Ligonier Banner., Volume 42, Number 41, Ligonier, Noble County, 2 January 1908 — Page 2

Being the - - - Reminiscences of a - Nature Fakir By : John Kendrick Bangs (Copyright, by Joseph B. Bowles.) “l kind o’ think,” Si Wotherspoon was saying as I joined the company at the post ot@ce the other night, “that all birds is highway robbers whether they be the human kind that we calls jail birds or jest plain crows like that feller Jim, the Captain was tellin’ us about -a little while back. They'll all steal if ye give 'em a chance.” : “That all depends on the way ye look at it, Si,” said the Captain. “The way I measure a thief is whether he steals jest for the fun o' deprivin’ somebody else o' what he's got, or does it because he needs what -he takes in his business. . ’ “Well, now, s'pose ye take ’em pigeons o' Joe's,” said Si. “I sowed my back lot with oats three weeks ago, an’ I hadn’t more'n got ’em on the ground when.them derned critters come floppin' acrost th’ road, an’ sot down there, an’ eat up every blamed oat I'd put out. . D’ ye call that stealin’ or jest nateral enterprise?” “It’s enterprise,” said the Captain. “Nature has provided them pigeons

| » Ny \“(\ i o o/ : 2 A | e : n;"é’ e . : Q\\) ; -“‘3 - s \\\ S - ¥ & oo .\/ \\\: T\\ Neah ' = ‘ N | - N 5 .77,:'7, L ] : ey ) . ,’/ 4 \ ¢ \ - e o /// Nt ey \Q;V & A //,7///// 7 \ R \ [ 7 7774 . et : e \/\\ \\ LR | “,\ L . . 7 # 7 = 5 = PPt 777 /;(\ . 0 % | ' \ \\\\”': «::;‘; Xl‘ M , 4 N\ —— . @5 J — ; l “He Drops a Five Pounder.”

with a taste for oats, an’ when they see you sort o' settin’ the table for 'em to come over an’ have a snack o’ lunch, they come, an’ they take what's set before ’em without grumblin’, an’ with no more idee in their minds that they ain’'t doin’ what you expected."‘ “I see,” said Si, “but I think he owes me a peck of oats jest th’ same, | an’ I gorry, if them pigeons shows their pesky bills on my lot ag’in T'll—rn— ot “You’ll receipt 'em, eh?” laughed the Captain. - | “I'll blow their derned heads off.” said Si, with considerable heat. | “That’ll be jest right,” observed the Postmaster, quietly. “I've told them pigeons to keep off your place, an’ if they don’t do as I tell 'em to, shoot 'em Si. I'll sell ye the gunpowder to do it with.” . ¢ ‘And thus was a truce declared. “Birds has got to live,” said the Captain after good-fellowshi* had been restored in a dipperful of root beer all around, “an’ while it makes me madder 'n a hornet sometimes th’ way they have of swoopin’ down on a ~ day's work, an’ spilin’ it, 'm blamed if' I can blame ’em. The bird ketches the grain, the farmer ketches the birds, an’ the tax assessor ketches the farmer, an’ the grand: jury ketches the tax assessors, an’ o itigoes.” . “Then ye wouldn’t shoot a hawk that come down an’ took a couple 0’ your best spring pullets, eh?” said the Postmaster. 3 : “Well, they’s hawks an’ hawks,” said the Captain. “They’'s honest . bawks, an’ they’s dishonest hawks; just like they’'s homest men, ah’ men -that's crooked.” e “An honest hawk’'s a new one on me,” said the Postmastér with a dubious laugh. “’F I could ketch one o’ them I'd give up runnin’ the country an’ open a circus.” _ ~ “As I hev often had occasion to re- - Iy, "it intelligence was in demand in _ runnin’ th’ affairs o’ this nation there's '8 hull lot more plowin’ 'd be done by . e e e *““”w"

information In regard to hawks lis comin’ to ye now.”. “Go ahead,” said Joe. “I'm willin’ to learn. I hev a thirst for informaton.,” ; !

“Anybody could tell that by the way ye read all the postal cards that passes through this here post office;” retorted the Captain. “I callate there ain’'t none o' 'em escapes that eadgle eye o' yourn. I've had two. different experiences with hawks in my day, an’ they've teached me the truth o’ what I says, that they’s honest hawks an’ dishonest hawks. The first one was a feller who used to ply-his trade o’ swipin’ poultry up back o' Portland when I lived up there. Me an’ mother was young then, an’ we spent most of our time raisin’ chickens. It was a profitable business in them days. The boardin’ house keepers along -the Maine coast hadn’t discovered then that ye can make chicken salad out o’ veal, an’ that . chicken soup good enough for a summer boarder to eat can be got by lettin’ a hen set between the sun an’ a pot o' bilin’ water, so’s her shadder will flavor the ensooin’ soup.. Folks bought chickens enough to make it wuth while to raise 'em, an’ mother 'n me made a pretty fair livin’ out of ’em. Well, of course, like everybody else, we suffered some from hawks, an’ one big fellér p’tic’larly got away with a number oo’ niece juicy, spring pullets I set a ‘lot o’ store on. He'd come along jest before night, once a week, most generally on Thursday afternoon, as I remember it; swoop down on the hen yard, seize the fattest-lookin’ feller. he could find an’ go soarin’ off in the air with him. As I says I got pretty mad about; it, an’ bein’ young I swore some, an’ finally I made up my mind M(. Hawk ’d have to die. So I got Qut my shotgun an’ filled her good an’ full with powder an’ nails—l didn’'t happen to have no shotshandy—an’ set down an’ waited. I waited a hull week an’ then he come along, but, I gorry, jest ’s I was drawin’ a line on him, he drops a five-pound codfish right atop o’ me, so that when I pulled the trigger my

aim went kind o’ wild an’ I didn’t hit nothin’ but the codfish.” : “Where'd he get the codfish?”’ demanded Si Wotherspoon. “Out o’ the sea, of course,” said the Captain. “He was a fish-hawk as well as a chicken-hawk. It never occurred to me at the time that the feller had any other object in droppin’ that there fish on to me than to spile my aim, so next time he come along I was on the lookout agin that trick, but this time he swooped right down in front of the kitchen door an’ laid a bustin’ big shad on the door step, as p’lite as you please. - I didn’t dast fire at him there for fear o' hittin’ mother. Of course she hoHered an’ I run ‘up to the house as tight ’s I could go an’ while I was doin’ that Mr. Hawk flies over to the chicken yard, an’ helps hisself to his dinner. That night after we’'d eat the shad for supper mother remarked that it was sort of impressin’ itself upon her mind that that there bird wanted to do the -square thing by us,’ an’ was tryin' to pay for the chickens he took in fish, an’ bein’ as I was thinkin’ very much the same thing myself I didn't see no cause to dispute it, an’ we decided not to shoot him the next time he came round, but jest to lie low an’ see. Well, sir, sure énough, the next week, near sundown Thursday night, we ‘heard a peckin’ at the door an’ on openin’ it there on the sill we found jest about the slickest lookin’ Spanish mack’rel ¥’ ever sot your two eyes on. He was a perfect beauty.an’ so fresh that he was still drippin’ water an’ floppin’ his tail, showin’ that he'd only jest been caught. I'd hardly picked him up from the doorstep when a tetrific squakin’ down in.the chicken yard showed that Mr. Hawk was goin’ keerfully over my poultry stock like a- first-class nousekeeper doin’ her marketin’, an’ bimeby we see "him flyin’ off through the air with another pullet in his claws. _ “It went that way all summer long. Every time he took a bird he brought an’ mother an’ me come to figger it

really we was seven cents ahead of the game.” “Which of course ye held in trust for him agin another year,” said the Postmaster. : “Not accordin’ t’ due process o' the lagv,” Teplied the Captain. “I never drawed up a reglar morgidge on- my place in his faver for that. amount, but I tell ye right now, f he ever comes back an’ asks for that sc/en cents, I gorry, I'll give it to him. But that ain’t the p'int. The p’int is that they is, or has been, one honest hawk in the world, an’ I guess maybe that if they’s one like that they’s a lot more if ye only have the luck to find ‘'em.” “I. never knew a chicken-hawk to go near the water before,” said Si Wotherspoon. ; - '

“Me mneither,” agreed the Captain. “I guess maybe this feller was a crossbreed o’ chicken an’ fish-hawk. While he paid his bills reglar, an’ always in advance, I never got close enough to him to ask him about his father and mother.” . s .

“It's a pity,” said the Postmaster. “If ye could only get an " afterdavy showin’ that his father an’ mother was o’ different families the story 'd have a better chance when the president hears about it.” “That experience got me interested in hawks,” said the Captain, “an’ explains how I come to find the crookedest hawk in the business the next summer: Of course, after meetin’ with the first feller I kind o’ welcomed ’em when they come the year after. I didn’t want to shoot 'em for fear o’ killin’ a good customer, so for a little while I gave them a free hand on my place, an’ set around makin’ notes o’ their habits. Well one mornin’ in June the\ followin’ year up comes a tremendous big feller, an’ begins to. take the usual bird’seye view o’ the chicken yard, and then, I. gorry, he swoops down an’ grabs a settin’ hen right off her nest, and flies away with her. I follered the cuss, an’ discovered where he: liyed, up on a big rock back o' Pete Nichols’ woods. I was go

derned interested in the species that it sort o’ fag'nated me to watch him, He eat up the old mother hen, and then flew off to the westward some place, an’ 1 went back home. Next mornin’ bright an’ early I was waked up by .an awful cacklin’ goin’ on down there in the chicken yard, an’, I gorry, what d’ ye suppose’ I found when I got down there?’ ¢ ! “A check for four dollars to pay for the hen,” put in the Postmaster. “No, sirree!” ejaculated the Captdin. “There wasn’t nothin’ so honest about that second hawk. He was a pirate, he was. He'd come back for the eggs the old hen had been settin’ on, an’ by the time I'd got my clo'es on an’ got down to th‘ yard, he’d got his claws‘on the nest an’ was speedin’ off home with ’em, an’ he never spilled an egg. I follered after him again, an' when I got up to where his nest was I climbed a tree, so’s I could look down into it an’ see what he was doin’, an’ by gym, sir, he was settin’ on them eggs hisself! Yes, sir, jest .like an old mother hen, an’ he set there «ill he’d hatched them all out, an’ as fast as them baby ch]lckens ’d pop out o their shells, he’'d ‘eat ’em, an’ when he got through with that bunch he went back an’ tried the game all over again, but I was too smart for him. I put a lot o’ chiny eggs in the next nest, an’ I tell ye I had a good laff when 1 see him soarin’ away with them.” “What become of him | finally?” asked Si Wotherspoon. “6" ve kill him?” ; ¥ ' : "“I didn’t need to,” said the Captain. “The pesky old cuss died o’ starvation waitin’ for them chiny eggs to hatch.” B ; - At this point the mran came in and the Postmaster's business caused the adjournment of the meeting. ; “Well,” he said, as he unlocked the bag, “if them stories is true ye've proved your p'int. They is hawks an’ hawks!” - - s “You bet they be,” said the Captain. “An’ like us human bein’s they’s divided up between the common people an’ the frenzy finance crowd—a p'int thet hiid ought to make my dis ~Lf"%?’f”ifi%“

b ‘ b &y 1 BESSIE’SE e S— s By ELLEN FRIZELL WYCOFF- | ‘ J ‘ . ‘(Copyright.) : g The ‘postman’s whistle sounded clear and sharp down the street. Miss Brent’s heart gave a quick throb, and she saw her cheeks flush as she tied her hat 'on before the little looking glass. ‘ Now the whistle was nearer. She| went to the door and waited. Suppose she had won the prize! Again her heart throbbed and her cheeks flushed. . . She held out her hand as the man stopped - before hers A low groan escaped her lips as he handed out a thick package. She went inside and laid it under some books on the hall table. ' : Again she had failed. She waited jong enough to brush the hot tears from her eyes, and then hurried out of the house and down to the store where her long, tiresome days: were dragged out. ‘ The lamp was burning in the hall when she came back. Snatching the thick package from its hiding place she went up to her room. “A letter, Dolly?” 3 3 | . Miss Brent kissed the pale face that turned so gladly toward her. “Nothing of importance, Bess. How have you been to-day?” ; : “Pretty well. The sun has been so bright.” = Miss Brent : looked around the cheerless little room. Each year had found her home poorer and poorer un: til now there was scarcely a comfort left. She laid her hat on the be; ber side the letter; “nothing of import: ance” she had called it, but how her face had beamed over those neatly writt\en pages! How she had hoped and prayed that good might come to poor, patient Bess from that labor of love! and now here it was before her;, returned as utterly worthless. ‘ Tears came, again, to Dolly’s brown eyes, but Bess must not see them. She went about the room preparing the evening meal. b | “Only one cup of tea, Dolly!” Bess exclaimed when her chair had been rolled up to the table. “I must be taking care of my nerves, Bess. My hand has trembled twice to-day,” Dolly said, bending her face low as she took up the toast. ~ ~ Bess stirred her tea in silence. : “And no butter on your toast?” she asked, as Dolly, chatting gayly, ate her dry bread. “Bess, my dear, look at that!” She leaned over and pointed to a pimple on her pretty, dimpled chin. “Well, what of that?” ¢ “Just this: I'm not going to ruin my complexion for the sake of having butter on my toast. -At 30 a woman needs to take care of her good looks.” “I never imagined you ecared for such things, Dolly. I am surprised,” Bess said with wide open eyes. e “You pin one down so, Bess. I'm very much ashamed to show my weakness to you, but I. abhor pimples,” Dolly said with a -shamefaced air. “Oh, I don’t blame you, only it must be so hard to not eat things you like.” Dolly’s lips quivered, but she smiled bravely. “Pride knows no pain,” she quoted merrily, and then chatted brightly about the people she had seen in the store, entertaining Bess with many scraps of conversation she had overheard.

After awhile the child was asleep. Dolly covered the little aching limbs she had been rubbing, and turned away from the bed.

- She sat down by the lamp, holding the thick, unwelcome. letter in * her hand. Mechanically she opened it, and instead of the printed slip she had expected, a letter fell out of the envelope. She laid the manuscript on the table, and unfolded the Iletter. “Am I dreaming, or ‘are the words really here?” she said aloud, a glad light in her eyes and hey hands all atremble. She read it again. There was no mistake. The editor had been so pleased with the plot of her story that he returned it, begging her to lengthen it for him, and offering a price for it that amazed her. In the meantime he would buy her short stories. :

Dolly wanted to scream with delight. And then, settling down in her joy, she began to wonder what short story she could send. With the editor’s unexpected letter before her, her thoughts, somehow, went back to her own little romance. Why not write that? Nobody would know it as hers, for who would suspect quiet, poverty-stricken little Miss Brent of having a romance tucked away in her uneventful past? & And, after all, it was not much of a story. She had made a very poor sort of a heroine. And Tom, well, there never was anybody like Tom. He was hero enough for any story, for hadn't he wanted to take her and her mother and little puny, baby Bess to his home, where there was searcely enough for his own widowed mother and the family of helpless girls? g She bad said no, and the drifting apart began, and now they were forever lost to each other. 'She drew her little desk to her and wove her one little dream into a sweet, homely story, and then until Mate in the night she wrote, lengthening the returnéd story. ; L At last, cold and tired and hungry, ghe crept into bed with Bess, and fell asleep to dream of her brave, bonny lover, her hero, Tom. - £ ‘ ~ Her eyes were -bright now, and there was no trembling of the steady hand. Hope gave her new life. People turned to look again at the radiant face, and Bess declared that Dolly’s abstinence was really making her prettier every day, and Dolly laughingly replied that, after all, she felt herself glving way, and feared that she would drift back into luxurious n‘dmpr 'was growing ' cooler now, But Dolly laughed at the wind as it fugged at her thin jacket, and o «g@ frst rain drops patiered down, "I wonder if Bess sees them,” “6&:;3“5‘5 MR RL s A

was the dear, pale little face pressed against the window, but—Dolly almost stopped with surprise. & There above the child’s face was aaother. A man’s bearded face! Was Bess worse and had some one gone for the doctor? Dolly’s heart stood still. with fear. Now, that shke could do so much for little Bess, was she—a sob choked Dolly, and she hurried on. Stumbling up the steps she made her way to the room that held her ome treasure. : : “Oh, Bessie, my darling, what is the matter?” she cried, kneeling beside her sister’s chair. ' “Nothing, Dolly, not the least thing. This is Mr. Darron, and he has been waiting for you. He is an editor.” Dolly stood up, her face flushed and her eyes wet with tears. “I was so afraid, sir, that you might be a doctor; I thought my sister—” ‘“Yes, I see. I came because the story you sent—" and then he stopped short, and his face, grave and earnest, looked as if the sun had broken 7{,\_o42\ - : !"s:‘ =< e ), L Aaooß (“ : & 'f‘/v;"‘\\ =AR Y - \:;:"‘) A it Sl ol RSt \ 7 < 0y AN/ VRN iy ."in B ,;/‘; ' : v '?\' ',//)/ "2 /A"’r/' Ly ; s ,/// :/ "'» \ nil | ‘ /4(1/); 'r‘/‘. : / ;,/44 i 1// A4\l W 7/7 YA\ - AR - Y 3 ,‘//’!/;/ 7 \W/N \ : Al ff/// / n/m : g m\ W . \ %fl // /H N Hurried Down to the Store. through the rain clouds just to shine on it : Bessie had turned back to the window, and was watching the big rain drops pattering down. i . Dolly’s brown eyes were ' shining. “Dolly, I knew the story, and I know you, dear.” : ‘ “Yes, Tom, it is I,” she said, very softly. : “And so I have found youn! I believed whoever wrote the story must know you, but it is better to know you did it yourself. I've been looking for you, Dolly.” “I am glad you have found me, Tom,” she said simply. ‘ “Oh, Dolly, see—" and then Bessle’s eyes opened wide, and she gave utterance to a very wondering and prolonged “Oh!” at which the editor seemed greatly amused, though Dolly blushed to the roots of her soft brown hair. “Ah, Dolly, I know now why you kept from eating butter on your toast that you might be pretty!” Bessie exclaimed. . " “Did she do that?”’ Tom asked. “Yes, and she és prettier, too, but whoever thought: Dolly had a sweetheart?” Tom laughed. “She has had him a long time, Bess, and now he has come to take you both away. You'll go with him, won’t you? You see it will take us both to cure Dolly of her vanity.” 2 And Bessie said “Yes,” very contentedly, and the rain drops fell outside, but a great joy shone in the eyes that watched them from the high, narrow window close to the roof. : TOT LAUGHS, “I’'M ON A DRUNK.” Five-Year-Old Burglarizes Medicine Chest with Dire Results. ; Cincinnati—Two cases of childish inebriation, one of which is remarkable: because of the sex and the extreme youth of the principal, have come to public notice in Bellevue and Dayton, Ky. The first case is that of the five-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Lamping, of Bellevue, whose condition for a time was critical. In some mdnner the little girl obtained a bottle of whisky’ that was in the medicine case and drank the entire contents, a pint in aIL. When the child’s mother came into the room the little girl gleefully cried, “I'm on a drunk.” Mrs. Lamping in alarm asked her what she had done, and when in. formed seized the tipsy tot and rap with her to Dr. Goulgés office. Heroie remedies . were adopted to save the child’s life, and' she is considered out of danger. “ e Weiner Wilson and KEdward Kerwood were arraigned in the Dayton (Ky.) police court on a charge of giving whisky to Roscoe Christopher, a boy about 12 years of age. ‘The boy was still under the influence when brought to police headquarters. Each of the defendants was fined $5O and costs, and in default of the payment thereof both were remanded to jail.

Janitor’s Sunday Troubles, In some of the downtown skygcrapers the elevator service is suspended on Sunday and the janitors and their families, who in many buildings are quartered on the topmost floor, have te descend and climb from 20 to 30 flights of stairs whenever thdy want to get in touch with the outside world. In one building, which is 24 stories high, the ten-year-old daughter of the janitor makes three round trips each Sunday, one when she goes to church in the morning, one when she attends Sunday school in ‘the afternoon and another when she goes to meet her playmates after dinner. Each flight consists of 20 steps, making 960 steps to a round trip. Three trips make it 2,830 steps —a mountain climbing record.—N. Y. Teibune. - . e DLI e

MEDICINES THAT ARE HARMFUL. Combinations of Drugs Dangerous If Not Used at Once. i Just one year from the time the medicine was lost it showed up again at the drug store. A woman brought it in. , : “This bottle was left at our house by mistake,” she said. ; " The clerk read the name on the wrapper and the date on the label, then he called to a man who sat leaning against the cigar counter with his head propped up in his hands. “Captain,” he said, “here is that medicine we had such a time about. I don’t see,” he added, turning to the woman, “why you didn’t bring it back sooner.” ? “I didn’t think of it,” she explained. “The maid took it in one day when we were all out. She thought it belonged to somebody in our house. It has lain around .there in a cupboard all this while. It never occurred to us to return it until just this morning, and then it struck me you might be able to use it” ' The man by the counter lifted his head=out of his hands. “Use it?” he said. “Of course we can. I had the grip last year when it was put up and I've got the grip now. I can take that medicine as well as a new bottle full.”

“No, you can’t,” said the clerk. “Some druggists might permit you to, but we won’t. It might upset you for a month.' . Some medicines never lose their healing power, whiie others not only fail to produce the desired effect, but become positively harmful after standing a few months. The length of time a medicine retains its efficacy depends upon the ingredients. Some combinations- of drugs keep on good terms with each other indefinitely, while others get into a row after being mixed together for a while, and the man who swallows a dose of the stuff is apt to feel a good deal worse than before he took it. As a rule medicines that are quite sweet keep their curative virtues = longer than those that are acid or :bitter. Most any medicine can be taken in safety six months after compounding, and many will be all right six years hence. Those that are not good generally take on a curdled, milky appearance; but that is by no means an infallible test, and the person who wishes to save his system uncomfortable complications would do well to let old medicines strictly alone.” ! : The man looked at the bottle regretfully.

“And that was an expensive prescription, too,” he said. “It seems a shame to waste it.” :

“Never mind,” said the clerk, “We are willing to stand the loss. We would rathér do that than to take chances on losing a good customer like you.” : . - :

American Names. . If we have some growing sense of a desire to touch with poetry the terd minology of our American towns we have succeeded so far only in securing a sightly picnic grove atmosphere such as is given off by Lakewood or Rivergide. : : g : : The rich sentimentalism of the real estate dealer has done what it could considering the hurry he is in. If we have a new manufacturing suburb, 'the chances are we shall be too lazily and flatly patriotic, call it Lincoln and be done with it, or too crudely romantic, in which case the secretary of the company will report to the directors that he has had the place incorporated as Ivanhoe. . With the .slightest dash of poetry in his soul he might keep true to the strenuous character of the place with all its prospective labor agitations, and at the same time give a tinge of beauty to the situation forever by calling it Fretley. Or if it is a place where hammers are to ring from morning to night, why not call it Stroke instead of naming it Smithville after the present chief stockholder in the concern? —Atlantic Monthly.

Collecting His Bill.

. One day last summer visitors to a merry-go-round on a vacant lot in the outskirts of Philadelphia were wery much touched by the melancholy demeanor of a long, lean, lank individual who, suffering greatly, persisted in riding repeatedly. At last some one said to him sympathetically: . “You appear to be in great distress.” P ¢ :

. “Yes,” replied the man on the mer-ry-go-round, ‘“this continual riding round and round makes me seasick.”

“Well, then, why don’t you _quit riding?”’ asked the inquisitive questioner.

- “I can’t help it,” replied the poor man. “The man who runs this mer-ry-go-round owes me money, and the only way I can collect it is by taking it out in rides.” ¢

If Odors Only Were Nourishing.

| “If one could live on odors alone,” said Mr. Flatdweller, “it wouldn’t cost much to live in a flat. ‘ “For there’s no odor of cooking known that you can’t smell here. The dumb-waiter shafts and the various holes . through floors and ceilings for steam and wdter pipes seem to make the whole building a sort of universal smell .conductor in wh{ch no cooking odor is lost, in which all odors 'come to all. i . “And so if anybody in the building has roast turkey we know that, but so, alas! do we know it full well if anybody has corned beef and cabbage or onions or fish. There is, indeed, a surfeit of odors, and as I said, if one could live on odors what a place this would be to board—such a variety and how cheap!” ; | . Too Bad. * g ' Little Edgar had been reading about ‘the beautiful paintings on the ceilings and the walls of some of the great cathedrals of Italy.. Looking up from his book, he said: - : » . “It was too bad, wasn't it, father?” . “What do you mean?” ) . “About Raphael and ' Michelangelo ‘and those other painters not having ‘money enough to buy canvases to ‘paint on” G e o Under the Gtars. . ~ “Don’t be serious, Jack. Let’s change the subject. What is that bright Bades s el S SRR eC o D

TR 2 AR ‘iififi%fl“fifiifl- ‘ SR K A“’ » B e "FOR THE. ORCHARDIST. The Application of Water Pressure as : a Spray Power. . Compressed air and gas have been used for some years -as powers for spraying. ‘Gas is expensive, and when compressed air is used, the air compressor with engine at charging station give high initial cost and some complications. Still these types of sprayers have been making headway for steep orchards where gasoline rigs ==t |- i S bl A"‘" - - 4 4 ‘ . - : _. Water Pressure Spray Rig. could hardly go, and where the acreage warranted the use of several field rigs which were charged at one compressor. Where high water -pressure is available, writes a correspondent of the Rural New Yorker, I know the charging of spray rigs working as above may be simplified, for with an airtight pressure tank connected with the water system it is only necessary to turn in the water to have the air compressed to the water pressure figure. An air pipe leading from the highest poimt of the tank will convey the compressed air to the spray rig, either to portion of the iron spray tank or to a separate tank, as the case may be. In the case of single tank sprayers the spray tank would be filled half full or less of spray material, and the remaining space with air at a pressure of 150 pounds or more, which will expel the spray at a sufficient spray pressure if modern nozzles are used. The charging tank. should be large, for it must pe emptied as soon as it fills complefly with water, and to gain st;wég it would be well to use several tanks of less size. Separate tanks on the field rig also give the advantage of greater strength, and the pressure may- be used at a more uniform rate if -desired. Where the water pressure is .a liftle low it may be supplemented by the use of a force pump or a gas tube. = ‘

: BEST SOIL FOR ORCHARDS. Illinois Fruit Culturist Likes the Clay Soil Best. - D e— . 3 My experience in growing orchards and fruit trees has been almost wholly confined to the white:clay soil, or the gray silt loam, writes a southern Illinois correspondent of Farmers’ Review. This soil, while it varies considerably in different locations, seems to be especially adapted to the production of fruit and fruit trees. To be sure, location and dra»inage"_ are prime factors in fruit-growing, yet these secured and any of our soil is good orchard -land. : : . ¢On soil not depleted by injudicious farming trees make a good growth of wood and.produce fruit of good quality and color. ™I have gne apple orchard on thin, “worn-out” land and byj a liberal application of stable manure and the growing .of cow-pease have a beautiful and veéry profitable orchard. s : ; The peach to be successful here is a little more particular. A light, open soil with good elevation makes an ideal location, as the elevation incredses, the dm’ger from freezing and late frosts-decreases. I have been most successful in growing . peaches on clay soil by the application of stable manure, and while this tends toward

a too rapid growth of wood, the fruit is of the very highest color and quality. The excessive wood growth must be removed by cutting back. I have never experienced any -difficulty in fruit production by “excessive wood growth. Have never had any experience in growing trees on prairie soil and but little on sandy soil, but decidedly prefer the so-called clay. . Of course bottom Ilands subjéct to overflow could not be made suitable for orchard purposes, but a soil that is unsuitable. by reason, of laé¢k of plant food, or its being too cold and wet, can often be made good orchard land by fertilization and drainage.

ORCHARDS ON A HIGH RIDGE. - And Why They Did Better Than Those on Lower Levels. - I believe in and near my county we have about as many different locations for orchards as can -be found anywhere, and in my own county in looking back over the results that have been obtained from the different orchards in the last 15 years, the two best orchards are on a high ridge running very ‘nearly ‘eastand west or sottheast to northwest, with deep hollows or ravines on either side, writes C. G. Winn, Pike county, -111, in the Prairie Farmer. My idea why this has been thé case is this:' =~ - “Most of the failures we have had have been due to a heavy rain in bloom or else a sudden drop in the temperature as it did last spring, with a cold wind blowing from the northwest and the thermometer going down below the freezing point. = = Now as the cold will seek the lowest point it would go off down these ravines and the warmer air would be on the ridges making a difference of several degrees between that on the top of the ridges and that down in the ravine, or enough difference to save the bloom or buds on the ridge, while in orchards not so situated it would

VEGETABLES NOT WELL KNOWN.

Many Varieties Common in Europe .. Might Be Grown in This Country.

* American gardens yield a few Kinds of vegetables in abundance, but that is all. In variety, they are far inferior to European gardems. There is really little excuse for this. More than twice as many kinds of plants could be grown ~as are now usually found in the home garden, and the family- would be benefiteds by the variety. : " Cardoon is commonly grown in France and other countries of southern Europe, and has lately 'received some attention in America. It is closely related to the globe artichoke. The leaves of the two plants look much alike. The leaf stalk is the part used, which is blanched by gathering up the leaves and tying with matting or bands of straw in autumn, then earthing up as for celery. In a month the heart should be ready for use.

Although chervil is grown for garnishing, it is not well known that there is another kind which produces an edible root. It is similar to the parsnip and is treatéd like it. Frosts improve the flavor. There is so little demand for it that few seed catalogues mention it. 5 ; "Among the seeds and roots which the pioneers brought from their eastern homes were cives g chives. They belong to the onion tribe, and are grown for their tops, which are ready for use early in the spring. The bulbs are set six or eight inchies apart in a permanent bed, where they will form compact tufts and take care of themselves, being perfectly hardy. They make a pretty border. In the summer they produce heads of purple flowers at the end of stalks, which would be pretty if they were not onions. What's in a name? Collard or colewort is nothing more than common cabbage. The seed is sown thickly and the young plants used for greens when eight or nine inches high, In the south they are commonly known as cabbage greens, just as they ought tobe. 4 B = : ; . There is nothing difficult about growing andive, yet it is not as commonly grown #S one might expect. IFor summer use it is sown in April-or May, but for fall and winter use it is sown from June till the middle of August. The plants should be thinned or transplanted so as to stand at least a foot apart. When they are about full grown they are blanched by gathering up the leaves and tying at the top. In about two weeks, the hearts should be ready for use. Some gardeners, prepare it in a week by putting celery bleachers over the plants. They should be ‘blanched as wanted, as the hearts will ‘soon ‘decay after the process. Unless thoroughly blanched the leaves ‘are tough and bitter. . S ~_ For some reason; kohl-rabi has been slow to find a place in American 'gardens, though it is highly prized -by the Germans, says the Orange Judd ;Farmer. It might be described as a turnip with a root above ground, or a cabbage with its head in-the stem. In flavor, it is a combination of both turnip and cabbage, but more delicate than either. If used before quite full grown it is tender and delicious, but if left standing too long it quickly becomes woody and unfit for cooking. If .a succession is - desired, the seed should be sown from early spring till midsummer. The seed may be sown in ‘drills 18 inches apart, then thinned so as to stand seven or eight inches apart in the row, or it may be started in a bed and transplanted. . : MOVING A LARGE TREE, Simple Device by Which It May Be Drawn from the Ground. : i 2 To move a large tree make a threesided standard of 2x4 stuff. Loosen = the dirt -~ around F. A< the roots of the NP tree and wrap W the tree firmly at 'ifl ;:«’7 the base with old N carpet to prevent F.w injury. Place the P__\!j& standard firmly B in the ground and \ )A\///" tie the c¢ross-piece <757 | to .the body ot - A the tree with ropes. Fasten a strong rope. to each side of the standard and hitch a horse to the other end. With a slow pull the tree can be drawn onto the sled and then hauled to the new location. It can then be placed in its new place inthe same way. . v L ——————

THINGS TO REMEMBER. Grade your apples when you take them to market. You can get a better price for the best ones and the others wil sell better than they would if all ‘mixed -in with something else. "~ Remove and ‘burn all dead limbs ° and trees as soon as possible; they offer a refuge for germs and it is bet-: ter to destroy a tree, even though it is a valuable one, than to have the disease spread through the entire orchard. - ; = : With newly set fruit trees' especially, watering without mulching in times of drought does ‘more harm than good, unless the ground is thoroughly soaked just at evening. 1t young orchards are watered in dry weather see to it that the surface when water is put on is shaded with _mulch. . o Plants Change. ‘Plants change their characters according to the conditions in which they are, and this is more true of the ‘artificial plants than any other. Take the wheats by way of illustration. They have been so artificially bred for a-long time that they are very susceptible to conditions. A wheat at the Tennessee experiment station that wad been bred to have a large amount of protein and a-small amount - of starch suddenly developed a great deal of starch in a wet year when the leaves grew- large. This change, according to season, is the hardest Mst%mtfimw R Le e g Ef%(’g:‘,}fggl"i ~a:_§:£g\sf§€;r %,