Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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TLU-WVEEKLY EDITION, IVNSOO OR1 88 WHEN THE PO Oh., the sun is -on the kiver, an And the inoon. its light is gain] And the band Is playin' sweetly And th&eeS pretty girls amany -Oh, this,'unset gun Is boomin' f 'a Indim and purple distance I -NP. it is just a pipe till supper say, who wouldn't be a soldler' Oh, there's hurry and there's bv To be loaded in the darkness wl And, the caissons are bulky, and And the're isn't any wonder whe: Oh there's or4ers to go somewh * it's'nothig to the orders ti - t the stocs-car doors wo.a't Say, who wouldn't be a soldier i Oh, the women they're a-weepix And there's hearts a-feelin' heai And there's shoutin' and there's And there's kisses from the Mo Oh, the darned old band is tooti And "The Girl I Left Behind M For we'll not be back, my dearie And some will be a-missin' whe -1 a 0 " V Q c ~ ' THE LAST ( a 12 0 0b a 0 0 BY to imagine a plain stretching - 'away to the east for three hundred miles-a plain so fiat and sterile that its very monotony is men acing." To the north, foothills coveredwith the . c stunted pines; the south a tongue of sandy desert; 'Ao the west a succession of barren ;ridges, on which neither wolf nor buz zard can find a drop of water nor a pnorsel of food. Right there, a hun dred miles from the nearest pioneer ,ramlet, they built Fort Brown and garrisoned it with men, who thought of suicide day by day as they looked upon the dreariness. There - was a *keleton company of infantry and a skeleton company of cavalry-the last f B troop. There was a time in the istory of these horsemen when B mumbered a full hundred men, and -hen its officers were the proudest men in the regiment, but there are fatalities'in army life as well as else where. 'One day, over in Greenvalley, as B troop rode gaily along, five hundred Edian warriors rose up in the dry gullies and emptied forty saddles at he frst voley. There was a court of inquiry, and the captain resigned. Again tedroopers were sent over to covei airagon trAin, and the Indians a aered the whole number. In th ext three months five troopers WE and three eommitted suicide. e afternoon the first lieutenant of 1he troop rode out for a hunt but had not gone a mile when he was thrown from his horse and killed. One more: Two tr9opers were sent out to catch a - orse kVhich had broken loose and was cavorting around within blf a mile bf the post. They were on foot, and s they ran they were bitten by rattle ~nakes on which they trod, and 'were dead before sunset. The army said that B troop was under a hoodoo, and the remnant of the company felt ,themselves almost outlawed. The -day they rode into Fort Brown they ziumbered thirty-seven men, and they ~were under the temporary command of a second lieutenant. Captains and fist lieutenants assigned to B troop always fought off the day of joining, 'and some had pull enough at Wash ington to have the assignment coun 'termnanded. There is superstition in thyi army as well as out of it. f( *Here is our graveyard!" whispered ~he men of the troop, as they caught sight of Fort Brown and its lonesome environment, after their long ride to reach it. They looked at the foothills ~o the north-at the plain to the east -at the desert to the south, and the ridges to the west, and man turned to .man and repeated: *"Here is our graveyard--the last of thetroop!" 'If you know an unlucky man you pity him, but yon also avoid him. The infantry at Fort Brown could not avoid She unlucky troopers, but they pitied them and displayed no fraternal feel ~ng. It was so from the colonel down to the last private. Wo smile in de 'rision at the idea of a hoodoo, and yet we do not like to rub elbows with peo ple who are pursued by ill-luck. The freshly graduated cadet knew nothing about the hoodoo when he was assigned to B troop. With a boy's ambition and impatience he had hurried from \Vest Point and home into the wilds of the Far West to take active service. TJhere was no superstition about him. -He had heard of the fatalities--he saw the dispirited look of the remnant of the once gallaut troop-he was made to pelieve that ho was under a ban, as it ~rere-but he was not disheartened. Army records will tell you what hap ~ened at Fort Brown within a week after troop B rodca through the gatee. She infantry had been there three onths, but not an Indian had been geen. A corporal and three men were Bent to the foothills for fuel, when they fell into an ambuscade and were gut off. The four troopers were pnounted, and yet all were killed, wrhile the teamster made a safe escape en foot. This was The hoodoo again. That there might be no cavil about it, Strooper hung himself, in the barracks at night. Thus five more men were iriped off the rolls within a week, and he troop reduced to thirty-two. The ~Zudians had no sooner wreaked their qengeance on the unfortunate four *than they disappeared and none were ~en again for long weeks. It was as they had come to assist at the final ~erinfation of the troop. When the neysreached the east a captain nad been assigned to B and was ' ea pulling m ~ attrey as M T BAND PLAYS. I the sky is-gold and red, ng in the azure overhead, as Old Glory fluttets down, from the quarte-s and the town. ad the echo rumbles till t is lost behind the bill: time, so fill and make your blaze; 1rhen the Post Band plays? stle, and there's forty head of mules ile the steaming coffee cooks; the gangplank's blasted steep i a bloke is halt asleep. ere, and to go there mighty quick; at the horses rare and kick. >pen, that the sergeant's in a daze; rhen the Post Band plays? ', same as women always do, y underneath the army bluE-; cursin', and the bells a-ringin' loud, -hers and the sweethearts in the crowd. a' and the fife's a-shrillin' high, i" makes a feller blink his eye, s, to you all for many days, a the Post Band plays. ichard Stillman Powell, in the Criterion. )F B TROOP. 04.1 0 0 0 0 a 0 0 0 't 0 0 orders were revoked and he was sent elsewhere. The officials at the War Department seemed to recognize the hoodoo. The colonel at Fort Brown had re ceived the young officer half in wel come, half in pity. He knew the his tory of B troop, and he realized that any connection with it must cast a shadow on the career of an officer. Had he been in commaal of the de partment he would have recommended that the troop be consolidated and its name lost on the rolls. The loss .of the five men gave the colonel anxious thought. No one could be held to blame. It was simply one of the fa talities which had so persistently pur sued the troop. One day he got news which determined him on a certain step, and he sent for the young lieu tenant and said: "A scout is in with the information that a band of hostiles is headed for Brown's Valley. That is where the pioneers who came along two weeks ago were going to settle. I fear they will be unprepared for an attack and will all be wiped out." "And you will send B troop out to head the Indians off!" eagerly ex claimed the lieutenant. "If you could reach Panther Gap, thirty miles away, before the hostiles get ahead of you--" "I would push on after them and hope to save the settlers. I can be ready in thirty minute." The colonellwas a man of forty five-the -lieutenant not yet twenty three. The older officer looked out of the open window upon the sandy desert shimmering in tho hot sun and thought of the long ride-the fight which must surely take place. Then he looked at the boy and wondered how he would carry himself in his first battle-whether his men would stand by him-if it would be the last of B troop or the turn of its luck. He was both a soldier and a man. As a soldier ho desired to give a soldier a 'ance; as a man he feared to send out a boy like that where it needed an experienced head. "You know th~e hoodoo," whispered the lieutenant; "The troop is slowly but surely being wiped off the face of the earth. The men are objects of pity and sympathy, and have almost become children. Let me go. I will either win a victory or it will be the last of the troop!" The spirit of the old soldier was stirred. He had given many a young soldier opportunity to distinguish him self, and but for the hoodoo he would not have hesitated in this case. Dis spirited men-au officer who had never seen a hostile redskin-a hoo doo which had walked at a company's heels like a ghost-it would simply be sending out more scalps for the war party. He shook his head and de cided that the scout must ride hard and fast, but ride alone, and warn the pioneers of their danger. "I beg of you-we all beg of you!" pleaded the lieutenant, with tears in his eyes. "Cavalry is needed to head those Indians off. If the settlers are wiped out it will be said that you thought us cowards and were afraidato order us out." "There will be thirty-two of you and a hundred of the Indians," said the colonel. "But we will turn them back, sir we will fight them!" "And if they are too many for you?" "I know the history of the troop, sir," said the boy in trembling tones. "It has lost almost seventy men by desertion, suicide and skirmish. It has not lost a man in a real fight. They shall say of ii in the next three days that it has won a fight or been wiped out. I would rather be lying dead there on the sands than to con tinue to serve in a troop which has not a single victory on its banners!". "You may go,"said the colonel. "If it is a mistake, then God help me! Turn those Indians back and I will recommend you for promotion; if they are too many for you-" "Then you will know it by the buz zards hovering over the battlefield!" Half- an hour later the thirty-two men of B troop rode out of Fort Brown and beaded across the desert to the south. They were one of the arms of a V. The apex was Panther Gap. As they moved along one arm the In-I dians would move along the other. The Indians had nearly a day's start, but their route was .-augher and their pace a ould be slower. "There goes the last of B troop!" whispered every soldier left behind, as the troopers rode away, and as they said it they instinctively looked up. at the flag as if expecting to see ii at half-mast. The troopers bad received that or der without enthusiasm. They kn'et a fight was probable, but they were neither exultant nor despondent. Like the ArabA, they shrugged their shoulde'rs and whispered "Kismet.' They were in the hands of fate, and fate was likely to be against them. With scarcely a farewell and with never a look over their shonlders, they rode away, two by two, and it was not until long after dark 4hat the .boy officer at the head did*ew eik and or; dered the camp for the night. .Before they slept he said to them: t'We shall be Up add away at thd drst tigus of daylight. Men, listen to me. We are riding to reach Pan ther Gap -ahead of a war party of a hundred Indians. We shall get there first and beat them back or die fighh ing. I have promised the colonel this. You have had one disaster aftei another until Yout fellow soldiers sneer and pity and wonder if coward ice is not at the bottom of it. I dc not believe it is. I believe every man of you to be game, and we will win a victory which will place the old troop at the front." A cheer bnrst forth from every man -the first cheering heard in B troop for years. Each man drew himsell up more proudly--each man muttered to himself that if need be he would die in his tracks. Their mind worked even as they slept, and when daylighi came the officer looked from face tc face and wondered at the change. There was an eagerness to make him glad-a personnel to make him proud. Breaking camp as soon as it was lighi enough to see, the troop tode at a gallop until midforenoon and teached the gap ahead of the hostiles. OnlI by a short hour, though. The horses had not yet ceased blowing when the advance of the Indians was made out. Panther Gap was a narrow road through Panther Mountain, and its southern end debouched into Brown's Valley. five miles away. The boy officer knew nothing of war, but com mon sense and his veteran sergean! suggested a breastwork across the en trance to the gap. One was con structed of rocks and logs and stones, and it was hardly finished before the skirmishers of the war party were fir. ing upon it. No man will ever read what is called 'Cunningham's Defense" without his palse quickening. One hundred and twenty Indians pressed forward againsi a force of thirty-two troopers, com manded by a boy. Three different times-once on horseback-the Indians charged right up to the breastwork, but each time were driven back with slaughtei. The defenders did not escape death, however. When the last eharg&was beaten back eigh+ of th were stretched out on the rdeky soi. and there was but twenty-four to fall back for a mile and build another breastwork. This move was necessi tated by the Indians working up the side of the mountain and securing a flank fire. The second breastwork was excavated the next morning for the same reason, and a mile in the rear of it another was built. When this had to be abandoned only ten men were left alive. When flanked out of their fourth defense there were only five men. One of these were sent to the valley for help, but it was headed off by the In dians. Of the other four, of whom the boy officer was one, they died at the fifth breastwork-died with carbines in their hands after firing their last cartridges, and died with cheers of de fiance on their lips. Of the war party sixty-two were killed or wounded and it was turned back. One day a " trooper was seen coming on foot across the rands. He lurched and staggered as he walked. Soldiers ran to meet him and assist him into the fort. HE had been without food or water for t wo days. The colonel looked at him for a long time 'without speaking. Then, with pale face and trembling lips, he asked: "Lanigan, where is your officer the troop?" And Lanigan straightened up, salu ted, and in a voice as hoarse an raven's cry. he replied: "I have to report, sir, that B trooi has been wiped out to a man, and, God forgive me, but I'm that man! They are dead in the Gap-all dead all dead!"-Boston Transcript. At "My Uncle's" or "My Aunt's." The singular name of "my uncle's' and "my aunt's" by which pawnbrok ers' stores have been called, originat ed, according to a French writer, it the following way: In his youth the son of Louis Phil lipe, the Prince of Joinville, was al lowed a most meagre supply of pockel money. His father noticed one day that the yogng man was not wearing handsome gold watch chain that his mother had given him. In truth, the youth had pawned it, but being un willing to own to the fact, when the King inquired where the chain was, he replied. "At my aunt's." When the Princess Adelaide, bein2 questioned, denied any knowledge oi the ornament, the Prince acknowl edged that it was safe in the pawn. broker's shop. Thus the French fashion of saying "at my aunt's" was started. In Britain "nle's" is the proper word, and the French writer claims that it was adopted in the spirit of contrariness which the English dis play toward all things French. Witness, that the French soldier wears red trousers,.the English are coat; the French eat oysters from the hollow half of the shell, the English from the flat half; the French tarn to theh walkingan driving, the English to the left. No other reason for the difference is given than the ap parent desire to be contrary.-Newi York Tribune. - First Shot of the Civil War. The first shot of the Civil War was fired on January 9, 1 hen the steamer Star of the We ~th sup BACKBONE OF THE ARMY DUTIES AND POSITION OF THE NON COMMISSIONED OFFICER. 'Hig Blest Chance to to Shoot 1is Way Into lie Corridor# of Oblivion--Glory Neidonti tomed td tie *1No.Com"-= The do-Betweezi for Offcers and Mexi. The backbonie of the army is the non tonimi?sioned man:-.Rudyard Kip ling. Lowest down is the lance corporal; highest up are the regimental quarter master sergeants, sergeant majors, ordinance sergeants, and most pictur esque is the first sergeant. The "back bone" referred to by Mr. Kipling con sists of the compafy Tnoi-doms," be ginning with the corpoifal And ftding in the first sergeant.-. They are the ungloritied sinews of war, the brawn and muscle; the officer is the much heralded brainy director. The recruit to the. army no sooner swears that he "will obey the com mands of All officers placedabov him" than he falls into the hands of a cor poral. This soldier, with the two clean white chevrons on his sleeves, looks him over, guides him to a bath ing place, and begins to lick him into shape. He begins by teaching him how to stand, how to turn around, where to keep his 6yes, and all tne small details of the soldior business. He impresses on hiln the' necessity of quick doing, and 'Cations that the officers are there to think. Then the recruit is shuffled on to a sergeant, who places him in a set of fours and teaches him how to- find his place, and what to do when -he finds it. He finally falls into thol-nds 'of the first sergeant in company 'dritL. He may i get an occasional sight of, his captain. liut he learns to knioi and emulate his sergeant. ' The "non-com.'' Ihe teacher. His unlimited ability towork and his un dying patience straighten up round shoulders, liven uphe shuffling steps and make a sturdy soldier of the raw recruit. He works itways and for ever, and executesAhea.r.-ders of his superiors quickly ita accurately. He serves as a model to be copied after by the piivate-he is the backbone of the army. Glory seldom con e-the "non com." A long time go a certain Ser geant Jasper won a ermanent place in history, and mor ecently Sergeant Hamilton Fish die bravely at the front. Taz, ton- n'.-." works un noticed, like the .1i epirek in the football team, bee - Jcesn't ran -witli~eball but-h ' 'backbone ,h A olds the ribs g i. When the battle is hot- t mingles with blood on the S field, when bullets whizz-and sx tream, when comrades sink to-thL. und and turn on their faces, the cer lifts his sword on high and zs a forward into glory. The "non 7." speaks the quiet "Steady, boys!" and walks into the jaws of, death shooting his way into the corridors of oblivion. The captain knows he will be'famous if he survives-famous if he 'dies. The sergeant or the corporal knows his wife and children will weep over their loss, his comrades that survive him will bury him in a soldier's grave wrapped in his blanket. He is too numerous for the historian to mention ; he was simply doing his duty. Yet if the victory is won it is because he is Ln his place and doing this same duty. Under the new tactics in use by the United States a-my, companies no longer fight with men shoulder to shoulder under the direct command of the captain. Much stress is laid on the skirmish drill, in which sets of fours under corporals and squads under sergeants fight in open order, firing at will after the captain has ordered "commence firing." The corporal is responsib~le for his set of fours and the sergeant for his squad. The first sergeant is in a manner re sponsible for the entire company and is ready to assume command when his officers are shot doivn. The new arrangement gives opportunity to the "non-corn." to show himself. It remains to be seen whether or not he will break into fame. It is not in battle, however, that the non-commissioned officer earns the title of "backbone," for in the fight the sweating private is a necessary person. In the camp the white-cher roned soldier makes his presence known ad felt. The first sergeant,. gruff, stern, severe, kind, man of all work and all intelligence, father of his company and mother, too, in camp, is in charge of his men. He looks after the company quarters, tents, bedding, clothing, knows all about the kitchen and sees to the equipments. He calls the roll, details the guard, knows the ability and willingness of every soldier of his command and is the disciplina rian and mouthpiece of his company. He is the go-between for privates and officers, adjusts quarrels and dissemin ates advice. The company books, though not intricate, are tedious, and are kept by him, and he reports the dead to his captain. He seems to be in every place at the same time. He ~s the model soldier. The literature of the present war is yet unwritten. Glorious 'victories have been won and admirals and gen erals have been launched into ever lastin~g fame. Itis to be hoped, when the war: correspondents get back to the quiet of their desks, they will not have been blinded by the glare of up. lifted swords and glittering shoulder straps to the bravery and courage of the "non-commissioned man." There is room in history for the -"backbone of the army." Age of Jurors in south ICarolina. The constitution of South Carolina provides that jurors muste'bo between the ages of 21 and 65, alid alnew trial was recently grante n a case because one jf A FAMOUS DENTIST. The Late G. Q. Colton Firsit IUsed "Lau-h ing Gas" in Practiee. Dr. Gardner Quincy Colton, late ol New York city, to whom belongs in part the credit of Anosthesia by !augh ing gas, died recently in Rotte dan a the age of 84; Besides being - den .ist; Dr:Colton was a physicia.i, a lec tnrer;i c:itid;ad electrician and at onl time a gold prospector~liaving gone to California with the argonants of '49, both to search for gold and to practin medicine among his fellow adventar ers. There is good groid for the be lief that he invented the first electric motor ever run, but it never got be yond the model state,though the littic machine which he built worked per fectlf. Born in Vermait; the twelfth chihl 6f poor parents;. lie fas able to gel only a common school education before being set to the trade of chairmakiug. All his spare moments were given tc reading and study and with sut good tesults that when he came to this city at the age df 11; in 183->;h6 added considerably to his meaus by writing for the newspapers,until he had saved enough money to achieve the first great ambition of his life, a course in the College of Physicians and Surgeons. After graduation he studied in the ef fice of Dr. William Parker and two years later set out upon a lecture tour, speaking on philosophical and chemical subjects. His favorite lec ture *as one dealing with electrical phenomena and the peculiar effects upoi the brain of nitrous oxide gas, which he called laughing gas because of ridiculous performances of persons under its influence. These lectures he supplemented by experiments. In 1844 he lectnred in Hartford, and among those on the stage was Dr. Horace Wells. A young man having inhaled nitrous oxide gas barked his shins upda a chair; but felt no pain until the effects of the gas wore of. This struck'Dr. Wells r o forcibly that he determined to have a tooth out I while under the influence of the gas, and the experiment was so -success'ful that he published the result of it. For a long time other dentists scoffed at it, but when its efficacy was proved I beyond doubt two other physicians, Morton and Jackson, put forth claims to the discovery which was to render painless the most distressing I )rm of dentistry. The controversy which followed was bitter in its progress and tragic in its end, for it drove 3Drs. Wells and Morton to suicide '.and;Dr. -Jackson o in insane asylum.LEere after the use of nitrous ' kide fell away butDrl Coltourevive it.some years later, giving full credit for the disoovery to Dr. Wells. In 1848, to illustrate the prietica bility of electricity as a motive power, Dr. Colton built a small electrical lo comotive, which drew a train of toy cars around a circular track. This was put away when the inventor went West in 1819 and never resurretc.1 until years afterward. In an impor I tant patent suit the doctor was called as a witness and fished it out of an ohl trunk where it hal been for abont 4( I years. With a little tinkering it rar as well as ever. Dr. Colton's test~i mony had -a vital effect upon the case on trial, and photogpaphs of the mnodel were taken and are now in the Smith, sonian institution in Washington. A. a gold digger Dr. Colton was a moder ate success only,bhut as one of the ver' few physicians among the argonants he made a good thing out of his ven ture. In 1850 Governar Riley :y pointed him the first justice of th4 peace in California. Returning eai shortly after hie resumedlhis~ lec ure tours, and early in the Civil \var he~ got out the Colton war maips. In18 M he established the Colton Dental as sociation, and it is sairl that lie and his assistants have pulled from lhb painful mouths of sufferers more that a million undesirable teeth. Dr. Col ton published many pamphlets upor literary, philosophical and theologiea subjects, the best known of which is hiq monograph on "Shakespeare and the Bible." He loft a targe fortune. A Very Ancient Letter. Probably the oldest letter in the world is the letter of Paubesa, wi itter fifteen centuries before Christ, to his friend Amenemapt, a scribe. The manuscript is of perishablh papyrus, and it is amazing that i should have survived for moretha thirty centuries and s'i I be legible. It is preserved ini the collection oa the British Museum. It has beer several times translat.d du tring th< present century. ]t prset an in teresting picture of life in Egypt ii the time of Rameses II. It is more in the nature of a literary prodnc tion, a poem composed in celebratiot of the visit of Pharaoh to the city of Pa-Rlameses, than an ordinary lettei of today. Panbesa "greets his lord, the scribe Amenemiapt, to whom be life, healt] and strength," and then goes on t< describe the verdant fields, the thrash ing floors, the vineyards, the grov~e. of olives, the orchards of figs, the great daily markets, with their fisi: and water fowl and swarms of pur chasers. - The citizens had their "sweet win' of Khemi, pomegranate wine and wint from the vineyards," and to these the' added "beer of Kati." There was music in plenty furnishei by the singers of the school o Memphis. On the whole Pa-Rameses seems t< have been a pleasant place to live in. "The lesser folk are there equal wit] the great folk," and Panbesa writes that its maidens were "in holiday at tire every day" with locks "redolen of perfumed oil."--Washington Star. Japan's Sporting Paper. The latest journalistic venture ii Tapan is a paperA 4 ted .toesjva w~~iw~iI~ra&.nd footbaRl FO1R FARM AND GARDEN Th - of Ifo:1 er Shred Sers. red-lcr shredders have been found eqnal to cutters in preparing ensilage for ihe silo. According to the ex perience of those whohaveuised shred dtor. for the purpose mentioned the ensilage is finer -snd a largar quantity can be packed in the sii: It also keeps well and is more highly relished bY ato-wk. I.ate fi Pie The only pig that will afiin size eno:igh to :.afe!y p~ass the winter .s one that is born sic or seven months be'ore cold weather is expected. We have raided pigs in the fall and that too whri we harl th alvantage of a base mont barn to prode warm quarters for the n. Yet the growth during the winter, notwithstanding good feed, was never satisfactory. There is too little sunlight du--ing the winter months, aiit if the pig is kept warm without sunlight it is usually at the exl-e'ise of poor ventilation. Without good air no Animal can maintain good digestion or remain healthy, What Chaff Is Good For. All kinds of grain have chaff sur rounding the kernels, In its wild state this chaff serves a very impor tant tise, as it absorbs the moisture that would otLerWise swell the grain aad cause its premattre generation, After long cultivation this use seems less necessary snd there is less pro fusion of chaff aud husk. It is quite po::sib!e that all cur Indian corii arig inally cane from that curious wild variety iii which each grain on the ear had its separate htisk. Wherever there are severe droughts during the time the grain is forming there will be less development of chaff and husk. With our self-binding grati harvest ers, grain is now often put into stack or mow before it has dried out as it should do. The husk in such case serves an important use, as the straw will often rot under the band where it. is tightly compressed, while the head with still damper grain is preserved from injury by the loose chaff with which it is surrounded, and which very rapidly dries not only itself but the grain in contact with it. Barley, which is most apt to be injured by rains, has a better supply of chaff and awns to keep its headopen to air than G has any other.grain.'4 Sewage as Affectiar Food. Investigations, it is'declared, show that animals fed on sewage farms are, under certain conditions, liable to have their flesh and secretions changed by the herbs and grasses, produced by the sewage, upon which they feed. Thus, if the sewage on a given farm be so managed that no more of it be put iito the soil than any given crop can adequately deal with,it is asserted that the crop will, under these con I ditions. be sweet and natural, and that the cattle or other animals fed on it will also be of that character. On the other hand, if the soil be gorged to repletion wvith sewage, then the crops will be surcharged with sewage ele ments, and unfit for food-the meat -and milk of animals derived from such crops will also be like the crops, alike unpleasant to the taste and dangerous to the health. These hospital state ments are proved by well-known facts; that is, if a cow is fed on turnips, her milk will within twenty-four hours taste like them, the intensity of the flavor being according to the quantity of turnips taken; in the case of hens and their eggs, a like result follows, for, if fed on decaying matter. which they always eat greedily, both their eggs and flesh will be disagreeable and unwholesome eating. Ducks, too, are still more objectionable in . these respects.--New York Tribune. Alighting Boards. Not only in winter is the lighting board of great importance, but in sum-. mer as well. Every convenience about the en trances of hives should be afforded the bees, and this is of equal importance the year round. The entrance to the hive of itself should necessarily be small in winter and for this reason the surroundings should be more favor able. . ,A good broad board, well cleated at each end to keep it straight, should rest on the ground at one end, and slope to the entrance to the hive at the other. This does not apply to well kept aiaries, as other conveniences used ai-e better, but as farm bees are us ually kept. The up-to-date apiarist makes a nice little mound odf earth to set the hive onl and places the bottom board directly on the same, and banks up in front with sand, gravel or sawdust on . level with the entrance or bottom board, and neither a spear of grass nor a weed is allowved to grow near the hives. It is much better to have hives set directly on the ground, but if the ground is allowed to grow up with grass ag 'goeds until the bees are totally shirt out of the hive, then the old rule of benches two or three feet high would probably be better. Farm, Field and Fireside. ;rasses for .Permanent Pastures. In order to obtain the greatest amount of profit from grasses, selec tions of seed- should be made that ~on ordinary soils will giv e..the heaviest crops of hay,.the thickedt and most nourishing pasture, %nd laste for the longest time withodt-ienewing:.:. The tendency of the average farnmer+%to pin his'faith too closely to timothy and cloier, or to timothy alone, or Sisrther one grass, ad as a a vield of.~ re. The best results are usually obtaincd front a mixture of several peq s a1 put in proper proportions by reliable seedmen. One of tie fnuest mixtures for a fpirly productive soil eonsists of or char'd grass, English rye grass, mes* ow foxtail, Italian rye giasgi swee - scented ve: na!, I hode Island bentand red top. Tbis mixture is sown in the fall at the rate of three bushels per acie, more on poor land, and in the srting a mixture of clover is sown over the field broadcast at- the rate of ten pounds to the acre. The hay crops from this sowing frequently amount to more than three times that from timothy and clover or other two-grass mixtures,teaving after enttian a pasture of value until late in the fall. Another point .in favor of a mixture of several grasses is the long life of the meadow. If cared for by occasional fertili-Jng such a mead o-w will scarcely need Irenswing under Len or a dozen years. Drying wheat for Seed. After every damp harvegt as the present has been in most 'localities, the grain goes into the barn with its traw not so thoroughly dry as it should be. There is also considerable dampness in the grain itself, and this will probably cause heating of the grain in the mow. With spring gra - this does not matter much- for . the grain will be pretty sure to dry out when freezing cold weather comes. But whenever winter grain is . grown the seed for next harvest -his to be selected from the present year's crop, and this often means the premature threshing of the winter grain and usi ing it while still damp as seed. To this fact is probably to- be at tributed the common belief among armers that old wheat and rye are better for seed than new. . In the oli grain the freezing of winter and the ;ubsequent thawing has made the eed nearly wholly free of moisture. Yet all these experiences are not' ab solutely necessary. If the graifn is thoroughly dried in the fall-that it is grown, it is not only as fit buti more lit for seed than it is after being dried Dut by winter freezing wherein its erminating powers are more apt tQ be-injured than they are by being bhoroughly dried out the prei"ons We have heretofore advised.th greatest care in drying seed grain for all sowing. But (sdar bUbtel . believe to tboroughlydry the ed>-. 3ven by artifidal -mean : ver and over-again dried. . in fruit evaporators such.. are ori drying apl-Je and A11WS* the best results in a lr g grown of the seed that was sown. - believe that it is best- to dry all 'grain ased as seed by the heat -of fire. - It, nay be by braiding the sed corn and ianging it beside the chimney, ws .4& vo secure the heat of the kitchen fire. But however it is dried. the seed that as fire heat to dry it is sure to pro-' :luce the most vigorous growth and he largest crop of grain.-Americau Cultivator. - Soil Exhaustion. In Bulletin 94 of the New York state agricultural experiment station ttention is called to the dangers of a :ontinued free use of farmyard man ares. Referring especially.. to cereal rops, the bulletin shows .that such canures are deficient in potash and phosphoric acid, and that when used :ontinously for a oonsiderable period they will hasten soil exhaustion. It is undoubtedly true that all soils receive more or less accessions of am nonia from the atmosphpre, through rainfall and the action of leguminous plants of various kinds, but potash nd phosphoric acid cannot- possibly be obtained by such means. Conse guently, while the supply of ammonia may be obtained within' reasonable imits the mineral fertilizes suffer a rapid depletion and crops begin to fall off. Farmyard manure tends to exhaust the phosphoric acid and potash of the soil, simply because it contains fes mineral fertilizer than- ammonia in proportion to the needs of the. crop." The effect on the soil is a 'kind of stimulation, for the supplies of phos phoric acid and potash naturally ex isting in the soil are drawn upon to make up the balance. While. the zmount for any one year may not be large, after years of cropping the loss becomes serious. Even in those cases where no man-r ures were used at all the same :result is reached. A very considerable. gjuantity of ammonia reaches the soil every year through the aid of legumes, while every pound of minerali fertil izers taken off in crops is just so much dead loss to the soil. This is shown very clearly by the fact that the sim pe application of phosphoric acid and potash will very frequently give heavy -~ rops. The large fertilizer mangfac turers of the east make up their mix tures from actual farm tests, and it is a striking fact that the ammonfa in such goods is very low as .compared with the phosphoric acid and. potash. If farmyard manure is used, or if no maure at all is used, dress the fields with phosphoric acid and potash. When these fail it is time to look-after afar~ther ammonia sup)ply. It is not wise to run the soil down to the verge: of-exhaustion by using the most ex ~ensive ingredient of fertilizers. For potash, potash salts are all that can be desii-ed, and ordinary-~ bone pro ductstill supply the needful phos- ' phoric acid.' Cereal farmei-s will find -j that A normal fertility of their soils'k may be maintained for many. yearsy yet-, by the -simple application of the- . snineral fertilizers.V