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Home My WebLink AboutExeter Advocate, 1900-6-14, Page 6At once she rePairS to the drawing - !exam and takee up some work -- silk lbandleerehiefs, for leollo's net birth- day present, whiele have been neglect- ed in the afternoon's idleness, and must lee fialshed et an early date. He goes te the library, and looks about through the mien windows, tainking over the day's evente. CHAPTER VII. Lady Leigh, tires of her workwhen oae small hanfikeeehief is hemmed, and puts the handkerchief iuto a besk- et on the table. storni is gathering; already there Neve been several vivid flashes of light- aing and thunder neals, and; with the natural instinct that prompts one in all times, of possible danger to be near those one loves, Lady Leigh goes: swiftly to thenursery to see with her ;ems eyes if hes son is safe and sleeping. But he is not there. Tabitha is standing at the window, and turns eerand sbarply with an angry rebuke on her lips for the delinquent as the door opens. Then, when she sees Lady sleigh her countenance falls. "Where Is Rollo?" asks his mother, with a gasp in her voice. "Indeed I do not know, iny lady; 1 frahought he was with you—or Mr. Dare," she adds, quickly, as another tope presents itself. Lady Leigh does not stop to argue, iffhe is gone before Tabitha can give words to the fear that is haunting her, flying down the broad oak stairs, and burstiare into rea.e tutor's loom 7..t-it,ti scant ceremony. "Hr. Dare, where is Rollo?" she eries, excitedly, seeing in a moment ahat he is not there. The tutor is sitting at the table writing when. she comes in, and looks nee in some bewilderment. "Is he not in the house?" "Then 1 will look for him." Ile snatches up his hat quickly, but ?Asps for a moment' at the door. "Do not be alarmed," he says, gent - "I expect I shall find him in the aummer-house, quite safe, but afraid to come out because of the storm." "Only bring him back!" she wails; 'remember, he is my all." "I win," he answers, earnestly; and the simple promise; spoken at such a moment becomes solemn as a vow. The summer -house is some distance off, but before he is half wayi there, Colonel Dare has gu.essed the fearful truth. A curling ring of smoke and 3e -slang tongues of flame speak plain- ly enough, and with it, if more were needed is the stifling smell of burning wood and paint. "With a great cry he rushes forward, and by the, time he has reached the spot afsmadi crowd has gathered, consisting az people a -ho were pas -sing, down the :seed, and have been the first to see the lurid light. ' "It's only a sernmer-house," says one with an accent of something that wands like disappointment. But at that moment Colonel Dare wines into the midst of them, and his eirst words cause a thrill of horror to emu through the little group. "Theae is e child inside there. You mast help ma to get him out." As one who is accustomed to cora- :mend—he orders them about, and while 4)Z.8 mart runs for a ladder he sends others for water buckets, a garden base and blankets. And now a little white face appears at a window, in the upper story, and the. -women burst into tears. and even thee men are strangely silent as the ,vitifiel cry break e out: "Mother P Mother!" I '9bsllo, my darling, I am here!" It is Lady Leigh herself who has fel- l:awed, but the answer is rnore like the cry of some animal in pain than a woman's voice. She staggers forward and holds out her arms. "Rollo, comel" l'ea his horrible frig -ht the child might have obeyed her arid been dash- edto pieces on the ground, but his tutor interferes with a firm voice. "Stay there, Rollo, my boy; I am waling to lain you. There is no fear; 11 -will save you, I promise," Them he -motions to Tabitha, who is eeleo there, to come forward. "Take your mistress away," he com- raande sternly, "she only unnerves usi loth, and I will bring the boy safe tol Mae directly." Than, without waiting to see thati orders are obeyed., he runs back to ha with the ladder and place it firm- ly against tee wall. It is the lower part of the house only that is on fire se :,eet, hat through the rungs of the ladder, now it is erected, the flames -dart and give an appearance of great- er danger than there really is. Colonel Dare ascends the ladder quickly, not heeding, indeed scarcely rezeneing of .the burns he receives at web. step. Bat wben he has clambered in at the window the real danger begins, for Rolle obstenately refuses to move. Perhaps it is the effect of having lived with women, only, or perhaps in a child cowardice is natural at such a time; lint in any case it is so, a.ncl he screams with terror when his would-be pre- server attempts to araw lum forward. 'De/teats and gentleness alike are un- awailing, and it is useless to think of levying to carry a struggling boy down that rickety ladder. iColocel Dare lareathes an inward prayer, and as eileough in speedy answer to it, the al- zeady smouldering door bursts into a Maze, and effects whet no mere words ea reasoning could. Tbe child at last realizes what is best, a,ad breaking in- to- a flood of tears, begs his tutor to forgive lum, clinging to him as obstin- ately as beeore he had refused to go,1 and, taking advantage of the changei of mood, Colonel Dare takes off his coat ;Illicitly, and wraps it around 'him. Then he goes to the window. The :men have been dashing water up inces- aantly, or the ladder would never have reseed so long, and Rollo gains cow- ege ae he sees that the flanaes are less frequent, and not eo strong. He ieloses his eyes and gives himself up einresistingly to Colonel Dare's care, and in another minute botb are safe D+Ol the greitind. Lady Leigh does not wait tor her son be lee brought to her, she rushes to Tiuim and cheeps laim in her arms sob- otirtg and latagaing hysterically. But alien she turns to look for the) leator RIB is gone, and no one knowe where. The mein however, are in good Work- reng order now, enl require no leader. Ito, another half hour the fire is totally eastinguiehed, and Lady Leigh,. mount,- te ing on a fatten Iog, searcely notioing the rain that is coming down in Usa- renis, thanks them all in te few wib- sbosei ior the leraveee and en- ergy tliey have displa,yed, The mon answer by eilouting her aaale arid waving tbeir caps wildly in the air, won at once by het beaatiful faee and s,,yeeli VOiCO. Teem one, moee/ seliapossessed than thO reat, calls for °hears for the young Lord Leigh, so providentially saved from the cruel- est of deaths and they are given vo- eifereeltsiee Among the people is a teoant of ebe hero of the hour, who has instantly reeognized his landloed, and is unwiuing t•Init he should remain unpraised for what be has done so promptly and well. "Three cheers for Colonel Dare!" he shouts ' lustily, and again a dozen voices take -uei the cry. Lady Leigh turns to go borne, hold- inher boy tightly by the hand. Her head is in a whirl. Wlitt, is it that ehe has seen and heard,or have half of the night's events been imaginary, the ef- fect of excitement causea by the ter- ror of that other half Is it a dream that she has again seen that look of fierce devotion in the keen eyes that have been hiddeu so long by the dark blue see.ctaeles before them? Is it true that those epeetecies were gone, and with them the long silvery looks, and teat for a mo- ment in the weird uncertain light of a llg,litning fla.shi she looked into the face of a. man who was younger and more noble looking than the tutor can surely ever have been? And was it a mistake when tlae man called him Col- onel Dare, or \yea it the truth reveal- ed at last?. See scarcely realizes what her sus- picions mean. Everything has been so wonderful that nothing seems im- probable, and yet, after all, the solu- tion of the mystery may be a very simple or.e. The spectacles may have fallen and the long hair been burned away in the fire, but not even that could have given a look of such youth- ful energy to the face of an old man, Or is it a resemblance only? Has some stranger, like, yet unlike the man who has lived in her house these last few months, been the one to save her son? "Rollo," she. says, abraptly, "who brought you out of the fire?" The little white face looked up in startled surprise. "Mr. Dare," lue answers, in an awed evaisper. Then for the first time the mother notices hoev weary and wan her boy looks now that the excitement is ov- er. She snatches him up and staggers an with him to the house, refusing to give him up to any one, and when they reach the nursery, she undresses him with her own hands and lays him in his little cot. But he does not go to sleep; the events of that night are still too vivid- ly before him. As the tutor had conjectured, it was from fear of the storm he had linger- ed first, and then when it grew dark and still, and no oner came to fetch him, he had discovered a box of match- es, and, lighting one, was striving, boy -like, to make some im-promptu light. Suddenly a flame bursc out be- hind him, between him and the door; he had thrown the lighted match away and it had fallen upon a heap of shav- ings, which smoldered for a few min- utes, than burst into flame. In his un- reasoning terror he had fled upstairs and waited in agonizing suspense, not knowing which would find him first— his friends or the ever -encroaching flames. ii Living hs fear all over again in thought, he now lies, flushed and silent, starting at every noise and •hardly hearing his mother's voice, as, with gentle lullabies, she tries to sing him to slumber. "I dare not—I dare not 1" he moans, tosisivag to and fro. "My darling, there Es nothing to dread. I will watch by your side all night." mete, assurance does, not satisfy him, He is working himself rapidly into a fever, only every now and than, like a cool touch on his forehead, there falls the sound of 'the firm, encourag- ing words whispered in his ear when he and his tutor were risking their terrible descent. "Call Mr. Dare!" he cries at last, in despair. 'WTSy do yoa want hire my child?" "If he were here I should not be afraid." At her mistresses command, Tabi- the, goes in search of the tutor, come{ ing back a few minutes later witli ae displeased. frown on her face. 1 "Is he coming?" asks Lady Leigh. my lady." "And why not ?" asks her inistress,i haughtily, indignant at the disregard of her summons. "He said he was lying down, andl would be glad if your ladyship would •(xcusa isim." "Did you see him?" "No, my lady, the door was locked." "Perhaps he is ill " "I don't think it is that. He was walking up and. down." Lady Leigh turns again to her child. Mr. Da,re cannot comeeny darling." she says gently, "but I promise you I will not lea-ve you." And with this at first he tries to be content; but by, and by tbe old long- ing, comes back stronger than ever, and he calls for his tutor so frequently that Lady Leigh can hear it no longer. "Yes, go for him again," she says. in answer to Tabithees look of inquiry. But again the request is useless. The u or will not come, and Tabitha's eyes sparkle with: wrathi as she gives tha answer that is sent. But Lady Leigh is too anxious to be angry. "I will go myself," she says. "Let me in. It is I—Lady Leigh." Twice has she knocked and received no answer, but now, as she speaks, there is only a moment's pause and the door is thrown open. The room is perfectly dark, and there is the unnais-1 otankable sm.ell of suddenly extinguished.1 "I beg your pardon, your ladyship. ' I did not krilew it was yotia'Th, I "Are you ill or hurt ?" she questions, curiously, trying to peer 'through the gloom, and if possible to see his face. "Ohl no; I a.na all right, thank y,oul" , "Then why were you shut up here in the dark, and why did you refuse to come up stairs ?" "The lamp has only just gone out," he explains, "and I was feeling a little tired." But Rollo is so ill, find keeps ask- ing for you," I "Poor little fellow!" 'Won't you. come to him even now e" she asks, taken aback by what it seems to her can only be intense seleishness, ' aid yet 15 Is not li e him, not like what she has proved so often in his charac- ter, to be thus unniindful of the feel- ings of others. "If you wish it, I will," 1 "Of course I wish it, or I s»ould not have come myself. Why did, you. hesi- tate bolero ?'' "A. man neturally pauses before he resolves by his own act to lose all." "Air. Dare, what do you ra041.1? What is all tbis mystery ?" questions Lady Leigh, angrily. Ile hesitates. How ean he tell her ell? Awl yet further concealMent, is impossible. In the confusion of the fire he has lost both wig and giaeees, and is at last himself confessed. He had hoped that, perhaps he migat suo- ceed 15 finding them again at, night, when he could steal eat and look for them withou.t the fear of meeting any one, but Rollo's illness has made this out of the question now, he feels he cannot longer refuse to go. The child at least shall not suffer from his mad folly. But 'what shall he reply? lady Leigh settles it fo.r the pres- ent. 1 "Come to Rollo first," she says, im- patiently; "afterward 1 shall expect to hear your explanation." "And I shall expect a patient heae- ing," he answers, with a touch uf grave pride. "I think that at least is my due ; it is the due of those who have committed the ,gravest faults—and mine is not that.' She bows her head and turning, goes up stairs, he following meekly until they reach the nurseiy. .Then she goes in and, standing under the full glare of the chandelier, beckons him to come in, and he obeys. At last they stand face to face, and ehough still ignorant of the motive, ehe guesses what his offense has been. Her first thought now is for her child—that his already overstrained nerves should not be further taxed by the discovery that has so bewildered her. Quick as thought, she reaches up a,nd puts out the lights. "Rollo, he is here. Try to go to sleep now as yoa promised," she wiiisp- ars, leaning over the boy's bed. The child stretches ou,t his hands with a glad cry as Colonel Dare comes up, and than sinks back exhausted, with closed eyes, only now and than smiling contentedly as the quandam tutor soothe and comforts hien, hold- ing his hand in a firm yet gentle clasp dee while. By and. by Rollo lens asleep, and Col- onel Dare, quietly releasing- himself, goes down again to where he guesses Lady Leigh is waiting. She is seated in a huge armchair close to the table, on which she is drumming impatiently with her fingers. Her face flushes a little as Colonel Dare enters. "Well?" she says, questioningly, hardening herself into the air of hauteur which lately has neen dis- carded. "Rollo is asleep." "I did not come here to speak of my span He has been the excuse of your presence here too long." He winces, and does not reply. "Why have you. done this thing?" she goes on, passionately. "Why must you select me as an object for your practical joke? Surely irny sufferings might have made ale sacred?" "Forgive mel" he murmurs, humbly. "How can I forgive you? You do not know how much you are to blame. You made me trust in the goodness of men once more, only again to show me that such goodness does not exist in 003r single case." "That I have deceived you does not make my whole sex false. All are not like me." "I trust not," she returns, sharply. "I know that I am guilty, doubly guilty, in that I deceived where faith already was so weak. I know I deserve your most scathing scorn, and yet— and yet—forgive me if you can." He stands before her, tall and strong, but very patient under her rebuke, his head bowed in shame, and only ask- ing for forgiveness as a boon to be given in mercy, not claimed as aright in return for the bravery he has shown that evening. He does not even men- tion that he has that and other claims upon her gratitude, and she is too indignant to remember. She turns a deaf ear to his pleading voice. "You. should have thought of that before—before you. held up a defense- less woman to the world's ridicule and censure." "The world will never know; you need not fear." "How can I trust your word wheu you have lied to me so often 1 • "Why sbould I spare you? Have yoa spared ma? Before you came we were happy—Rollo and 1; and if I had not forgiven my wrongs, I had almost forgotten them. I told you my sad story—you, a perfect stranger; and surely, if you had had a heart, it might have been touched then, and eery shame might have kept you from con- tinuing your deceitful course when with that confidence 1 had so trusted you, But no, you ba,d no, shame and no pity." She has risen from her seat and con- fronts him defiantly, her slight forna dawn to its full height, her glorious eyes flashing, and her lips wreathed in scorn of his enisdeeds. Looking at them from her point of view, his faults is trebled in magnitude, and she only wonders how it is that the earth does not open and swallow up sueh a mons- ter of iniquity. "You have neither the feeling of a gentleman nor the raonor of a soldier I" she goes on, angrily, lashing herself in- to greater fury at each word she speaks, and irritated by his silence. But this last insult he does not bear so tamely. Colonel Dare is not gener- ally so slow in self-defense. I was not the only one," he says, half -sullenly; "there were others as ranch to blame, only it happened you chose me." "Tell me what you mean ?" says Lady Leigh, peremptorily. "It was a bet that in spite of your reputed hatred of men you would choose the handsomest that presented himself for your son's tutor," he ex- plains iinwiilingly. "So you made me the subjecti of ae bet—you and your boon companions?" she questions, writhing in the agony of her wounded pride and suffering as only an intensely -sensitive woman can. Knowing what is going on in her mind, he forgives the insolence of her words and does not resent them.. "I alone believed that the sentiments you professed were really felt, and I Proved the tenth of nay belief. Lady Leigh, if I have injured you 1 ant in- deed guilty, for it is through you that the faith in true womanliness incul- cated by my dead mother is now strengthened and revived. "A Roland for lay ()neer l" answers Lady Leigh, disdainfully. "Ie this a pretense, too, Colonel. Dare?" He shakes his head sadly. "I have had as little reason to think well of your sex as you have of mine. T1 a man has wrecked your life, the beet years of mine have been laid waste by a woman." , Tot be Cloatinued.i jT,V1;;Z M pc gm) 6ARPIg SPRAYING MIXTURES. Bordeaux Mixture, Arsenate of LiMe Paris Green. POrlIallaS for spraying mixtures hay lieu exteeeively (lisseminatecl froi IrttriOLIS 50111.005, yut with the adveu oll the spraying ;season thee' are alway more or less in demand. 'The follow lag directions for ehece of the prepare. tions most generally used are eete Cernell fermulae; Bordeaux Mixture. ---Copper sulphat (blue vitriol), six pounde; stone o quick lime, four pouude; water, on barrel (45 to 50 gallons). Dissolve the copper sulphate in two gallons ofhot water, er put it in a CO:11.'Se sack, /LS intelap, ana hang this in four to ten gallons of cold water. Use only an earthen or wooden veesel. Pour the Copper solution into the spraying barrel and fill the barrel half tun of water. Slack the lime, dilut n WOMEN CRUCIFIED. 1Flow Belgitan, Are Said to leave Tortured -Kongo NatiN'es• A. tt'orpenylons poli tical scandal 10 1111 - horrors in the Kongo Free State. Belgian brutality among these prac- tically helpless blacks is not a new story, and elm iSSIle 01 tise shocking state of affairs just revealed be, a let - e ter Published in The NeAv Gazette of 15 AntWei'D 10 rendered dubious froin the t feet that King Leopold, of unsavory S reputation, ie indirectly responsible. Nevertheless, for the Sake of the good - name of ltoIgium, it is believed that e01110 cifiou Will have to be tateu. The story which lias caused such ogl- e tation has to do with the merders and 0 tortures committea by Belgians upon li-ongo natives who did not supply them with enough india rubber to sat- isfy their greed. It is not recordedthat any race of savages has beet] guilty of more wan- ton cruelty than these Belgians resort- ed td. And to add to tlie shame ofthe Belgians' position, they have been cou- cleninecl out of the mouth of one of 9 their own number, a. certain M. La - it to 10 to 15' gallons, never less, and I min, wee() was an unwilling witness - 01 the outrages. Following is a portion of La- croix's letter in The New Gazette: "I ant going to appear before a court of justice along with six other white men on the followiug charges: "First. —Of having 'assassinated 150 men and of having cut oft 60 hands. -"Second.—Of having crucified women and children and mutilated a number of men and hung their remains on the palisades. "Third.—Of having killed a negro with revolver shots. "Fourth.—Of having murdered a na- tive." The men indicted with Lacroix are MM. Matthys, Jacquian, Van Ryck, Moraix and Billois. Tbeir case is to be. heard before Major Michel, the special commissioner of the king, who has a reputation for being a severe judge. Last November the M. Lacroix who has made the revelatious was stationed at Menem, on the Kongo river. The Antwerp Society of Commerce of the Is:ougo was in a hurry for a fresh sup- ply of india rubber. India rubber is a profitable commodity; it is what the society's representatives Were in Africa to obtain and what the natives had been forced to supply.At this time the rubber stood readya for traospor- tation, but the native canoes were de- layed. This delay was likely to lessen the profits of the Antwerp society. Therefore a certain director, whose name M. Lacroix, withholds, became angry. The natives, he declared, must be taught not to interfere with the commercial projects of the Antwerp society. To enforce this he sent orders to Lacroix to massacre all the natives -of the offending village. A whole village to be slaughtered— not for "rebellion," not for crime, aet as revenge for any -injury—simply ec gratify a speculator's bad temper be cause Belgian commerce was ever so slightly interrupted! The director's orders were carried out. Troops of Belgians descended pour this milk of lime into the spra.y mg barrel through a wire strainer of about 30 to 40 meshes per Inc!. Add water to fill the barrel and stir the mixture vigorously. Bordeaux should be well stirred every thus or five Mill- utes when spraying. Few agitators are satisfactorea a wooden paddle worked by hand power is good. Bordeaux mixture itself should al- ways be made fresh for each applica- tion, but stock solutions of copper sul- phate and lime may be kept to advan- tage when the spraying operations are extensive. Copper sulphate may be dissolved in water at the rate ofone pound nor gallon, and quicklime slack. - ed at the rate of one pound per gallon. For a barrel of bordeaux take six gal- lons of vitriol solution and'four gallons of milk of lime. It is better, however, to use the ferrocyanide test when the lime is taken from a stock solution. Both stock solutions should be kept covered to prevent evaporation. Arsenite of Lime. — White arsenic, one pound; stone lime, two pounds, water, one gallon. Boil together for 45 minutes. This stock solution may be kept indefinitely In a closed vessel. Some green dye- stuff may be mixed with it to prevent mistaking it for other material. One quart of the above nee barrel will be sufficient for most insects. The "Kedzie mixture" is made by boiling together two pounds of white arsenic and eiglat pounds of sal soda in two gallons of water until the ar- senic dissolves. One pint of this stock solution and two pounds of slacked nine are sufficient for 40 gallons of the spraying mixture. Paris Green.—Por most purposes one pound is used in 150 gallons of water. In some cases a more dilute mixture is made, and on potatoes some persons use a stronger one, one pound to 100 gallons. The poison distribetes better in the water if it is previously datiep- ened and worked into a paste. To eV- ery 100 gallons of the mixture add one or two pounds of lime. Large Tops on Potatoes. Comparing Carman No. 3 and Rural New Yorker potatoes, an Ohio core& spondent of National Stockman says: With me the Carman No. 3 has been more vigorous, not so liable to blight and a little later, and the potato itself is better quality and not so liable to have black streaks through it. Last fall Mr. Agee spoke of liking a variety of potato with a large, vigorous top, and this winter at institutes I have heard quite a few advocate large tops. I have taken notes on this point for a number of years and they do not support tbis idea. On the contrary, even with varieties that have large tops, if the early part of the season bas Scan such as uot to tlevelop an exces- sive top they will yield more potatoes than when the rainfall bias been ex- cessive early in the season. Every plant acts as a pump, drawing -water from the soil and giving it off to the atmosphere, and the larger the leaf surface the more water will be given off to the air. Here is the great advantage of the Caymans: They send up a single straight stein whicla does not branch and fall down until late 111 the season, giving an opporttinity for a long season of cultivation by which we liberate plant food, conserve moist- ure and kill weeds. True the large top that goes down early shades the ground, but it is giving off water to the air, though prone, and we can con- serve moisture mueli better by cultiva- tion than by shading. Growing Popcorn Commercially. Any soil that will produce a good crop of field corn will 1)0 satisfactory for popcorn. As the plant is less rug- ged than Indian corn, it will pay to have a rich loam in a high state of cul- tivation. If it is not naturally rich, add 25 to 40 Imes of stable manure per acre, plow deeply, barrow thoroughly ancl see that the geed bed is well com- pacted before planting. Plant in rows much as ordinary field corn. 'rho rows must be three foot apart, with one stalk about six or eight irmlieS in the row. The best varieties for niatket etre White Pearl end enlite Rice. The White Riee is small end rough ancl is considered very desirable foe home use. White Peeri is productive end is the standerel interleet sort., The Variety finned Golden Q110.011 is exceed- itagly prolific and is said to be Drente: ble es a marlmt crop. Amber Rice is much lilee the 'White except, its amber color. There is a mistaken idea that the umply oft popcorn is not nearly equal 10 the (Iceland. One year there may. be o Ooritigo rincl another year a surplus. It varies jest as other crops.—New England Homestead. 1511 ffis KONGO WOMAN CRUCIFIED BY 13ELGIAN SOL- DIERS. without warning, fully armed. The natives were defenseless. Pitifully they begged for mercy—entreated that their women and children be spared. For what offense, they asked, was tine summary slaughter inflicted? But the murderers did not listen. To them the natives were mere beasts, to be backed in pieces whenever it seemed convenient, to be mutilated and maimed when tbe white MOO should chance to be offended. Witb the callousness of the slaughter yard they cut in pieces every living creatime in the little village, afterward haeleing the bodies of the dead Weeks. No dis- crimination was made, •between wo- men anti children. Twenty-two WO - men and two children, NI. Lacroix says, were killed, The fleeter footed wo- men, who tried to escape, were pur- sued and slain. Three slipped into a canoe and paddled away, but were overtaken and thrown into the water, where they were killed by bullets. Conclusive PrOof. Nixon—Would yoti call Dickson a contrary man? Fundenberger—dontrary? Why, that man would try to tiffioggail tip hill:— 'Harper's tazo.r. HOW 1 GROW POTATOES, The Vraettee of fl Speeialist In the Vamoilis Aroostook- „District. A specialist hi potato growing in the famous Aroostook (Mee district has told in New Illugland Homestead bow „ lio grows the crop on three farms which are devoted to potato produc- tion. He says: . le would hardly be safe for the fann- er with any kind of wet, heavy soil to adopt our method of plantine and cultivation. Any farmer who feels like pulting 111 practice any suggestions make sameld do so on a small scene 00 an experiment, I make it a point to have an my potato ground ploeved in the fall. Our seasons are too ehort to allow much spring plowing. If it is an old potato field, it should bave 'a second plowing in the spring. We 1.18C spring tooth Ilitreenie Mita 110 other kind. 'A spring tooth harrow, )yith it pair of heavy horses or three light horses abreast, Will pulverize any amoostook soil deep enough to give a perfect seed becl for potatoes, We plant wholly with a potato plant- er and with fertilizer attachment, which does all the work, opens the fur- row, drops and covers the seed, applies ond covers the fertilizer at one opera- tion as fast as a pair of hoeses cau walk. One man with team hauls the seed potatoes and fertilizer to the field and plants four or fiye acres a *day. The furrow is opened about four inch- es deep. This completes the pleating. If small seed is used, size of a Lien's egg or a little smaller, they are cut in halves; larger potatoes cut one or two f eyes to a piece. When the potatoes begin to break ground, we put on the horse hoe with coverers and serape on from two to four inches more dirt This does not injure the potatoes in the least, but it kills all the weeds that have come up in the rows: This saves many dollars in labor with hand hoes. Por cultivating and hoeing I use the 'horse hoe. Three men last season with three pairs of horses performed all the labor in caring for 75 acres of potatoes, and at harvesting time there was not a ton of weeds on the whole 75 acres. The same men did all the other farm , work, cutting hay, etc., besides mak- ing four applications of bordeaux mix- ture. This was applied with a one horse sprayer which covered thur rows at once. One man prepared the mix - tare and covered 20 acres a clay. I plow in all kinds of manure made on the farm; use about fou e cords per acre as far as it will go. This, with 300 to 500 pouads of fertilizer to the acre, win give from 200 to 300 bushels of potatoes. As far as possible I prac- tice a three years' rotation—potatoes, wheat or oats and clover. On clover sod the best resulth are obtained by using SOO pounds of fertilizer per acre, 1 per cent nitrogen, 7 per cent pbos- phoric acid and 10 to 12 per cent pot- ash. Last season my crop was made U15 of 25 seed varieties, planted on 125 acres, with an average yield of 225 bushels per acre. Potatoes are all dug with a digger 'and stored in my six po- tato houses, where the temperature is kept as low as possible without injury by frost. ir Planting and Fertilizing Corn. In experiments continued through sev- en years at the Indiana station plant- ing corn early in May gave the best returns in general. The greatest aver- age yields of ears and stalks were ob- tained when single stalks stood 12 to 14 inches apart in rows 3I,e feet apart. Thick planting reduced the size of the ears and the percentage of grain, but In dry seasons it produced the heaviest yield of stalks. Cultivating one, two and three inches deep gave about equal results, and cultivating four inches deep considerably reduced the yield. There was practically no difference in plant- ing, corn in hills or drills. Fertilizer tests showed that in con- tinuous corn culture heavy applica- tions of manure and commercial fer- tilizers were not profitable. A "heavy" application of commercial fertffizees consisted of 250 pounds of acid phos- phate, 482 pounds of ammonium sul- phate and 105 pounds of marina° of potash and a "heavy" application of horse manure of 14,500 pouncls per acre. It was noticed that the effect of a heavy dressing of fresh horse ma- nure was not exhausted after 15 years , of continuous corn culture. Grafting the Sugar Beet. A French authority describes the grafting of the sugar beet for the pur- pose of increasing the seed yield of de- sirable varieties. A beeffrom which it is desired to obtain a large yield of seed is sprouted. As soon as theeeffz„, sets at the crown of the beet , reached two or three centimeters in length they are removed, along with a small portion of the flesh, mid grafted on another beet. This is done by in- serting the offset on a new beet just below the crown in a cut 'correspond- ing to the form of the piece of 'flesh taken from the mother beet. It is re- ported that in one experiment 4S off- sets were obtained from one mother beet in this manner, 31 of which, when grafted en other beets, grew and pro- duced first class plants, each plant yielding a normal amount of seed. Cherry Culture In the East., Not one of the fruits has been grow- ing in demand more generally ID re, cent years than the cherry. California San been supplying our city fruit stands with a product nice in appear- ance, but much inferior in quality to that which can be grown eaeily and profitably in our own region. 8houhi eve not endeavor to supply our own market? Of the Sweet cherries the Bing, sent to me from Oregon a few years ago for test purposes, I am in- clined,Ito regard as an acqUisition and worthy of a teSt by all interested in growing the cherry. The Black Tar- terian is being supplanted by the Windsor. Ae for sour cherries, I know of teething snperior to the Montmoren- cy and English More11o.-8. D. vkl- lard, New York. o