HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1917-3-29, Page 7firrn OD\
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Conducted by Professor Henry G. Bell.
The object of this department Is to place .at the,
service of our farm readers the advice of an acknowl-
edged authority on all subjects pertaining to soils and
crops.
Address all questions to Professor Henry G. Bell, in
care of The Wilson Publishing Company, Limited, To.
ronto, and answers will Appear In this column In the
order In which they are received, As space is limited
it Is advisable where immediate reply Is necessary that
a stamped and addressed envelope be enclosed with the
question, when the answer will be mailed direct.
Question -M. P.: -i have purchased
two tons of ground limestone to ex-
periment with, How, when and where
shall I apply it to get best results? I
intend to SOW oats, barley, corn, sugar -
beets, clover and wheat. The land
is all under -drained and fall plowed
except corn stubble and beet ground;
soil, good clay loam. Intend to
sow barley on corn stubble land disced
up in the spring and seed to red clover,
Answer: -I would advise you to pick
out three acres of uniform corn stubble
land. Apply one ton of ground lime-
stone to the first acre and thoroughly
disc it in, in preparing the seed -bed for
the barley which is to be seeded to red
clover. On the second acre which
should lies right between one and three
thoroughly disc the. land but do not
apply Iimestone and seed to barley and
red clover. On acre No. 3, apply the
remaining 1000 lbs of ground lime-
stone and disc up the land in prepara-
tion for the grain seed. Just before
seeding time, or a week or ten days
after having worked the limestone into
the soil, apply 200 to 300 pounds of a
fertilizer analyzing 2 to We ammonia
and 8 to 10% available phosphoric
acid. If your seed -drill has not a fer-
tilizer drilling attachment, scatter the
fertilizer as evenly as possible over the
acre and thoroughly harrow it into the
ground. Then sow your barley and
red clover as before.
At harvest time weigh the results
from the three individual acres separ-
ately and you will have a clear demon-
stration of, -first, the value of the
lime, second, the value of the lime and
fertilizer. Besides weighing the bar-
ley, be sure to note the earliness with
which it ripens on each plot and the
weight per bushel of the grain when
it is harvested. Also note how suc-
cessful the grass and clover seetiings
`have been on each plot.
Ground limestone is a corrector of
soil sourness and is not essentially a
plantfood. When you have limed the
soil you have corrected its condition
so that clover will thrive on it, but
when you have added 200 to 300
pounds of fertilizer in addition to the
lime, you have given available plant -
food to the tiny clover crop just the
same as you give whole milk to the
young calves, and the results from
seeding both the young barley and
clover crops should be quite as appar-
ent as they are in good feeding of live-
stock.
Question -S. C.: --Am thinking of
sowing a couple of acres of beans.
How would they do on sod plowed in
the spring? The land is sandy loam
which has not been worked for quite a
while. Would sow the beans with a
ton hoe drill. How deep should they
be planted and would the common
white bean be all right?
Answer: -Beans should do well
upon spring plowed sod, if after plow-
ing great care is taken to thoroughly
disc and harrow the seed -bed, and pos-
sibly if the ground appears to be too
loose to roll it and follow with a har-
rowing. The point is that the turn-
ing under of the heavy sod may make
the seed -bed too loose and actually in-
jure the water supply around the
growing plant. This can be avoid-
ed by thoroughly working the seed-
bed into a compact but still mellow
form.
The general rule, in sowing seed, is
to put them not deeper than four times
their longest diameter. This would
mean that the beans should not be
planted deeper than 2% to 3 inches.
The common white bean is a service-
able type to grow but you should take
care to sift out all the undersized and
injured beans and to pick out 100
beans and lay them between a damp
cloth, keeping them in a warm room.
You can watch the sprouting of these
beans after they have been prepared
as described, and if at the end of a
week or ten days they do not sprout
strong and show considerable vigor,
you will do well to obtain new seed.
Gll3it.refre
Chronieindigestion is indicatedby the
following symptoms: Unthriftiness,
capricious appetite, increased thirst,
irregularity of the bowels, dry, star-
ing coat, hide bound, sometimes slight,
colicky pains.
If due to imperfect mastication have
teeth attended to. Give purgative
followed by a dram each, ginger, gen-
tian, nux vomica, and bicarbonate of
soda 3 times daily, and food of first-
class quality.
Increase the feed gradually, and
give regular exercise at some kind of
work.
When the hair begins to shed, the
heavy coated horses should be clipped.
When not at work, have a blanket
handy to throw over the clipped horse
and he will not take cold.
There will be no delays in the spring
work if the work teams are properly
prepared at the start.
Gradually toughen up the horses
that have been standing in the stable.
A poor cellar hurts worse than a heavy
load. Adjust the traces to the length
of the horse. Get your horse as near
as possible to the load he is to pull.
Mud -spattered harnesses on a clear
day look as if something were wrong.
Wash them up after the spring storms
and bad roads are over, and keep them
washed, A harness that is permitted
to go dirty will not last so long as one
which is cleaned and oiled often.
A horse that does not eat when food
is before him is wrong somewhere.
Look at his teeth. Watch all danger
signals.
Wind up the week's feeding with a
bran mash.
i'•
Clootitri
Stop feeding geese twelve or fifteen
hours before you kill thein,
A few sickly hens will undermine
the beat -founded efforts at success.
Five to ten per cent. of the feed
given in winter should be meat in some
form."
Fresh
orm.-
b'resh cold air is the only thing that
will keep the hens :frons freezing to
death.
it will help to get eggs the year
around if you thin out the overcrowd-
ed housea,
When chickens are permitted to
roost in and about the atables, why
should there be surprise when horses
and cattle become lousy?
Some folks try to make money nut
of geese without water. Quito like
making bricks without straw. If na-
ture has not provided you a stream
er pond fed by springs, make a pond
`f your own, 1':ggs from geese that
�rtrve water to swim in are more opt
10 be fertile than these which came
Isom dry ]ural lsyerg,
fep.r-1,
017Y
The tested and approved cow, and
the dairyman determined to do his
best, make a winning combination.
Above all things let no one pester
the bull. Nine out of ten cross bulls
are made so by wrong treatment 011
the part of some one who either does
not think or who does not know any
better.
With all our kindness let us keep a
firm hand and a good stout staff on the
bull.
The cow due to calve soon should be
fed only laxative, easily digested food.
Toughen-goercows, not by expos-
ing them to the raw spring winds and
storms, but by daily exercise on sun-
shiny days, and careful stabling when
the winds whisk around the corner,
Before we offer a farm for sale, we
know it pays to slick it up and make it
look the very best we can. Same
way with a cow we want to sell. We
can't expect men to take much interest
in a rack of bones or a dung heap fast-
ened to a pair of hind legs. Clean up.
Put a good coat of flesh on yetis cow,
and then offer her for sale. •
Pastures which are used one week
too early in the spring will generally
run short at least three weeks earlier
than if they had been properly con-
served,
t7 - '•'� -
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COMING BACK TO
This picture shows graphically what
faces the Belgian refugees when the
Germans have swept over their towns,
This aged couple after wandering
homeless and penniless for months
have returned to pick up the shreds
of their lives. Where there was a
prosperous town they find only ruin
and desolation.
What is left for them to do? It
seems hopeless, yet thousands of them
have faced their reconstruction period
long before it was safe to do so, with
the sane fortitude that the Belgian
nation displayed in resisting the in-
vasion,
But these courageous people must
have help, until they can get on their
feet again and find means to keep
themselves alive, they must receive aid
•
ESSENTIALS FOR THE GARDENER
Construction and Care of Hotbed and Cold Frame -Both Are of
Greatest Assistance in Obtaining An Early Start
With Market Produce.
DEVASTATED HOMES.
frcm their friends abroad. At least
food must be supplied them.
This is the work the Belgian Relief
Committee undertook to do and has
done with a thoroughness that has
astonished the world, It has tireless-
lessly labored to give these people the
chance they have so well earned to
re-establish themselves.
In this work it has been aided by the
people of Canada most freely, and it!
is dependent on Canadians still, with
their brothers in Great Britain and
the- United States, to continue . the
work as long as the Germans remain
on Belgian soil. Subscriptions
should be sent either to the Central
Belgian Relief Committee at 59 St.
Peter Street, Montreal, or to the local
branches.
The gardener's greatest aids in
raising early crops are the hotbed and
the cold frame. The hotbed enables
him to plant Beed and produce seed-
lings long before the seed planted out
of doors has begun to germinate. The
cold frame enables him to get the
seedlings produced in the hothouse
;gradually accustomed to outdoor con-
ditions and to raise these into strong,
sturdy planting stock by the time the
garden is ready for them.
The cold frame is used in hardening
the plants which have been started in
the hotbed or in mild climates for
starting plants before the seeds can
be safely planted in the open.
Resetting plants from, a hotbed into
the cold frame gives them a better 1
root system and makes them stockier
and more valuable for transplanting
in the open ground.
Building -of Hotbed.
The hotbed should be in some shel-
tered, but not shaded, spot which has
a southern exposure. The most con-
venient size is a boxlike structure six;
feet wide and any multiple of three:
feet long, so that standard three by.
six feet hotbed sash may be used. The
frame should be twelve inches high
in the back and eight inches on the
front. .This slope is for the purpose
of securing a better angle for the
sun's rays and should be faced toward
the south.
The hotbed not only must collect
any heat it can from the sun, but also
must generate heat of its own from
fermentation in fresh manure, Fresh
horse manure, free from stable litter,
is best for generating heat.
If the hotbed is to be an annual af-
fair, make an' excavation eighteen
inches to two feet deep, about two
feet greater in length and width than
the fiame carrying the sash. Line
the excavation with plank or with a
brick or concrete wall. A drain to
carry off surplus water is essential.
After a sufficient amount of fresh
horse manure has been accumulated,
fill the pit, and while it is being filled
tramp the manure as firmly and as
evenly as passible. When the ground
level is reached place the frame in
position and bank the sides and ends
with manure. Place about three
inches of good garden loam on top of
the manure inside the frame and cover
it with the sash. After the heat has
reached its maximum and has subsid-
ed to between 80 degrees and 90 de-
grees F., it will be safe to plant the
seeds, Select the phtnipest, freshest
seeds obtainable. Use standard var-
ieties and get them from reliable seed
houses.
Crisis in Plant Life.
Keep the bed partly dark until the
seeds germinate.
After germination, however, the
plants will need all the light possible,
exclusive of the direct rays of the
sun, to keep them growing rapidly.
This is a crisis in plant life and ven-
tilating and watering with great care
are of prime importance. Too close
planting and too much heat and water
cause the plants to become spindling.
Water the plants on clear days in the
morning and ventilate immediately to
dry the foliage and to prevent mil-
dew. _-
The cold frame, so useful in harden-
ing plants started in the hotbed and
for starting plants in mild climates,
is constructed in much the same way
as the hotbed except that no manure
is used, and the frame may be cover-
ed either with glass sash or with can-
vas. A cold frame may be built on the
surface of the ground, but a more
permanent structure suitable for hold-
ing plants over winter will require a
pit eighteen to twenty-four inches
deep. The cold frame should be filled
with a good potting soil. The plants
should have more ventilation in the
cold frame, but should not receive so
much water. It is best to keep the
soil rather dty.
In transplanting, remember that
plants usually thrive better if trans-
planted into ground freshly cultivated.
Transplanting to the open field is best
done in cool, cloudy weather, and in
the afternoon. This prevents the
sun's rays from causing the plant to 1
lose too much moisture through evap-
oration. In transplanting the garden-
er will find a child'a express wagon an I
excellent trolley tray for bedding out!
his seedlings,
Rig up an old pasture for the hogs
this season. It will be a great saving
in feed.
Lots of folks down -town never know
what good bacon or ham it. Make
yours extra good this year.
The constant cold weather of the
past months has been the means of
keeping many pigs closely housed, and
this has resulted in a great many cases
of crippling amongst the swine herds
of this country.
It is essential that the brood sow be
fed a well-balanced, succulent, nu-
tritious, milk -producing ration while
suckling the litter. Dairy bypro-
ducts, such as skim -milk, buttermilk or
whey together with meals such as
shorts, ground oats, barley, oil cake
and the like are all highly suitable for
the feeding of the sow at this sea-
son.
One reason why the storms of win-
ter break so many panes of glass in
the fa'm homea of this country is be.
cause the putty gets loose and lets the
gins break easily. Take seine com-
eortnhls day very soon and go over all
the witv'ows. Teti rents niny save a
dnihu•'s worth of gloss.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON
APRIL 1.
Lesson I. --Jesus Gives Sight To The
Blind -John 9. 1-38 Golden
Text -John 9. 5.
Versa 1. Passed by. A spurious ad-
dition to John 8. 59 (see margin) would
link this verse with the last. It seems
quite general -"ono day to he went
along the street." From Ms birth -
Evidently a well-known character,
whose history the dieoiplss knew;
Compare verse 8.
2. Rabbi -The actual word used
wherever our Gospels have "Master"
(literally, Teacher), Who sinned-
This is India's problem, on w,hieh the
whole superatructure of reincarnation
Is based, Jews believed 19. the possi-
bility of prenatal sine; 111ie verso does
not mean that they thought of a pre-
vious existence. Parents -Compare
the old proverb about the father's cal•
Ing sour grapes and the children's
teeth set on edge. Jeremiah roundly;
led it, but thorn was a patelal truth in
it which he retained (Ter. 82. 18).
3. ]esus rojeets this theory of suf.
feriug altogether. Man's suffering is
only god's nppnr loopy; compare John
11, 4, and 2 Con 12. 9,
4. Wu must Note the rebuke to
their hard theorizing in the presence I
of sorrow, They should be looking nut
for opportunitlee of joining their Mas-
ter in his Father's works. While it. Is
day --See John 11. 9; 12, 35. The par-
able itself guards. against misuse;
man's intellectual and spiritual work
is often done at night. But just as our
work for daily bread normally stops
at sundown, so the opportunity of
ministering to ;nen in their seerow
will cease with death.
5, When -There la a distinet sag.
geatdon that. this visit (compare John
17. 11) is not the only one, See Les.
son Text Studies for Match 18, verse
12.
6, Compare Mark 7. 38; 8, 23, The
primitive belief in the healing virtue
of saliva is used by Jesus to help falth;
the point is that what heals comes
from him, Anointed --Read, "put his
play on his eyes'; the margin lea an
Improvement on the text, but it misses
the Into point.
7. Wash -Tho word used implies
the washing of a part, here the face,
Pool of 9dloant-"Siloa's brook that
flowed fast by the oracle of God," as
Milton calla it. The pool is still there.
Sent -That Is "Issuing, gushing torch,"
But John rasters on a mystical inter -
probation: the spring is a typo of the
water of life.
8. beggar -As to -day 111 India,
there was no other livelihood for a
blind man who had no relatives to
support hint, 't
9, Na -,-For o8 8011180 the foot t)let
he could see, with then disproved
identity.
11. Went away -As with idu• ten i
lepers, faith was tested by bidding'I
him leave the healer's presence,
0 Ur
iern
,, Conc44eren/by Jro Tfe.G..re
Mothers and daughters of all ages are cordially invited to write to this
department. Initials only will be published with each question and its
answer as a means of Identification, but full name and address must be
given in each letter. Write on one side of paper only. Answers will be
mailed direct If stamped and addressed envelope is enclosed.
Address all correspondence for this department to Mrs, Helen Law, 76
Castle Prank Read, Toronto,
1I,B.M,:--1. For your boys of right,
eleven and fifteen years of age, the
following booksare recommended:
"Lorna Doone," by Blackmore; "Story
of Great Inventions," by E. E. Burns;
"Legends of King Arthur and His
Court," by F. N. Greene; "Old Greek
Stories," by Jas, Baldwin; "Adrift 00
an Ice -pan,' by Dr. W. T. Gren£el;
"David Livingstone," by C, S. Horne;
"The Boy's Nelson," ,. by H. F. D.
Wheeler; "Lives of Poor Boys Who
Became Famous," by S, K. Bolton;
"Historic Boyhoods," by R. S. Hol-
land; "Heroes and Heroines of Eng-
lish History," by A, S. Hoffman;
"Plutarch's Lives for Boys and Girls,"
retold by W. H. Weston; "Ivanhoe,"
and "Kenilworth," by Sir Walter
Scott; "Tom Brown's Schooldays," by
Thos. Hughes; "John Halifax, Gentle-
man," by Miss Mulock, There is also
a splendid series of twenty volumes,
for boys and girls from eight to four-
teen, of which a few titles are: "Birds
That Every Child Should Know,"
"Earth and Sky That Every Child
Should Know," "Water Wonders That
Every Child Should Know." Some of
;the other subjects treated are: "Wild
Animals," "Pictures," "Songs,"
"Trees," "Famous Stories," "heroes,'
"Heroines." This series affords a vast
amount of useful information in very
readable form.
L.W.:-The wedding anniversaries
are as follows: 1, Cotton; 2, Paper; 3,
Leather; 4, Fruits and Flowers; 5,
Wooden, 10, Tin; 12, Silk and Fine
Linen; 15, Crystal; 20, China; 25,
Silver; 30, Pearl; 40, Ruby; 50, Golden;
75, Diamond,
mond.
H.L.R.:-1. Milk dishes are the
most valuable bone -forming foods, 2.
It 13 said that a very hot nail will not
split plaster when it is driven into It,
3. The best way to soften butter is
to invert over the plate of butter a
bowl which has been first heated with
boiling water. 4. A good plan is to
paint the lowest step of the cellar
stairs white. Or a folded newspaper
can be tacked to the bottom step. 5.
To cut new bread try using a knife
which has been dipped in very hot wa-
ter, 3. Fresh coffee stains can be
removed by pouring boiling water
through the fabric. 7. If steak is
rolled in flour before frying, it will
keep in the juice and make the meat
more tender and delicious.
C,B.:-Iron rust stains cannot be
taken out by water. Try a mild acid,
such as cream of tartar, spread on the
stain and washed through by hot wa-
ter, or dilute oxalic acid. When the
stain is removed be sure to'°Wash out
the acid.
F.D.F.:-A good play for your
school concert would be "The Making
of Canada's Flag," in which from fif-
teen to twenty-five children may take
part. Another patriotic play for boys
and girls is "The Key to Jack Can-
Iuck's Treasure House," It deals with
our splendid national resources. Both
these plays may be obtained from
eitl booksellers at 25 cents each.
S.N.:-A mixture of one-half ounce
borax, one-half ounce glycerine, three
ounces rose water and two ounces bay
rum will soften and whiten the bands.
Cornmeal is also excellent as a
whitener, and glycerine and lemon
juice mixed is recommended. If a bowl
of oatmeal is kept beside the kitchen
sink and rubbed over the hands after
washing it will prevent rouglmess,
30. Cast him out-- See verse 22 and
John 16, 2. The Son of Sian (margin)
---So read, beyond doubt. Since this
great title refers tacitly to future
judgment, there is significance
In verse 39
in this connection.
37. He it is --Compare John 4. 26.
38. Worshiped --Jesus accepts a re-
verence which angels refuse t Rev, 22,
8, 9).
THE ART OF GRAFTING.
When in the spring the sap begins
to move in the stock, be ready; this
occurs early in the plum mrd cherry, Sure enough! There was a new
and later in the pear and apple. Do dollie, with big blue eyes and light
the grafting, if possible, on a mild day golden hair, and the big Policeman
during showery weather. The neces- i thought the big Boy Doll was looking
sary tools are a chisel, or a thick - fat her very strangely.
bladed knife or a grafting iron (with I No wonder, for the Paris Doll had
which to split open the stock after ' just been put In the window of Toy -
it is sawed off smoothly with a fine- town that very afternoon, and she was
tooth saw),' o hammer or mallet to , so very beautiful that all the other
aid the splitting process, a very sharp I dolls stopped looking out of the win-
knife to trim the scions, and a supply i dote just to see her. The Brown
of good grafting wax. Saw off a Monkey stopped pulling the Stuffed
branch at the desired point, split the pat's tail just to see what it was all
stock a little way down, and insert a about. The Tin Soldiers stood up
scion at each outer edge -taking care very straight as if to salute, while
that the inner bark of the scion fits, the Wooden Firemen looked around to
snugly and exactly against the inner'. see if there was a fire anywhere.
bark of the stock. This --• together , ••Ilave you been here very long?"
with the exclusion of air and moist- asked the Boy Doll of the Paris Doll,
u until a union results -constitutes "Oh, no,' said the Paris Doll. "I
the secret of success, Trim the scions' cane from serosa the water, The
wedge-shaped, insert them accurately; ,;ear little girls packed me in a box
the wedge should be a trifle thicker on and gave me a lot of kisses to give to
the side which comes in contact with Canadian boys and girls, and one of
the stock's bark. Lastly, apply graft the dollmakers taught me English so
ing wax. Each scion should be long that I could understand What was said
enough to have two or three buds, The to me."
"spring" of the cleft holds the scion••That is eery wonderful." said the
securely in place, and therefore tying 1 Boy Doll. "1 hope you like it here."
should be unnecessary. If both scions I "I know I shall," said the Pal•is Doll,
in a cleft grow, one may later be cut I .,Every one is so kind,"
away. Just then the big Policeman turn -
When grafting large trees it is best I ed his back and the Brown Monkey
not to rut away too much of the tree i threw a block at the window and the
at once; therefore a few secondary I big fellow jumped right up in the air,
branches should be left untouched,' He turned around very quickly and
and these, after the scions are thrift- I thought he saw all the dolls, tin
fly growing, can gradually be cut; soldiers and firemen laughing at him.
away the following years. Or, part of I wonder if they really were?
a tree can he thus top -grafted one
year and the remainder the next.
hedalata
Many a worthless tree has Huts been
entirely changed. I -i
You can't graft a pear or an apple
on a cherry or plum
Where t m tree,� here a floc o• inilivi s
or vice t dual, in it
pk
versa. The stone fruits and the po- are not doing well, there is no mystery
maceous fruite are separate families about it. Remember parasites, in -
and refuse to intermarry,ternel as well as external.
The following formula for grafting I If you are up to date you will read
WAX will be found satisfactory: Melt' the experiment station reports on
together until thoroughly mixer] four: sheep and lamb feeding, and then file
pounds of resin, two pounds of bees - 'them to read again,
wax and a pound of tallow. Pour Ws Bieseings on the ewes that bear
mixture into e. vessel of cold water, j twits, and this is the year that it will
Grease the hands with tallow, and pay to raise them. In every sheep
when the wax is cool pull it like tai- 'track there springs up a clever
fy until it becomes light and smooth. I plant: Sheep and clover are great
It may then be shaped irate balls 01. : partners. For genuine pasture iln-
sticks, and will keep indefinitely Jnprevenient, at little expense, the sheep
a cool place. ParaAlne Subsi,ituted furI is the loader. Did you ever think
beeswax makes a harder as well as a I that millions of weeds that would oth-
cheaper Wax. er-,viae mature• seeds get nipped by
Here is a substitute for grafting ; sheep?
wax that. is much cheaper: Take rem- Maty pounds of wool are lost every
moil pally, put it mn geed and thick
and fill all the cavities smoothly.
Then take cloth, tens it in strips, wind
it around the putty and tie it with
string,
It is best to use seines width were
cut very early thin spring or last fall;
they can be kept in moist 'sawdust or
sank.
Sioffes
THE PARIS DOLL LIKES lIER
NE'IV I3051E.
It was past 12 o'clock in Toylown
and the big fat Policeman had '•one
around as he always dict every night
to see if there were any new dolls in
the window.
spring by letting the sheep run where
fences and beadles will catch thein and
tear off big nieces of the fleece. 3111011
platter? Nothing like this is too
small for the farmer's attention.
Pity the people who live In the ire -
pies; they never enjoy the Miracle of
spring.
HAS -THE KAISER
LOST HIS LUCK?
FAMOUS HOIIENZOLLERN RING
HAS BEEN MISLAID.
Other Rings Which Have Brought
Fortune or Misfortune to Their
Royal Possessors.
The Kaiser is perhaps the most
superstitious man in Europe, and
that is why he is feeling so uneasy
just now, because the famous Hohen-
zollern mascot, a ring set with a jet
black stone -has been mislaid, says
Pearson's Weekly. -
Since the time of the Elector of
Brandenburg every ruler of the house
of Hohenzollern Inas, when dying,
handed a sealed packet to his sue-
cessor, containing the ring, which is
supposed to confer emcees and good
fortune on its possessor.
The legend is that the black stone
was originally dropped by a large toad
on the bed of the wife of the Elector
immediately after the birth of her
son. It was very carefully preserved,
and the father of Frederick the Great
had it set in the handsome ring
which it now adorns.
The Kaiser loved to parade. the
"luck of the Hohenzollerns" on all
state occasions, and doubtless he has
lost it on one of his flying visits to his
different war staffs at the front.
The Czar's Ring.
It is a curious coincidence that the
Russian advance and the combittud
Anglo-French offensive took place
after its loss.
If the luck of the Kaiser is out, the
leek of the Czar is certainly int, and
it is interesting to note that he too
has a ring he counts amongst Itis
greatest treasures,
Formerly belonging to the Vatican,
this ring -in which is embedded a
piece of wood supposed to be from
the true cross -was presented to one
of his ancestors, and is said to shield
its wearer from physical danger.
That's why the Czar always wears it.
Once, when in the middle of a jour-
ney, he suddenly found that he had
left it behind, and his special train
was delayed eight hours in order that
one of his suite might go back and
fetch the ring.
The loss of the ill-omened opal ring
which has been in the Hapsburg fam-
ily for generations would cause no
anxiety to the Emperor of Austria,
for ill -luck seems to dog the fortunes
of its possessors in the most persist-
ent way.
The tragic death of his son and
heir, the assassination of his beautiful
wife, the Empress Elizabeth, to say
nothing of the general decline of the
home of the Hapsburgs in power,
have all been ascribed by supersti-
tious people to the malign influences
of that ring.
It is recorded that to get rid of he
Francis Joseph put it up for sale last
year, but there is no record of 0 pur-
chaser for it having been found.
Buried in a Strong Bos.
Another unlucky ring was once in
the possession of the Spanish royal
family. It was a gold ring set with
a large emerald. In the centre of
this stone, which had been hollowed
out for the purpose, a ruby surround-
qd by tiny diamonds was set.
Philip II„ of Armada fame, was its
first possessor, and the subsequent
defeat of his mighty ships by Drake
and Raleigh marked the first decline
in Spanish power.
Tho history of the ring is one
long record of disaster to those who
bad it in their personal possession. At
last, just about the time of the Span-
ish-American war, it was presented to
a church, which was burred to the
ground. Next it was put in a museum
which wa,s twice struck by lightning.
King Alfonso and his Queen are
not likely to be troubled in any way
by its malign infiuences, for nowa-
days the ring, shut up in a strong
box, lies buried very deep in the
earth, and there it is likely to re-
main,
THE DOUGLAS FIR,
This 'Gree Attains Its Greatest Size in
British Columbia.
The flagstaff in Kew Gardens is a
Douglas fir tv111011 was shaped and
creosoted in Vancouver. Poles of
Douglas fir are highly valued for
ships' masts and flagstaffs because of
their straightness, durability, strength
and resilience. The timber is also
largely used for telegraph and elec-
tric -railway poles and bridge and
trestle timbers. Douglas lir Is regard-
ed as perhaps the most important of
American woods. Estimates of the
available supply range from three
hundred thousand million to three
hundred and fifty thousand million
feet, board Measure. The tree is most
abundant, and attains its largest size
not far above sea level in southern
British Columbia and in the region
between the coast of Washington and
Oregon and the western foothills of.
the Cascade Mountains. There the
trees, orowded close together rise to
a height of three hundred foot,
In I'orto ;Rico oleci.rie wires are oh-
atructed at Unica by a parasitte plant
that settles and grows upon ,them, ob•
tabling nourishment from the air,