HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1892-10-14, Page 6A. WINTER'S TALE,
We were watering the oxen at the wall
'Dougglas wed I --smoking and talking as wo
Watched the cattle drinking and shilling
between each baekotful with a lazy satiefaa•
tion. pagmlier to their kind, and then care.
:Fully knocking over the pails with thole
nolo after drink, AVTien I reheat on
notice ft r > ever'
the number of pane lirandy and Seth; broke
in a year by these and other means, it is a
wonder to nie now that we made Dat no well
as we did et first with eui farming opera.
tions.
Douglas was a Scotch Canadian, up from
the Portage on a visit to some friends, but
an old -tuner who knew the North-western
);prairies from \Vionipeg to the Rockies, and
from Prince Albert to the Moose Mountains,
uta well as the Red Men themselves.
We were sorry to hear from hint that the
Indians had prophesied au open winter,
for we knew that they seldom blue.
dared as to weather. Opau winters, he
continued, were a nuisance and hard on
axles, for they infant severe frosts and little
snow, with frequent heavy thaws—a state
of affairs that will not admit of running
sleighs successfully, and knocked wagons to
/splinters. Still the Indians had foretold it,
and—at that time—I agreed with him that
it was hopeless our trying to learn anything
that they did not know about the weather
about hunting, fishing, and trapping ; the
operations of nature ; the habits of bird,
beast, and fish, and such -like occult arts
and sciences.
But when spring came and the clang of
the geese echoed on river, lake, and slough
(Canadian pronunciation ' Sleugh'l, and
the long -drawn caw of the crowns he loafed
across country resounded dawn the valley ;
and the young poplars and the willows, the
saskatocn and all wild fruit -trees seemed
to vie with sue another in the race of
growth, I began to wonder to myself what
a hard winter was like, if the last six
months represented an open one.
About the middle of October 1857 the
•r Oolouel" and I left our temporary winter•
quarters a abort distance from Castle Avery,
to go down with the oxen and wagon to Birtle
to enter for our land, and lay in stoles and
clothing for the winter. We started one
day after dinner, travelling the twelve miles
to Shollmonth before supper, and staying
there till meeting, covered the fifty Miles
thence to our destination in the course of
the next two days.
We entered for our homesteads, and lav
,ing attended to other necessary business,
xnade all haste to get back, for the weather
was mild and threatening, and the hard
state of the trails and frequent anow•show-
•ere made our mode of progression unpleas-
ant in the extreme ; though on other
matters we had no anxiety, as we had left
everything at the ranch in care of our good
friend Leslie.
We did well to hasten, force the nightof the
22I1 there was r. heavy snowstorm, and the
mercury suddenly fell to fifteen below zero.
The next day, Will Jameson, Jinn Burt,
and I broke the ice at the North Crossing
of the Assiniboine, and made our hvay over
the river in the boat, because we were afraid
that the comparatively thin crust of ice
would not bear us. I remember tho one -
sin well, for Jameson and I stood on the
south bank for about twenty minutes,
shouting in the death of a bitter wind, to
attract the attention of Bart's folks on the
other side ; and had not Burt Dome out by
thence, we might have been standing there
yet, for all the good our shouting did. After
spending another quarter of an hour break-
ing the in, Burt finally succeeded in getting
across and taking us aboard the old second-
hand and leaky egg -box that did duty for a
boat ; but there was so much water in it
that I quite spoiled a brand-new pair of
Indian moccasins I was wearing for the first
time.
I don't think I shall ever forgot Bart's
crossing of the Assiniboine. I was telling
him only the other day I intended making
it figure in the first story I tried to write ;
and here it is. I have never yet crossed at
this spot, owing to the wretched means of
transit, without getting wet. As a general
rule, of the two making the passage in the
boat,the passenger has to bale fur dear life;
and the ferryman for the time being has to
pull like a Trojan to got across without egg -
box and ail going under ; and when the
river is high and running like a mill -race, it
would be almost exciting if it were not
so confoundedly damp. Well, the ice is
getting pretty thin now, being early spring,
and last nigh; when I was taking Jimmy's
mail to hien, I suddenly landed up to
my waist in a hole against the north bank,
where Lhe sun strikes at noonday. Luckily,
the house is not more than two hundred
yards away ; so I soon obtained a change of
clothing, and, not altagother relishing the
idea of another bath in ice-cold water and
after dark, I stayed at Burt's all night ; but
before I go over there again I shall insure
my life. But this ie all by the way—I muse
get back to my " Winter's Tale." A fow
days after our crossing in the boat, the ice
was strong enough to bear a team, and re-
mained in a state of rook -like solidity till
the middle of Apri11888, when the Martins,
on the way back to their homesteads in the
West, after wintering in the valley, found
it strong enough to sustain the weight of the
fifty head of cattle they took with them. It
was indeed a long and weary winter.
Snow fell pretty often during November
and .December, and on and off in that time
the Colonel and I were busy getting home
the cattle and "fixing -up " our hooses and
stables,
Before Christmas we registered fifty-seven
degrees of frost ; but on one occasion the
wind blew from the west with a warmth
that strongly resembled the Chinook (the
name applied to the westerly wind that fro
quently springs up in that section of the
North-west that lies near the Rocky Moun-
tains, where it has its origin, and has the
peculiar effeot of raising the temperature
from often below zero to above freezing -
point in a few hours, melting the snow,
and inducing an almost spring-like warmth),
that so often prevails at this season of
the year nearer the Rocky Mountains, On
Christmas Eve and Ohristmas Day the
snowfall was incessant; and then the fierce
North-west winter shut down with a snap,
and for nearly four months blizzards, forty
below zero, and enowatorms, followed one
another with a regularity and pertinacity
that became monotonous ; while up to the
end of May we did notexperience more than
three weeks of pleasant weather,
Christmas Day was the jolliest I had
plant in the country singe I loft home. The
Colonel's plum•pudding was a triumph of
culinary art; while my beaf•steak pie was
ate dismal a failure. I shall always :believe
it was his fault for leaving the oven door
open while I went up to the post -office for
our lettere.
Leslie and Bickford Dame up to help us to
eat the good things -•-at least the roast pork
and pudding, for I had to devour every
scrap of that steak pie myaelf, I had made
enough for four mon with appetites in pro•
portion to the time of year; so I was quite
a while performing the foat,and the number
of times that pie appeared on the stonechat -
Mg the net of the Winter was wearieome in
the extreme. Tho only drawbnok to the
glory of the feast 008 010 01101 of flavouring
that goes vory well with a pudding, and is
nob wholly ttnnppreelatod without.
After droner or supper—it carne ail' at
five 'p_111 -we had little Inutile and Ging•
ing, i\auv.y Leo, and the like, accompanied
by Leslie a concertina. About Inallpest
beit.Bickferd decided to go hoose, in spite
of our urging him to 0ttty till morning ; null
the last t caw of itun that night was being
pitched cut ot the saddle over blind Poll's
head ; but the anow was so deep that he
snetaired no damage, In some respects, in-
deed, it was ranter an elevating end to a
pleasent evening. but I myself prefer alight.
ing from the saddle iu a more deliberate
and less energetic manner.
Twe or three days after Ohrietues, I was
helping Leslie to thresh ; but what with
ice and barley boards, my epeetaoles be-
came so missy that about all I could eee
was the way to the house, whither 1 retic.
ed and thawed the glasses one It was
wonderful the number of times I had to do
this in the course of the day.
During the rest of that week 1 helped
the Colonel to get in supplies of wood
and hay ; and on the last day of the year
went dawn to Shelltnonth with the
Castle Avery mail, The trails were bars ;
but with a good band at the reins the
ponies had to get there, and in spite of the
drifts we hardly broke the trot the whole
twelve miles. Arrived et Shellmouth, I
met the "Skipper," and together we wont
out to his place (Trincomalee), where I
stayed ten days; butes there was not employ.
meet for more than one, I was not over-
worked, and in fact grow restless for want
of something to do, and longed to be out of
doors to do it. But the time Wail near
when I was only too Glad to remain in the
house. 0n the 10th of January the Skipper
drove me home, and never shall I forget
that drive.
The thermometer registered twontyfivo
below zero when we started at noon, with a
biting north-westerly wird ; but the clay
was fairly bright and clear. We went a
mile and a half out of the way to pick up
Blase, and then pulled out for Castle Avery
end home; and' though we were behind as
good a temp as there was at the time in this
section of the country, it took ns nearly
five Lours to travel the thirteen mites.
Nor were we exactly prepared for what was
in stare, for with the exception of some
straw at the bottom of the wagon -box,
which was mounted on sleighs, the horse -
blankets, and Blanes ox -bide, we hell no
suitable covering to protect us from such
intense cold. As it Was, the trail was hard.
ly ever visible between Blano's Bluff and
Castle Avery. For a fow minutes the horses
would find it below the drift ; the next
instant, in their endeavour to follow it, they
would meant miniature walls of snow, caked
hard enough to bear the weight of the
" a hole, outfit " for a few yards eucoessfully ;
suddenly, the treacherous crust would crack,
and, slipping and plunging, now on the trail
and now off, with one runner cutting nearly
to the ground, and we ourselves in danger
of being pitched out over the side, they
toiled painfully and gallantly forward, the
Skipper giving them their heads and eon-
stenbly cleernrg them to further efforts—
and they responded to the call. All the
time, the wind, as if delighted in ort_ help.
lessness, swept down aucl smote us with an
icy keenness that mule us cud up and
shiver and chilled us to he marrow.
On e oleae ot Hamilton's lake, the worst
was over ; and as we neared Castle Avery
and the more wooded country, the edge wee
somewhat taken off the blast, and we felt
cheered at the prospect of getting through
in safety. lint our destination was two
utiles beyond the Castle, and though we
were sure of a kindly welcome and thaw.
eat within its hospitable walls, we, as we
passed, merely dropped Blanc, who was
bouni thither, and never drew rein till we
reached home. Fortunately, none of us
were frozen, but stiff and weary from the ex-
posure, the Skipper and I were able to eat
but a morsel of supper. After seeing that
hie team anis the cattle were comfortable
for the night and taking a few whiffs, we
turned in under all the blankets we could
find, and awoke nate the worse next
morning for all we had gone through.
During the night the wind shifted to the
opposite quarter, and when I bade the Skip-
per and the Colonel—whose turn it was now
to go visiting—good-bye, there was a rag-
ing snowstorm from the southeast, that in.
creased in intensity and vigor all day, con -
tinning till abort midnight, when the snow
ceased and the wind veered round again to
the north-west, ushering in the direful
blizzard of Thursday, January 12, 1888,
disastrous alike to the lives of mon and beast
from the Mackenzie to Southern Iowa,while
it was felt, more or less, right dowu to the
Gulf of Mexico.
And yet the tale of frozen human corpses
to be found during the nextfew days in this
little uuderstcod and much abused province
of the Great Lone Land might have been
counted on one's fingers—a fact which will
compare favourably with the havoc and dis-
tress wrought by the same tempest iu the
United States,
While it lasted, the maximum tempera-
ture for forty-eight hours was twenty-eight
below zero, and the minimum at nighttime
forty-two below. The cattle and I kept
warm and snug; but on the fleet day the pipe
of the heating -stove in my bedroom was
burned out and rendered useless ; and for
ten days I was obliged to live in the kibah-
en, where for a time I was a little crowded,
since Bickford, who lived only half a mile
away on the riverbank, found his shanty
too cold to remain in, and therefore carne
and stayed with me, bringing a friend or two
with him. Indeed, the most serious matter
was the hay running short. I did get a
small "jag" on the Friday from Bickford's
nearest stack, and on my way back "dump
ed" it, sleighs and all, in a gully hear the
house, P,ub with the help of Topes and
loggingchains, and a good steady pull, and
no jerking, from Brandy and Soda,I suooeed-
ecl righting and getting the load home with
no worse result than a frozen nose for Int •
self. But alas 1 for the next two nights I
had so many four -footed visitors as well, in
the shape of a neigltbour's horses 1 was
temporarily accommodating, that soon there
was but little of the jag left. However,
Sunday falling quite calm, enabled Ino to
fetch it good load, and from that time till
the end of winter the supply of hay was
well maintainerl.
The blizzard fairly over, ive entered upon
a short spell of steady gold, but delightfully
fine and crispy. weather, such as, I believe,
is only to be formed in those latitudes. From
the Instant when the night began to wane
before the softly dealing dawn, when the 1
fires light touch that told of the nearing of
the sun rifted out over the land in gleans
of faintly roseate hue, all through the short
day till the last of the afterglow, reflected 0
in the eastern sky, slowly died away, the
home were full of sunshine and brightness
unlinked by aloud and unruffled by the
slightest breeze. And the daylight had
seams loft us, ere, night after night, the
Northern Lights, like giant teethes point~
mgthe path to heaven, flashed forth and
glited weirdly, with a radiance that rival-
led the glory of the winter's moon, till
wooded crest and featilo valley, ioo•ohaimed
THEI BRUSSELS POST.
river and glistening lake, homestead and
hauler, were ilinu a ed with more than
earthly splendour ; and the wolves, as if
angered by the flaming brilliauey, howled
in dismal and tuneless chorus.
Bat all too aeon we were to experience
another series of snowstorms rued It'1vy
winds, that lasted till well on to the end of
leebeea'y, though, of course, the tempera.
tun became warmer end outdoor work less
irksome, But its I continued to "run the
Dhow"single•hanled till the Colonel's re -
tarn, I performed only the most naoesea•y
duties, such as tending the cattle, keeping
up the stook of wool and fodder—as a sub.
stituto ler water we melted snow, and the
beasts went down every day to the water•
hole cut In the river iota—and those odd jobs
that always crop ftp on a Manitoba farm, as
elsewhere.
Still I was far from feeling lonesome. Oar
shaky was on the trail to the lumber camp
forty miles north, to the realm hayricks
in the valley, and to the bush for cutting
both logs and firewood, so that friends used
constantly to give foe n call on their way
past with their tenors, eotnotinlee remaining
long enough to warns and have their meets
with me, or perchance staying all night.
When the worst of the weather was
over, the Colonel returned, and was short-
ly followed by Boffin end Roubles, who,
corning up from the timberless oountry
sone miles to the south of Castle Avery,
elected to live with us while outing a set
of stable logs. We were a jolly party.
Besides the Colonel—whom I was glad to
welcome back—and our two friends, there
was Leslie, who came over day by day to
hew the logs as they were out, and a pretty
regular stream of the way-farers before men-
tioned. So that when the day's work was
done, the dishes washed, and the cattle fix•
ed up for the night, we had plenty of fun
before we turned in. We wont to bed early,
for the work was more trying than even in
mid-wlute•. The very warmth of the days
caused us to get wet through from the knees
downward in the melting snow, and tide
was followed by a sudden ohill that came as
soon as the sun began to sink, with result
that our trousers and felt boors were frozen
as stiff as boa rds,which made us glad enough
to come in to supper and the welcome
warmth of the stove.
\Vith the departure of Rumbles and Boffin
after a fortnight's visit, and tie completion
of our own work in the bush, the Colonel
and I began throwing clown Benson's house
which we had bought, preparatory to
hauling the logs it was built of to our
homesteads, only leaving the work to
help our neighbours with their house -rais-
ings, which came off as soon ne the softened
state of the snow permitted of turning
up the earth sufficiently to lay the corner
stones. These house -raisings frequently
gave us heavy, but uy no means unpleasant
work, when we all pitched in with a will—
contented in the knowledge that we were
helping our friends, and could count on
their assistance at some future time for any
like work that we might wish to undertake
for ourselves.
We attended the first of these bees about
the middle of April. Bickford was putting
up a new stable, and I remember what a
task it was to lift the heavy twenty -fit -e.
feet ridge -pole into its place.
It was very warm in the sun, though the
snow was still quite deep, with hard frosts
at night, and we were looking forward to
the advent cf spring, for though on April
501 we experienced a fearful snowstorm,
during the continuance of which I had to
dig away from the stable doors three times,
the geese had reaatmei on the 7th, and their
welcome cry was a sure forerunner of that
gated summer weather which cane at last,
though slowly and reluctantly,
])o Animals Reason?
Mr, William Robsen writes the English
Fanciers' Gazette as follows : I think the
following anecdote of a dog will bear out the
opinions of many who believe that animals
are endowed with the faculty of reason :
I am a real lover of animais, and I am al-
ways glad to hear any anecdote which re-
dounds to their credit, 0 it be authentic ;
so I am quite disposed to believe what a
gentleman told me of his beautiful collie dog
one day. I was stroking his silky black
and ton coat, and admiring his large, affec-
tionate, intelligent eyes, at the same time
reading the name and address legibly en-
graved on his brazen collar. I said : "Did
this ever bring Seoti book to you?" "Only
last weak," said hey friend. "I lost him
somewhere in Piecedilly. You know how
much 1 rush about in hansom cabs, and
Scoti always goes with me—we travel many
ulnae in a week together in this way—but
on this occasion I was walking and missed
him. Search was in vain, The crowd was
groat ; traffic drowned the sound of my
whistle, and after waiting awhile, and look-
ing everywhere, I returned to my suburban
home without my companion, sad and sor-
rowful, yet hoping that hemight find his way
book. In about two hours after my arrival a
hansom oab drove up to the door, and out
junoped Sooti. The cabman rang for fare,
and thinking he had somehow captured the
runaway, I inquired how and where he bad
found him. ' Oh, sir,' said cabby, ' I didn't
hail him at all ; he hailed toe. I was &-
standing close by St. James Church a -look-
ing for a fare, when in jumps the dog.' Like
hie impadenee, says I ; 'so I shouts through
the winder, but he world not stir ; soI gets
down and tries to pull him out and shows
him my whip ; but he sits as still as ever,
end barks as much as to say, ' Go on, old
elan.' As I seizes him by the collar, I reads
the name and address. All right,' says 1.
My fine gentleman settles himself with 'is
head just a -looking out, and I drive on 011
I stops at this pate, when out jumps my
passenger a -clearing the doors and walks in
as though he bad been a reggae fare.'" Need
I say my friend gave the loquacious cabman
a very irre alar and liberal fare, and con-
gratulated roti on hie intelligence—be it
matinee, reason, or whatever it may be that
told shim that hansom cabs had often taken
him safely home. Who than say dogs do
nob reason or roiled.?
E,unSing the Shark.
All the inhabitants of the Gilbert Islands,
England's new possessions in the Western
Pacific, are expert fisherwen. Sharks' fin
being an article of export, the shark is
eagerly sought for. Hes of ten caught with-
out a hook. A piece of bait is put on the
end of a line passed through a noose in a
larger lino and towed frosts a canoe, As tho
shark is seen to follow the bait, is i0 grachtt•
ally heeled up till his head and shouklers
are past the noose. Thinner isthen quick•
ly tightened, Another plan recorded by
Oapt, Cyprian Bridge, who visited the
islands in 1884, is more remarkable, The
sharks are supposed to sleep in rather shoal
water under projecting pieces of coral with
their heads just protruding, When a Gil'
beet islander sees one in this position lie
dives down with 'a smell stiolt in his hand,
and gine the fish a tap on the nose, repeat.,
ing ht until the shark for oomforb'e sake
changes his position and 1 eavoshie tail whore
his head lied been. This ie the fisherman'e
chanes, and a sedond dive with a noose at
the end of a line soon makes him master of
hie game.
AGRI6ULTURAL,
The Oen of Sheep.
Farmers aro nu4ntfesbng a more general
belief its the value of sheep just now 111a11
at any fernier period in the ttl,o'e h'etory
of Mir agriculture. A Penson for th,s, per.
hrop.+, his in the feet that Lha eerie 1ltural
prose has long been alutost a nail in urging
famous to consider this branch. of 11100100/
buainoso, The result has been that dtu'img
the past year our bolo; hat's Imo hummed
by a million and a half heed, and our wool
prudent by ton million pounds, This is 0
move iu the right dire tdon, and in lope
the near fame will show e still greater 111•
grease. We think it woeld be hard to find
any farmer who has gone intelligently into
the sheep business, keeping good stools and
giving good oars, whose profits from his
year's work have not heel considerably aug-
mented by their aid. If any of our readers
are still a little doubtful upon the sheep
question,wo would suggest that they observe
the men who have been trying it. Are they
going out of the business, or are they mak-
ing arrangements for larger Hooks and still
better care 1
Within the past thirty years the wool
production of the United Status has very
nearly trebled, yet we could double it again
without more titan meeting the requirements
for our awn consumption.
Feed the breeding ewes a little corn with
oats and bran and grrod hay rather than corn
exclusively. Do not use too much of that
simply because it is handy.
Keep the ewe quiet, awry from dogs and
worrying boys, about breeding time, and
you will probably lose fewer lambs. Give
good care to both ewe and lamb.
The Do'cst sheep, of which we have be.
fore spoken in these columns, are liked well
in the hilly regions of the Carolinas and
Tennessee, where they have been tried.
They are very prolific, and with their large
horns defend themselves successfully against
dogs. Where neither the law nor owners
will do this, it is well that sheep can do it
for themselves.
Turnips are a natural feed for sheep, and
may safely be pastured, permitting the
nationals to eat all they want.
British Agriculture and Amerioan Compe-
tition.
Among the papers read before 010 British
Assootation for the advancement of Science
in the section devoted to economic Science
and statistics, was one by Edward Atkins,
of Boston, on the continuance of the supply
of wheat from the United Stales with
profits to the western farmer. Mr. Atkins
said that while in 1870 and 1873 the price
of wheat in Mark Lane averaged a fraction
above 54s per civarter, so groat hail been
the reductions in rho cost of producing
wheat in the Western States, 1,200 to
1,500 miles from the seaboard, that the
farmer now derived as good return for his
capital and labor at 39s per quarter or cess
as he did in the former period at 540. The
applications of the self -binder to the reaper
its 1870 removed the only substantial limit
to the production of wheat in the United
States except the price, inasmuch as the
area now occupied un its production was
only per cent. of the area of the country,
Bnitting Alaska. The western farmers of
the United States be declares, had thriven
in the face of cdeolining prices and advano-
ing wages. They were not heavily burden-
ed with mortgages, and were creditors
rather than debtors. IIe cited statistics
from six typical states to show that wlule
more than half the farms were free from
mortgage, the total incumbrance was less
than 25 per cene on the assessed value of all
farms. This paper was followed by one by
Professor Robert Wallace, of Edinburgh, on
the agricultural situation in the United
Kingdom, which bore also on American
conditions. This writer expressed the opin-
ion that foreign oenpetioa with the decided
tendency to the increased Dost, inferior
quality and deficient supply of labor were
the main difficulties the British farmer hail
to contend with. He referred to the impor-
tance of Hellriegel's discovery to the means
for the accumulation of combined nit•
rogen in the soil by the aid of
minute organisms contained in the
wartlike processes of the roots of plants,
and said that it had been recently demon-
strated that in ohs United States clover
oould be grown successfully as far west as
96.4 degrees west longitude if planted as
deep as spring grain, so that its roots are
deep enough to resist drought. The intro-
duction of clover, he said, had enabled the
western cultivators to cow winter wheat
which under the .treatment grew a muoh
better and safer crop than spring wheat,
the latter within a few years exhausting
even the beat soil if grown year after year
on the same land. On exhausted land the
yield was lowered to eight or ton bushels
per acre, and oultivation oeaeed to produces
remunerative return. Land of tine kind,
however, if left down to grass and olover for
a few years, would grow a crop of winter
wheat yielding from 12 to 35 bushels per
care, and could be maintained in its renewed
fertility by the growth of clover in rotation.
Not only, therefore, he said, did the United
States manes an immense area of land yet
to break into cultivation, but inexpensive
means had been discovered whereby the
Drop yield could be increased under a more
inexpensive system of management.
These two papers led to a discussion
which was opened by Prof, Froom, of the
College of Agriculture, at Downton, Eng-
land. He said that the English farm laborer
had no equal anywhere. Toughing the prob-
ability of the soil being refcrtilized by the
suitable rotation of crops in order to exploit
the nitrogen in the atmosphere, so that
wheat might sink to a lower level than it
had ever been at before, he amid that the
Englieh farmer in those circumstances
would adapt himself to the case. The
American producer, he contended, was at
the mercy of the English consumer, but the
English consumer was at the mercy of the
American producer, for there were other
countries to fall back upon, such as India,
etc. He raid that, looking to the future,
leo dill not think that the British agricul-
turist had much to be afraid of. Another
speaker said that what the British farmer
had to do was Week most carefully around
him in every department of 111s work and
see what waste was going on. Farmers, he
argued, should know mote offence in order
to detect this Waste, and learn to prodnco
their crop more economically. Still another
speaker said that °wo aroe, manufactures,
shipbuilding, etc„ had heed enormously
benefited by the enlargement of the scale
upon which they were carried on, and that
they roust look in that direction for the
help to be rendered theBritish farmer, The
other ep akers who followed for the most
part expressed the opinion that by careful
application the British farmer, world be
ably to (told his own. Skill in agriculture,
it will be seen rather than natural ad-
vantagoe is looked to proteot the British
agrioulburist in the ethers of competition,
-f leredstreeb's,
•
Progress in Buttes -Making,
Gradually but surely has the old dash
thorn, the real hand worker, the thurnb
thermometer and the handl-gapped butter
glen way to the box chem, power worker
and the lice sweet hultoral to•day. . 1luttor-
rmakiug!me been reamed to to selene°,
A buttermaker should Intow why his
0rent11 is 01010 In centres, ho should know
the oll'uct of atntnepltet'to oluutgos c u intik
rind crown at different seasmte of Om year ;
infant, all the whys and wherefores of his
prole/cion.
The vow that produces the milk should
10 a part 00 full•41oo11e11 ,lot soy or (,horn•
soy. The stable 0honld be kept Menu and
all pail/ and vans the sante, If the milk
soca to a creamery It should lint be strain-
ed into large deep cans Caned el'01b51 0e and
submerged in cold water for from 19 to 21
(tours ; thou the oream is taken off and
taken to the oreanery, There it isstraitmd
into a vat where it is temperedto the tight
degree for ohurniug the next day. 'rho
swing churn is mostly used in some quarters,
while in other places they nee the revolving
box churn. After churning from 40 to 50
tninutes the butter has Dome far enough so
that we can rinse it down, then shape it up
a few times and we have a lot of golden
grains the sine of wheat. After drawing off
the buttermilk and rinsing twice in gold
clear water the batter is ready to go on to
the worker, where sale i0 sprinkled over it
and raked in, so that each golden grain has
its own ooating of salt. It is then worked
lightly, put into tubs to stand for two hones
or more, when it is again worked over, and
put up iu pound prints, boxes or tubs of
various sizes.
In most of the Western creameries milk
is brought to the factory and there run
through a separator or extractor, which
takes out all the cream or butter. By put-
ting milk i'oto a bowl, and revolving at n
high rate of speed, the cream, is forced up 10
the sides and top and runs off in one plane,
and the skim -milk in another. In the ex-
tractor the butter comes out at the bottom
in small granules, making the beet of sweet,
fresh butter.
The great secret of making gilt-edged
creamery butter, in skill and cleanliness ;
and I mean cleanliness from the time the
0o at is milked till the butter reaches the
consumer's ta':le. This together with uni-
form quality is what has put creamery but-
ter at the head of the list. While a few
dairies may get fancy prices, the common
dairy butter found in the market will not
bring within two to five cents as much as
oreat'tery. What is the remedy? The only
way is for the farmers of the future to coin -
bine with their neighbors Lill they have a
creamery or skimming station in every
school district. Then with a central ortolan -
my to make tip the hotter into a gilt-edged
article there will be no need of this differ-
ence in quality and the two to five cents
can be put into the farmer's pooket where
it belongs.
There is always room at the bop" as the
saying is. Ho is a poor butter maker wlto
thinks he knows it all. We cannot expect
the butter maker of the future to Lake a
four years college coarse: but with the
dairy schools which are now in their infancy
ho can by study place himself where
"knowledge is power."
But what of the butter leaking of the
fatties? With the more universal use of
electricity and the inventions of more deli-
cate and complicated machinery, wily can-
not Mr. (or Miss) Bnttermaker of the future
sitting in au 0asy chair, touch a button on
the wall, and set the machinery in motion
that shall turn out the golden product for
the people of the 20th century.
Sowing Rye for Pasture.
Permit me to call attention to the value
of sowing rye in the corn in the fall, for
pasture the following spring. It should be
sown in fields that aro to be planted to corn
again the following spring, and truth fields
may be left for the last planting—as late as
the loth or 20111 of May.
Much of the corn is late this season, and
the rye can be sown the last time the corn
is plowed, and it will cost nothing but the
seed, which should not be loss than ohne
bushel per acre. The rye will not grow
muoh until the corn is out; but if the fall
is favorable it will get a good growth in the
fall, and will make good early pasture for
epring, and when the corn is not cut, it will
make good pasture, with the stalks, during
the winter.
The rye comes in the nick of time, early
in the spring between feed and grass, and
enables tite farmer to keep his stook from
his pasture -field till his glover gets in bloom,
when it is worth much more than when
pastured sooner.
When such gelds are plowed up and the
rye well turned under, it loxes the ground
in very good shape for another corn crop.
I have practiced this for years, and have
never had anything pay me so well.
If the rye cannot be sown the last time
the corn is ploughed, it pays well to sow it
in September. The sowing may be clone on
horseback, as it io slow work to sow in the
corn on foot. It you sou on horeebaok, you
want to cover your horse's ears, to keep the
t'ye from falling into them.
The next best paying thing is to drill oats
among the wheat in March or April, when
the wheat is very thin on the ground. You
will have oats instead of weeds. Thousands
of bushels of oats might have been raised
this season where weeds now grow. There
will be some wheat among the oats, as ft is
not nearly all destroyed if you drill the oats
Cho same way the wheat was drilled in the
fall. When wheat is so vory thin, what
little there iscannob be gathered on aecouut
of weeds, which usually grow when the
wheat is too thin.
Jona; MAusirot ,.
Czar and 13entrv,
Many stories have been told of the Rua an
peasant's loyalty to the Czar. That not overt
this inherited reverence should be able to
cause a breach of routine duty is a remark•
able proof of military trainingand discipline.
One day last win be a member of the Czar's
family told him that the sentinel stationed
at a certain railroad grossing in St. Peters.
burg had refused, although the next train
was not due for five minutee, to raise the
bars for his carriage, declaring that he had
strict orders to allow no vehicle to gross
until the train had phased,
The Czar commended the sonbry'e conduct,
and remarked that strict discipline was the
very life of the annoy,
Iiia kinsman replied, with a laugh, that
had the Czar himself driven up to the cross•
ing discipline would eurely have given way
before the imperial penance. The Ozar
(teetered that he would pint the matter to a
test, and a day or two Fater be presented
himself, with the Czarina, at the crossing at
the moment when the bars were lowered
before the pas0itg of a train.
The sentinel declined to rein them. He
was eomtnended to open the gate by the
express authority of. bis Majesty. But al•
though perplexed and troubled by the di1.
coma, he stood firm, and answered that ho
could not disobey orders,
Wlten the colloquy reached this stage the
train railed by, and the Czar, laughing heart.
ily, gave the soldier a twontyfivo rouble
note, and praised luta for hie adherence to
duty,
Ocr, 14, 1802.
YOUNG FOLKS.
The Giant ]Cite.
Rental), s read in .0 Cai,neetlont paper
141r ar!en hilt of r4 o'l'ellt kite 0111011 had been
made and dower by four Connecticut boys.
Their kite, it was stated, was sixteen and
rt half feet high by twelve feet wide ; the tail
was nue hundred and forty feet long and the
rope lino twelve hundred feet.
Ibis kite WAD launched its the air and
relied to a helt'nt of a thousand feet, whore
it flew for several home, at the first trial.
The uoys are certainly to be congratulated
all their eucceoo.
We aro told that this was the largeetkite
aver' nuuio and successfully raised in this
oountry or the world. 1 shall not deny this
but I think I remember an account whioh
was 00005001 about ten years ago of a kite,
made in Missouri, that was as large as this.
And I may, perhaps, be permitted bo speak
of a kite made about fifteen years ago, by a
party of five boys, in Ilaino,
I was one of the boys. Ours differed from
the Conneotionb kite in the respeot that it
wee what we then termed a "bow -head," as
distinguished from a "square" kite. The
upright stick was nearly fifteen feet high,
and the "yard" or crosspiece twelve feet
long. Tho "bow" wash aleft strip of flex-
ible white:ash ; and I suppose that the sur-
face presented to the wind must have been,
on account of the curve of the bow -head, as
great as that of the Connecticut kite.
Bnt the tail of our kite was less than
ono -half as long as that ono : and instead of
burlap for "flyers," we made use of light,
thin strips of dry cedar, two feet lohg, each
knotted exaotly in its middle into the tall
cord.
Moreover, our kite was not covered with
COMM, but with cheap, unbleached cotton
cloth ; and for a line we had a miscellaneous
collection of elothos•lines, helped out by
two or three balls of stout packing twine.
Altogether, we had rather more than two
thousand feet of flight:dine.
So far from making a successful flight at
the first trial, we failed eight or ten tunes
in our attempts to raise the kite. During
the most of one day we were experimenting
witih the tail, the length of which we were
obliged to reduce. Our previous experience
had been with small bow -head kites only.
Bub at last we succeeded in raising our
kite, and kept it up for fully an hour. It
never " floated serenely in the cerulean
depths," but required to be humored and
" played,"
It was a little inclined to bob and dive,
and to race or bole, sidewise.
It Ins toward the end of September. One
day the wind blew heavily, and we had a
great deal of sport, Four strong boys oould
have held the kite at any time, I think, if
they had placed themselves in a good posi-
tion ; but several times it "got ns on the
run,' and we had lively struggles to secure
ground hold again.
At n fence or stone wall we could goner•
ally mange to anchor ; and at last we at-
tache! a log of wood to the ground -end of
the line to serve as a drag. This device
was not wholly satisfactory, for the drag
tripped us as we played the kite.
Flying it was extremely active exercise,
as well as remorkabiy good fun. We were
in constant perspiration, and shouted and
laughed uproariously at our play.
Once the kite fell into a maple grove, and
to disentangle it gave us a groat deal of
trouble. On the erose day, too, it fell into
a small pond, and was dragged ashore vory
wet; but we were astonished to find that
our kite flew better when it was damp than
when it was dry. This gave as a hint and
wo brought out water after that to sprinkle
it with.
We raised it on four different windy days
that autumn. The last day—as I see from
a note on the fiy-loaf of my old arithmetic
—was the 28th of October.
Ih was a gusty day. After we bad kept
the kite aloft for an hour or more, it began
to dive and presentlypbunged to the ground
in apite of our best endeavors at playing ie.
There is no accounting for whet a kite will
do.
Just at the moment when the refractory
giatit came tumbling down, a fanner hap-
pened to be driving an ox -team along the
road which led into the village near us. His
rack -Dart was loaded with barrels of apples,
and drawn by four not vory well broken
steers.
The cattle caught sight of the big kite,
driving down toward them from aloft. They
took fright, plunged end ran. The fanner
shouted Whoa,hush 1 Whoa 1" He ran
madly and branished his good•atick. But
Ile was totally unable to control this unruly
team. The oxen charged away wildly down
the road, the cart lumbering meetly after
them.
There was great noise and tumult on the
road, as you may imagine. First ono bar-
rel of apples, then another and another fell
off the cart. Two or three burst open, and
the highway was strewn with Baldwins:
In the end, however, not much damage
was done to the precious cargo nor to the
conveyance itself. The apples were gather-
ed up with our very willing assistance, and
the barrels re -headed. But the man was
vindictive and threatened our fathers with
a suit for dameges.
No such proceedings were taken, but one
of the selectmen of the town favored us
with a lecture, aud forbade us to raise the
kite in future.
Yielding to the majesty of publin opinion
and the law, we dismantled our kilo. For.
some reason nearly every 0110 entertained a.
prejudice against it. But we were far from
satisfied, and resolved to try again another
year, taking advantage of the experisuoe
that we had gained in our experiment, and
remedying the defects of our drat "giant
kite,"
But alas for the schemes of boys=anti
men I By another year other labors and oe-
dupations engrossed us ; and if our big
"bow head" ever had a successor in our
village, it was made by other hands titan
OUTS
VESSRL-CARRYING TRADE.
Modern Type 1Lonis ignoble Vcaselpren to•
Make a Living.
"Business has been a fair average this
,year for vosselmeu on tie upper lakes," re-
marked a well-known Toronto vessel -owner
to a reporter. " You son, it is like this ;
The vessels now doing the greater part of
the trade up there are of the tnost Motion
type, the old-timers shaving been crowded
out. Some of them aro engaged in the
lumber -carrying trade from Georgian Bay
ports to Detroit River ports, while others
are now carrying coal on Lake Ontario,
The freights are now so low that, were
it not for the improvement and larger type
of vessels we now have, we oould not engage
in the business. Why, rates that aro now
glassed as medium would a, fow years ago
have been considered starvation ratios.
And the reason that we can live under them
is thee ib actually requires but little more
to ran the larger boats than 11 sloes rho
smaller. It is the improved Mole, as it
were, that enable us to do tho work cheap -
or
than formerly and with a margin of prof,