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The Exeter Advocate, 1898-12-9, Page 6THE CRIME OF THE BOULEVARD.. By JULES. QLAB Tj;B. (Couyrigbt,1$977, by R• F. Fenno & Cal Brusquely, after a silence, while on the lade stage the trausformation was Still going on, the man asked in a dry tone: ,Wby do you speak to me of 11i, Re- vere?" L'ernardet affably replied: "I? Be- cause every one Mika et it. It is the ae- tt:ant, of the moaneux. I live in the quarto. It was quite near there that i. leteptued, the affair" -- a thick voice. "d hoots," interrupted the other: The unknown had eat proaouuced tcn words in giestiouino sad replying, alta yet Bernardet fouud two clews simply -- insignitieuutterrible in reality: lcntaw," was the en n's reply, in a short tx:z:e, as if he wished to push aside, to thrust away, a troublesome though. T :e c ue, the sound of the words, nneteo'n Berneedet, but one word At last, obeying another impulse, he suddenly crossed the boulevard, as if to return into Paris, leaving Montmartre, the cabarets and Revere's house behind him, Be. walked briskly along anti ran against. a man—a little man—whom he had not noticed, who seemedto sudden- ly detach, himself from the wall and who fell against his breast, hiccoughing and cursing in vicious tones. "Imbecile!" The young man wished to push away the intoxicated, man, who, with hat over his eyes, clung to him and kept repeat- ing: "The street --the street, --is it not free—the street?" Yes, it was certainly a drunken man --not a man in a smock, but a littlefel- low, a bourgeois, with bat askew and "I --I am not stopping you. The street is free, I tell you 1" "Well, if it is free I want it!" The voice was vigorous, but showed sudden anger, a strident tone, .a slight foreign accent, Spanish perhaps. The drunken moan probably thought him insolent, for, still hiccoughing, he answered: "Oh, you want it, do yon? You, want cushy—the word " ettensieur" celore Roe vere's name. "M. Revere? Why did he et? I want it! The king says'wewish,' don't you know?" speak to me of Y. Rovere:" Bernardet With another movement be lost his thought: equilibrium and half fell, bis need haug- It seemed, then, that he knew the iug over, and be clutched the mall rte dead teaue held in a sudden embrace. All the people gathered in this little "It is urine also --the street—you kuow !" With sudden violence the man dis- embarrassed himself of this caressing creature. Ile thrust aside his olingiug arms with a movement so (miek and strong that the intoxicated roan this time fell, his hat rolled into the gutter and be lay ou the sidewalk. But immediately, ;vitt a bound, he was on his feet, aud as the man went calmly on his way he followed him, seized his coat and clutched him so tightly that he could not proceed. "Pardon," he said. "You cannot go sway line that!" Then as the light from a gas lamp fell on the little man's face the youug man recognized his t bad neighbor of thetabors who said to biro "Seel That is how Rovere Must look!" At this moment Dagonin and his comrade appeared on the scene and laid The man in the senlbrero, w1zese pale vigorous hands on theta both. The Lace was p der than before, was the only young man made a quick, instinctive one wile tri.: net smile. He even frowned movement tnward his right pcck:t. fierrcls duet, ti ly Bernardet) when the wbere, no denht, be kept a revolver or man.a.e'r widen: knife. Beruardet seized his wrist. Be "'nett are net in the habit of seeing a twisted it and said: dead an.tn resu' i hated the net day. "Do nothing rash 1' Betwt n us, it would keep the world The young man was very strong, but pretty tall." the huge latgonin bad herculean' biceps and the othernzau dict not laelt.muscles. Fright, moreover, seemed to paralyze this tall, young gallant, who, as Le SAW that lie was being hustled toward a pollee statiiu, demanded: "Have teen arrested me, and why?" "First for hawing struck me," Ber- nardet replitd, still bareheaded, and to whom a gain now handed his soiled hat, saying to him: "Is this yours, M. Bernardet?" Bernardet recognized in his own quarter! That was glory! The man seemed to wisb to defend himself and still struggled, but one re- mark of Dagonin's seemed to pacify him: "No rebellion 1 There is nothing se- rious about your arrest. Do not make it worse." The young. man really believed that it was only a slight matter and be would be liberated at once. The only thing that disquieted him was tbat this intoxicated wan, suddenly become so- ber, had spoken to him as he did a few moments before in the cabaret. The four men walked quickly along in the shadow of the buildings, through the almost deserted streets, where the ball, it a: -ked in regartl to this auurder, would ba' -e said: "Rovere!" "The Re- vere affair:" "The Rovere murder!" Not cue who had not known the victim would bave said: "Mi. Rovere!'' The uuuz knew bite then, This ple word, in the officer's opinion, meant much. Tbe manager now announced that, haviug become a skeleton, the dear brother who had lent himself to this .ex- periment would return to his natural state, "fresher and rosier than before." He added pleasantly, "A thing which does not generally happen to ordinary skeletons." Tlis vulgar drollery caused a great bugle whish the audience heartily in- dulged in. It made an outlet tor their pent up feelings, and they all felt as if they had awake mei from a nightmare. ':k;vh1 tatty," thought Bernardet, "my young gt-ntleman is ill at ease." His only thought was to find out his name. his personality, to establish bis identity anti to It ant where he bad spent lois life and especially his last days, .But him? He did not heitate long. He left the, place, even before the man in the coffin bad reappeared, smiling at the audi- ence. He glided through the crowd, repeating, "Pardon—I beg pardon 1" traversed rapidly the ball where new- comers were conversing over their bev- erages, and, stepping out into the street, looked up and down. A light fog envel- oped everything, and the gaslights and lights in the shop windows showed ghostly through it. The passersby, the cabs, the tramways, bore a spectral look, What Bernardet was searching for was a polieenetn. He saw two chatting together null walking slowly along un- der the leafless trees. In three steps, at each step turning his head to watch the people coming out of the cabaret, he reached the men. While speaking to them he dict not take his eyes from the door of that place wbere he had left the young mu in the gray felt hat. "'eagonin," he said, "you must fol- low me. if you please. and 'pull me in!' I am going to pick a drunken quarrel with a parameter person. Interfere and arrest us both. Understand?" "Perfectly," Dagonin replied. He looked at bis comrade, who car- ried his hand to his shako and saluted Bernardet. The little man, who bad given his di- rections in a quick tone, was already far away. He stood near the door of the cabaret gazing searchingly at each person who came out. The looks he cast were neither direct, menacing nor even familiar. He had pulled his hat down to his eyebrows, and he cast side glances at the crowd pouring from the door of the wineshop. He was astonished that the man in the sombrero had not yet appeared. Possibly the man had stopped, on his way out, in the front hall. Glancing through the open door, Barnardet saw that he was right. The young man was seated at one of those coffin shaped oak- en tables, with a glass of greenish liq- uor before him. "He needs alcohol to brace bim up," growled the officer. The door was shut again. "I can wait till he has finished his absinth," said Bernardet to himself. He had not long to wait. After a small number of persons had left the place, the door opened and the man in the gray felt hat appeared, stopped on the threshold and, as Bernardet had done, scanned the horizon and the street. Bernardet turned Ms back and seemed to be walking away from the wineshop, leaving the man free. With a keen hlance or two over bis shoulder .toward im, Bernardet crossed the street and harried along at a rapid pace in order to gain on the young man and by this maneuver to find himself directly in Theman seemed an the unknown. front of to hesitate, walked quickly down the boulevard a few steps toward the Place Pigalle, in the direction where Rovere's apartments were, but suddenly stopped, turned on his heel, repassed the Cabaret du Squelette, and went toward the Mou- lin Rouge, which at first,. Bernardet thought, he was about to enter. As he stood there the vanes of the Moulin Rouge, turning about, lighted up the windows of the opposite buildings and made them look as if they were on fire. The man wrote: "Prades, P -r -a -d -ens with, an accent. Prudes. First name?" "Charles, if you wish." "Oh," said Bernardet, noticing the slight difference in the tone of his an- swer. "Wewish nothing. We wish on- ly the truth," "I have told it." Charles Prades furnished some further information in regard to himself. Ile was staying at a hotel in the Rue de Paradis-Poissonsiere,. a small hotel used by commercial travelers and merchants of the second class. He had been in Paris only amonth. Where was he from? He said that he came from Sydney, where he was con- nected with a commeroial house, or, rather, he had given up the situation to Mme. Cotard, the shopkeeper, to appear before him. She instantly -recognized in this Prader the man who had sold her the little panel by Paul Baudry. He denied it, He did not know of what they were talking. He had never seen this woman. He knew nothing about any portrait, "It belonged to J. 'Severe," the magistrate replied—"M, Rovere, the murdered man; M. Rovere, who was consul at Buenos Ayres, and yon spoke yesterday of Buenos Ayres in the exam- ination atthe station house in the Rue de la Rochefoucauld." "M, Revere? Buenos Ayres?" repeat- ed the youug man, rolling his sombrero around lois fingers. He repeated that be did not know the come to Paris to seek his fortune. But ex -consul, that he had never been in while speaking of Sydney he had in his South America, that he bad come from rather rambling answers let fall the Sydneyo name of Buenos Ayres, and Bernardet Bernardet at this moment interrupt- remembered that Buenos Ayres was the place where M. Revere had been bench consul, The officer paid no attention to this at the time, for what good? Prades' real examination would be conducted by M. Gimlet, He (Bernardet) was not an ear wining magistrate. Be was the fer- ret wino hunted out criminals. This Practes was stupefied, then fads ous, when, the examination over, be learned that he was not to be immedi- ately set at liberty. Wbatt An absurd quarrel, a collision without a wound, in a street in Paris was sufileieut to hold a man and make hint pass the night in the station house, with all the vagabonds of both sexes col- lected there! "You may bemoan your tato to your- aelf tomorrow inorniug," said Berner - dee Iu the meantime they searched this man, who, very pale, making visibly powerful efforts to control himself, bit- ing his lips and his black beard, while they examined his pocketbook, while they looked at a Spanish knife with a abort blade which he had (Bernardet bad divined it at the time of his arrest) in bis right pocket The pocketbook revealed nothing. It contained some reeeipted weekly bilis Paradis,some ' t Rue de of the hotel In he R envelopes without letters, without stamps and bearing the name "Charles Prades, merchant," two bank bille of 100 francs and nothing more. Bernardet very simply asked Prades how it was that be had upon bis person ed by another: "Heald your row. Sure addressed letters which be evidently he's put them on to see to above him - bad not received, as they were not self."—CornhillMagazine. stamped. Ile replied: "They are not letters. They aro ad- dresses whielb I give instead of visiting cards, as Ihave not had time to procure cards." "Then the addresses are in your writ- to resent an eloqueut appeal as sone. drag?" thing in the nature of an insult to their "Yes," Prades answered. mental powers. The police olilerer looked at them "Do you think to soften my heart," again; then, saluting the brigadier and sarcastically asked a well known eban- his men, wished tbem good night and eery judge when a member of the equity even added a little gesture, rather bar, making a rare attempt at rhetoric, mocking, in the direction of the arrest- ed man. "trades matte an angry, almost l wrongs. "My lord," replied the counsel, who who at once recognized the failure of his appeal, but was quick to find success in his retort, "I know it is impossible." —London nelobe. ed him by taking his fiat from him without saying a word, and Prades cast a very angry look at the little man. M. Ginory understood Bernardet's move and approved with a smile. He looked in the inside of the sombrero which Bernardet handed to hint, The bat bore the address of Gordon, Smithson & Co., Berner street, London, [fro Ba; CONTI:cl ED.) Toe Quest in "'linmlet." Not many years ago at the Queen's theater. Dublin, during one of the late T. 0. Ring's eugagements, "Hamlet'. was being played to a densely crowded House. Tbe actor portraying the part of the Most solaced bituself duriug 17is. long wait froze the first to the third act by perusing the evening paper, using itis speotacles in so doing, Being inter- esteel in some artiole (probably the "weights" for an important handicap), be delayed leaving the greenroom until the moment of hearing his one, when, hastily snatching up bis truncheon, he rushed upon the stage without his beard of "sable silvered" or removing bis spec - tattles. A titter greeted bis appearance, but still the solemnity of the darkened stage and the fine acting of Ring as Hamlet prevented any great outburst until the Queen, replying to Hamlet's question, "Do you sec nothing there?" answered, "Nothing at all. Yet all that is I see,n' when a voice from aloft exclaimed, "Lend her your specs, old boy, " faliaiw- A Lawyer's Retort. The greater number of eases are tried before judges without juries, and the occupants Of the bench are aecuetowed menacing, movement toward Bernar- det. The guards standing about pulled him back, while the plump, smiling little man, caressing Ms sandy mus- tache and bumming a tune, went out into the street. One would have taken M. Bernardet for a happy little bourgeois, going home from somo theater through the deserted street and repeating a verse from some vaudeville, rather than a police spy who had just secured a prize. He walked quiokly, he walked gayly. He reached bis hone, where Mme. Bernardet, al- ways rosy and pleasant, awaited him and where lois three little girls were sleeping. He felt that, like the Roman emperor, be had not Iost his day. He again hummed the quatrain, and although not in a loud tone still it sounded like a faroff fanfare of victory in the gray fog of this Paris night. CHAPTER XIV. M. Ginory was not without uneasi- ness when he thought of the detention of Jacques Dentin. Without doubt all prisoners, all accused persons, are reti- cent. They try to hide their guilt under voluntary silence. They do not speak because they have sworn not to. They are bound, one knows not by whom, by an oath which they cannot break. It is the ordinary system of the guilty who cannot defend themselves. Mystery seems to them safety. But Dentin, intimately acquainted with Revere's life, might be acquaint- ed with some secret which he could not disclose and which did not pertain to him at all. What secret? Had not an examining magistrate a right to know everything? Had not an accused man a right to speak? Either Dentin had noth- ing to reveal and he was playing a com- edy and was guilty or, if by a few words, . by a confidence made to the magistrate, be could escape an accusa- tion, recover his liberty, without doubt he would speak after having kept an inexplicable silence. How could one suppose that an innocent man would hold for a long time to this mute sys- tem? The discovery of the portrait in Mme. Colard's shop ought, naturally, to give to the affair a new turn. The arrest of. Charles Prades brought an important element to these researches. He would be examined by M. Ginory the next morning, after having been questioned by the commissary of police. Bernardet, spruce,. freshly shaven, was there and seemed in his well brush- ed redingote like a little abbe come to assist at some curious ceremony. On the contrary, Prades, after a sleep- less night, a night of agony, paler than face fierce and the evening before, his its muscles contracted, had a haggard expression, and he blinked his eyes like a night bird suddenly brought into glar- ing sunlight; He repeated before the t examining magistrate what he had said to the brigadier. But his voice, vibrant s few hours before, had become heavy, almost raucous, as the haughty expres- sion of his face had become sullen and tragic. The examining magistrate had cited Yes, tt was certainly a drunken quasi shopkeepers were putting out their lights and closing up their shops. Scarcely any one who met them would have realized that three of •these men were taking the fourth to a police sta- tion. A tricolor flag floated over a door lighted by a red lantern. The four men entered the place and found themselves in a narrow, warm hall where the agents of the police were either sleep- ing on benches or reading around the stove by the light of the gas jets above their beads. Bernardet, looking dolefully at his broken and soiled bat, begged the young man to give his name and address to the chief of , the post. The young man then quickly understood that hisqu es- tioner of the Cabaret du. Squelette had caught him in a trap. He looked at him with an expression of violent anger, of concentrated rage. Then he said: "9 M .name.e� you do want of that? I am an honest man. Why did you arrest me? What does it meanr' "Your name?" repeated Bernardet. The man hesitated. "Oh, well, I am called Prudes. Does that help you any," He Wasn't a Gormand. That wary old fellow, Bailie Macduff, was enticed into a friend's !louse the other night, and bis best managed to win 50 shillings from him at "nap." What is more remarkable, when the bailie land parted with his last shilling he rose, full of wrath. "Won't you stay to supper?" pressed his best, "We have a fine bit of ham waiting." "No. not L Dae ye think I eat 50 shillings' worth of ham?" -London An- swers. A Trifling Change. "I guess I'm willing to go," said the tamer, when they told hiir, his hours Would be but few. "It is just a change from havin my nose to the grindstone to havin it to the tombstone. "—Indian- epolis .journal. THE MYSTERY OF DREAMS. rasa o Me ARPIgkt STORAGE OF CELERY. Timely Points. From Professor Mun- son .In Maine Station Report. If on well drained soil, celery plants may be left iu the rows till the last of November by having some litter .at hand to apply in case .of bard freezing. It should be remembered, however, that if the plants are well banked a little freezing of the tips of the leaves wilt do to harm, and the mistake is often made of applying winter protection tan. early and thus injuring the crop by keeping it too warm. For winter storage the method in vogue in some celery growing districts is to make on well drained soil beds of four to sir double rows of plants with a wall of dirt between. Bank up on: the outside till tic irks of the :rata east show above tine surface of the bed. Leave the bed inthis condition till hard freezing begins, then throw two or three inches of soil over the surface. Let this sail freeze hard before applying litter, and never apply heavy covering at the first approach of cold weather. The soil in the bed is still warm, and if a heavy coat of manure is put on the top the frost is scow taken out of the surface soil aud the temperature will be high enough to induce decay. The secret of success in the winter storage of celery is to keep cool, .As the severe weather of winter approaches the covering of litter may be increased unless there is a fail of snow. To open the beds, take the litter off from one end, break the crust of soil with a pickax and remove any desired amount of the celery. Then carefully replace the covering. This plan has the merit of cheapness and for holding plants through the winter is preferable to storage in a pit or cellar. if the crop is to be disposed of as early as January, it may be stored in a cool cellar or pit. In this ease the plants are set very closely tofietfer on loose ss moist loan. To avoid heating,iufi, canS - queut ou peening: large quantities of the plants together, compartments about two feet wide by eight or ten feet long are made by setting up boards which shall tome to din tops of the plants when in place. If the plants are closely patted, so as to exclude tine air, it is uuuece's.ary to use earth between then. When plants aro stored in this way, it is important that tho temperature ot tho pit or cruor he kept as nr ar the freezing point as possible. If, however, it in de- sired to hasten the proeessof blanching, rho temperature may be raised. The sail in whieb the plants are placed should bo moist to prevent wilting, but the foliage should always be kept dry or there will be trouble from rotting. Fail Treatment of Cane Fruit. Various opinions exist among fruit growers in regard to fall pruning of berry bushes. For instance, one grower near hero does not cut back tho uew wood at all, while another cuts back at least one-third and claims to have proved by experiment that the trimmed canes come out better in the spring, says F. Craneflelcl of Wisconsin in The Orange Judd Farmer. It is our practice here to trim out all of the old wood in the fall and bend down and cover with earth all of the now growth, no matter how much there may be of it, Even with this treatment many varieties will die back to quite an extent and the neces- sary pruning may be better dono in the spring. It is quite a task sometimes to cover largo plants of Gregg or Colum- biau, but we want to save every possi- ble inch of fruiting wood. Grapevines should be pruned late in the fall and covered the same as berry bushes. It has been very well demon- strated in this state that winter protec- tion of berry bushes and grapevines is necessary in order to insure a crop. Some growers practice covering the tips only, depending upon snow for protec- tion, but a better plan is to cover the entire plaut with two or three inches of earth. What Can Flit Through a Man's Brain In One Minute. It is very certain that the majority of dreams aro only of momentary duration, though extended occasionally to the length of a minute. In proof of this Dr. Sholz tells the following story from his experience: "After excessive bodily fatigue and a day of mental strain of a not disagree- able kind I betook myself to bed after 1 had wound my watch and placed it on the night table. Then 1 lay down beside a burning lamp. Soon I found myself on the high sea on board a well known ship. I was again young and stood on the lookout. I beard the roar of water, and golden clouds floated around me. How long 1 stood so I did not know, but it seemed a very long time. "Then the scene changed. I was in the country, and my long lost parents came to greet me.. They sent me to church, where the loud organ sounded. I was delighted, but at the same time wondered to see my wife and children there. The priest mounted the pulpit and preached, but I could not under- stand what he said for the sound of the organ, which continued to play, 1 took my son by the hand, and with him as- cended the church tower, but again the scene changed. Instead of being near my Eon I stood near an early knownbut. long dead officer. I ought to explain that I was an army surgeon during the maneuvers. I' was wondering why the should look so ours when quite major � young, close to, my ears a cannon sounded. "Terrified, I was hurrying off, when I woke up and noticed that the supposed cannon shot had its cause in the opening of the bedroom door, through some one entering. It was as if I had lived through an eternity in my dream, but when 1 looked at my watch I saw that since I had fallen asleep not more than one minute bad elapsed—a much shorter time than it takes to relate the occur Fence. A CHEAP SILO. Dwrable Hex %lust Any Mau Can Build to Bold Ensilage Corn. Having read much about ensilage and. how to build sloes, a Country Gentle- man correspondent decided to try to see if he could get a boy together that would hold ensilage corn, and bis proceedinge were as follows: Before commencing the carpenter work I fixed the bottom. A. good foundation is essential. So I drew small stones that were raked out of the road after working and put them en the bottom, about eight inches thick, then covered with sand, After the car- penter work was done I cemented the bottom with sand and cement. Our silo is 10 by 10 by 22 feet deep, built on the inside of the barn. The tie sticks were sawed 2 by 8 inches, 11 feet 8 inches long and 2 by 8 inehes, 17 feet tete. 8 inches long. We set a board in each , corner to nail the sticks to. Then these were put round the silo at intervals of, say, two feet apart at the bottom, spiked with No. 00 spikes, ire in each corner, and increased at the top to three feet. It is well to have the tie sticks rather close at the bottom, as a great amount of pressure comes there. After getting the tie sticks fast we were ready to begin siding on the inside, Side rowed the bottom with 12 foot inch boards, and have them come to the) tie sticks, so the next 10 foot boards qtr the top will coarse down to the end at the 12 foot boards on the tie sticks. Then side above with 10 foot boards. Now we bad our silo built with one thiekuess of inch boards. Then we out paper (rosin back paper) 22 feet long, baugiug from the top, and commenced siding agaiu, mismatching the cracks. After gettiug over the surface this way you have a silo that is not costly, one that any poor man Ran build at very little expense, anti one that is durable.. We made a shoot in one corner to throw down ensilage, with three doors suff- tient distance apait to be convenient, Our silo is built of rough beteloek boards, 1 give summary of expenses aside from lumber, which almost every farmer c fan cut on his awn farm: Carpenter, ars, days $7 00 Paper for lining a:0 Cement 1 Nails 1 Gil Sawing lumber c .l 44444444444 ...4 4444444 $:14;r3 This Flip haze leen in use two seasons anti bas proved a atisfeetrey he every re- spect. We new keep mush un're live stock than we need to and expect to double in the near future. ---,- Keeping Celery In the Cellar. "The great ado scout ]seeping celery through the winter has deterred many front raising it in the family garden. All Ido," says a writer in the Deuver Field and Farm, "is to pack it away in a box in nay cellar, setting the bunches in an upright position, the roots resting upon the bottom of the box. I have a box of 1.8 or 20 inches in depth and some two or three feet square. Idig the celery as late in the season as I can, leaving it in the ground until pretty' cold weather ensues, even after the frosts of early fall have arrived, and handle it very carefully, as the New Rose which I grow is very brittle and often breaks apart of its own weight. Tbis should bo dono only on a dry day when the celery is dry. Then I carry it to the cellar, where I have four or five inches of garden coil on the bottom of the box. I pack the bunches in a ver- tical position as closely together as pos- sible and leave it there until -wanted for use. My cellar is dark, or partially so, and it does not freeze. When we want celery for table use, we simply go down cellar and do not have to worry through any frozen soil to get it. I lose a small portion from decay, but the most of it keeps hard and crisp, and that which was not well blanched when put in soon gets all right, like the rest" Milk For Calves. From experiments at the Utah station it is concluded that: Calves may be raised very profitably on skimmilk when it is properly fed. From the standpoint of gain in live weight and quality of meat whole milk is the best food for calves, but it makes too expensive a ration to be profitably fed. Butter fat has been worth 16 Dents per pound. The gain in live weight of these calves at 4 cents per pound re- turns but 10.7 cents per pouud for the butter fat fed and at 3 cents per pound for the gain but 8 cents per pound. The calves whose rations were com- posed largely of skimmilk, while they gained one-half pound less per day yet required practically the same amount of dry matter to each pound of gain as did those fed on whole milk. They made just as good use of the food. The calves fed whole milk alone gave • greater proportion of dressed meat to live weight than did those fed on skim - milk, and also gave more fat on the carcass. Weeds In the Potato Field. Some men say that one should man- age to have a clean potato field at dig- ging time, and I confess thatI have thought that the presence of many Deeds or grass indicated carelessness on the part of the farmer, but I know now that a season such that a field may 9 be cannot be kept clean. Early potatoes that were left absolutely clean when the vines covered the ground this year became' grass aud weed fields during the constant wet weather of August, wheu the vines had given way, Crab grass was the worst pest, aud the mower bad to be used ahead of the digger. It was a condition of affairs that could not have been prevented, remarks Alva Agee; in The National Stockman and Farmer. Total The Onion Crop Liberal In Bulk. While there were some drawbacks to the best development of the onion crop, this as a whole is a full one. The crop in bushels is somewhat in excess of any in recent years, and a large proportion of it has been secured in good condition, but testimony of prominent growers and country dealers goes to show that no in- considerable percentage of the whole is lacking in keeping quality, or has poor oolor, or is small in size, and buyers natural]y discriminate sharply against all such. Onr report covers the crop of the northern and eastern states, which practically produce all the onions for. winter markets. The acreage shows an increase over any recent year, stimulat- ed by the good prices which prevailed last fall and early winter. .A feature of the year, if such it may be oalled, is the rapid development of onion growing on a commercial scale in portions of the middle west. This is particularly true in Indiana, Michigan, western Ohio and portions of the truck- ing country adjacent to the large west- ern cities, including Chicago and Mil- waukee. Growers are also progressive west of the Missouri river, in the fertile valleys of Colorado, Utah and Nevada and portions of the far northwest.— American Agriculturist. When itot Exists In Potatoes. An exchange thinks it best where rot exists to pull the.potato stalks by hand and throw them in heaps. With a broad tined fork set beside whore the hill was, push it down fax enough to get all the potatoes, raising and shaking the dirt from them as the potatoes are brought up and left on the surface. It will often be found that the layers of potatoes which come up with the stalks will be all rotten, while those below, dug with the fork, will not only be free from disease, but will generally remain' so. They will be so far matured that the potato skin will harden so that the fun- gous spores will be less likely to attack it. If some lime is sprinkled over the potato heap, it will absorb surplus moisture and make further rotting im- uossihla.for putataes thus treated •