The Bamberg herald. (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, October 19, 1899, Image 4
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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.