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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Advocate, 1897-5-13, Page 255 eY wteettee. Ray1Ot40 PART L—CHAPTER L It was a warm snotty morning in July --one of those brilliant days in which it seems that mother Naturehas no sym- pathy for her children if they are in trou- ble—a little group of three persons stood. together on the platform of Lealstone sta- tion waiting for a train, postponing their last good -by to the last moment, Colonel Fitzjames was leaving his orphan sister, Audine, whom he had hardly ever quit- ted before, fora visit of uncertain length to property which he possessed in Aus- tralia, You will write to me regularly, George," Audine repeated over and over again, holding her brother's arm with both her oold little hands. "You will write long letters; you will remember bow liangry I shall be for all the smallest details." "'I promise, my darling. You shall have a noble budget of news by every mail. Now, Audine, will you sit down for one moment? I want to say one word more to Mrs, Neville." Audine quitted his arm and sat down on ane of the benches in the station. The poor girl had to clasp her hands very tightly together, and to struggle hard to suppress the Choking tears that she was determined not to shed, Colonel Fitz - jamas and Mrs. Neville paced up and down side by side. She was a tall, hand- some woman of abou forty-five. She had formerly been the dear friend of Audine's mother, and to her Dare Colonel Fitz- james had committed his dearly -loved sis- ter. "Remember," he said. in a voice that bad something of sternness in it—"re- =anther what a great trust l: have put in you. Audine is only just eighteen, and so young and obildish for her age; let me find her on cmy return as young, and happy. and free from sad experiences as I leave her, and I shall uwo you a debt of gratitude that I shall never be able to repay." "You may trust me, George," said Mrs. Neville, very earnestly. "1 do trust you," he repeated; "I am trusting you with the dearest thing I possess on earth —for my sake. for her mother's sake, take mire of my little sister. The arrival bell rang loudly; the train was within a mile; Audine sprang from her seat and ran to her brother. "Let me stay with y ou now, George," she said; and he saw how white she was, and how gallantly she was fighting with her tears. "My brave little rs.udine, keep up heart; I shall expect to see such beauti- ful paintings when I cone home, and to hear all sorts of new songs. You must work very hard, and write very often,. and you have no idea how quickly the time will pass." -Oh, there is the train!" Cried Audine, with au irrepressible sob. "0 George, George !" "Now, dear, give me my umbrella there; now the rug., taood-bv„ darlineet .ho gently drew himself away from her clinging hands, and gut into the carriage. "Dodd -by, Mrs. Neville. 1 need not say, take Care of her, Good -by, my dear friend." The train began to move—it could spare but one'short moment at so small a station as Lealstone. Audine lifted her face from her friend's shoulder, where she had hidden it, and shat her brother's last look with a brave smile, which looked very wistful and piteous on har little pale face. She waved her handkercbief till the train was out of sight, and the circling Clouds of dust had settled to rest again, and then Mrs. Neville led her away, and comforted and petted her till she had cried until she Could cry no more. The village of Lealstone was situated in a densely populated manufacturing district. The surrounding country had once been beautiful. but was blighted and darkened by smoke. The features were fine—broad sweeps of valley, a good horizon, line rising upon line of low hills. The eye ranged over a wide extent of country, and the dim coloring had a pe - culler beauty of its own. Earth and sky, when smoke -laden, assumed one uniform grey tint, which the sun pierced with rays of brilliant white; touching on far distant, many -windowed factories, they gleamed suddenly, flashing like polished steel; and the tall chimneys would stand out in strong relief on a background of mist and smoke, shining with silvery light—and ever -varying, shifting land- scape of gray ohiaro oscuro, On every side rose the hum of busy life —the rattling of machinery, the roar of a thousand whirling wheels. Lealstone Hall Colonel Fitzjames' house -was about a mile from the vil- lage.It was an old red -brick house, stand- ing in a fine park: but the situation had beau in -chosen and was a serious draw- back to the beauty of the place. The house stood on the extreme edge of the park in the midst of a large garden; and the tall walls of this garden alone separ- ated it from one of the wildest and most desolate tracts of moor in the black coun- try. A gate led out into the road across the moor, but was not often used by the lean i.n Lealstone Audine had passed all her young and uneventful life. Lady Mai;el Pitzjames, her mother, had died whenshe was horn, so she had never known a mother's love, Her brother George, who was twelve years older than herself, had felt the loss with a passion-uf grief even beyond his years, and had found his best comfort in his helpless lit- tle baby sister. When Audine was about eleven years old,her father aleo died; and her brother George,now twenty-two years old, was Ieft her sole guardian, Be ful- filled the task nobly. His little sister had become the dearest objeot of his affeo- tions, and she grew up so much petted and beloved, that had she had a less sweet disposition she roust have been spoilt. Audine's childhood was of necessity a somewhat solitary one, and for want of more substantial playfellows, she peopled the world around hot with bright orea- tures of her own imagination. For some years her mind was satisfied • with fairy- Iore-gnomes, undines, and elves were to her living and exquisite realities. When she was fifteen her brother led her into a new and still more enchanting World, through the medium of theWav- erly Novels and thenceforth her dreams were of deeds of Chivalry and glory, of splintering lances and hard-fought bat- tles. She became an ardent Jacobite, and eager Tory. Being so good a lover, she was a good -hater, and ber very cheek would turn pale at the mention of Wil. Haul of Orange. The quality of self-eaorifice was one that eapeeially commended itself to Audine's young and generous nature. She longed tobo able to do soinething for those she loved; to suffer for them; to give up some happiness for their sake. She ideal- ised Flora MaoIvor, and shed many a bit- ter tear over her fate, all the more that that heroine's position with regard to hot brother seemed to bear some semblance to her own. Colonel Fitzjames' departure for Aus- tralia was the lint real sorrow of .Au- dine's young life. He left her most un- willingly, but it was inevitable. He pos- sessed estates of considerable value in the colonies, and bad some reason to doubt the fidelity of his agent. Finding bimself obliged to leave her, Colonel Fitzjames berhought him of Lady Mabel's aid friend, Mrs. Neville. She was a widow, and had one son -a sculptor. She was rich, but lived a very lonely life in the south of England, her son being nearly always in London working at his profes- sion. Mrs. Neville and her son Godfrey had often stayed for weeks together at Lealstone when the Fitzjaiiieses were lit- tle more than children, and Godfrey had been the only playmate of nearly her own age chat;.sudine had ever known. He was about three years older than herself. Mrs. Neville accepted Colonel Fitz. james's invitation to break up her lonely home and come to Loalstono with great pleasure. It was an understood thing that Godfrey also was to consider it his "home whenever he wished to leave London.. And the lonely woman felt that a year spent thus with Audine would be one of extreme happiness, Colonel Fitzjames felt sero of her ten- der affection for his young sister, and though his opinion of her judgment was not so high as his mother's bad been, he had implicit faith in her kindness and every trust in Audine herseilf. He had not realized that, however childish and young she might bo, his little sister had reached the age of eighteeu. CHAPTER IL The first two or three months of Co l• 0reel Fitzjames's absence passedwith a rapidity which Audine would never have believed to be possible. One evening she and Mrs. Neville were sitting in the large inornihig-room an the ground Soon which they generally inhab- ited; the high French windows which opened on the garden were set wide open, and a sweet smell of roses and mignon- ette was wafted in on the warm air. The evening was so lovely that Audine longed to be out of doors; but there was something in the manner of her friend which made her restrain her wlsh and say instead, "Are you not well to -night, aunt Mary?" for so she was wont to call hot, Mrs. Neville answered that she was well, that nothing ailed her; and Au - dine asked no more. She sat by the empty flrepiaco, her knitting -pins idle in her lap, her eyes fixed and troubled. Audine glanced out of the window at the large harvestmoon slowly rising through the thick group of trees at the end of the garden. She heard the softly rustling ivy and she longed to go and gather the gerat crimson roses that were nodding outside, but an instinct told her that her friend's thoughts were set to a untie herself to them. "I am a very dull companion, Au - dine," said Mrs. Neville so suddenly that Audine started and looked up, smiling brightly. The old lady rose and walked restlessly to the window. "Something has troubled you," said Audine, following her and leaning ber cheek on Mrs. Neville's shoulder. "Trou- ble is a heavier burden inside than out, niy old nurse Burnie says. Tell me your trouble, Aunt Mary, if you oan." "Why should I sadden you, child—you who have never known a sorrow in your life?" "Till George went away." "I meant a real living sorrow. George will be back very soon. What is one year at your age?" ""Never mind my sorrows, Aunt Mary, let ine try and lighten yours." "1 think—yes, I think I will talk to you about it; and yet don't know," "Sit down, aunt Mary, there by the window seat, and I will sit on this stool al your feet. Now, tell me all about it. "You are very young, child, to be my confidant. "I am older in mind than in years," "No, no, do not say that; your youth is too precious a gift to be parted with soon, and your little mind is well matobed with your little body. What are you doing?" "Gathering a rose to smell while you talk to me." Mrs. Neville for a moment leant her head sorrowfully on her hand. That poor weary woman kneed and pined for a confidant, She was not made to live alone. With more than a woman's weak- ness she had leant on her husband—with more than a woman's helplessness she bad faced the anxious care'of an only son; and now she longed intensely for some loving ear into which to pour her anxie- ties, some voice to give strength to her indecision of conduct. The temptation was too great, The loving sympathetic child could comfort her, and could surely gain no harm in what she had to confide. So she bent down and kissed the little expectant face, an began her story with a long sigh. "My trouble is all about Godfrey, Au - dine; he gives me a great deal of anx- ieey." "Is he ill?" "No, not ill; quite well in health. 'Ib is rather for his mind that I fear. You know that my dear husband died when you werelittle more than a baby, Au- dine; be and your father were very dear friends, and were often together. We wore very happy, when a strange sad trouble came over us: he became subject to optical delusions, From that time we knew no resting -place: we wandered from one doctor to another; were sent sometimes to Germany, Italy, or France —sometimes to the north of Scotland, even to Norway and Sweden, in quest of health. It was of no avail. It was only for a short time before his death that the trouble passed away, and he died In a great and blessed poaee," Audine pressed her ei ha red. "His greatest comfort and help was our boy. He would tell him the strange things he saw; and :while holding his lit- tle Band, would describe how they faded away, till the child grew so excited that I often feared for his health. With his last breath mydear husband bade me be gentle, and fan and foster the ;spark of genius he saw in the boy. He had st great genius niinsei,, ees is was undevel- oped—the effect, bo always declared, of an nnsympathizfng home. "When he died, Godfrey became the solo joy and resburoe of my life. They wished me to send him to school--" "Who did, aunt Mary? Could they be so cruel?" "His uncles. They meant well, dear: and God knows it might have been bet- ter for him if I had allowed thein to have their way. lent Godfrey was all in all to me, and his father's words were always ringing in my ears, that his own sgenitis had been Cramped by harsh treatment when young; so,l resisted theirishes and he was brought up at home. ].threw myself into all his pursuits, :hoping that each one would prove the right one fol the development of his powers. He never: knew control or Contradiction, ,,only en- cotiragement in his noble aspirations; for they always were noble, however vague and unformed. The tutor 1 en- gaged for him first was a learned and ace oompiished elan, but too old to sympa- thize with his youth, so 1 Changed to a was time it seems to me to be an excess of all that is noble and aspiring." "I will read you the letter I have re- ceived from him to -day. It is so strange that it greatly alarms ine." Mrs. Neville took a letter from her pocket, and began to read. TO BE CONCI.Iu]D,) RUBBERNECK BILL'S ADIEU. He Was a victim of Habit, and There Was No nape. Rubberneck Bill, was the terror of Plzen Creek, He was called. Rubberneck because he had been informally strung up on several occasions by vigilance committees, yet bad eaoh time escaped alive with a neck somewhat elongated, but still serviceable as a eonduit for tanglefoot. After he had been lynched the third time his neck was a foot long, and be began to get alarmed. "See here, Davu, " he protested to the leader of the vigilantes the clay after his third. suspension, "I don't mind be in lynched a few times. Somebody's got to be practiced on now an then or Plzen' Creek will be gittin.dead slow, I know, but I wish you'd patronize some other cuss fer awhile. If this neck stretchin keeps on reg'lar my beauty will be plumb sp'iled fer sure." "You better pull yer freight, Bill," the vigilante Chief said grimly. "Next time ye go up there'll be slob a charge of lead in yer oarless that yer neok'11 snap Tike a pipestem." Bill did not heed the warnng, and a week later he was rounded up for steal- ing a horse and told to say his prayers. He remembered the threat about the lead, and when he saw a dozen of the miners standing around 'expectantly, guns in band, he knew that his rubber neck reliance was soon to be punctured" for all time. "If ye've got anything to say, out " with it," cried Dave. SOMETHING HAS TROUBLED YOU. younger man -a German—with whom he used to work more willingly; and the two together roused each other to enthu- siasta over their studies, Well, it was desultory training, and his uncles have blamed no bitterly y for it; and 1 fear that the punishment is coming on me now." "When did he take to sculnturet" "When he was about fifteen be beams passionately fond of modeling, and Roger Gcirwood, who then worked in a neighboring town, used to come over and give him lessons." "Who is Roger Girwood?" "Be was a stone -cutter to whom my husband lent money once in, a moment of urgent necessity. The man hada great deal of talent; he raised himself by hard work, and is now owner of an important stoneyard in London, where he sculp- tures urns and devices for tombs, and carves inscriptions. He has a large empty room at the back of his yard which God- frey bas hireu and converted into a studio. Ile lodges in the house when he is work- ing, and old Mrs. Parsons, Roger Gir- wood's housek.,eper, takes good oa:e of them both." - "Ab, I bad heard of Mr. Neville's studio, and often . wished that 1 could see it." "When Godfrey had fairly settled to his work my mind felt wonderfully at ease. He had found out the bent d his genius, and his desultory training. �;�na uc., no fern.. Colt that 1 had done }iiia s re, ce in encouraging and increasing by my sympathy that poi- petual craving for an ideal perfectlan which only the real genius can ever feel. Alas! Audine, if 1 bad listened to ad- vice. No 1 will not say that; 1 obeyed my husband ; and the boy was bis -bis End mine; we were responsible to no one ant Goa. "1 was much disturbed before Ion; by Godfrey's dissatisfaction, with all he'pro- duced. After months of hard worksnce he allowed me to see a beautiful statue on the eve of completion. No doubt :here were faults, for he had not then mastered all the technical difficulties, but still it was a lovely thing. 1 was very proud of it, and boastingly described it to my brothers-in-law, who (for they are kindly at heart) were delighted at the news, and went to the studio to see it. Alas! God:- Prey od;Prey had destroyed it the night before—it was reduced to a mass of broken mar- ble." The tears stood in Mrs. Neville's eyes. "lf you knew how 1 Dried over those broken pieces," she said. "What a pity!" Dried Audine. "But after all, is it not a grand thing never to be satisfied with the work of one's own hands?" "Is it, my deart 1 don't know. My hopes rose again when Godfrey began a group; it was life-size, and represented Circe and the swine. We went to Rome to work at it, and he bought the wild boars shot in the Campagna and sold in a small shop close to the Pantheon. One of these was a very fine one, and he kept 111111 there were great complaints in the House." "But why?" "It bad such a strong smell, my dear, and it had bo be thrown away. He tried to get one like it; but some were too ugly, and some boo fat. One day we were quite besieged in our apartment by peo- ple from the Piazza Navona bringing wild boars in their arms. "Ciroe was getting on vary well, when Godrey was seized with a fit of disgust, and way, have destroyed it also, had not f his artist friends, an Italian rear . a Oastaletti, entreated to be allowed to have it. Godfrey gave it to him at once and he has since made use of the design to produce a group that has been very lunch admired." "What a shame!" "Anel it has been the same with all that my poor boy does. Ever dissatisfied, ever aspiring, everything he produces die gusts and disoourages him. One day you will see his studio full of studio bold outlines in Chalk, full of genius, modelled hands or feet, sometimes a giant 'draw- ing of an eye or a mouth—nothing fin- ished, no design carried. out. His studio is full of flowers. They alone realize his ideal of perfection; and they are Changed every day, that he may not see thein fade. I have sometimes regretted that be has no motive for work—that' he is not a poor, struggling artist;. for then I know that be would do great things," "Still, dear aunt Mary, I see nothing, lnall this but the im impatience fiance oP genius.r, Mrs. Neville shook her bead. "But surely," Audine ..went. on- "surely this is better than the extreme vanity and self-conceit of half the great men one hears about," "I am afraid, Audine, that I am too unhappy about it to think that," "Dear aunt Mary, if I have rightly un- derstood lits character from your desorip- "I have, Dave, I have," said Rubber- neck. Bill. "I've got a speech of solemn warnin to make to the young tender- foots an otheras is yere present. Gim- I s me a cliaw of torbacker, Dave. Thanks. Now, what I was a-goin to remark to the young men was for them to beware ..1aebits Thel: :.. . V�.V habit 4' t is a a�r.5'tr_a thing fer sure. Yo do a thing mat, an it ain't much, but you do it twict or three times, an you feel likey ou mast do it ag'in or bu'st. That's habit, an habit is a thing fer you to beware of. Habit is what has brought me to this yere necktie party. Habit"-- "Hess abit"—"Hess stealin," the leader of the vig- ilantes remarked sententiously, "boss stealin habit." "No, not boss stealin, jest plain hab- it, dern ye," shouted Rubberneck Bill. "You fellers have got into the habit of hangin me, an I don't suppose there's no way of makin ye swear off, so lot 'er go, Dave Barker ; let 'er go."—New York Sunday Journal. Conflicting Emotions. "Old man, you seem worried." "Worried is no name for it. Brown is coming around at 4 o'clock to pay me $15." "Oh, he'll come all right, but Jones is due at 4:15 to try to collect $10 I owe him. Suppose he should get hero just as I was being paid by Brown."—Cin- (tinned Enquirer. Highly Esteemed. "I used ter think," remarked Mean dering Mike, "that I wasn't popular with dumb animals." "Are ye?" inquired Plodding Pete. "Tremendously. I met three dogs to- day, and every one of them thought I was nice enough to eat. "—Washington Star. A Fatal Slip. First Detective—How did you now he was from Chicago? Second Detective—By his accent. First Detective—But you said he did not speak to any one. Second Detective—I overheard him eating a piece of pie.—Truth. Her Praatical View. "How glorious it is to drink in this delightful sunshine, to watch it gild the landscape and cast its mellow bless- ing on the waiting earth." "Yes, George, but think of the free- kles. "-Cleveland Plain Dealer. }lis Guess. "Why don't that European war you've been predicting right along come off, Mr. Sportly?" inquired his wife. "I suppose the kinetoscope people are not ready. "—Detroit Free Press. Two. Smith—Did you ever see two women yet who could agree about the car fare? Brown—Yes. The conductor's wife and daughter. -0'p to Date. Cause and Effect. ea ,moi' l'".Ave yer 'eard Bill's landed for three years' 'aid labor?" ""What for?" "Sneezin.'' "Wot yer givin ns? Sneezin!" "Well, 'e was orackin a crib, an 'e snoze, an woke the bloke up." -r-3 A NEW PLANT BOX. Very Useful to Market Gardeners and to Fruit Growers. The plant box shown herewith has been used for a number of years by an Ohio contributor to American Garden- ing, who claims that it is just the thing to transplant tomatoes, peppers or, in fact, any plant that it is desired to put on the market early and get' an extra price for. He uses the boxes :principally for early tomatoes, transplanting into them about ten days before be wishes tomar- ket the plants. Tomatoes, poppers, as- ters and phloxes are transplanted for the third time into these boxes and he gets from 8 to 5 cents apiece for them, whereas if he sold them out of fiats he would only get 15 cents per dozen. As to the cost of this box, the mato- rial is snob as is used in making the common market basket. Have it cut 2; inches in width and 6 inches in length, tapering on the sides from each end for 2g inches, thus leaving the cen- CHEAP, CONVENIENT PLANT BOX. ter 1,Z inches square. Now, score them for folding. To put all together, take a 8 by 3 quartering, any length you wish, tapering the end to correspond with the taper of the box. Fasten a plate of iron on the top so that the tacks will clinch. Make a hoop of wire to slip over the end to hold the splints while the hoop is wrapped and nailed. The hoops should be three-eighths of an inch wide and 10 inches long. Made in this way, the boxes will nest together and can bo made at any time for future use. The cost will not exceed 25 cents per 100 boxes. Material can be had at any bus- ket factory. Such a box can be used for layering strawberry plants. It makes a cheap, neataokagand people ge , peep a like to buy bel. then transplanted into the garden without a setback. The writer puts up thousands of tomato plants in boxes, each holding half a dozen or a dozen, and also does up single plants to put on the market. Vegetables grown in pots are too expensive to the grower. This box is also a package that your customer can take home easily, and he does not have to set it out until his soil is in a fit condition. There is no patent on this. It is given for the good of the plant culturist. .As shown in the sketch the plant is small for the size of the box. To Amateur Beekeepers. Here is a chunk of wisdom handed out to beginners by The .Progressive Beekeeper: I would advise a beginner to com- mence with a small number of colonies, say from two to five, as, however well he may study and understand the theory of beekeeping, he will find that prac- tical experience is necessary, and the knowledge he will obtain in handling a small number of colonies and multiply- ing them will give him the requisite experience to manage them when his colonies become numerous. If he makes blunders with a few before he becomes expert, the loss will not be so great, while, if ho should commit the same blunders with a great number, it might prove too costly a tuition fee to pay for the experience acquired' and turn hien from the pursuit in disgust. Cottonseed Oil Meal. The oil meals, gluten meal and bran are materials which maybe used as car- riers of fertility to the soil. Cottonseed oil meal is thus used to quite a large ex- tent in the southern and Atlantic coast states, and the Connecticut experiment station has repeatedly called attention to it as a source of nitrogen for the New England states. The following paragraph is from a report of that sta- tion: Cottonseed meal has been by far the cheapest source of available nitrogen tering the past season. Experiments indicate that it is as rapidly and fully available as the best forms of animal matter. It has been extensively used in home mixed fertilizers and has given perfect satisfaction. The Next Hay Crop. Tho New England Homestead reports as follows: Farmers will devote a full area to flay the coming season. Many of our re- turns from the middle and western states point 'to an increase of 10 to 20 per cent over last year --occasionally more than this—while others an acreage about equal to last year and some to a decrease. In the western states, where the crop is nearly all prairie bay, the amount cured will depend to some ex- tent upon prices in July. In ,many of the older central and .eastern states,, given over largely to timothy and clo- ver hays, there will be an increase owing to the Cheapness of potatoes and grain. as. tr.: •, a ..a ...,. GOOD SOD CUTTER. It Cuts Hapidly and the Sod Is of :Uni- form Thickness. A sod cutter to use with a horse which outs rapidly and furnishes sod of uni- form thiokness is a desirable . imple.. Ment. It is within the reach of every' man having ordinary ability iu'the uegep of tools. A "correspondent of Ohio Farmer provides the model. Isere is the illustrated' description: To oonstruot this cutter, procure a piece of pine or oak 2 inches thick by 6 MAKING A SCD CUTTER. inches wide and 7 feet long. Cut in, the center and shape one end of each piece like Fig. 1. For the top use a piece of pine 2 inches thick, 14 inches wide and 3 feet long. Spike or fasten the top board firmly to the side pieces or run- ners as though making a sled, as in Fig. 4. It will require two steel cutters about 8 inches long and firm enough to be substantial, like Fig. 2, and a steel cutter (3), the bottom to be flat and about 1;z inches wide, the length of which must be width of sled, but which must be fastened to the sled on an angle so that one knife or cutter which is fas- tened upright in front will be in ad- vance of the other. This cutter must be made of good steel, with stout upright ends and well bolted to the sides so it will project be- low the bottom of the runners about 2g inches or whatever thiokness is deemed best to cut the sod, Have it well sharp- ened across the width. Place the two upright ht knlFes, well sharpened, ened,just in advance 0f the uprights of the knife or cutter, allowing their points to project half au inch below the cutter bar. Fig. 4 shows the cutter nomplete, with the bottom up. Rings can be put in front and a short chain attached to hitch the horse to. In cutting, drive straight and stand on the cutter over the knife. It is best to cut a strip crosswise at each end of the strips and remove it, and there will be less trouble to start it each time. By 4 CUTTER COMPLETE, BOTTOM OP. using a spade that is sharp to follow and cut off the lengths it is easy to get any sized piece" that may lee desirable to handle. ,The whole expense of such a t made will last a lifetime A Mistaken Idea. Many farmers hold to the mistaken notion that fertilizers must be used. alone. Every fertilizer manufacturer nowadays, however, is wise enough to advise farmers to utilize every possible source of manure or compost on the farm before buying fertilizers. One groat advantage of commercial fertili- zers is that they can be used to supple- ment manures or compost, being posi- tive and quick acting, while the latter are slower and more uncertain. Many a man who ignorantly declaims against commercial fertilizers as costly and un- profitable pays two or three times what it is worth for the city stable manure he prizes so highly. The price of that stuff has been too high for years. Many market gardeners about Boston, New York and Philadelphia find that the money they used to pay for city manure will buy several times as much plant food in the higher grade brands of fer- tilizers, according to The New England Homestead. Beekeeping and Fruit Growing. In many sections beekeeping is con- sidered a necessary adjunct of fruit growing, because of the assistance of the bees in fertilizing the blossoms. Some orchardists have borrowed colonies during the season of bloom, getting the use by paying the cost of transfer from and to home again and a trifle more. Many New Jersey fruit growers are said to have benched colonies of bees in their orchards. Don't spray when the .blossoms are open if you have bees. r, News and Notes. A systematic rotation planned with reference to the matter is suggested as a general preventive against wire worms. There are 54 experiment stations in the' United States. Considerable interest is manifested .in beet sugar by farmers in many states of the Union. It is said that the new stock food will keep as well as wheat bran. It is named the new corn product. Winter wheat is reported winter kill- ed to some extent in Missouri; Iowa, Il- linois, Indiana and Wisconsin, but its condition is not discouraging in Ohio and is generally promising in Senses, Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Spring wheat is doing well in Kansas and Iowa is to increase her acreage in this Cereal. The 1897 crop of maple sugar and sirup is a full ono except in Ohio and parts of Pennsylvania. The Farm,Journal declares that the time has come when it will pay to breed good horses. Rural New Yorker says: "We have grown potatoes on the same plot for at least 15 years, using a high grade of po- , tato fertilizer only as food. The last' crop was as heavy as any previous' crop." There is plenty of old bay in sight. f tot