The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, June 15, 1886, Image 2
c" A'
*'
V ' - FOR
THE FARM ASD HOME.
Hot Corn for Fowli*
A correspondent writes: "If you want
to make your fowls feel good and thankful
give them hot corn for supper?just
as hot as they can eat it. To fiud out
how hot it should be pick up a handful
and hold it tightly in your closed hand;
if it burns, of course it is too hot, but if
after holding it a minute it makes your
hand feel warm and nice it is just right.
Tn hnfit. fhn nnrn nut it in nn iron nan or
kcttlo in the stove oven and stir it occasionally.
If your wife lias biscuit in the
oven you better put the kettle on the
back part of the stove and stir the corn
often. Mind now, I don't mean that
you are to put water in with the corn; I
mean hot, dry corn. If some kernels at
the bottom of the kettle should get
scorched, or even charred, the hens will
eat it, and it will do them good, too."
Manure For Plants.
Manure in a liquid form I have never
found to bo of any benefit to young
plants till after the turn of the days, say
"the first of February, when it should be
given out sparingly, as the plant will not
take it in large quantities ; as the plants
get older they will take more in proportion.
Auy good mauure is useful for
making it. Fresh cow droppings, one
peck to fifty gallons of water, thorough
ly ciissoivea, ama let stand tm cicar oo*
fore using, is good. Let the plants be
fairly dry before applying it. Sheep and
chicken manure are also excellent for
the same purpose, but must be used in
much less proportions, say three-fourths
less than cow manure. Guano and
blood manures are also good by the way
of chauge, for plants of nearly all descriptions,
particularly roses. Under
artificial cultivation, these arc greatly
benefited with a change of food after
the plants have absorbed the food which
..he soil naturally contained.?American
Florist.
How a Pasture Is Made.
In Great Britain, Holland, and in
some of the best dairy district in this
country, land is selected for a pasture as
it is for any particular crop. Regard is
paid to its adaptability to produce a
large amount of fine rich grasses. The
soil or sod is prepared to receive the
seed, which is selected with special reference
to the production of grass to be
eaten while it is in its green state. Great
bains are tukcm tn rnndnr t.Vin ?nil na r?rr?.
ductivc as possible. Water is supplied
or drained off as the wants of the land
require. Weeds and bushes are exterminated
or kept in subjection. Fertilizers
are applied as they are to land devoted
to cultivated crops. Loose soils are rendered
more compact by the use of the
roller, and very heavy soils are loosened
by the employment of the harrow or
Bcarifier. Most farmers in this country,
howevor, neglect all these things. Land
is not selected for a pasture. If it is too
rocky, broken or difficult to cultivate; if
it is too wet or dry to produce good
crops of corn, grain, potatoes or roots, it
is devotod to pasturage. Land is selected
for other purposes, but the land for
, pasturage is what was rejected as unsuited
for any other use. Sometimes a
piece of land originally productive is de%
voted to pasture purposes. If this is the
case it is generally after it "has been
cropped to death." It is first planted to
corn for several years, then sown to
grain for a period equally long, and then
laid down to grass suited for mowing
purposes. After the crop of grass becomes
so light that it scarcely pays for
the work of cutting, the farmer concludes
that the only thing ho cau do with the
land ia to dovote it to supporting stock
during the summer, which he expects to
make the most out of them. There are
no evidences of beneficent design in most
of the pastures in this country. They
are the work of chance or neglect.
Vitality of Seeds.
The vitality of seeds is an important
question nowadays, for it is unprofitable
and discouraging to plant seed, which
do not grow. Some of the Agricultural
Department seeds in years past, and
-mar%-rr fliAOA lrnni- awa?. 4-1%^
?-j " ?wrca
from year to year, are too old. The life
of garden seeds is not like that of< a
grain of corn or wheat. The smaller
seeds often germinate and perish before
the plant lias developed stalk and roots
to gather norisliment from the earth and
air. Thou, too, the shallow planting
allows the seeds to perish for want of
moisture. The more delicate the seeds
the finer must be the soil and the greater
the care in planting. The rule is to
plant and then pack with the foot or a
board, so that the soil will not dry out
before tho seed has germinated and struck
root, ao wno is carerui about planting l
and having the soil warm and fine, will
not have, to complain so much about
"rascally seedsmen." Seedsmen, as a
class, arc honorable men. The multitude
of men dealing in their seeds, who
. X know nothing about the nature of seeds,
' play tho mischief with the seedsmen's
reputation. Some of the grocers and
grocers' boys who handle seeds don't
know that seeds are ruined by getting
damp and mouldy. They don't know
that a beet seed cannot be kept as long
";v as an ouiou seed, or that one seed may
not be kept as long as another. Every
package of seed should have the date of
$ its production, and every catalogue
V-;"'
should have a table telling the number oi
years each kind of seed may bo safclj
kepi. Buyers would thus have means o]
knowing saðing of the valuo of seeds
offered them.
The seedsman who will adopt the plat
of selling his seeds in packages on
which is printed the year the seeds were
grown, also state "good for" one, two,
five or ten years, will \)o a public benefactor.
U protects his own reputation
and the pockets of buyers of his seeds.
The middlemen may object, but gardeners,
farmers and honest seedsmen would
all bo gainers.?Cultivator.
The Care or Horse*.
A Massachusetts farmer recently said
' at a stock raisers' institute in Boston: As
a rule the horse requiros about two .pel
cent, of his weight in food daily, a 1000pound
horse eating twenty pounds, which
should bo about half hay and half grain,
lessening the quantity when standing
idlo. The horse's stomach being the
smallest known to comparative anatomy
he should have his three meals a day
Do not feed a horse as you would a cow
with her series of large stomachs de
signed for storing away surplus food
Oats are too little appreciated by horse
owners. Corn is not a natural food for
the horse; it is too fattening, and a fat
horse is not a useful horse. The street
car horses of Boston are well fed, and
last better than the average horse on the
frtrm Tlnrfnon milnaio nKnuf flm ovfonf
of a day's work for a horse that is in
harness seven days in the week, and the
car-owners have learned this, and do nol
try to exceed it. Any man who attempts
to make his horse do more than this and
follows it will fail. In driving on the
road it is speed that kills. Driving five
miles in ten minutes less time than il
ought to take gives pain and shortens
life. Somo horses eat like some men?
too fast. He had an unpatented method
for curing the habit; keep a peck of cob
ble stones in the manger among which
the oats are poured, and the horse will
require time for separating the grain
from the rocks. He had tried to induce
Boston millers to introduce rollers into
their mills for crushing oats, but thus
far without success. Crushed oats make
the best feed in the world for a horse,
would be in demand if procurable.
Watering immediately before or immediately
after eating is bad for the horse.
Before eating cold water chills the
stomach, and unfits it for the digestive
process, while water poured down upon
a full stomach washes the contents along
too fast, causing waste of food, and if
followed by immediate driving, that
most disgusting camplaint, scours.
Water should be given little at a time
and often. Most horses drink more
than they need, because they are allowed
to become too dry or too tired. A tired
horse may be trusted to eat, but not always
to drink.
Queen-Rearing.
Mrs. L. Harrison, in the Prairie Farmer,
gives her views of the modus operandi
of queen-raising. Persons who have
kept bees for any length of time have
noticed that some colonies whose condi
xl.. " -
uuua aic uiu 3ULQO as tno remainder ol
the apiary, produce more honey than
others. These colonies are the ones to
breed from, if honey is the object in
view. If a colony is deprived of ite
queen, in six hours the bees will be constructing
cells to raise another. Worker
eggs, or larvae not over three days old,
are used for rearing queens. Some breeders
claim that the best results follow
when the bees have access to eggs only.
Bees seem to prefer to raise queens on
new white combs; such a one should b 2
given to the breeding colony, and placed
in the centre of the hive; holes might bo
oilf. in if mnlrinrr nnnnnninni -J * - -
.?} WUVUMI^UI; CUgUS iur
the bees to attach their queen cells,
so that they can be easily removed, if desirable
to do so. On the third day this
comb should be given to queenless bees,
and they will immediately commence enlarging
cells. On the twelfth day, if it
is desirable to preserve the queens, all
cells should be removed but one, as the
first one that emerges will destroy
all rivals. Those who make a specialty
of rearing queens removo the frame
to an incubator and examine it, often removing
the queens to a nucleus as fast as
hatched. Those who have not a convenience
of this kind can cut out the cells,
and givo them to nuclei, previously formed
long enough to have cells of theii
own. We have had cells destroyed by
giving them to newly formed nuclei, but
novftr losfi them if thp.vhnvn ^ollo nf !???
"j ?*?< w ww?.0 VA VUliU
own. To save tlio time of inserting cells
we often wait until the bees have eaten
off the outside covering, showing that
the queen will soon be out, and then remove
the cell Vith adhering comb, so
that it will fit between the frames of
honey, placing point downward, and in
a short time the queen is out. We preserve
cells with variations; sometimes wc
place them over cages, similar to a covei
of a tin pepper box, only the tops are ol
wire cloth; and again cut out cells and
put them into cages (made of wire clotl
by rolling around the broom handle, with
stoppers at each end), and placo them ir
the cluster. If young queens are intra
duced when they are only a few days old
they are generally well received.
Silver has been discovered and minei
partially worked in twenty-one countiei
of Texas.
I
/
[ Household Hints.
r The great secrct of sweeping without
I making n big dust, is to have a damp
) broom, take short sweeps and keep the
broom near the floor.
i By rubbing with a damp flannel dipped
in the best whiting, the brown discolora5
tions may bo taken out of cups in which
i custards have baked.
A teaspoonful of borax put in the last
1 water in which clothes arc rinsed, will i
whiten them wonderfully. Pound the bo'
rax so it will dissolve easily.
[
Back window sills are made more attractive
if painted a soft green or red and
and filled with some plant. An oblong
L box of live-forever or creeping Charlie
i will grow luxuriently and require but
little care.
Great attention should be given to tho
l piano co*cr, the mantel and table drapery.
They may not be placcd near cacli
other, but a green piano cover, a garnet
valance and a blue table scarf will spoil
the harmony of color in any room. An
inoxnnnsivn ninnn r>r>*rrrr nrwl rmr? +Vinf.
will be found really pretty, is made out
of a dull gray horse blanket of light quality.
The edge is embroidered in a. run
ning vine of nasturtiums.
Recelpes.
Codfish steaks arc palatable cooked in
i this way: Dip the steaks in beaten
, eggs, then in yellow corn meal, and fry
. them a rich brown in pork fat. Before
L serving sprinkle the steaks with a little
, salt and pepper and lemon juice.
; Potatoes to be served with fish are cxi
cellent prepared in this manner: Peel
raw potatoes and cut them in balls with
. a vegetable cutter. Mince half an onion
and fry it brown with plenty of butter or
; lard; add one gill of hot water, seasoni
ing to taste, aud cook the potatoes iu tho
. mixture.
! Sometimes the hindquarter of lamb or
young mutton will be found to be of
rrui- t U *11 1 *
ouuug uiivm. x ins muii win not dc discovered
until the loin chops have been
i broiled. To overcome the defect, bcforo
s baking the leg parboil it. When nearly
> cooked remove it from the water, dredgo
} it with flour and bake it until done.
' Fried chicken is always relished and
is especially nice with a cream sauce.
Clean a young chicken, divide it in quarters,
season the pieces with salt and pepper
and sprinkle with flour; place two
; .ounces of butter in a frying-pan on the
fire, and, when quite hot. put in the
pieces of chicken and fry a golden
' brown; arrange the pieces on a dish,
pour around them a sauce mado as follows,
and serve hot: Mix a tablespoonful
of flour smoothly with a gill of cold
> milk and add half a pint of warm milk;
! melt one ounce of butter and season it
with a little salt and pepper; turn the
! milk into the butter, beating all the
time, and as soon as it is thick pour it
around the chicken.?New York Commercial.
Fastest Shaving on llocord.
* Talking about quick shaves, said a
. passenger on a Rock Island suburban
, train, "I came down to the depot the
other day just four minutes before train
time. I ran into that shop across the
way, kept by Mrs. Whatshernamo, and
i said, 'Gimme a three-minute shave. 'AH
right,' said she; 'sit down.' And I'm
i blamed if she didnt go over my face in
. good shape in just three minutes by the
. watch, and I got brushed off and caught
my train nicely."
This stirred up the story-tellers. Ono
man had been shaved in two minutes,
another in a minute and a half and so on.
just wait tin you near irom me," said
a low-browed, tough-looking passenger.
' *For seven years I shaved in a shop
where one barber run the same razor over
. an average of sixty faces an hour. What
do you think of that?"
"Impossible," exclaimed several listeners
in chorus.
"No, it isn't impossible," continued
the low-browed man. "This barber
didn't do anything but use his razor.
The men lathered their own faces while
waiting their turn, and a boy handed
him freshly honed razors. Seven or
eight slashes was a shavo, and the customers
wiped their own faces after leaving
the chair."
i ' 'How much did the barber charge a
head?"
"Nothing; and ho got no wages. He
was the barber in Jeifersonville Prison."
ChifJinn TT#rnlA
His Regular Wash-Day.
"Isn't this train about two hours late?"
asked a passenger of the conductor on a
branch Dakota road.
"Yes, I rockon 'bout that much."
<fWell, what's the trouble?"
"Oh, it's Monday."
"What's that got to do with it!"
"Why, you see, I can't never get as
good a start Monday morning?have to
'tend the baby while my wife gets out
[ washing, you know. Just you wait till
to-morrow morning and I'll pull out before
sunrise."?Estdline (Dakota) Bell.
1 An Irrepressible.
1 Mamma?Well, Bobby, what do you
1 say to the lady for giving you the cake?
Bobby?I dunno.
1 Mamma?Oh, yes, you do. Come, now,
gay what I have taught you to say; real
pretty.
^ Bobby (after a struggle)?Gimme some
more of that cake I?Tid Bits,
t.
' ' * y\) -7 Y' jf jft'R.' \ . I
\t i* .i:W .* .* ,-V . I'l" ". ? > " yV V. 1 ' '
j RARE COINS.
Q?g Prices that are Paid for
Some Specimens.
I
An American $20 Gold Piece that
Brought $20,000.
"Coin collecting is not a matter of
fashion or style," said a Chicago dealer
to n Keios reporter. "It is not a transient
crn/.e. Rare coins cannot become plenty,
I and as they find placo in collections, one
j by one, the increased difficulty of secur
ing them cnlmnccs their value. Then the
supposed scarcity of some coins causes
industrious searching and they become a
less exclusive article. For instance,
United States half-dollars of 1852 and
188G have decreased 25 per cent, in price
because cf the number which have been
brought to light and the Maximilian dollar
has declined from $2.50 to $1.25.
The decline in silver has resulted in a reduction
of about 25 per cent, in all foreign
coins of that metal and in many of
the United Slates pieces."
"What is most wanted now in collecting?"
"Pieces of different dates to fill out
the scries of large United States coppers,
from 1793 to 1857 iuclusivc. The few
pattern pieces of the 185G nickel ccnt
gave the cumbersome copper its deathblow.
While these cents were of limited
issue in tho year of their experimental
introduction, tlicy arc not worth as much
as many people believe. I buy them at
$1 in good condition."
"What is the rarest and most valuable
coin extant?" askcrl the -ZVcirs.
"The $20 United States gold pieco of
1849. There are understood to be but
two of them?one in the possession of the
United States, and the other owned by
the King of Sweden, who is an enthusiast.
FTc paid $2,000 for this specimen.
The $5 gold piece of 1801 is quoted at
$25, and that of 1822 is about as valuable.
The 1873 2-cent piece?the last of
the series?is worth $1.
"Some very old coins come far from
bringing fancy prices, even when in good
condition," and the coin-dealer displayed
a lot of Roman coins of the early centuries,
which were green from the corosion
of time, several of which could bo had at
from 60 cents to $1. About the oldest
coin was that of Metapontum, belonging
to a period between four and five hundred
years B. C. It sells for $3. The
more rare United States coins arc the dollars
of 1836 and 1839, which sell at from
$40 to $50; the half-dollars of 1796-7,
selling at from $50 to $75; the quarters
of 1823 and 1827 bring the samo price;
the dime of 1804 worth $10 to $12; the
half-ccnts of 1836 to 1849 inclusive, each
selling at $13 to $15, and the colonial
coins of 1786-7, worth from $30 to $50.
"Here are some women's coins," continued
the numismatist, as he threw down
one bearing the bust of Faustina, wife of
Marcus Aurelius, whoso reign began in
161 A. D., and of Agrippina, wife of
1 * ?
v^iusar \jrermnnicus, reigning in 50 A. JD.
To the unappreciative critic devoid of
veneration for the relics of other peoples,
hallowed by tradition and smelling of the
must of centuries, there was ono leading
feature which stood out on the embossed
surfaces of those old coins?one opportunity
for modern comparison. It was the
graceful disposition of the back hair of
Faustina and Agrippina?these royal women
fresh from tho boudoirs of tho first
and second centuries?in contrast with
the twists and snarls, bunches and braids
exhibited by the womankind of to-day.
It cannot bo seen that fashion has
wrought any improvement in back hair
during sixteen or seventeen hundred
years. Faustina's smooth tresses reach
erraccfullv to the neck, where thev am
gathered in a simple, bewitching knot.
Divine must have been the era when
crimp and bang, paper and puffs, waves
and switches were not.
"Agrippina's hair falls lower before it
's gathered, but is not less attractive in
appearance. No matted masses mar her
chiseled forehead?no twists of paper
ever decorated her cranium. She was a
best girl of whom the frisky Cresar in his
early day might well be proud, as side
by?side they mingled with the elite in the
old Roman skating-rinks, or in the gaily
lit saloon she scooped in the vanilla ice
cream."
Fourteen Mistakes or Life.
Somebody has condensed the mistakes
of life, and arrived at the conclusion that
there are fourteen of them. Most people
would say, if they are told the truth,
that there was no limit to the mistakes of
life; that they were like the drops in the
ocean or the sands of the shore in number,
but it is well to be accurate. Here,
then, are fourteen great mistakes: "It
is a great mistake to set up our own
standard of right and wrong, and judge
people accordingly; to measure tho enjoyment
of others by our own; to expect
:< in ,i.'i.
uuiiuriuii'jr va u|juuuii nt bins wuimj iu
look for judgement and experience in
youth; to endeavor to mould all dispositions
alike; to yield to immaterial trifles;
to look for perfection in our own actions;
to worry ourselves and others with what
cannot be remidied; not to alleviate all
that needs alleviation as far as lies in our
power; to consider everything impossible
that we cannot perform; to believe
only what our finite minds can grasp; to
expect to bo able Ut understand everything.
j -w . ; . . . ; v v
t
PEARLS OF THOUGHT.
He who forsccs calamities suffers them
twice over.
If a life will bear examination in every
hour of it, it is pure indeed.
If we did but know how little some en
joy the things they possess, there would
not bo much envy in the world.
True honor is that which refrains from
doing in secret what it would not do
openly, and where other laws are wanting
imposes a law upon itself.
One unquiet, perverse disposition distempers
the peace and unity of a whole j
family or society, as one jarring instrument
will spoil a whole conccrt.
Livo on what you have; live, if you
can, on less. Do not borrow, cither for
vanity or pleasure; the vanity will end in
shame, and the pleasure in regret.
If wo could only give ourselves half an
hour's serious reflection at the close of
ovcry day, we should every week preach
to ourselves seven of the best sermons
that could be uttered.
To feel always more disposed to see
the favorable than the unfovorablc side
of things, is a turn of mind which is
moro happy to possess than to be born to
an estate of ten thousand a year.
There is one special reason why wo
should endeavor to make children as
happy as possible, which is that their
early youth forms a pleasant or unpleasant
background to all their after life.
SorriTing Terrible Wonnds.
Mr. Puxton tells us that a trapper j
named Glass and his companion were one
day setting their beaver traps in a stream
near the River Platte, when they saw a
large bear turning up the turf close by,
searching for roots. The men crept to
4.1.. iL: _i_-t- us 1 i * "? 1
liiu uucivut, nrcu at mm, ana wounaca
him severely. The animal groaned,
jumpod up from the ground, and snort- j
ing with pain and fury, charged towards
the place from whcncc came the
smoke of the rifles. The men rushed
through the thicket, but their speed "was
impeded by the underwood, so that the
infuriated boast soon came up with them;
at that moment Class stumblod and fell.
When lie rose, the bear stood before him
on its hinds legs; he called instantly to
his companion to fire, he himself sending
the contents of his pistol into the bear's
body, which, with the blood streaming
f.ora its noso and mouth, knocked the
pistol away with one paw while it stuck
the claws of the other into the flesh of
his antagonist and rolled with him on
the ground. Glass managed to reach his
knife and plunge it several times into
the bear, while the latter was tearing his
flesh with tooth and claw. At length,
blinded with blood and exhaustion, the
knife fell from Glass's hand, and ho
fainted. His companion fled to the
u:_ *_ -r 11 J * *
t.auij; uuu iuiu 1113 JJilllJr U1 LUC SUU 1ULU
of their companion. Assistance was instantly
sent. Glass still breathed, but
the bear lay dead across him. The trapper's
ficsh was torn away in slips, and
lumps of of it lay beside him; his scaty
hung bleeding over his face, which was
much torn. The men, thinking he was
already dead, dragged the bear oil his
body and took away his hunting-shirt,
moccasins, and arms, and returned to
the camp, saying they had completed his
burial. Months clasped, and some of
the party were on their way to a trading
port with skins, when they saw a horseman
approach them with a face so scarred
and disfigured that they could not
distinguish his features. Tho stranger
accosted one of the party, exclaiming in
a hollow voice, "Hurrah, Bill, my boy,
you thought I was killed, did you? Just
hand me over my horse and gun, lad.
I'm not dead yet, you see. Astonishment
and horror seized the party, some of
whom believed him both dead and buried.
Glass told them that he know not how
long he had lain insensible, but when lie
revived he was obliged to subsist on the j
bear's flesh. As soon as ho had strength i
I
to crawl, he tore off as much of it as ho
could carry, and crept down to the river.
He had suffered tortures from wounds,
cold, and hunger before he reached tho
fortress, eighty miles distant, living
meantime chiefly on roots and berries.?
The Moon.
A Regular Philnntroptilst.
1 'I don't see why you regard Jones so
highly. He seems like a very common
fpJIow tnmc "
"There is where you arc mistaken; ho
ia tho most generous man alive. lie is
passionately fond of music. He loves to
play the violin and to sing."
"I presume he plays and sings for his
friends. That isn't so unusual as to call
for all this eulogy."
"I was just about to say that in spite
of his love for these amusements he restrains
himself, and no ono ever heard
him sing or play. I toil you, old man, he
is more than generous; he is a regular
philantrophist."?Puck.
A Friday Year.
Persons who have a superstitious dread
of Friday will not be pleased to learn that
this is a thoroughly Friday year. It
camo in on Friday, will go out on Friday
and will have fifty-three Fridays. Thore
arc four months in the year that have five
Fridays each; changes of the moon occuj
five times on a Friday, and tho longest
and shortest day of tbo year falls on a
Friday.
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS.
It has been demonstrated by Mr. J. W.
Slater that caterpillars are affected by
magnetic currents, which hinder their
development and even kill them.
Those species of birds like the ostrich,
which have not developed the ability to
fly, but use their wings mainly to assist
in running or swimming, have flat breasts
while the species marked by great power
of wing, have developed a keel-shaped
breast for a particular arrangement of
the muscles.
Photographs have lately been made in
Philadelphia by light afforded by a flash
of lightning. The durations of a lightning
flash varies between one onc-thousundth
and one ten-thousandth of a second
and the fact that a fair picture was
obtained shows the wonderful sensitiveness
of the photographic plate.
From reccnt experiments by Dr. Parson
on tlio disinfection of clothes and
bedding by heat, the conclusion is
reached that the germs of the ordinary
infectious diseases cannot withstand an
cxposuro of an hour to dry heat of 220
degrees F., or an exposure of live minutes
to boiling water or steam at 213
degrees.
One of the curiosities of light and heat
is the fact that rays of the sun should
I pass through a cake of ice without melt
ing it at all, as is the ease when the
thermometer stands a little above zero.
That the rays of heat actually penetrate
the ice is shown by the fact that a lens
of ice may be used for setting lire to in
flammable substances.
A startling condition of things in Russia,
so far as the prevalence of blindness
is concerned, has been disclosed by the
publication of statistics showing the
number of persons examined for military
service, who proved to be disqualified on
account of blindness. Theratioof total'y
blind recruits in Russia is about one
to 125; while in England there are 1015
persons to ever}* one who is totally blind,
and more than 1400 to each totally blind
person in Saxony and Denmark.
It was M. Pasteur who some years ago
saved the silk worms of his native
country from a disease that was fast destroying
them. The late President Thiers ,
said that Pasteur's services in that matter
saved to France more than the immense
sum which that country had to pay to
Germany as indemnity after the war. M.
Pasteur has also been warmly thanked
by the sheep-breeders of France for his
ruiccessful efforts some years ago in staying
an epidemic which was rapidly destroying
their floocks.
According to Dr. E. Bonavia, a correspondent
of the Gardener's Chronicle,
tho lemon is much more valuable as a
febrifuge than is commonly supposed.
Ho thinks it ought to be more extensively
employed in medicine, especially in
India, where, when compounded with
an extract from the Khatta orange, lemon
juice is as effective as quinine in tho
treatment of simple intermittent fever
Just at present the demand for lemons is
so small in comparison with the crop that
much of the fruit has gone to waste in
Sicily.
How to Choose an Oransre,
The very sweetest orange and the
richest is the black or rusty-coated fruit.
Pick out the dingiest oranges in the box,
and you will get the best. Another way
to choose oranges is by weight. The
heaviest are the best, because they have
the thinnest skin and more weight of
juice. Thick-skin oranges arc apt to bo
dry; they either weigh less because of
having so much skin or because of the
poverty of the juice in these particular
specimens. A slight freezing on the
tree causes this condition in otherwise
fine fruit. The "kid-glove" oranges are
the two varieties of small fruit grown in
Florida from stocks respectively brought
from China and from Tangiers, They
are called "jHanuarin" ana Tangerine."
They may be eaten without soiling a kid
glove, because the skin is loose and the
little "gores" or pockets of juice come
apart very cleanly and without breaking.
All the above applies to Florida oranges *
The Jamaica and Havana oranges are
much paler yellow, and their juice ii
usually of more acid quality than tho
home-grown oranges. ?
Calling Mahogany In Mexico.
In Mexico the season for cutting mahogany
usually commences about August.
Gangs of Indian borei-s arc employed,
consisting of two to fifty each, uad?ir the
direction of a captain. Each gang haa
also a cazador, or ''huntsman," whose
dutv it is to search the trackless forest
for suitable trees to bo felled, and to
guide the wood cutters to the places.
The felled trees of a single season are
scattered over so wide a spaco that miles
of roadway havo to b e made to reach
them, and numerous rude bridges coi.?
atructed over the rivers that lie in the'
way. All the larger logs havo to b?
"squared" before they arc brought away
on rude wheeled trucks along these forest
roads. Each truck requires seven
pairs of oxen, and the work could be
much more expeditiously done by oui
portable railway and plantation engines.
Ths implements used by tho Mexicans in
this trado aro rude and insufficient, large |
quantities of timber being often spoiled ]
by their insufficiency, combined with the I
| ignorance of the workmen employed.?- |
Boston Budoat.
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