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PltEPAHING FOR NEXT YEAR'S COITON. Correspondence Cotton Pi ant. In our travels over tin: State this Bummer, altendiug our summer scries of Farmen' Institutes, we. have been very much impressed with the Immense increase in the cultivation of the cow pea. Fewer fields arc to hu socn "resting" in the old way by growing up with weeds lor future bivw-sweat iugs, but instead the fanners are fast learning that the best rest for the laud is to keep it in a 3rop that will shade and protect the toil and gather fertility for succeeding crops far faster than the natural growth. Wide areas are now in peas that bore a crop of' small grain, ami the "Clover of the South" is covering fields that never before grew it. Many of these Holds aie in tended for the cotton crop of next year, and as a matter of course the owners arc thinking how best to use the pea ciop. II thoy have taken our advice, so often given in the press, the pens have had a good dose of phos phoric acid and potash in sum ; form, and where this is the case the course is plain and the cotton crop can bo grown at the smallest cost if the owner simply adds tho seed from this year's crop to tho land. One of tho most thoughtful farmers in South Carolin? wrote us that he bad found thai in his case, being far removed from oil mills where he could exchange the seed for meal and hulls, he found that the whole seed after being crushed to de stroy germination, gave him excellent result when applied as ho uses them. He found that when a mass of seed or other bulky manure was applied di rectly in the furrow under the cotton, there was difficulty in getting a good stand of tho cotton. He found also that while the seed were a valuable fertilizer, they were slow in becoming available to the plant as food. He therefore adopted the plan of opening n furrow midway between the beds for the cotton, and there burying the seed. By the time the cotton had developed to the point ol making the bloom and fruit it had found the seed, which by that time had decayed to an extent sufficient to enable them to yield up their plant food, and he got belter crops in this way. What .\o most want to get at however is the best and most economical way to apply tho purchased fertilizers to the cotton. We have eaid that where the pea crop of this year has been well supplied with phos phoric acid and potash there is l etter chauce for next year's cotton. Expe rience lias shown that an applicati <n of the potassic fertilizers especially, :">'nc months before the planting, will show from them better results than from a direct application at the plant ing time. And not only this but cheit application to the pea crop will give a heavier crop of forage. There is nothing- that the cotton farmer needs more than plenty of forage and plenty of cattle to feed it to. The use of the entire growth of peas as a manure di rect will undoubtedly show a greater effect on the succeeding crop than tho cutting off of the growth. But the cutting and curing of the crop as hay, and the feeding of this hay to cattle, with the careful saving of the manure will do more for the farm and farmer thau the burying of a crop worth 8-0 per aero as food, three-lourths of which value can be recovered in the manure made fiom the feeding. Another fact in connection with the using of the whole growth for the cotton crop is that it may give an excess of nitrogen and a rank and long limbed growth, and a late crop. The true way to use the pea crop preceding a cotton crop is to cut f ad cure the vines as hay, feed them to slock and return to tho land tho manure thus irado. But what shall tho man do who did not put any phosphate or potash on his peas ? If he takes them off, he will certainly have taken off more of the phosphoric acid and potash of which his land was probably already deficient, and unless he applies fertilizers to his cotton he cannot hope for au increased crop by reason of the ptT growth. He may to some extent get b>. nelit from the poas so far as the increase of nitrogen in the soil is concerned, but while the cotton may make a ranker "weed" it will fail in the fruiting. The peas will re lieve him from the purchase of tho most costly part of a complete fertilizer, and ho will not be compelled to buy nitrogen at all, especially if ho uses his cotton seed as suggested. Hut what shall ho uso and when shall ho apply the fer tilizer ? We have already icmarkcd that it has been found that tho mineral plant food in the shape of phosphoric acid and potash give better results when applied some time previous to the planting of the crop, and wc know too that a liberal broadcast application of theso is hotter, not only lor the im provement of the land generally, but for the crop of cotton. Tho oxpori onco of our South Carolina friend points to this. Few farmers realize the short time in which fertilizers ap plied directly in tho furrow under tho plants are available to the plaut. The part of the roots of any plant which - arc engaged in collecting food are near the extreme tip of the small rootlets, and when these get beyond tho area In which tho food was applied and begin to iorago in poorer soil, a deterioration in the growth and fruiting must result. 11 c.noc. wo havo become fully satisfied that even for tho cotton crop a broad cast application is best in the Anal re suits on tho crop. We would like eomo of our frionds who have a pea stubble to go into cotton next year to try the simple experiment of applying this fall broadcast on part of the stub ble all the phosphate and potash they intend for the crop. You nect to buy only acid phosphate and kuinit in equal proportions, for the poas, aided by the cotton seed from this year's crop, will give you an abundant supply of nitro * gen. On tho rest of tho field apply the fertilizers at the time of planting in the furrow. I have littlo lenr but that you will find that tho acid p ios phateand potash applied this fall will give you belter results in tho crop next I year than the spring application in the furrow. And not only this, but it will enable you to get a better stand of orlmson clover sown among tho cotton at laying by time next summer. If you get a stand of crimson clover in the cotton field, you will have done more for your land than in any other way, for the winter cover is worth of itself an application of fertilizer, in tho prevention of the wasting of the fertility in winter, while the clover will get more nitrogen for you to turn into corn next year with the aid of your Imme made manure. Let us put a lit tle forethought into the economical production of a cotton crop, ami get down to real farming with cotton. W. P. Massky. lialeiyh, K. C. WHY NOT A DOG LAW? FlOtn TiiK Cotton Plant Co). J. Washington Walts, of Lau rens County, has been raising sheep lor at leant three score years and when a member of the Legislature he made Hticnuous efforts to havo :\ dag law passed so as to encourage the Indus try of sheep raising, hut his efforts were in vain ml Iiis follow members reckoned him a little daft on the ques tion of dogs and sheep, considering their relative importance to the State. Col. Wntts still believes that ho was right in advocating a dog law, and has recently expressed himself as hoping that the people will yet send enough men to tho Legislature with the cour age of their convictions, who will pass " a rigid dog law, which is indispensa ble to the raising of sheep, and would add millions to the incomes of our peo ple, who would soon see the difference between five cents lotton and twenty live cents wool." In tho line of his suggestion, wc copy from the Atlanta .Journal the following statement of the dog and sheep situation from the pen of Mr. C. II. Jordan, whoso articles are always worth reading: It is to be hoped that the members of the general assembly will not longer treat with ridicule the introduction of a good dog law. The time has conic when au imperative demand is made by the farmers of Georgia, for protec tion to the sheep iuduslry of tho Slate. Wool is today selling in the markets ol our country for thirty-sevcu cents per pound and there is no likelihood of an overproduction. With a rapidly in creasing population among the nations ! of the world using woolen goods, it is fair to presume that the wool industry i of the country will not grow beyond a j strong and healthy demand, which will exist at all seasons of the year. Aside from wool, inuttDn has become within the past few years a favored article of food, and the entire area of the United States is unable at the pi sent lime to produce enough mutton bunualiy for home consumption. We found it ucc essary to import nearly three millions of mutton sheep alone from Canada last year, and the purchase of wool from foreign countries during the same period amounted to many millions of dollars more, to meet the demand for domestic use. So that in the sheep business wo have a most profitable field for investment, and with the pas sage of a good dog law the farmers of Georgia, especially those in the wire grass section, would he presented a splendid opportunity for extensive sheep raisiug. Tho mongrel cur should not be longer allowed to retard so im portant a branch of our farm products, and if the present Legislature refuses to givo the sheep industry a helping hand, by proper legislation,(then every county should make the dog law an is sue in the general elections next year of the members to the general assem bly, where candidates arc not outspok en in their determination to meet the wishes of the people on this line. 1 be lieve that every man who owns a good dog, and is interested in the future welfare of his State is perfectly will ing to pay an anuut'l tax of one dollar on his dog. The taxes so paid would go iuto the educational fund of his county, and there be expended iu edu cating the boys and girls of Iiis com munity. Thousands of worthless curs which travel the public highways after night and roam under cover of dark ness about other people's promises, ex isting on whatever refuse they can find,, would meet a fitting doom at the hands of the proper officials. Wc believe that hydrophobia is largely caused by pois onous substances which Iiieso half starved, uncared for dogs devour, and ofttitnes the lives of valuable animals, or even that of a human being is de stroyed, if unfortunately happening to cross the pathway of these maddened creatures. The well fed dog loves the comfortable surroundings of his homo, and is apt to bo found there at the pro per time defending his master's pos sessions from the invasions ot an en emy after nightfall. The man who paysau annual tax on his dog, aside from other considera tions, is likely to reg.ird the possession ! of the animal as somothing of more value, and will give better care and attention to Ihu needs of his dog. "Tho laughing plant" is a curious thing wh'ch grows in Arabia and in parts of the Western frontier of Hin dustan. Tho plant is of moderate size, with bright yellow fiowors and soft vel vety seed pods, each of which con tains two or throe seeds rosembling small black beans. Tho natives of the district whore the plant grows dry these seeds and reduce them to pow der. A small dose of this powder has similar effects to those arising from the inhalation of laughing gas. It c. v jcs the soberest person to dance, shout and laugh with the boisterous excitement of a madman and to rush about, cut ting the most ridiculous caperi for about au hour. At tho expiration of this tin o o? haustion sets in, und the excited person falls asleep, to wnke af ter several hours with no recollection whatever of his antics. ^. The Lcgislatuio has directed that tho froo public schools of tbta Stato ob servo the third Friday in November as Arbor Day, and on that day tho school officers and teachers shall conduct such exercises and engage in tho planting of such plants, shrubs, and trees as I will impress on the ntindsof the pupils the proper valuo and appreciation to bo placed on flowers and ornnmontul shrubbery and shade trees. ?JA.8TOIIIA. Bfttra tho j* II? Kind You Hjg Always Bou#} HOW TO RESTORE SOUTHERN FARM LANDS. Tri-State farmer ami Gardener. Having by experience during my fanning operations at tho North seen I the wonderful recuperating effect of a clover sod towards reclaiming a worn and exhausted soil, since my advent as a farmer and fruit grower in Georgia 1 have been experimenting lor a num ber of years with another branch of the legume family, the Southern cow pea. My reason for experimenting on this line was to find out for im self if tho cow pea would furnish the nitrogen for any crop, and especially corn, wilh ' out any oilier application. Ten years ago this land produced nothing hul May pops (passion vines) without fer tilizers. 1 thought that here was an opportunity for some experimental work, to see what this land could he made to produce in ten years, which I i believe is considered a reasonable time j to restore an exhausted sod. This ; land is ft sandy loam with a clay sub ' Boil, and is well adapted for corn* The ! first crop planted ten years ago was i the speckled pea, which is a quick nia j turlng pea, but the crop failed to glow for the want of fertility in the soil, ro? j eeiving no application of fertilizers. I The crop, what there was, was plowed ; under in the fall, and the next spring was planted with the Unknown pea, and fertilized with 26* pounds of muri j ate of potash, and LOO pounds pf phos phoric acid, to the acre. There was a fair ciop of ,)eas, and in the fall the vines were turned under and the land seeded to oats. The oat crop was rather light owing to dry weather the latter part of April. The oats were, cut the last of May. and again planted with the Unknown pea, making a line crop of peas and vines; the peas were picked and the vines this time were cut for forage. The next spring the hind watt plant ed to corn with au application of 50 pounds of muriate of potash, and 200 pounds acid phosphate to the acre, half broadcast and tho other in drill. The corn was a fair crop considering the dry weather we had ttial year. To carry out it description of the growth of the different crops would make this article too lengthy so 1 give the number of the different crops during the ten years. There has been grown two corn crops, besides the present one, four oat crops ; also the same season a crop of peas, and in the corn rows with the exception of this year, hut would have been but the weather be ing dry and during a scveic storm ou the last day of July the corn was badly blown down. There has been an up* plication of potash and acid with every crop hut the first pea crop, using more ov less as the crop required, but not a pound of nitrogen, only what the peas have furnished. fhe present corn crop was planted the first week in May and received an application of 100 pounds of muriate of potash, and '500 pounds of phosphoric acid. The land was laid off in rows,5 feet 8 inches, and the corn planted not quite .3 feet apart, and cultivated on a level. It has never looked but the darkest of green since it came up, showing to me conclusively that the crop was getting all the nitrogen from the soil that was needed and in an available shape. This land must have been perfectly void of nitrogen at first and there was no organic matter in the soil, and as the different crops have been grov ing better every year, I give the cow peal the credit. I think this year the yield would have been one-fourth more, if there had been more precipitation the fore part of July, yet it will thribble per acre the average yield of Georgia. It has been shown by experiment that au acrj of cow peas gave, in vines and roots, the following fertilizer in gredients : Nitrogen, 117 pounds; phosphoric acid, ?.l> pounds ; potash, 81 pounds. It would seem by this that cowpeas ought to furnish the nitrogen for a corn crop, as corn contains only 80 pounds grown on one acre. It is not altogether the question of how much plant food there is in the pea crop, turned under, but the amount of humus and organic matter furnished to the soil, in a much cheaper way than by the use of stable manure, aud 1 here notice that we cannot have in this climate too much humus in the soil, to retain all the moisture that we can during the dry spells between the rain falls. Iiy this experiment, I have coino to the conclusion that farmers can reclaim their worn out fields iu a cheaper way than by tho use of stable manure, and without the use of cotton seed or meal, which should be fed out. to fatten stock, and the local markets furnished with good prime beef. Wc often hear of nations handing down to coming generations great na tional debts to pay off. Have the ma jority of farmers of the South ever thought what a debt they arc handing down to tho coming generations of farmers, by impoverishing the soil l>} the one crop system, and regardless of any system of crop rotation ? As t'ie average fjuiner docs not havo the stable manure sufllciont to restore Iiis worn out fields, the next most practicable method for him to practice is to follow a rotation of such crops, as will give Iiis soil nil the vegetable matter that is ne :essary to retain moisture, and with the corn crop moisture is the main thing on our uplands in Georgia ? as to the rotation each farnior must follow out his own plan, according to Iiis means ami the adaptation of his lands. Now 1 ofton read in the agricultural papers inquiries from farmers nskmg how to j restore thoir worn out fields. 1 say to you this, that you can take your worn out fields and with proper cultivation and deeper plowing, with cow peas to furnish tho nitrogon and potash and phosphoric acid to make tho cow peas grow, you can rcstoro your exhausted soil to paying crop conditions in ton years. I write this nrticlo to show what can bo done boro in Georgia on worn out lands, and to sot farmers to thinking, and show them how to ovorcoiuo tho fertilizer question ; take your fertilizer I bills for tho last ton years and see whnt nitrogon has cost you, and you will then sco how much you could have saved by growing the leguminous crops. Thore are thousands of ncreB bore in Georgia liko the land that I have de scribed in this article, worn out cotton fields that do not pay for cultivation under the present system of farming that has been going on here for years. These lands should be reclaimed and made to produce paying crops, by rela tion and diversified farming, or else we shall leave to the coming geuorations a fearful legacy. C. W. MoititiLL. Mucon, (Ju. -?*^m- ? ? ? ? MR. HENRY N KILL AGAIN. A very pretty controversy is going on jusl now between Mr. Henry Neill, the famous cotton expert of New Oi lcans, and Mr. .lohn Hyde, I he chief statistician of the Government Depart ment of Agriculture. Mr. Neill is easily the best known and most impor tant ptivate cotton oxport in the coun try, and his views may be said to he controlling upon the English buyers of this staple. He has been out for sev eral mouths with a prediction of an OlhCI enormous cotton crop, based chiefly upon the favorable weathei ? Inch, he declares, the growing crop has received. The data of this char acter and the gonornl crop conditions reported l>y the government are not nearly as favorable as that given by Mr. Neill, although the government has made no definite estimate of the crop, as Mr, Neill has. A lung letter has boon published, written by Mr, Hyde to a thin of cotton merchants here, controverting In detail Mr. Neill's statements, chiefly those lcforriug to the amount of rainfall in the cotton helt. To this Mr. Neill has replied in a second proclamation. People in the cotton trade are natur ally greatly interested in tho dispute If the crop turns out to ho a short one thcie will be a big, rise in prices, while if there is another bumper crop prices will probably recede. From the fact that the price of cotton has risen de cidedly already we infer that the gen eral opinion of the trade leans in Mr. Hyde's favor. Mr Hyde receives sup port also in the movement of the crop from the plantations to the coast and interior cities, it being much below that of last year. On the other hand, Mr. Neill and his friends maintain that an immense qu intity of cotton has been picked and that the Southern planters are holding it back for more money. Some day, they say, cotton will come out with a rush. We feel that wc may not improperly nlludo at this time to certain convic tions that we have heretofore freely expressed concerning Mr. Neill and his prophecies. It is exceedingly un fortunate for any one business that the views of any one man have come to exercise a predominant inllucnce over its various fluctuations and vicissitudes, We do not think wc exaggerate in stating that such is the influence ex ercised in the cotton trade by Mr. Neill. In sonic way?which is not al together explained by the fact thai on several occasions Mr. Neill has been very lucky in his crop guesses?enor mous weight is attached to Mr. Neill's Ultorances, When it is known that ho is about to issue a circular, the trade in cotton is quieted and rumors as to the probable character cf the circular becomes thick as snowllakes. If he predicts a small crop there is an ex cited rush of prices upwards, and if he pi cd ids a big crop there is a slump. Millions of dollars hang upon his words, and of course something botidos mortification is felt when these wo.ds prove to be mistakes. Now, while we wish to state most emphatically that we have never heard a syllable spoken against Mr. Neill's integrity and that we believe him to be an absolutely honest man, vet if is obvious that any such position as he occupies must be very uncomfortable for an honest man to be in. It cer tainly imposes upon him strenuous ob ligations of reticence and extreme care fulness. Indeed, one would think that Mr. Noill would wish to [slop issuing crop estimates or would issue them as rarely as possible and n( such late dates in the season that they would not work mischief,?N. Y, Sun, Nov. '6. HOW THE TltUST GOT ITS NAME. Tho name trust, which is popularly applied to ull these largo aggregations of capital, was somowhat accidental in its origin. It has, however, an ap propriateness which few persons real ize. The managers of every consoli dated enterprise, whether based on a contract, a trust agreement, or an act ual consolidation, are exercising pow ers to bonoflt or injure the public which are analogous to those of a trustee. It has been said that all properly is, in its wider sense, a trust in behalf of the consumer. But whore competition is active, the power of using your busi ness methods to impose high prices is so far limited that the chance for abuse of this trust is greatly lessened. It is only in the case of large combinations, says President Iladley in the Novem ber Scribnor, with their discretionary power for good or evil that the charac ter of the trust reposed by society in the direclors^ol Its business enterprises makes itself really and truly felt. With theso trusts, as wi'h every other trust that deserves the name, it is hard to provide legislative machinery which will absolutely securo its fulfilment. The ability to handle any trust is the rosult of a long process of legal and moral education. Wo ennnot make a law which shall allo?\ the right exor ciso of a discretionary power and pro hibit Us wrong exercise. But. it is pos Bible to modify the existing law in a great many directions, which will has ten instead of retard the educational process. Thus far most of our statutory regulations have been in the wrong direction. Wc have attempted to pro hibit the inevitable, and have simply favored the use of underhanded and short-sighted mothods of doing tilings which must bo dono openly if they aro to bo dono well. Wo claim Alligator Liniment la tho best family rub. Wo want you to test it at our expense, if our claims aro not justifia ble wo refund tho money paid for samo alligator Iiiniinont not only relieves, it cures. Sold everywhere Bear* tue ^9 ?^ ^0U HaV9AIWSJf3 BotlftM Signatar? ?f TRUSTS AND PARTY PLAT FORMS. Wc have been watching closely the resolutions adopted by political par ties with reference to the trust prob lem. Out of bushels of chaff we lind just one grain of wheat and about a peek of chaff with this grain. The one sensible thing we have seen in the platform is this . "Every trust rests upon a corpora tion, and every corporation is a crea ture of law." The suggestion is then made that the proper method of dealing with trusts is to limit the powers of corpo ral ions and hold them to the strict con struction of the law. This is the way out and the only way out with safety to the public. It is perfectly silly for politicians to get together and adopt a platform simply denouncing trusts or proposing that if they become danger ous they should be destroyed altogether. The modern trust is not a corporation holding in trust the stocks of other corporations engaged in the same line of business, elos ng up part of them, I and controlling he output of the rest. This is the old f >rm of trust which has beeu declared illegal. In the modem form the trust is simply a gigantic COiporatiOD owning tho plants them selves and has been declared to be legal. These large corporations are essen tial to the business of the country and to destroy them, as some of cur politi cians foolishly and ignorantly propose to do, would be to cripple the indus tries of the country and turn hack the dial which marks the progress of in dustrial development twent\ -live years. Hither wc must tax the franchise, apart from the property, of all corpora tions and thus make them pay the equivalent for immortality ami the freedom of the individual from liabil ity for corporate debts, or else we must become socialists and the people themselves as a people must own these corporations. As wc see it, there is no other solu tion of the trust problem. The social istic wave that is likely to pass over the country with all its risk to property, to free institutions, and to life itself, has its source and power not in those who preach socialism but in the greed and avarice which leads to the forma tion of trust and to the ignorance and cowardice of the politicians who think the problem can be solved by more de nunciation. Wc must either limit the powers of corporations and thus make them the servants instead of the mas ters of the common people, or else the people must become the trust and own the great enterprises which furnish manufactured products, transportation and distribution. Should we go on an other quarter of a century as wo arc doing and have been doing, the corpo rations Will wipe out the individual in all lines of manufactures and distribu tion as it hasalteady wiped out the in dividual in transportation. The cor porations will then by combinations of interest have the laborer and the con sumer entirely at their mercy and this means revolution, financial, social and political. There are lines in. which public own ership is possible. It is possible for the city to own tin; street railways, the gas factories, the lighting plants, us it is possible for the nation to own the potlofllco, the telegraph, and possibly even railroads, but to talk about the public owning factories and mines is to talk nonsense, and pot if things go on as they have been doing and political conventions are, as now, apparently in the hands of men who have never given any study to the question, but are simply passing resolutions 10 catch voles and pander to interests or preju dices, even this may be seriously at tempted. The plain, simple and di rect w;iy is to tax the franchises of corporations as an equivalent for im mortality and freedom from liability for corporate indebtedness and to com pel publicity as in the case of national bunks ; in short, for the stale and na tional governments to apply to all cor porations for pecuniary profit the same principle that has been applied to suc cessfully for thirty years to national banks. This requires no amendment to the constitution i?f the Stato< or the United States. It is simple justice It means safety to the public. It means a lowering of taxation, both Stale and national. It means prosper ity. It means practical co-operation, for a great industry managed in this way will be able to dispose of all its stocks and bonds to the public, who will thus Und a safe investment for surplus capital. Unless politicians be come statesmen and give serious study to this trust problem, it is likely to in volve us in more trouble than superfi cial thinkem yet dream of. - Wallace's Farmer. The supply of white oak timber in this country , used extensively and al most exclusively for shipbuilding of the most durable kind, is becoming ex hausted. A report received at the Navy Department from an expert who is Investigating IhO subject (.says the material in Ohio has become scarce, nnd no limber of equal quality is to ho found in any other State. Every year, bo says, from 1,000,000 to 1,600.000 feet of this timber is shipped to Quebec, and thenco to Liverpool, where It is used by British shipbuilders. It is the general Opinion that within ten years there will be no available white oak timber in Ohio. Tho naval con structora sny this presents a serious J Situation, although it is not so calamit-! ous as it would he were ours not now ! a steel navy. Still, wc use the whito oak in the construction of snrnll boats, and to a limited extent in the decking of warships. I There are about forty varieties of goldonrod growing in America. To tho man who is all business thoy aro weeds and a pasture pest alone. To him who tins a little foolish sentimental ity in his make up they como in all their golden beauty to decorate tho roadside and fonco corner. Ono may cull tho garden of its best floral pro ducts and yet utterly fail to secure, from our standpoint, so choice and de licate a floral treasuro as is tho bouquet of wild flowers picked by roadside, in pasluro lot and by timber edge as laden orchards, harvest moons and shorten ing days proclaim that tho harvest is past and the summor ended. A ORE AT HARDWOOD CUUNTR Y. Western North Carolina is probably onu of (ho richest hardwood timber sec tions in tho, United States. The nver ago altitude of the plateau section is about "J/JUO feet, ami from its top ami slopes rise the mountains alt lining as great a height as 1*>.70U feet. Cm the eastern slopes of the Uluo Kidge and in the adjacent territory the famous "short leal" or "North Carolina Pine" grows in abundance. Intcrspet sed aro to be found the various vane'.ies of oak, together with the poplar, hickoiy and other woods common to this section. Upon the plateau and the adjacent mountains grow the virgin forests of poplar, oak, ash, chestnut, hickory, birch, beech, linden, buckeye, maple, walnut, cherry, white pine, hemlock and balsam, ami among the smaller timbers dogwood, holly nud persimmon, The best and largest growth of tim ber is to be fouud in the north coves of the mountains and in the tiver bot toms. The tops are not so heavily lim bered as the slopes and neither does the timber grow so prime and large. It is estimated by lumbermen familiar with the section that the average a mount of merchantable limber per acre of ordinary timber land is about ?,U0U feet. This includes such stock as can lie cut and handled by portable nulls. On lands that can be operated by means of water-courses llic amount of timbor which can be taken off au acre and handled at a profit is much larger. Good timbor lands can be bought alt ihe way from ?-J to if? an acre. Stump age at a distance faun the railroad can be bought at $1.50 u thousand. The poplar of this section finds ready side in Northern markets. The varieties of oak include white, chestnut and red oak and are particularly adapted to the OX port trade. The other woods men tioned, while not so plentiful, consti tute a considerable portion of the hardwood industry. A very feasible way of handling the timber is by portable mills of from Qflecn to thirty horse-power, and with capacities of from six to twelve and fifteen thous and feet a day. Large boundaries are operated in this way at a profit. The opportunities offered investors to put money into tracts of standing timber are many, and there are for sale tracts all the way from one hundred aces to forty and fifty thousand acres on which a tree has never been cut. These tracts can be bought at prices before mentioned and on terms very reasonable. There is hardly a better investment for idle capital than timber land in a section where there is no danger of forest fir08 destroying the growing trees. Mr. George Vanderhilt a few years ago purchased a tract of eighty thous and acres of the finest limber land to he found anywhere in tins section, and while he no doubt contemplates man ufacturing a large portion of the lim ber, he has export foresters now on the property and is giving every attention to the care of the trees and the growing of new ones, besides having converted the property into a vast game preserve. The freight rates compare favorably with those from oilier points where similar limber is to bo had. The South ern Railway makes through rates to points North or South. New York and Boston can be reached by rail and water as well us by all rail. Foreign shipments are consigned via Norfolk or Baltimore. Many large tracts have, been purchased within the last few years and a considerable development in tho limbor industry is going on, including furniture factories, stave factories, planing ni>!ls, and nearly all kinds of wood-working concerns. The tan bat k obtained in this region has been a very attractive feature in bringing several large tanneries into western North Carolina.?Southern Field. The dwelling houses at .Johannesburg in the Transvaal, are almost all of iron; galvanized and corrugated iron sides and roofs, the in wer and belter ones lined inside with brick, and they have brick partitions. The old iron houses aro lined with sun-dried brick or "dagga" on the inside. The rooms im mediately below the roofs are rather hot in summer and cold in winter. As a rule, all ordinary stores, warehouses and mine buildings have all wooden farmowork anil iron sides and roofs. I he dwelling rooms for white employes and workmen, if brick, have the walls hard finished. There are no native woods in that part of South Africa available for building purposes, ami therefore overy piece is imported Small pieces of the hard and crooked native woods are only used for mine poles and fence poles. Every telegraph and tele ? phone pole in South Africa is of iron and imported. Diversified farming pays anywhere. The Aiken Journal and lleuicw tells of this success in the sandy country: Mr. D. II. Taylor, of Windsor, a one-armed farmer, deserves a great deal of praise and credit for the suc cessful management of his farm. He has almost entirely abandoned the raising of cotton and instead has turned his attention to food products, such as I upland nee, con:, peas, sugar cane I and chufas. The latter is a hog food, and he claims for it that there is no other food lh.lt will fatten hogs so fast, and make them produce so much j lard as does the chufas. Be has left With U8 samples of Iiis rlCO-HOUR'. cleaned and ready for tho cook and a sheaf an il. comes from the Held. Holh specimens snow up well. Mr. Taylor says he has made, more than his fam ily can consume. A Persian cat which steals pigeon's eggs furnishes the latest curiosity in fcliuownys. A Wiinhorne correspond ent of the London Field says that his cat scales a high garden wall, turns a neighbor's pigeons off thoir nests, takes tho egg* in its mouth, makes a sale journey I ack, sod 1 ays them at hia master's feel. The writer adds : "At this moment I have two on my ollico desk, brought in today. On examining the eggs, I lind two small holes in each shell, made by tho cat's tccih to facili tate ensy and safe carriage; beyond this the eggs arc intact. Although there are many young pigeons in the coto, some unablo to fly, tho cat never in any way attempts to touch them." SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS FROM AN ACHE OF LAND. At a recent meeting of the Georgia Stale Agricultural Society, Mr. F. J. Morriaiu, who runs a hillside farm near Atlanta. Ga., in the course of an intei esting talk made the following statt moot: "If a man will hut study his ground, he will find it to he fully as entrancing as the study of hooks. Through mar riage 1 became connected with a small farm. With my brothei-in law 1 broke ground in 1893 to meet the market de mands in Atlanta. That year 1 made only ?500, but the ?1 l? which I receiv ed from 200 lulls of cucumbors convinc ed mo Hint I was on the right track. The next year my sales went up to l,? 034.21). I g?d $600 from one acre which I had planted in potatoes. The next year, 1805, I marketed >?:{,:{-2'.? worth of vegetables. This year I found lettuce to be tho best seller, getting $701,40 on that article. It was in 1800, however, that I struck luck and gained the final conviction that thei e is money in the land when the farmer .studies his BUiTOUUdiugs. In that year i sold $5,008 worth ol' stuff, of whirl) $704.00 came from lettuce, $583 from turnip salad and $404.00 I nun bcols. I keep books strictly, and (hid Hint it costs nie exactly one-thiid of what 1 raise to pay the necessary expense, in eluding repairs. In 1807 prices were low and the more ordinary vegetables were in demand, hut even under this stringency I made $4,738.00. Of this, $529.55 came from three acres planted in tomatoes, $398.90 from beans and $320.66 ft cm turnips. In 1898 found the market still depressed, but I made that year $4,704.20, of which $732.90 came from turnip salad and $501 from colla'ds. This year, notwithstanding the very bad season we had in the spring months, up to the 1st of August I have sold $4,138.55 worth, g<>0<) ol which e.inie trom one acre planted in cabbage, and I intend lo pocket a round $10,000 this year out of my little farm. ?'Georgia 80il under a system of deep plowing and thorough tillage will pro duce line crops. Our rod clay subsoils arc rich in plain food. The Georgia "Cropper' has been plowing for years down lo what he called 'the bar'1', and this same hard subsoil has boon absorb ing all these years the plant food from ihe thin layers of cultivated ground us it was packed down by the hca/y rains, until to day it is ready by the ina^ie of modern unproved farming to yield up its riches in crop.-, that will astonish the civilized world. We have Striking ex amples of this in the farms scattered here and there over the Slate, which ap pear like oases in the desert ol 8UI round ing barrenness. Farms where thrift is the order of the day, and the owner looks personally titter every detail, are object lessons of what we may expect when the community at large becomes better educated in modern lartu meth ods. And the fact that these success ful men are still progl essing, that their crops arc growing larger, their land richer and their net profit al the close of the year shows a corresponding in crease, goes lo prove that no limit can be placed upon the productiveness of our soil and the wealth and prosperity, as an agricultural community, that we may dually aspire to." FARMING IX EUBOPE AND IN AMERICA. Each notion has something to learn of other nations, as each fanner has something to learn of his neighbor. Europe is greatly interested in our va rious experiments and in our agricultu ral bureau, and our agents are careful ly observing the improvements going on abroad. Prof. VV. M. Haves, who has been in Europe this summer observing the ag ricultural schools abroad, says : "Germany is fai ahead of us in for estry schools and in a sensible forestry system. Uci ?.'real Forestry School at Eberswalde, in the pine regions north of Berlin, and the forests managed by its professors, are so well developed that our young men should go Ihere lo complete their forestry education. Germany's other experiment stations arc each much narrower in their scope than ours, but some of them are doing good work. At Bl'OniOu, lor instance, Ihme is a station devoted wholly tolho study of peal lands." Comparing our agricultural schools with those of Europe, the professor says : "We have more money and improve* incut is going on al a more r.ipid rate here. In some things a few of their older Institutions have done more, but we are ahead in most things, and our organization is on a broader plan, so we shall soon leave thorn far behind. America's experiment stations and colleges are building up such a vast science of agriculture ;is has not been dreamed of olsowliore. Our colleges each have several directors of experi ments, while in Europe each has only one director with assistants." of tho devolopmont of the sugar heel Prof. Hayes says : "The bleeding of sugar beet seed is the most scientific breeding done in the world. Sugar beets now contain more than twice as much sugar per acre us forty years ago. One linn em ploys two hundred people for two months in the winter analyzing mother beets for the next year's seed crop." This is inlorcsliug in itself, and it] shows, moreover, what may l)c done with other crops ; with cotton, with wheat, with corn, with ben ies, toma toes ami various products id' the soil. Furthermore, all this gives new in terest and new dignity to life on the farm. The world must he fed and fed each generation more abundantly. To do this work well the farmer must put his mind as well as Iiis strength into Iiis woik, and try each year to show sonic advance in knowledge. Col. Ti .1. Moore on an irrigated piece of land made at the rate of 118 bushel.-? of rice to the acic and over seven tons of straw which makes ex cellent feed for horses and cattle.? Carolina Spartan. CA.S1'OIiXA.. Bnari tho 1 ho Kind You \\m Always Bought DON'T LOSE YOUR HEAD IN THE BOOM. Ono of the strongest evidences of the prosperity which in the past twelve months has become quite general iu this country, and the evidence that is most commendable, is the fact that this fall almost all the schools and colleges report a largely increased number of students. We note with more pleas ure this manifestation of the posses sion of money to spend, among the people, than any other. Wc hope that there will be uo fulling off in this at tendance, when the wire edge of the boom is off; but wo do not doubt that in a year or two the crest of the wave of "good times" will have passed and a reaction set in that will be very de pressing. We are not "prophets of evil" and have no sympathy with calamity howl ers, but it is far better to learn by ex perience ami not permit omselves to lose our heads and do extravagant things just becavso times are bet*or. A boom is a bad thing tor any commu nity, and not only individuals but whole towns have met with backsets. trom winch it took years to leeover, just because when under boom excite ment thev ran into foolish extrava gance. So, while we commend the extra spending of money in good times, that is used for the education of sons and daughters, we would certainly dis courage ihe reckless use of money, just because it has become somewhat easier leget. And above all we cau tion every one not to buy things for which hi has to go in debt Many a man hnu ocen bankrupted \ ho ? the excitement of prosperity bought land and other property, lor Which he could only pay a part cash, and went into dobt for the balance. Thousands and thousands of people who did this a few years ago, finally had their proper ly sacrificed to pay tho unpaid balances and lost every dollar of cash they had paid. The wise man who wants to buy either real estate or any other proper ly, will not invest during a wave of prosperity, but will hold on to his money, and save a'l he can while prices arc high, and then when the in evitable drop comes he can buy at far lower prices. No doubt this sort of advice is calculated to "throw cold water" on the apparent good times now prevailing ; but it is far better to be conservative and never do things under the stimulus of excitement that becomes so contagious and hard to re sist when a general indusrial and com mercial revival sets in. The country is still full of financial wrecks, indi vidual and corporate, that resulted from the great boom of the last dc cade, and the way things are shaping themselves, it looks as if there is going to be an opportunity for a great many more to lie added to the list.?Tri State forme** and Gardener. - mM * ? ? ^? ? THE PRODUCTION OP INDIGO. The cultivation of the indigo-yield ing plants, including the preparation of the indigo color, is one of the chief industries of Northern India, and has been so from very early times. At tho present time this great and ancient in dustry, in winch is invented British capital to the extent of many millions sterling, and which finds employment for hundreds of thousands of" natives and many Europeans, is threatened with extinction. In 1SGU the artificial production of alizarin, the substance used in the production of turkey red, trom anthracine?this latter a product of the distillation of coal tar?de stroyed the trade in madder, and now it looks very much as if natural indigo would be ousted from its long-held po sition of supremacy, and an artificial product, the triumph of the organic chemist, Will take its place. Moreover, this artificial indigo is absolutely iden tical with the plant-produced indigo. A famous and important firm of color makers, to-wit, IheBadishe Anilin und Soda Fabrik, (Baden Analiue and Soda Factory) of Ludwlgshafon on the Rhine in Germany, has introduced ar tificial indigo in the highest state of purity, nnd at a price which admits of its successful competition with tho best qualities of natural indigo. This remarkable achievement is the outcome of a discovery of the late Professor lleuman, of Zurich, carric l to a commercial success by the perse* vcranco and skill of the chemists of this great linn. The chief Ingredient in this aitificial production ot indigo is nnpfhtdonc. This substance is one of the chief products of the distillation of coal tar, and in the form of various derivatives is largely used in the pro duction of dye-stuffs. At the present moment tho indigo planters fully re cognize the danger to which their in dustry is exposed by the introduction of this product If the artificial in digo can bo produced at a lower price than natural indigo, then the Indian indigo trade will gradually cease to exist. Wo cannot regard such a possi bility without mingled feelings. Speak ing as a chemist, the success of such au artificial product must be looked upon as a great and glorious achieve ment, but one cannot help wishing that ttie price of such a victory was uot so great ; for the nun of the in digo plantations cannot be otherwise regarded than as a national calamity, Which may have the most far-reaching consequences, but the Indigo growers, if they can improve their methods of manufacture so us to obtain bolter yields of color, will he able also to re duce their prices, and in this question of cost is the kernel of the nut, which the champions of Artificial and natural indigo have to crack. Sallic Joy White when telling young cooks bow to prepare various delicacies for invalids in October Woman's Home Companion gives this simple recipe for egg-nog: "To make an egg-nog you will separate tbo white and yolk of ono egg, and 1 cat tbo yolk with one table spoonful of sugar until it is light and creamy; add to this one half cupful of milk, then heat the white of the ogg to a foam and stir ii lightly into the bent en yolk, sugar and milk. It is a do licous and nourishing drink. Try it yourself some day when you aro hungry and tired oven if you don't call your self an invalid, and see if 1 am not right."