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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Advocate, 1897-5-27, Page 2licl(171)i'APtrqa -4QUEEN 8' Ntglu.ukt1 Saymom4 "I am very much flattered by your thiuking so; I thought le quite the loveli- est foe I had ever seen in my life." Au- dine's imagination was keenly excited by the visit to the sculptor's studio. Slee could think and talk of nothing else. Mrs. Neville, enchanted . by ber sympa- thetic admiration of her son and his works, unsorupled not to prolong their stay in London for two or three days. A pertain restfulness carne over Godfrey, now that the missing link of inspiration. had been supplied, and he eonsontod soinetimes to leave his work and accom- pany them to a gallery or a museum. `these were days of extreme enjoyment to Mrs. Neville; her son used to devote him- self entirely to her, leaving Audine to the attentions o+ Castaletti, who was never ion„ absent from his fellow -artist's elbow For a time Audiue was amused by the flowery conversations of her companion, fun of ilatrcry and ingeniously composed oumpiiiuents; thea she grew somewhat fatigued by it, and wished that Mrs. Ne- ville .would nut so continually talk to her sou. 13at she was ;gad -natured, and see- ing that these conversations were in- tensely preolous to Ler friend, she never complained. Une day they were walking together in the Park, and Cas+eletti suddenly, to A.udine's astonishiueut, changed hie usual style of talk, and began t♦g.speg>; of I bis own country. He spoke with suoh fervoz, snob passion of Italy, that Au - dine was quite carried away by his en- thusiasm. He drew the most vivid plc: - tura of his own village in the wild Cam- pagna. He possessed the rare gift of the Italian itnpeavisa;are; and his words were so ringing, so powerful, that God- frey and his mother paused to listen. "Castaletti is a wonderful improvise - tore," said Godfrey, smiling. "I have ween slim excite his auaienoe almost to frenzy,aud move the 1 i to sobs and tears." Mrs. Neville, who cared more for tbe, details of his life that Godfrey was giving ber than for the finest eloquence on earth, drew him ou. Castaletti's voice sank suddenly from the excited account of the beauty of his home, to a soft, tender, modulated tone. He described the mother who had parted with hien, when the passion for his art had carried him away, and led him to Rome, He described. how, one by one, the shackles of ignorance, homeliness, and prejudice bad fallen from him, and left him awhile lonely and isolated. Then the art which he embraced with such fervour encirole.i him with her loving embrace—ho beeamo an artist. Fame, with the golden trumpet, allured him from afar. He Iived for the future; be endured the present; be spurned the past. Audine's large eyes were gazing on him. What a strange transfomation it seemed! He saw them and the parted rosy lips, and be suddenly began to speak again, gently, softly, tenderly. He asked her if she would not long for the golden sun .and the purple skies of Italy—for tbe 'wide world, one glorious carpet of flowers —for the clustering roses, the luxuriance of color and warmth and odor; and Au - dine was half -frightened, and could stcaroelp answer. h was a great relief to ber when Mrs. Neville stopped and waited for ber and did not leave ber again till they returned hone. Mrs. Neville was too much absorbed In her son to perceive that Castaletti had conceived one of those sudden and violent passions for Audine Fitzjames that be - 13E WAS FALU a—DOWN, DOWN. long to a southern nature. Love at first sight, so much laughed at and disbe- lieved, was no trifle to him. Audine was startled by the vehemence of his manner, and by his rapid change of color when the spoke to him. Her eyes were opened on the day on which they returned i o Lealstone. They !tad reached the stetien from whence they were to start, when a cab dashed up to' the door, and Castaletti leaped out; his face was as white as a sheet, and working with emotion. Mrs. Neville was half inclined to be frightened, and caught ber son's arm. Godfrey had accompanied them to the station. "What does he want, Godfrey?" she Maid. "Only to say good -by," he answered. and she was satisfied. Castaletti en- treated Audine to speak to him one ma - anent in the waiting -room. With gentle dignified manner tho girl refused, but allowed him to walk beside ber up to the end of the platform. In one moment, speaking low but very violently, he poured out the passionate declaration of his love. He told her that he knew that his feeling was not re- turned; that Engiishwomer, were not like his country-women—they must ee won by gold. He declared that he would make: his fortune, andl lay it at her feet or die. The extravagance of his words and. the working of big: features so alarmed Audine, that she involuntarily put out bar hands in the direction of Godf tR Castaletti saw the gesture, and his facie became almost like that of a demon. "I seed" he said be: ween his teeth. 'I know• well the reason that the White Queen is only a portrait of yourself. Your image Is never absent from his brain; but he does not " love you 1 nos no l" He seized her hand, kissed it passion- ately, and was gone, Audine ran back to ]ler friend; and not t111 they were safe in the carriage and some miles on Ibetr way, did she feel thatshe bad courage enough to describe what had taken place. "I hope that we have seen the last of him," said Mrs. Neville, severely. "It was a great impertinence, after so short an acquaintance." Audine gave a little Waiver, "His satyr- Iike face haunts me," she said. CHAPTER IV. Summer bad glided into autumn; the earth, bereft of her golden Dorn, replaced the color in hedge and Use, and the dews fell heavily night and niorning. One night, about nine o'clock, Godfrey Neville arrived at Leaistone Ha1L. The evening was very hot and steamy. Mrs. Neville and .Audine were sitting to- gether—the French windows open. Au- dine had a book on her lap, which she was trying to react, but she had been very busy all day, and her eyes would close of tbamselvas; and after resisting for a while, the book silently slid to the ground, and her head sant: back on her low arm -chair, and she slept. There was no ring at the bell, no knock or sound of servants hurrying, but pushing open the half-closed window, Godfrey Neville came in. Mrs. -Neville sprang to her feet, sur- prised and started; but he put bis finger on his lip, and beckoned to her not to awake Audine, but to come out to him. She glanced at her thin shoes and the wet grass; but there was something in his manner which frightened her, and she followed him without remonstranoo. Audine, undisturbed, slept on for more than an hour, then suddenly woke up with a feeling of consciousness that somebody was looking. at her, close to her, bending over her, She raised berself suddenly. Yes! some one was quite close to her—a dark figure; it was very dark now, and the servants had not brought the lights. She could see nothing but an outline, and could almost have screamed when she faeoied she recognized the satyr -like face of Castaletti. "Hush I" be said, very softly "Do not speak. I am satisfied he is not here." "Who is not bore? What do you mean?" Audine rose to her feet, trembling vio- lently. "'He --Godfrey." "No; he has not been here for many weeks—mouths even. Let me oall aunt Mary." she exclaimed in terror, for he caught bold of her bands. "`No, no. I want to tell you Godfrey has a bride already --a perfect bride—a. rare pleas of perfection; you are to know that." "Let me go." "Yes, yes; but remember there Is no perfection like bis bride, and he is hers— do you hear, Audine? He is mad, and be has wed her." She shook from head to foot. He continued holding her hands, and speaking in the same loud rapid whisper. "Yes; she is very beautiful, this White Queen,—Hera come down from heaven. I shall Dome again, Audine; I have not fin- ished my work yet. But I tell you this, that you may know when the time comes —he has a bride already." "Yes, yes," she rasped. He let go ber hands, and went toward the door. An - dine leant against the wall, half fainting with fear. He turned bank suddenly, and repeated -- "1 am Doming back, Audine, very soon, I cannot understand Godfrey's madness; but it is true, and we all know that he is mad." And he was gone. Audine rang the bell violently—the butler game, "Where Is Mrs. Neville?" she said. "Mrs. Neville and Mr. Godfrey are in the garden, ma'am," "Is that strange gentleman gone?" 'Yes, ma'am: he has gone. I told him that I had just seen Mrs. Neville in the garden, but he did not go there." "And you say Mr. Godfrey bas come?" The man looked surprised. "Yes; about an hour ago, ma'am : Mr. Godfrey went round by the garden window." "Ah 1 Will you tell Mrs. Burne I want to speak to ber. I am going upstairs, and if Mrs. Neville asks for me, say I would not disturb ber as Mr. Godfrey had ar- rived." The butler palled Andine's nurse, who was astonisbed to find that her young lady could hardly stand, and that she was almost too frightened to speak. She took her upstairs, and sat by her half the night, till her violent trembling had ceased. Castaletti left the house by the gate which led on to the moor. It was quite dark now. and the wbole country was il- luminated by the blazing furnaces. On the horizon glared the great open chim- neys of Anobester iron -works, vomiting out flames and black smoke; on every side burning lights, athwart which tow- ered the tall chimneys; and the air was full of the hum of never -ceasing machin- ery; the whistles of engines slowly drag- ging their heavy loads up the steep in- cline; the busy rush of the truoks as they sped downwards again, and the rattling of the iron ropes as they rushed over the wheels. Lealstone lay in the hollow beneath. The road to It lay parallel with the boun- dary of the park; but Castaletti, in his . excitement, turned to the left and not to the righty and went bis way over the open moor. Further he went, and still it seemed to him that he did not approach the town; on the contrary, the country widened and widened, here and .there a short row of squalid cottages, here and there great pools of standing water, with thick clay banks, and that unoeasing whirl of ma- chinery always going on. Castaletti grew suddenly alive to his situation. .Before him the road abruptly rose up on a steep -pitched bridge, under which passed trucks from one pit to anouher. He went to the summit of the bridge, and looked over the country round. Far, perhaps miles away, he saw Lealstone; between it and him lay a ooal- pit,wbere the furnaces burned brightly. Castaletti made this coalpit his first goal, from thence he thought he could go straight down to the valley. The lights gleamed brightly—perhaps it would not be so far as'it looked, and at all events he would ask the pitmen at the furnaces how to arrive there. The moon now 'bone out with fitful brilliancy, and he could see two of them standing together. So he went on, now slipping into deep clay, now into water which wet him to the knee. He was drawing near to the pit—within a hundred paoes--when he saw the two men by the furnaces looking toward him, and suddenly shouting loudly, tben they began running in his direction. .A. oold terror came over him. That would they do? Could they be calling to him? He summoned up all hie courage. Yes. They were gesticulating wildly, frantically. He imagined' some terrible danger pursuing him, perceptible to them though not to himself. In his fear Castaletti began to run towards them. What could they want? What meant their Dries? His hair bristled up in g fright, and Me - lips muttered the half- forgotten paternoster of his childhood. The moon suddenly disappeared' behind a cloud. He still ran—one more wild shout from the men, Hal What was it? His foot stumbled. He was falling --down, down, with wild frantic arms vainly grasping the air, and all was over, About a hundred feet from the pit was an old disused shaft covered by an iron. grating. The men had been cleaning out some rubbish to -day, tossing it down the. shaft,and the grating had not been re- placed. CHAPTER V. It was growing darker and darker, and still Godfrey Neville and his mother paood the garden walks deep in conversa- tion. Audine, asleep in the drawing - room, Creaming the sweet dreams of her lovely ohildhood, had vanished from their thoughts. The mother,spale and fright- ened, wept bitter tears of fear and anxiety, and never looked on Godfrey's face without a shudder. Was her great dread, the horror of her life, corning to pass? Was Godfrey's mind indeed un- hinged; jangling like sweet bolls out of tune?—or what did this wild story mean? "Mother, you will think me mad,' he had begun. "You will never believe the strange story I have to tell." She looked up in bis face, saw the wild far -away look of his eyes, the damp dis- hevelled hair, the restless working of his brows, and her heart died within her. "Godfrey, my boy, what do you mean?" "You know, mother, bow the image of my Ideal bas haunted nay brain; how night and day is has been with me, slowly growing under my hand, from one beauty to another. She is perfect!" he cried; "she is perfection itself. All the divine attributes, each of which may be met with in a sap/trate individuality, are combined in her—love, sweetness, amelia charity, modesty, grape, mercy, and peace bavo kissed each other --these words AND THE HAND WAS OLOSED. are from the Bible, are they not?—and altogether express the perfection of my White Queen." "I know it is lovely, Godfrey, and bears a curious resemblance to Audine." "Audinel is she like Audine?' he said. dreamily. "Oh, yes, maybe; there is a likeness between earth and heaven; you can see it in the heaven -reflected color of water. Yes, they may be like." "You cannot compare warm life to cold stone!" "Cold stone! She lives; she breathes!" he shuddered. "Godfrey, what do yon mean?" He suddenly stopped iter, and seized her hands; his own were burning with fever. "Why did you go away and leave me, mother? Why did you not stay, you and the child who is like my queen?" Mrs. Neville's tears began to fall. "It would have boon better for me if you had not gone, mother! than perhaps this strange thing might not have happened." "Tell me,Godfrey,wbat bas happened?" He went on:— " "It was an inspiration. .Her hand was lovely. It completed my perfection—that alone remained to do, and she would have stood before. me completed. Tell me, mother, do you remember her hand —were the fingers raised?" "I do not know," she murmured, try- ing to choke back her tears. "I rack my brain night and day trying to reoall how those fingers were placed, and I oannot; perhaps I shall ',some day," he went on—"soiree day when I am calmer, and my head is not aching." "Godfrey, try and be palm ; tell ma what makes you speak so wildly. Oh, my boy, what has happened?" "Listen! I bad been working—work- ing night and day, and she was almost dove; the cast of ber little hand was beau- tiful, and out of tbe marble had grown part of it, fine-grained,and white as snow. You know Castaletti, my old friend? He has been very strange of Iate, fitful in his temper—sometimes bitter, almost sav- age; sometimes melting into maudlin tears at a single thoughtless word. He also has a work on hand—a pretty woman seated with a book on her knee; he has destroyed it by an effort to obange the ex- pression to some look of my White Queen. He has shed tears over the fail- ure. Sometimes I feared that he drank too much, he was so caaprioious and so strange. At last be told me that an im- pulse bad seized him to go to Rome; that something had oconrred whish made him long for wealth, crave for it passionately, and that he knew he was but wasting time here; that he must go to the city of art, and drink in beauty from the rich stores of his native land. I was grieved for my ligbt-bearted friend of old—be who bad never known a sorrow or a care. I grieved for bim, for something - had crossed his path, and I thought of the 'old story—the sylvan faun had developed into a suffering roan. Was it the air of sordid, moneyloving England? Poor Castaletti 1 Poor friend! So he was to go, and before he went he entreated that he might give a farewell supper to all his friends in my studio, - I was glad, and would have done anything to please him, for 1 felt grieved to lose him. "The clay of the supper carne. Casta- letti asked many of his friends, all for- eigners. He was busy all day, bringing in himself lees and rare delicacies, so that I said to him, this is not the way to grow rich; and so inuoh wine was provided that in jest I cautioned Roger to prepare litters to carry away bis friends. Oasta iotti is theatrical in all his ideas. He brought in a great veil of golden embroi- dered silk, andcovered the Queen from. head to foot; fresh . flowers filled the studio; he brought out all the strangely.. mixed colors we artists love and wound them about, over sofas and chairs; and old theists. The room was a blaze of light, and the colors glowed purple and bins, crimson old gold." "Gently 1 O, Godfrey, be calm!" "I am calm indeed, mother; do not be afraid, The clock struok nine and the masts arrived.'' THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. LESSON IX, SECOND QUARTER, IN- TERNATIONAL SERIES, MAY 30: Text of the Lesson, Jas. i3, 14-23-11Iesnory 'Verses, 14-17 — Golden Text, Jas. it, 18 --Commentary by • the Rev. ' D. 111.. Stearns. 14. f"What doth it profit, my brethren, though a roan say he hath faith and have not works? Cau faith save him?" The R, V. says, "Can that faith save him?" There aro no contradictions in the teaching of Scripture, and one of the plainest doctrine, in all the book, taught even in this lesson by the Spirit, through James (verso 23) is that the only salvation revealed to us is that which has been fully wrought out for us by the Lord Jesus Christ without any help of ours, and which we must receive by faith as a free gift from God. Seo Rona. iv, 5; Eph. ii, 8; Titus iii, 5. It is most unmistakably clear that we are saved by faith alone. But it is just as clearly taught that the evidence of that faith will be seen in our daily lives by our walking in Clic good works prepared for us. See Eph. 10; Titus iii, 8. A. faithtbat does not pro- duce good works and a holy life is not genuine, but is an empty name. . 15, 16. "If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you say tints thein, Depart in peace, be ye warned and tilled, notwithstanding ye give them not those things which aro needful to tho body, What doth it profit?" Or as John says, "My little children, let no not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth" (I John id, IS). Jesus Himself said, "My another and My breth- ren are these which hear the word df God and do it" (Luke viii, 21). And again, "Not every ono that saith unto Mo Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heav- en; but he that doeth the will of My Fa- ther, which is in ]leaven" (Math• vii, 21). 17. "Even so faith, if it bath not work.;, is dead, being alone," or, as in the nun - gin, "by itself." Faith cometh by hear- ing the word of God (Rom. a, 17)—that is, by receiving the word of God, and the word of God is incorruptible seed, which is sure to grow. Faith receives Christ into the heart, and Christ in us cannot be hid any more than Ho could bo hid in the house in the borders of Tyro and Sidon (Mark vii, 24). You walk by a field in which not a preen blade is to be seen, al- though it looks as if it had been sown, and the farmer says that he sowed it with good seed three months ago. Either the seed was no good or was destroyed after being sown, or the farmer lied. 18. "Yea, a pian may say, Thou hast faith and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy works and I will show thee nay faith by nay works," Tho R. V. margin begins this verse, "Butt some one will say." Wo can talk faith, but we can- not show faith except by our deeds. Itis the same with love. God does not need our works to prove our faith, for He can read the heart, but Ho tells us that believ- ers should be careful to maintain good works because they aro good and profitable unto mon (Titus iii, 8). Not only profit- able to those who do the works, for we are to be rewarded according to our works (Rev. xxii, 18; I Cor. iii, 8, 14), but profit- able to those who, seeing the good works, may be led by thein to Iim who worketh inns both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Phil. ii, 18). 10. "Thou believest that there is one God. Thou doest well. The devils also be- lieve and tremble." The R. V. says "shudder" instead of tremble, and the R. V. margin says "demons" instead of dev- ils, There is but one devil, though there are hosts of demons, his followers. One has said that there are no atheists or in- fidels in hell. All wilo are there believe in the realities of hell and the devil, of God and of heaven, but they cannot believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Those who die in their sins can never come where Christ is (John viii, 21). Therefore itis written, "Because there is wrath, beware lest He take thee away with His stroke. Then a great ransom cannot deliver thee" (Job xxxvi, 1S). It is greatly to be feared that many professing Christians are no better, as far as salvation is concerned, than the demons who believe and shudder. They believe all about God and Christ and have been received into church member- ship because of this knowledge, backed up by a good moral character. But having never truly received Christ (John i, 12), they continue lost souls. 20. "13ut wilt thou know, 0 vain man, that faith without works is dead?" The knowledge of God and of Christ that does not lead one to receive the Lord Jesus Christ into his heart will only prove a greater condemnation. This class of peo- ple is described in Heb. vi, 4-6, as enlight- ened, tasted the gift, knew somewhat of the Spirit's teaching. But if the continu- ance b grace and good works is lacking, then it is evident that they merely believed about Christ, but never truly received Him. In II Pet. ii, 20-22, we read again of such as were to some extent benefited by their knowledge, but were never truly new creatures. 21. "Was not Abraham our father justi- flecl by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?" This was the outward and evident justification before men, for we are justified freely by grace, meritoriously by the blood of Christ and instrumentally by faith (Rom. iii, 24; v, 9, 1), and there is no conflict or contradic- tion in these statements. Abraham rested for 25 years on the bare promise of God. Then Isaac was given. After he had grown to be a lad God tried his servant to see if i.0 was still resting on the promise or upon the visible Isaac. Now, God knew his servant's heart and did not neecl to prove him that God might know, but that all generations might see that Abraham rested not in the visible gift of God, but in God Himself and His sure word. 22. "Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect." Faith, the germ, works 'the manifestation. It is written in Heb. xi, 17-19, that Abraham, when he was tried, byfaith offered up Isaac, in whom the promises were to be fulfilled, believing that God was able to raise him up even from the dead, from whence also he re- ceived him in a figure. In Rom. iv, 19-21, it is written concerning the birth of Isaac that Abraham did not consider himself nor Sarah. But strong infaith, giving glory- to God, he was fully persuaded that God was able to and: would perform what He had promised. 23. ""And the Scripture was fulfilled, which saith Abraham believed God, and it was imputed. unto him for righteous- ness, and he was called the friend of God." When God told Abraham that his seed should be as the stars for multitude, Abra- ham certainly could not feel thee it would be so. His only assurance was the word of God, and because he took God at His word we have this statement concerning him in Gen.•sv, 6, where we have the'words "be- lieve" and. "righteousness" used for the first time in Scripture. DIVIDING FARMS. Economy In Applying Geometrical Laws In Laying Out Fields. The former orthodox way of dividing fs.rms is as follows: The end lies to the road, with buildings close to the high- way, and is divided into two nearly equal portions by a lane running baok to the wood lot pasture and water, at the bank of the farm. On either side the lane are nearly square fields of about 25 or 30 rods upon a side. It gives easy 80- A 50 RODS 8 C THIE ORT130DOS DIVISION. sass to individual fields, but, according to an Ohio Farmer correspondent, with out taking any note whatever of eco- nomical working. The idea of applying the plain, self demonstrating laws of arithmetic and geometry to the plowing and cultivating of fields is a receut one. The correspondent in question gives dia- grams and discusses the losses resulting from failure to recognize plain geomet- rical faots in the laying out and cultiva- tion of fields. He writes: To illustrate, I give two diagrams. In Fig. 1, .A, B, 0, D represent a field 50 rode square, in which the trampled di- agonals are shown as well as furrows. The same letters in Fig. 2 show a field twice as long and one-half as wide, drawn to the same scale of 32 rods to the inch. I drew it to this proportion instead of 150 rods long in order to save space, and thinking, perhaps, the matter might be gasser comprehended, In this case the turns in plowing saved would be but one-half, or 600, and the proportion of trampled ground would be more than if the field was one-third nar- rower. In Fig. 2 the letters D, 0, E, F show how there would be a saving in using the disk harrow, which is gener- ally worked in narrow lauds to save the annoyance and cramping attending the abrupt turning of the team as in drill- ing. Of course I need not tell the intel- ligent reader that by doubling the length A iri�lYn�� O PO RODS AN ECONOMICAL DIVISION. of the field one-half the turning is also saved in harrowing, drilling, cultivat- ing, mowing and reaping. Nine -tenths of the farmers do not seem to realize and practice the truths I am trying to elucidate. If they had, why do they out up a piece of mowing ground into half days' work, often cut- ting off a chunk the short way of the field and sometimes making more than a thousand unnecessary turns in mow- ing a 20 acre • field? And the same is often done in plowing. This has been done over and over again in several 20 acre fields that I pass occasionally iv the baying season. Commgn sense would say go around the whole, but if it must be split up into four acre jobs why not do it lengthwise? The same disregard of mathematical principles is everywhere to be seen as fences are removed and farms thrown into one or two large fields. Instead of taking advantage of titarting at the barn and plowing or cultivating 100 rods and back and losing no time in going to and from barn to field, most farms which I see are farmed on the old checkerboard principle, and cart paths are maintained to reach fields which might have one end abutting upon the highway or at the barnyard. Potatoes'Under Glass. The culture of potatoes under glass May seem odd to some of our readers, but it is no new thing in England, Where a kidney potato of eairiy maturity is used. We are informed in Dreer's Manual that during the year 1896 a Pennsylvania market gardener succeeded in growing ordinary potatoes under glass in time to compete with the new pota- toes from the south. These tubers from indoors' were sold for the same price per half peck as he afterward obtained per bushel for those grown out of doors. The fruit growing interests of the landson river valley are of immense im- portance, MANURE iN .NEW ENGLAND. The Preference Is For Surface Application In the Spring:. So far as I am informed, public opire ion favors spring application, yet con- venience leads many, indeed most of our farmers to apply a material portion in the fall. In its application many ad- here to the old custom of plowing ruder from five to seven inches deep. Cin in- quiry I have found that the majority of our potato growers plow the manure un- der for this orop. Could all of the con- ditions be commanded the farmers would lean toward surface application of manure in the spring, the manure to be harrowed into the ground as deeply as the best modern implements will do it. A few practice wiuter application, but only to a limited extent. Occasion- ally a farmer is found who applies on the grass ground in the fail for spring plowing, olaiuting that a larger orop re-, suits from the practice. Thus writes a. Rural New Yorker correspondent, who gives his own views and methods as fol. lows: Personal experience and experimental' inquiry for several years lead to a pref- erence for spring application of manure' and its thorough incorporation with the soil by some form of the Cutaway har-' row. Into this conclusion there have' entered some theoretical conclusions, drawn, however, after - the scales had taught their lesson, I found in plot work in Nov Hampshire and .Missouri that the total effect of manure, whether plowed .under or applied on 'top, was about the same, but that the ratio of seed to stens varied by the method of applying and also varied with the season between the practice of plowing ander and applying on top. As a whole, how- ever, manure worked into the snrfaoe gave more seed and less straw than wheu turned under, When the seed is the end in view, the ohoioe of methods is obvious. For hay and grain for the purpose of the hay the crop is the same, SO far as personal researches show, by either method of application, Whenever the tendency of Water is upward, there is a tendency of plant food in a soluble condition in the same direction. In regard to winter application of manure I should still prefer surface ma- nuring for the reason tot percolation of water in the spring is the order of nature, and the tendency of manures will, therefore, be downward, The far- ther it has to go the less the ratio that is likely to go down and out of the soil. Manure applied on the sward will move downward, too, yet when turned under in the spring will, to a greater degree, be removed from the surface and nearer the point of percolation. It appears to be more subject to loss from the surface by the moving surface waters as they run off the field into ravines. My system of manuring is governed by business conveniences as well as apparent theo- retical advantages. Crimson Clover in. New Jersey. Under the auspices of the New Jersey station have been conducted additional experiments to determine the hardiness of crimson clover for the central and northern portions of the state and to test different methods of seeding. In all localities the plant was hardy. "Excel- lent stands were secured when the land was well prepared and the seed harrow-. ed int though in one case it was seeded July 20 and in the other Sept. 4, 2% months later. Fair patches were secured When seeded in corn and cultivated in. One experiment was an entire failure, probably due quite as much to the fact that the seed was left on the surface as to the unfavorable conditions of weath- er." Spring seeding was tested in sev- eral portions of the state, but resulted in failure whether the seed was sown alone or with oats Root Cutter. The season has arrived when on hun- dreds of farms the crop of beets, turnips, parrots, eto., will begin to be fed out, and on many of these farms the roots will be prepared for the cattle by ]abori- ous hand cutting. A root slicer oan be bought that will do good work, but the, machines cost some money, and in these times money is not too abundant on most farms. A. homemade cut- ter that will do good and rapid work is described -� as follows in the I 1 ! New York Trib- une: A frame- workis made of boards,as shown \ ,g \ia: with a handle �`•�%//j/ framed into the - top and cross- • • pieces at each HOBIIt13IADE BOOT CUT-. firmly TER. nailed or screwed. Set 'into the lower edges of the sides are four knives, made from old, stout saw blades, or fashioned by a blacksmith from thin plates of steel. The knives should be stout enough so they will not spring either sideways or up when struck down upon a solid pile of roots. Go over the slices until they are reduced to pieces that cannot possibly choke an animal. Rural Brevities. The question of water storage and the preservation of the forest preserves of the Adirondaoks is again being agitated. Albany county, N. Y., boasts of hav- . ing the largest cider mill in the world. An exchange says, "Except for its boughs, which were used in house bank- ing, and ' its - sticky aromatic - balsam, which is employed • in medicine, the Maine fir had no mission on earth until somebody discovered that it made a beautiful. Christmas tree." Dairying is one of the leading inter- ests in many counties of Pennsylvania Large quantities of lime are used for agricultural purposes in Pennsylvania. Acobrding to Rural New Yorker, the New 'ork state experiment station at Geneva has probably the best"plant" of any similar institution is the county -