The birds most itively engaged in consuming weed eds are sorrows, finches, horned 1 rks, blackbirds, cowbirds, meadow 1 rks, doves and quail. 1 THE TRUST PROBLEM. The financial journals of the country . are full of reports of consolidations of i giant manufacturing, mining, transj portation, banking and other interests into huge trusts. They tell us that the aggregate amount of capital stock represented in these trusts lhat have seeded charters in the State of New Je' sey alone exceed three and a half billion dollars. This enormous amount exceeds two to one the aggregate amount of actual money of all kinds in this country, including gold, silver and paper. These trusts are not all incorporated in the State of New Jersey, but perhaps half of them are. This would pan out for the last year seven billion dollars of stock, or ?100 for each man irnman ?nd in +V>a TTnJfn/J Ot?(ao j MUU vuuu iu bug uua^u uuii^o* This does not include those previously incorporated, nor does it even include banking and transportation corporations. It is a fact easily proved, and denied by those only who are in one way or another interested, that those stocks in these trust companies represent in stock about ten dollars, some times twenty, to every dollar of actual cash originally invested in the plants which form the combine. The object of those combinations of industrial or manufacturing enterprises is then plain?to do away with competition, to save expenses bv discharging drummers and clerks, to fill all orders from one common center, to cuitail and control > labor, to purchase raw materials at > lower price and sell their products at , higher prices; in other words, to inr crease the margin of profit between the : price of the raw and the finished prodj ucts in such ratio as will pay dividends , on from five to twenty five times the - original stock of the companies comr tuned. i A receut statement to the point: , Two giant combines control 80 per i cent, of the tobacco manufactured in - the United States. A few enterprises 1 have held out against them, trying to force the trusts to let them in on bet7 ter terms or because they do not be f lieve m tbe trust's methods. Now t and then they fell in, however. One . of the two giant combinations very e recently gulped in three other plants, t Six hundred hands were immediately i discharged and the wages of those re3 tamed cut at the rate of two dollars e out of every five. They tell the public Y that these combinations are beneficial; Q they regulate prices both of raw and S) finished products, and give staple, une changeable pay to labor. But facta j. prove the contrary. >t With such conditions facing us, 3 should not the common people of the [. country unite for self protection and to e learn how to throttle these giant come bines ? Something must be done, and r. without organization and united effort h nothing can be done.?Progressive [. Farmer. ' FARMERS AND POLITICS. It ^ Cotton Planters Journal. )r The Arkansas Magnet say8 editorially; "Arkansas needs more business and less politics. We have too many n useless pfiitical discussions and too many elections. It is trne that political 16 parties and elections and a careful study l~ of the science of government, all are jS conducive to the public welfare; bnta 7 portion of the time and money given fs to campaigns could be spent in a way LS that would be more beneficial to the 3 country at large. Time is money, and ? to no individual is the saying more ap! plicable than to the farmer. He e should not spend all hit time in the I. .4. i.:i ' uciu aii uaujr iuu, uucsiiuuiu w iui?my> n .-is to utilize the golden moments and 13 store his mind with useful knowledge J pertaining to his calling?one of the l" noblest avocations of life., * By persist^ 13 ent effort any farmer can better his l" condition, adopt better methods and have better cattle, better crops and J more happiness and prosperity." 3 There is much good common-sense r in the above, and other papers in other Q Southern States would do well to take ? this view, and hold up some some such ,f sentiment to the people of their com1 munity. There is too much thought lt being given to Southern politics, and entirely loo much personality with it ? indulged in by the press of the smaller s towns throughout the South, to the n utter demoralization of the farmer i class. The most social class of people i. on earth are to be found among those e who delve in the soil. From the very " e application of their energies upon - their lands there naturally springs a fc corresponding love of the pleasures to I l be derived from, social contact with , their neighbors and fellow workers. * i Personal politics touches this social L streak and develops an exciting and ali luring phase of hero worship for Some i particular candidate in the political j| - field; and it is this absorbing thpme - which conspires against those interests i that are spronting or budding on die l farm, reoiririnc th* undivided t.hnncrht " and attention of those who assisted*?^ nature -to give life to the seed. Politics 1 aft very necessary and are here to stay rri but the farmer's best friend, next to \ himself, is his product, and when he - forgets these, to hope for something r , r - from politics and those who make it a profession, he's sure to meet with dia? > appointment, failure and a disrupted community. We do not mean to be understood as decryiug the good that can be done by the farm&styota upon those matters pertaining to the general welfare of their community or State, for the sound judgment of the oul-of-town voters is often relied upon to check the mischief sometimes hatched and brought out as selfish campaign issues by the waid politicians of the towns and cities. The unfortunate periodical outbreaks of feeling in local politics m the Southern States are to be regretted, and while calmer conditions are the order of the day and fatal combinations of interests are growing less, still there is yet present from time to time, indications of bitterness and malice, resulting from success or failure of some popular or unpopular candidate for political office, and this is shared by the farmer as before stated. As the Magnet says: "We need more business and less politics." Green corn, according to an item which has been going the rounds during thfi laaf. f ejv dftva. ia ot restaurant in Paris, and more than passing discussion has been occasioned by the information. Corn, an American dish since the time of the red Indian, a welcome visitor at the tables of rich and poor alike, an item on the menu of all American restaurants from New York to San Francisco, seems almost unknown as a food across the ocean, and does not tickle the palate of the European, ignorant of the pleasing viand so familiar to all inhabitants of the occid ental world* If you have anything to exhibit at he State Fair send to Secretaiy Holloiray, at Pomaria, S. C., for a premium isU Do not delay to do so.