Rensselaer Republican, Volume 12, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 November 1879 — Page 4

sensssafrJkjublicait. MAJOR BITTERS A SON, rmUUktn amt ,Pyrtf«»r». RENSSELAER. : INDIANA.

THE SILVER WEDDISO. Cora wife,ctt her* midwfM'rM «ku«, T TUI the merry dan** * o'er; Oar diver weddin* has made me feet Am it roaik were mine cmoe more. . ve quite forgotten my Cftyyeen; Deer wife, cen It be true .at twenty-ire yeera here come end rone Since I lowed end wedded you? Our daughter there—God Mem the child! For ahe carries her mother's face; Just to you looked when you woo my heart W ith your tnaooed* ftriiah jnce. How fair die le! Whal? tdeeemyeoull Wtte, what le that you eey? Our little firi tee given bar heart 3 To that mac*”—rounr John Grey? Coaxed mother to tell me, did the, eh? Well, wife, it never can be; I’ll never consent— you hear me, wtfe? Just tell her that tor me. What is it you oak? “If long ago Your father bad answered nay. What would I hove dower* Hm. wwß, 1 think a * T* • I’d have—married you anyway! I *, “ Judge John by wmfiL" you aay? Ah, well The boy's a good fellow enough; But I don’t encouraore this falling In love, . And this courting, and all ouch staff. What is it you Mk me? - Hure 1 enjoyed This silver wedding:'’ There, there? When a wotnof (Hacks the weak tfde ofta The nunest hardly fair. j Weil, because of our silver wedding, wife, (Dear, dear, how fast time Ues!) I can’t say no to the child we love. The girl with her mother's eye*. I <r . So here’s a kiss for the bride you,were. And one for the wife you are. And another to«r >wn this happy night, - Of which you gre the brigb- . n rtar. —lftrjrr' i ITtdiy,

THE AGRICULTURAL ANT OF TEXAS.

A Wonderful Inaeet-Hla Kxtrmerdl nary Syateon of Political Wfowoaay— Hia Roadway Oomtrsetlsa usd tllalmg Oymtloai-How Hs lTurfee His Dead -Etc., Etc. [Extracts from a Paper Head iu JB~ M. Holm. X. D.,^ Before th. Chicago 4£ide|j^V * At Houston I had an excellent opportunity of observing these ant a lot? their homes are found even in the streets of that city, and all the country round. ' I oheerved that they selected for their cities, or “Formicaries,” %s McCook calls them, the most places. Standing upon the railrofd track, which passes through a wide expanse of prairie, I was astonished at the number of their habitations. ■ On erety side,' as far as the eye could distinguish their mounds, or open places around them, I could nave counted them by thousands without turning around in. my steps. It , was like standing upon tho Chicago water-workstower. looking around upon the habitations of the great city. - —jAfter remaining here a few day a* I went to Austin, where Dr. McCook made the most of his observation^. I found that no particular kind of soil was cnjbsen in preference by them. They w-ere\ equally at home m stony ground, in Windy loam or fine gravel. They did not, however,'' like a thick' turf, and I never saw a formicatory placed in such a location. They* prefer to live where the grass is thin, or where there is none at all. They reside an hills, in valleys, on the prairie, in the streets, in gardens, and even in places where it has been paved with flat stones, through which they find exit bv the cracks in the cement by which thik are joined. An ant community consists of males, females, major-workers and minor-workers. The last two differ from each other; the major has a longer head. The workers compose the bulk of the population. They do the most of the in-uoor and out-door work. The males are she drones. The females, or queens, attend to the rearing of the young ants, and originate the fonnicatories. These four divisions, together with the domesticated animals, make up the living beiqgsof an ant city. Were Ito describe these ants as historians describe a j>eople, I would say they are an agricultural nation, living in the soutltem portion of the United States, chiefly in Texas, a portion of Arkansas, the Indian Territory and a strip of Louisiana. A similar nation have their habitat in Florida. The agricultural ant builds a city under ground, with halls, streets, gas- , leries, chambers, nurseries, etc. The city’is entered bytwo gated on tho surface. ■ These gates may be on the level ground, or on the summit of a mound. Around these gates on all sides, or -one, or softfetimes at a distance, lie their farms or plantations. This plantation Dr. McCouk calls a “ disc.” To make this disc, the ant proceeds just as a farmer does who locates in a timbered country. They proceed to make a “cfcarifrg,’ - T e.. they cut dowti all the grass, weeds and small shrubs which are useless to them, only allowing certain grasses or plants to remain as are capable of bearing seed, upon which they live. All over this clearing stand the stumps of grass just as the “ stumps” stand in the clearings made by man. It is still an undecided question whether an ant sows crops, or whether he merely leaves such graces as he-needs, and relics on nature to do the sowring.

As OD6 dUUIILs and oafa at their wbrfc he caunot help earn in«r the analogy further, fgr just outside of ' space he Bdbs§gangs of anls t npaged m extending the el earing. The cutting of the grass, etc., the ants accomplish easily by means of their sharp and strong jaw, which can cut as saws, chisel*, or scissors, as -the case demands. Dr. Lincicum says that In the fall of the year, after the grain of the jieedlegrass has been harvested, the %traw is , cut down and removed, learinzlEe farm clear till the next season. Here again is the fanner imitated by these intelligent creatures. Their farms vary in size. I saw some six and sight feet is diameter. Dr. McCook saw some twelve feet' But this cleared disc does not include all their plantation. Outside of it are small open spaces where some clearing has been done, and where they evidently do some harvesting, and to which their roads reach, "fteir roads and highways are very interestiag. From their city gates” reached outih t*o <9 three, often eight or ten directions,-well-built, hard and straight roads. They are from two to five inches wide. Dr. McCook mentions one that at the gates was six inches wide; at six inches, was four wide; at a foot x away, was three and a half four feet# two inches; at ten feetrbne Inch, The' &*&&&&& one over three .hundred feet long. I traced several nearly fifty feet, and §pubtless the slKrp 'epei of the ants can trace them many times as far*, for to the humsn eye they gradually iprpw snudler until they almost imperceptibly blend with the epea spaces between the tuft* of grass. These roads are for the purpose of reaching their fields and harvesting grounds, and all day, and even in the night, hundreds of ante are going and coming on them, reminding one at the people going to, “ < L C PS Ung f ™ m » W town on market days. The following illustrates the plan of their work: AS»e nest is a neat which the gates are on the n.-u with a crop of needle-grass onrt. gates-are the entrances to the underground homes of the community. Just inside at the gate is the vestibule where they unite, and from this vestibule extend galleries to the jStoEwjSL f “/ p***” of

The gates are ouodfflitl to one-half an in chin diameter. Often there is only a single gats, sometimes only three or four, but generally, only two, which are usually separate an inch or two apart. Sometimes they are connected by a sunken road. The vestibule is usually aa inch add a half ftooi the smv face; u is one to two inches wide, and one-half to three-fourths of an inch high, and qdite smooth. *» Dr. McCook, who pretty thoroughly explored their subterranean cities, gives extensive descriptions, excellently illustrated by drawings made on the ground. The rooms, especially the granaries, were plastered with a Kind of cement, smooth and hard. The granaries which Dr. MeCook saw were filled with a mixture of green and same husked and some not. No Illinois farmer could fill his granaries with better judgment. The seeds, small grains like rice, and the seeds of grasses, are piled op neai% to the roof; narrow gangways are left at the outer margin, between the grain-heaps the wall. In some cases, to |rrevent the grabs from sprouting? the seeds are covered with a glutinous material. In some granaries nearly a pint of seed has been found. These granaries are often found two or three feet below the sarfAceof die ground. The galleries, extend many feet below the surface. lAT gentleman informed me that in excavating for a well he has found them eighteen feet below the surface. After my return from Texas, I sent to my friend Eugene Bartholomew, of for a colony of ants. They were sent by express in a tin box perforated with small holes. Only a few died on the journey. I placed them in ajar. TherC were probably fifty ants. The jar was filled with moist, sandy loam. At first they wandered about apparently in muck agitation and curiosity, examining every portion erf the surface; but in less than an hour a few began excavating a hole nearlhe sedge of tfie glass. I supposed they would begin in -the cepter ol tW jar. f ' * They dig wifft gfiergjvnWhlas a dog digs for a rat, throwing up the dirt with their fore legs, and throwing it still further with their hind ones. Often the hole is so deep that the dirt cannot be thrown out; the mandibles are used, and they seize the dirt and press it into small pellets by the aid of the point of the abdomen.* These they carry out and scatter on the surface above, placing them principally on the Opposite side of the jar, so that the surface soon becomes an inclined plane. , When one ant becomes weary, another takes its place, and so soon as the gallery is large enough several work together. Their various positions when mining greatly interested me. They willlie <m the side or on the back, just ad-colliers do in coal mines. Hieir wonderful. forbearan<%. -and good temper is amazing. They do not turnout for each other generally, but a worker will walk right over his comrades, overturning them, even wAli carrying loads; but I never have seen the slightest approach to an angry or impatient action. ' "Jr In Texas, near Austin, the earth is composed in some plaoes almost wholly of granules of silicia of the size of duck-shot/ some larger, some smaller. The mounds in such [daces are wholly made up squall stones. Their individual weight is ten times as much as a single ant, yet they carry them ’Without any difficulty. If they ohme upon a small stick they djg around it until it is loosed then one or more will take it as men would a piece of timber, and carry it above ground. By close inspection of this iar it will be observed that the galleries are dug in various directions, but they all seem to go to a common gallery, which runs around the bottom. Here the ants love to congregate, amuse and clean themselves, ana perhaps engage in “grave debate.” They are never all below the surface, at least I have always found one or two on the surface, acting as sentinels, for on dropping anything on the surface they immediately run to it, examine it, and, if they think it necessarv, they go to the opening of the gallery, give some alarm, and several come trooping up.

Their food consists of the seeds of small grasses. These seeds,” under the microscope, resemble oats and barley. A species of pepper-grass is always found growing on their farms. All other vegegation except those which they use as food is cut down and carried off. But they are not vegetar«ns. They are carnivorous, eating with avidity nearly all small insects. Ffed these in this jar with butterflies, spiders, small be*-* ties and earthworms. On one occasion a large wasp was put in, and before he could recover from the shock was pounced, upon, maimed and captured. Their actions when attacking a spider or wasp were very interesting, . reminding one of a pack of bull-dogs. They rush excitedly around with open mandibles and angry appearan ce. Seizing an opportunity they lay hold of - a wing, leg, or antennae, and all the frantic efforts of the victim cannot shake them off. I have seen a wasp rise and fly around the jar with-live; or sin. ants hanging to various portions of hi* body. While holding oh with their jaws they sting the victim, and otherwise worry till he dies, •'then they calmly mskect him. The wing&and legs they carry and deposit upon toe refuse heap which they always have. The' juicy bodies they, either feed upon on the spot or carry down below and place with the other food deposits, to be brought up and placed with the rubbish when the juices are sucked out. They are fond of sugar, cake and sweet fruit. My colony eat peaches and pears with avidity, and would carry off into their granaries all the homeopathic sugar globules they could jjet. The principal food of these ants in the jar has been coarse oat meal, which they are quite fond of.

While they lap up the soft juices of insects and fruits, they evidently do not eat, so to Speak, the hists substances of grain. Dr. McCook is of opinion, from his observations, that they rasp off with the tongue the starch powder onjbuT grain and lick -up the oils . and juices. In fact, their eating is a “ steady licking” of the surface of the Seed. He ikens it-totoe linking of a cat or dog. Dbme. of their attitudes when eating are strongly suggestive of the squirrel or monkey; holding the fragment of seed in their paws, thev lick it as a squirrel gnaws a nut. Miss Treat,'in observing the eating habits of an allied species, the Florida harvesting' 'ants say they feed their young as. birfsdo, aftd that the young ants hold tip fheir .mouths for the; food, like young robins. , ll l #. toihabits of these ante are neatness personified. They cannot endure untidiness in their own person or others among themselves. * They clean thematics eating Jmd sleeping with scrupulous care. For this purpose they like to gather in groups on the aide of the jar where the siffdight or gaslight is strongest, and dress themselves or vsht their companions. k They have a very interesting habitof ■ leaving windows, so to speak, when digging their tunnels. The windows are lyhew the tnjmel is left open against the side of the glass jar, and are about a third of an inch in diameter and half k an inch high. In these windows the ant like* to ait and beautify herself, have seen, two ants at a window taking turns washing each oth«-V?TheylieeS to enjoy their cleaning and washing process greatly, leaning over in various positions so as to allow their friends to gOftil ?ver their body. Many»f their

of the cat that the similarity is vaxy striking. The motion erf the powawben washing the head is peculiarly cat-like. Their gymnastic feats when cleaning themselves sire truly astonishing. They resemble gymnasts on the turning bar, or a performer on the trapece. Hanging by one paw to a blade of grass, they will eonb and wash every portion of the body with tjie most surprising nonchalance. After placing bits of sugar in the iar and moistening them, the ants lick them with as much avidity as school children, and, like children, get their hands all "stock up” ‘with it. Then, conies a troublesome time. I have seen four or five ants hard at work trying to get the sugar from the limbs and paws of an unfortunate epicure. And they work with the greatest patience till their oomrade is presentabik.. Their sleeping habits are very curious. They love to sleep after meals, when their toilet is done., They go to sleep in every conceivable position, but prefer some eminence, like a clod, pit of wood or the ride of the jar. Unlike the bat, their paws are ‘ not involuntarily prehensile, and it is very amusing to watch them go to sleep clinging to some object* wd»/frheo fts* arirvp, fafl off suddenly. But they quietly climb dip and try it over agaip. Their actions amen waking are ludicrously similar to those of sound-sleeping mortals. They yawn and stretch, torn on one ride, then on the other, and, when, thor-.

ooghly waked up, begin to wash and comb themselves. , ’ \ Their funerals have a peculiar interest. When one of their number is sfckj or maimed, they are very careful of him, going up to him frequently, and stroking Him with their rfhtcnn*, as if pitying nim in bis trouble'. I have seen, an ant take up very tenderly a siok friend and entry him below. I have watched him carry him down to the lowest gallery, where it was warm and dry, ana carefully lay him down; and when this same ant was dead, this same friend or another would cany him above ground and bury him in the cemetery. The word cemetery may strike you as odd, but I assure yon they have them. In Texas each city of ants had a cemetery situated just outside the cultivated grounds. It is used not only as a place to bury the dead, but to deposit all sorts of refuse which has accumulated in the city limits. In this jar you can see the cemoteiy where they have deposited, and tried to bury their unfortunate comrades, and mixed up with the dead bodies, cDarafembered as they always are, various refuse stuff which they have cleared off their grounds, or brought up from the galleries below.

They seem greatly perplexed, in the jar, as to the proper place to bury their dead, for they evidently waqttb cany' Pthem at a greater distance. ..Their inherited instinct impels thtas tp try and carry them eight or ten that is the ordinary limits of their domain. So they wander excitedly and anxiously around, vainly trying to climb the sides of the jar; but ever falling back with their burden of sorrow. Even after, leaving them on the heap or half buried, the living do not seem quite reconciled to their presence, for now and then one of them will disinter a body and carry it round and round for many minutes. Miss Treat relates a curious habit of the formica sanguinse, or slave-making ants. They ao not deposit their dead black slaves with their own dead. In this respect they seem to possess the same color prejudice or caste prejudice which still exists in this country. I cannot omit saying something relating to the rapidity of their movements. Comparing their size with that of a man, w T e get the following astonishing results: t i An ant, three-eighths of an inch long, carrying a-burden of one-sixth of a grain, moves at the rate of one Anile in eleven hours. The weigbtr(a small one compared with that they can carry) is eighteen times their own. They compare with a man five and a half feet high, weighing 140 pounds, carrying a weight of 2,500 pounds at the rate of 176 miles in eleven hours. The fact is, that these ants will carry burdens a hundred times their own weight, as if a lumberman could take up, in a supposed pair of mandibles attached to his heaa; a saw-log weighing thousands of pounds, and carry it many miles. Compared with this achievement the building of the pyramids was boy's play. If man were as strong comparatively, a few hundred could dig ; the inter*oceanic. canal across the Isthmus of Darien, even at the widest part of it, jn a few days, and tunnel the mountains in the same time.

These ants have no mean weapons of defense and offense. Their sting is venomous as that of a honey-bee, and their mandibles are of enormous strength. I have never seen a battle Of these ants with their enemies, but I have witnessed them in attacking and killing hornets, spiders and other insects. They -do not seem to know fear, but will singly attack a venomous insect ten times their own size. Great and decisive battles WwebnJ these ants and their enemies have been described by Dr. Lincicum, McCook, and Mis# Treat. Compared with human battlfci, thet will vie iif slaughter an# bravery any. of the gn at b.attjes in top World's fiistoiy. They 3d *m>t *ill, but, like the warriors of the Middle Ages, they sever the head from the body by a few strokes of their mandibles, or tear their enemies limb from limb. They not only make war On different species, but, like human beings, will make war upon rival colonies of their own when tney are jealous of territorial encroachment. An examination of the bodies of dead ants after a battle discloses as many forms of mutilation, ghastly wounds and horrid fractures as any number of war's human victims cpukl show. The enemieß of the agricultural ant "Spiders are among the most potent. In .prder to test their power over the .ante in my colony I introduced one of the common house spiders. In an hottr pr two he had spun a web* and had caught a victim and was feasting on huh.' Giving him a pinch with a pair of forceps sufficiently to stun him, I dropped him among the ants, who soon finished him and made a meal of him. —lnter- Ocean.

In the Coils of a Serpent.

One of the most intrepid Wild-bejwt tamers in Europe, Karolyi, a Magyar of colossal stature and extraordinary physical, strength, has recently fallen,a victim to a dread bontmgeqcv of nis perilous profeeslau. l He was perform-, tog, before a crowded audience in Madrid the other day, one of his most sensational feats, which consisted in allowing a huge boa constrictor, over twenty feet in length, to enfold his body hn its tremendous coils, when suddenly piercing cry escaped him, which was greeted by the public with a round of applause, under the supposition that its utterance constituted part of theperformance. It proved, however, to o€ the outcome of & strong mini’s death-agony. The gigantic snake had tightened its ooils and crushed poor Sarolyi’s life out of him with one terrific squeeze. As his head fell back and his eyes became fixed in a glassy stare, the plaudits died AwAy/aba we re succeeded by the stillness of utter consternation. The snake • and it* lifeless victim swayed for a secflpd or. twq of inexpressible fcor-

tarts jSSTbottiM bo* did not in the least relax his grip upon the corpse, which remained for more than an hour imprisoned in its hideous thmUdom, nobody danqg the lithe monster, of whose powers such appalling proof had J>een given. At length it occurred to one of Karplyi's attendants to place a bowl of milk in a which slowlyunwonnA fromthe dead body and glided Into it* deu, irresistibly temptea thereto by its favorite dainty. A post-mortem examination of the unfortunate athlete’s remains discovered no fewer than eighty-seven fractures of his bones* effected by the constriction of the serpent's coils*, His death must haVe been almost instantaneous, as the spine was disarticulated in several places. —London Telegraph.

THE WISE-BUBR ASCENSIOH.

Th* CmSMaa* Voier Whisk ** Waa ■oSa-ASoat is «ha Air Wllhsnl a The ascension of Barr and Wise was madenfrom Dindell Park, Sunday afternoon, September 28. The ballon* filled much faster than Professor Wise had expected it would, the gas-pressnie’ at the Lifidell Park being greater than had been represented to mm. ; At fwefv# [o’clock the "balloon was inflated sb!R-' ciently to carryfodr passengers, ahd it * was the Professor’s intention .time to take three companions with him—young Burr, Charlie Gonter, and Mr. Downey, his nephqw. ,The ascension was not to be made until five .o'clock. About three o'clock a gentle breeze turned to strong wind, and the balloon surged about in a violent manner and finally broke its fastenings—the net-work to which the sand-bus were, attached. Professor Wise anu his assistants, one of the latter his grandson, caught the balloon and held it down till the valve was opened and the gas let out. The balloon, of oourae,collapsed and fell to the ground entirely.- The Professor was disgusted with the wav the Pathfindet had acted, and he said that he would postpone the ascension to some future day. * The netting was all broke and it would take all the afternoon to fill the balloon again. The ascension would no doubt have been actually {KWtponed had it not been for the Professors friends, and particularly the three that were to accompany him on the voyage. They could fill the balloon again in time, they said, and reprir the netting. There would be a big crowd' of spectators there, and it would be a shame to disappoint them. Balloon people were generally looked upon as humbugs, any way, and it would never do at allto disappoint the hundreds and thousands who would surely gather on the grounds to see an ascension. Young Burr was particularly anxious that the ascension should be.made. He was all .fixed.for

,the trip; the Professor had promised him time and again to take him along, and he didn’t want to .be. disappointed. Beside, if the Professor wouldn't make an ascension himself, he, Burr, would for him, for the people must not be disappointed. At last the >old aeronaut gave in, and the inflating of the balloon recommenced and the netting patched up. It was agreed between the four parties most interested in the ascension that in case the balloon received only sufficient gas by five o’clock to take one man, that Burr should go up. If there was gas enough for two, Jhen Professor Wise should go. If three could go, the third should be Charley Goriter, and if four, then Downey was to be one of the voyagers. When the hour of five o’clock arrived the netting had been repaired and the balloon about two-thirds inflated. The Professor thought that she would carry no more than two persons besides the packages of Mabley’s advertisements and the Iron Mountain Railroad circulars and a couple of sand hags for ballast. All these things were Eut into the basket, and also several ottles of Anheuser’s bottled beer and a dozen or two sandwiches. The park was pretty well filled with people, or at least that portion of it about the balloon was, and the street outside the park was crowded with people. The scene in the vicinity of the balloon was of a very ‘ lively character. “Crazy Ward,” a cracked-skull painter, with an ambition for the stage, was making himself very conspicuous in the crowd about the balloon, sawing the air with his arms, ’reciting Shakespeare and Byron and yelling to Professor Wise every now and then, asking him if he didn’t remember the time when, they two sailed over Lake Michigan oqce m a balloon. When the gas was cut off and shut oft and the basket fastened to tke nettiug, about forty men in the crowd stepped forward and took hold of the netting. The sand-bags were then all unhooked from the netting, and the basket and balloon were dragged over to the extreme southwest corher of the" open space ’.between .the trees, seme fortyfeet from the’ position- the balloon first occupied. Tins was done because a strong wind was blowing from the sout hramd.the-Profooeoe wanted all the *

room he could get in which to clear the trees- Bor* steilpfetHiittf. the basket ' and Stood upright: He was smoking a cigarette at the time, and his hands were kept busy shaking hands with his tato “ Now can you all let go when I say “All right, lether - v . The band# of Ail left- lld? basket At thelamewime, Nhi up taking a direction almost due north. The basket brushed through the tree tops on the . north of the ouen space, but it was o*dy i* dm e htaH^-fancT no danuge was dona. ¥«*mg Burr stood upon the rim of the basket and waved Jus hat at the crowd below with one ,’&sst.m&sasseis\ Wze of an clothes-line and 1,800 feet long, lay in a coil on the ground* when ta*fcatteete9lartedd)», aad < there wuiAiakaib «£etp wteay from the line. Let htis—mlui 4tte crowd obeyed, giving the rope plenty of room. In a-few second*,, perks#* memrty aadb,. dte, the end bf. tha drug-rope * was reached, and drassmsaps D&ough the trees and out of sight. A# balloon passed over this, fair grounds, some of the visitors there caught bold of it, and Professor Wise was Compelled to cut the rope loose from the balloon.. This was the only anchor line the aertmauts had, and a balloon without a drag-rope is in a much worse oondition than a ship in a harbor is without an anchor. Had the idiots at the fair grounds let the rope alone, Professor Wise and George Burr Would probably be alive to-day.— St. Lottie Times.

—“The worst drunkard in America” has been hooked in Bath, Me. He is sketched hs t ? trakret* afipjgjfe •al appearance that is rough and coarse to the last degree. ' Bpt there rolls from his lips the most bei4iti|uldanjguhge ever heard. All the standard worts of literatim in tha dead and living .tgagaeA come too U| fag quotations the most I I choi<s W Ids lips,.and impromgJu are dashed off wito snap and Dubble A the Bohemian refused, saying that-he wouldn't give -up his whisky for tifaOOO * day. ... it. There, lure boomerangs of various kinds, but they-are all equally dangerous, aqd for the same reason.

USEFUL AND SUGGESTIVE.

Gold Cake.—One «qp sugar, threefowtta cup tattif, one-fourth cap sweet milk, yelks of ei*hl eggs, two caps floor, & teaspoon cream tartar, ’two eggs into A coifae-cup and 1 ffl! ft* Wltiisour creaf, beat thoroughly with oobcop of sugar; then add one cap of flbav one teaspoonful of soda, ono trnnnoonfnl of jnuininestchct. -r-TiJsll at MJLKiand hatter are remarkably seawas Spoiled by the odor (torn tfcb boots o< a man who cape into the milk-room with some of the manure of the stable WilWota»i hockorynats,' aeons, and all late maturing forest-tijoe seeds can be planted in tne fall just before the ground freezes* Bat there is danger of mice and gtoond-squhTckt destroying aanSM&m wt freeze. <<Thenl pitot 'in spring-oozoon as . the earth thaws.— State Befr ister.

Hon. James Wilson toys: “Farmers are beginning to see the wisdom of matt yotmg heifer white bar pMr *nto«re' other lejrewge on the farm. What folly to putcher her and Itorn nte' forage di *efctt : rot. ! Th 6 activedemand of thisfall'iforfeeding steers will drive feeders into raising good calves of their own,” Obdixakilt trees that ' are' ' large enough to produce a crop of fruit staonki be very ligbfly pruned. If two. branch* | es interfere, one of them should be removed zb as to give the other toflicient room. So, too,, branches that Are hi* jure ( d from other causes, shbuld be bdt off. "hut • if a wellshAped top Wte formed when tHA ■ tretr was ypflng, it shogjd be semovedwithout special pause. Occasionally, however, an bid ‘ fruit tree,' more especially, a peach tires;'may be naifctO 1 “JWPWij pruning. Old peach trees are often rendered thrifty'Ah d productive by PuttWf off mosWof the large limbs within a few inches cf thp trunk. The effect of this “ heroic treatment” is to catise the production of new branches vhich grow to a size to produce fruit in a> remarkably short time. When treating a tree in this manner it is well to follow the injunction given in the Scriptures about the management of a certain barren fig tree.— Chicago Times. . - ■ ' i ■ >

Marketing Produce.

This is the farmer's market. season. Consumers are laying in their winter stoics of vegetables, beef, pork, butter, apples, etc., and farmers are receiving the returns ; far their- summer?s> labor. Marketing is ope of the fine arts, .which 'every farmer does 'hot understand. It is the trade of the fanner to produce; the trade of the merchant is to bqy and sell, and it mast be confessed that the buyer is often too Shrewd for the producer. As ,we once heard it put, “ Farmers are tpo honest to ipake much profit out of their produce, M but'this is notao. • Honesty is the best policy fbr B reducer, , middle-man and consumer. t farmers ao not always sell their produce to the best advantage, it is not the fault of their honesty, bat rather of their The merchant studies the markets closely. He knpws,' what the demand is atadWhittbe ‘supply is; where there is , a surplus product and when there is a deficiency; when the market is likely tb rise and when to fall, and buys and sells accordingly, often clearing more in one day than the producer gains from his summer’s toil. True, the middle-man also loses heavily occasionally, from bad debts and mistakes in his calculations, so that the advantage is not all o«i hit side; but we wish farmers would give more attention to marketing their produce. In order to do this they need not become merchants, for We believe folly in every man sticking to his trade, but they should study some of the ways of the middlemen. One of the most successful fanners of our acquaintance when - a youth became restless on the farm, wanted to go to the city “and buy and sell,and get gain” more rapidly than He could Oh the old homestead.. His father remonstrated at first* but seeing his son bent on a mercantile life secured a clerkship for him in New York. Things went nicely for a while, but one of those whelmeditnafiy merchants, hud among others the firm for which our young, friend labored. He was thrown out of employment, and finding ing other 1 situ- ! ation, came home, sadder, but wiser, than when he went away. .HU mercantile experience was a blessed one to him. He had not only seen the folly ofseeking sudden wealth, and wap, therefore, contented with, the sjow and snre gains of the farm, but he bad tlHftV learned, systematic habits of basinesa, the mode of keeping accounts, and what jjome would call “the tricks of the trade,” tmt what WC prefer' to call the secrets cd suocess i» buying and selling, for we believe .merchants as a class are just as ' ÜbiidnoMe* as farmers. There are cheats among them, as there are in j evepr p/w bitt. tW. gse*f, distinction between the merchant and the fanner !s that’the I’fbriber 1 ’fbriber ; studies ; Jhe art of buying and selling more, and w, therefore, more shrewd in this line, lie farmer giving hU main attention to the art of producing. It- is worth while to know how tin do both. Our young [friend to whom we have alluded cannot only raise a good barrel of apples, bat he can sell k at the highest price, and his Ayrshires and Cots wolds always go off at top figures.

It is'doubtless true that some men are born farmers and others inherit a con* stitutional tendency for trade, and it is .qpt worth while to go contrary to the Taw of heredity and spoil a farmer by making a merchant of him; but every producer should. thpprinciiPjes of trade sufficiently to dispose of nis own produce to the best advantage. He imm* 'alio Mfy groceries ind arjr goods to'k greater ©T leSs extent for his family, and so far is, necessarily, a merchant. i We therefore may do farmers a service by QalUng their attention to the tricks—we mjs&u principles—of merchants. We have already, alluded to one —Studying thcl stkte or the market.' The merchant qf er the price current as soon as h» 'dally 1 newspaper comes into’ his band. He knows whether cheese is rising or, falling, and buys and splls cheese accordingly. The same is true of apples, potatoes apd ey^ry N Other product. ’‘He'not* only Tdoks'at the price cifrrent id ondbity, bp*' ltf as! the great markdid; aud production with consumptioii on a large scale. , If potatoes are rotting in one section of the country apd pot in another he knows when,to buy and when sell. This range of Vision is not connhed to one township. , The farmer having a goou crop, of apple* is too apt to think that ,*very one else has the same, and contracts to sell under this

impression at too low* rate, thus pot only diminishing his own profits but damaging his fellow-producers by, establishing low prices. Merchants ful not to run ench other's prices, knowing full well that this practice reacts to the damage of their own trade. Farmers may not Intend to undersell each other, but they do not connect together 1 as do merchants, and, each acting itade(pendenty, some one selling ignorantly at too low a rate makes a precedent which buyers plead in their purchases from others. If A sells apples at three dollars per barrel and B at two dollars, the prioe is far more likely to fall to

the latter figure thaw to rim to the former. If B has only a few inka to sell and does not mara esre at what price tkow mi _a. n —lJ mar so Tn n arrl Dv BDO WIH IlaVu SUlllu iDkM u for Ai who has a lame orchard, on which he in mainly deDendentlorm income. ■ V 1"" “"te 1 111 is aprteeiptewitli merchants tod manufacturers to give their goods an well starched and glossed, and groceries are done up in neat packages, farmers should learn a lesson in this regard from tiie manufacturer. If two tubs of butter are taken to market from the same dairy mid of the same quality, and one is neatly belled and tastefully stamped, and the other is m uncomely rolls, the fancy balls will bring adtocy price, while the untidy rolls can with difliculty be sold at any price. We have heard it said that the Star batter is no better intrinsically than that of a hundred other dairies that sells for a third as mnch, 'and that it is folly for the consumer to pay so much for a stamp; bat if ctomutei* prefer to pay this extra, then, it is folly for farmers not to put on the stamp. Good fcpka go a groat way in selling produce as well as in securing husbands. The quality of the product should be the first ‘ aim, but as a ; beautif u 1 woman may be made to look ugly byAn unbecoming dress, so good butter looks .badly and sells poorly when thrust carelessly into a rusty tin pail. A little taste bn the part of the farmer pays roundly when he goes to market, odd it i sl not enough that this taste should be’.manifest in, his products. It should be seen also, in hispera merchant. Another principle fat marketing is to sell when a thing is ready for sale, 4 the current prioe,is anything like a reasonable one. Most f&rm products are of a perishable , nature, arid" tb stbrtr them away far higher prfefea is generally ! 'A losing business, o Sometimes it . payoilbnt'it'is -tike ar lottery in which there are many blanks to onp ,prize. ( M'hnco nrV>/\ athoir Qnnloa q vonr for one dollar per barrel, were'cbmJ pelled to sell In the spring for* w very* small advance on this price, with a less of some rotten ones, and with no little labor in storing and sorting. At the harvest-time of any product, buyers are usually around in search of it, and the wise farmer strikes when the iron is hot. With such an imperishable product as wool, storage may sometimes be practiced with, profit, but we have known a farmer to refuse ninety cehts a pound for his wool, hoping to get one dollar, and afterward glad to sell it at fifty cents. Such a result makes one feel ashamed of his bed-fellow when he alone. Storage, is almost always i 'Accompanied with loss. As coal merchants put it? “You can’t pick up a ton of com -where you have dumped one.” . : if, ..f ..«,•.»* i . *• .f . i The most important factor in marketing produce is a reputation for furnishing a good article and dealing squarely. If a purchaser buys once ana ii suited, he is not only apt to buy again, but to recommend othprs, and thus the sale makes the best sort of an advertisement. — 'Alexander Hyde,in N. Y. Times.

How to Save and Keep Manure.

There is no, question more frequently or £/erioußly considered by the farmer than how he shall get, keep and spend an adequate supply of manure, nor is there anything aW>t the farm whitph is, of greater importance to its successful management than the manure heap. .Thfite are few farmers now left Who pretend tb ignore this feed for the land, and few localities, even in the newer Western States, where manure now is thought to. be a nuisanoe. We have gradually come to the inevitable final end Of our “ virgin farms, 1 ’ and have now either to save what is left of their wonderful natural fertility or to restore them slowly and laboriously to a.profitable condition. We have reached the end of our tether, and are obliged to confess that we have trespassed over the line which'bounds the' territory of the locust; or have-improved the face of the country so mnch that, the protecting being removed, the water supply M becoming and springs, brooks and rivers ' nb lbnger flow As they did heretofore. 1 To some extent the tide of emigrAtion, which has flowed Westward so many years, is now eddying.or pyen ebbing, andythe cheap, worn lands of the East, arq .finding purchasers who undertake to bring them back to their former cbtiftition. At the same tiirfe' Eastern farmers are discovering more and more certainly that they must increase their crops and make one acre produce as much as two have heretofore done. The only _way in which either of’these classes cart succefid fs by /keeping sufficient stock to manure their farms liberally;'to feed these* - animals so skillfully and wall, that they, ah all pay, for their feed wjth a profit, and in aadi-‘ tion leave a supply of rich manure, witn which the soil can be kepC hr a prodoc-’ dive-state, and to use and saVfe the «la-‘ nure with such care that no particle Of it bqlqst. rlt is not every fanper who can procure all the , manure he needs; nofw do; and this, although itrriay seem a qnesttoii-seebndavy to that bf getting manure, isxeaUyA<i>rimao:fppprtanQe, for by using. \yfyM*. Oge bw to better purpose ne opens a way to increase his supply. We have found this to be the case in Our own experience, and by strict attention to saving and preserving every particle of manure in its best condition we have succeeded in so enlarging our supply of fodder that the number of stock that cotkld be fed

was largely increased each year, and very Boon it was necessary to go out and buv animals to consume the surplus. To bring a farm into improved condition there is ho cheaper or more effective way than this. The ordinary management of manure, m open barnyards where it is washed by rains, dried oy the son's scorching heat and wasted by-ovary wind that blows, is the worst that,is possible. In this way half or more of the .value of the manure is lost. By figuring *up what it would cost tb purchase a quantity of manure equal to what is thus lost, the costliness of. this common method would be discovered, and the question how much could be. afforded to take care of the manure would be settled. When properly littered one cow or ox would make a ton of manure every month, if the liquid as well as the solid portion is saved. Ten; head ,waul4 Abus. make 120, tons, op -sixty two-horse wagon. loads in a year. T A pair of horses wm make as much manure akbnC'ibhw;'or twelve tritfd in ! the year. A'hnhdrriT sheep, 4f yuyddd «v» ery night and well littered,' will make 100 tons .of manure in and sep P ! g»-rtdl#/ »Pin month if Supplied with sufficient coarse material! * Tn 6 stock of a 100-aci'e farih,’ which should consist of at * least ten cows; ten head of steers,- heifers and calves; a pair of horses, IQO sheep and ten pigs, would then make in the aggro-: gate 315 tons of manure every year, or sufficient to give twelve tons per acre every fourth year'.lf this were well cared itrt it would lie, in effect, equal to double the quantity of ordinary manure; and if a plenty of swamp muck could he procured, at least six hundred tons of the'best man fife could he made a ltWacfe hum.- If this weht the rifle instead of a rare exception, or only a possibility, what a change would, appear upoß-the face ojLlhp country *pd what an addition,would.bejoiade t 6 the wealth of the Nation '.—American Agriculture. iiT ' * 1 ; * 1 **■

“iT WOULDN'T BH A YJNH'\ _ A ninsiwnaolinf notwt flhifl nffl-or Andtr*she bad one cirea her, oh, bow he* eyes would shine! And by a neighbor's yarden she would stand At.theSSrdtmbtot tenejH One day ate found some seeds tharirare lonr, ; A ° d 33'S;'iS£.B* M I’ll put tteee In the xround. Now.go atony, you litsody sparrow: Beside the garden tepoe she U 4 teem under And put,’ for their eanvcsUgrefoa Urttipework of strings; * _ And hoped ere many days toaee them oUmber bosrds, and soar aloft on pretty ■ —wtWirim. ikifi f.-a a Soon up oamfia ally at gfeemi tied site Mttto With a eryaf* Joy; for patiently she’d waited And twice a dayshe watered it; and many days . ;aba lownh, * a lon ■■■jh u>»/ ll And wondered if it jroukta’t be a hooey- ' Be coaxed around the slendOTthreads against thefeteetocari, ' ’ o ** J tWn<T M tkat to ,le4,e But S and gTf> ' r ' the weeds refused persiatently roand any thinir to twine; . . . s _ And grieved and disappointed Was the maiden Wo^neltberbea 1 rtlmbtaif roOd fibr boney- , suckl»vme. 1! ) *i! h; .vail • It groetek her, one memlng, in a robe tit dtxNo flu* or near, so show% wte And girl exclaimed, with an accent soft and tender, • |! ,f -i:' -mostphOM fOßord, In Nurmary.

HOW SOME DOLLS BROKE THE LAW.

At WlllismHaekett’s dfngy ; fcr«mpbd quarters in London there were three people. These were Mrs. Hackett, Miss Haokett and Master Hackett. They were working upstairs &n an attic room, Sitting about a table on which there were dolls, doll-heads, doll-bodies. * All about the room were boxes of dolls, undressed, oxoqpt for those inevitable little . paper-cambric, slips which seem to embody . the only ■ inalienable right that dolls nave in this world. j . Were the Hacketts—‘Mrs., Miss and Master—dressing dolls to help out belated Santa Claus? No. Were they making dolls? Again, no. They were unmaking the creatures. First, the lovely dears were beheaded. l Then they w6re ripped- open about where their clavicles would have been if the doll-makers hadn’t left the clavicles out of the darlings. When they were all ripped, and gaping in a ghastly Way from shoulder to shoulder, they were emptied of what would have been their vital-organs if it hadn’t been sawdust. Then Jthe heads and bodies were stpffed like Thanksgiving turkey, not, however, with oysters or curry forcemeat, but'with cobtly laces—laces-fit to adorn a Duchess. * ■

Mr. William Hackett wan going to emigrate to America,. He was going to open a toy-shop and a lace-shop in The United States, and make his fortune. He had’put his means, the gatherings and sfivings of thirty years or work and economy, into fine laces.., «! ~ 9 . *. * * * . When, the Custom-Hoqse officials boarded the incoming steamer," Mr, Hackett, without hesitation, reported his dolls and toys, and stood by while his wares were rummaged so roughly that Master Hackett, also standing by, thought that some of the doll-heads must surely burst open and let out their secrets. But the investigation ended without any eracked skulls; duty was Eaid on the dolls, while the laces passed i free. The Hacketts, in good humor, took rooms, and again tne dolls were beheaded, disemboweled and reconstructed. The laces were worked over and carded: a toyrshop was opened, and Master Hackett, instead of going off to fight the Indians, and get scalped, was set to xdbp it,' while Miss Hackett presided over the lace-shop. You and X know why her laces could be sold at low prices—low* prices bring quick sales—thus Mr. Hackett soon found himself back in London, ready to bring out another lot of immigrant dolls, to find homes in little Yankee girls’ hearts. In the meantime come things had happened— Among others, the Chicago fire. By this, many and many a little girl was left doll-less, and many a boy topless. All over the country, from New England and New York and Ohio and the great Northwest and the. Pacific coast, while mammas were boiling, and baking, and packing boxes of clothing for the burnt-out folks, and papas were giving their Checks freely, the dear littie boys and girls were getting tops and dressing dplfia|*-to comfort tqp. burntput children. . .., t .. And Santa Claus, you must know, was one of the heaviest sufferers from the great'fire. Thousands and thousands of his Christmas toys were deatroyad. ,3ut when the great holiday aroydci.tii.echlldreAin $e W stoqd by their blessed old saint and friend Many'a Christmas-box they sent to Chicago fob this Mid that burntout Sunday-School. And so it came that there was a Christmas-tree for a -certain Presbyterian Sunday-School in Chicago, all of whose gifts had been sent by children of nobody-kneW-what-places; that is tp say, nobody knew by the time the articles had reached the tree. • • ■ :

Among other things on this certain tree was a wonderful dolly, in a marvelous dress of pink gauze. “If I could nave that,”' said Josie Hawley,' “I’d stop crying about tmy burnt-up-dolly. V - uji .. “Why don’t you pray to gef Jt,’,’ said Patsy Clark. “Pve been paying for that pictqre-book up there ever since I first saw it.'” ' : “ Well, I will,’* said little Jbslfc/-" She nut’ her hands np tb her eyes, and looking through her fingers to keep the coveted dolly in sight, she said; . •* ‘ Now I lay me down, to sleep, . I pray the Lord my soul to keep; If I should die before I wake' “ Is. that the right ; wayF*l pray the’ Santa Claus has looked it down!’ ’ she cried. - A ladyhad. just whispered to Santa Claus. He was looking 'straight into Jdsie’i eager fitoe. i- > * I** • ' 1 This heauHhil dblh” said; “is for the gdod little githuJosi# Hawley.’ the li#ia gi4who bad happy nice ‘&’ , twb %kger / drifts Hfreffc Cached * One dkyt 'in -the following" January, Mrs. Hawley was tbinkiiy, m desponding mood* of her ruiped fortunes, when Josie ran into the ropm, crying: “Come quick, mammal My dolly is drowndea all to pieces In the baftub.” i“Why, Josie, what have you been doing?” said mamma,’hastening to the bath-room. . ...... M I rived her a bas: her wanted a bas so bad 11 said Josib There, in ami on'the booming deep, .with * cataract coating fronf the open faucet, mas the beautiful dolly, all impasted, One fair foot and the fairer head had gone, .to the bottom of the tflb.„ The beautiful Ufighied curls were floating in a tangled TT inss on the restless waves, f b nf *n . : ;J oui '

revel!fk see how it was, do yon not? It was one of the Hackett dOlhTwMch; by mistake, did not get its fame inrides taken out on dte arrival in Apeoca, Of course, the matter couldn’t be account of it, Some Custom-House awiwan tom-House folks had their explanation about th&'hlteitidMf’ albHp the .lace ware of dolls!” Mr. Hackett was comIngdA mjT seA*d vei*u*r while inscription was fresh on the tablets. S'VBESie with long Saxon curls, black eyes, bright cheeks tod a rose-bud mouth. There is surely Hot a little girl in aH the worKT who could havelooked at if withgrasped the darling just over the little Heart, if frbeeif h- hoartiln its body. He laid the nook across the 'box’s edge and .broke tfie pretty head off, so Shat to would have bothered Master Hackett, expert that he was, to ‘reconstruct that doll. DoUbtlefcsfthbre never toother lot of dolls that-paid than Mr. HackefrV for our

Cremation in Alaska.

Rev. Sheldoh Jackson, of this city, Synmlioal Missionary of Colorado, Hew Mexico, Utah and Montana, recently made a visit to Alaska, and while there saw many interesting things. He gives an account of a visit made to a garden owned by a Mr. liaVidsdh, of Fort Wrangle. At tne upper end of -Mr/ Davidson’s garden he saw a white sheet stretched between two poles and if it might be intended for a scare-crow. Upon inquiry he found that it contained the ashes of a boy that was drowned the week before. His friends had Rev. Mr. Yonng that it 1 ’ should have a Christian burial; put during Saturday night they*took tbh body hp tlie beadh, and eari> flabtoth morning horned it, the charred wood still remaining. Several, largg* dry stacks were laid side by side upon the beach. Upon these yere placed the bpdy of the boy. -Other sticks were piled over the body, and the whole set bn fire amid the waps ‘And superstitious .incantations, of hired mourners.'w ‘

In about an hour the body was consumrit. ISAfler the fire haAbbofed down, the ashes were. carefully gathered up and placed Its \ basket' until k stfithble box eould.be carved for their permanent preservation. When all was ready, an old Indian w oman > bowed down with age and inftrmitiek, took, up th e basket andjtaifcfid foX- A-pine tree, wjncfe-.had previousfr r beep i; spirted for the purpose. Sne #aa fonowed by the mournthe tree two poles, about eight feet high, were driven into the ground two feet apart. The hasket containing the ashes was tied between these poles, tod a muslin bag, like a large pillow-slip, palled down' over the poles and basket and Closed at the bottom. On the outside of the sheet i% sometimes rudely punted a face, through which tthe spirit Morning and evening the parents of the boy come out from their hut, and. ate, 10 a kept up sos months, for tijey have never heard of iHe gfdrfrCmmbrtCT, who arone can comfort sorrowing hearts. Those whose bodies are burned, are iuppdsed to be warm in ths next world, and the others cold. They believe in the transmigration of souls from one body to another, but not to animals. And the . Wish is often expressed that in the next change they may be born’ into this or that powerful family. The funeral ceremqnrp efteri.' list four days. If slaves are then sacrificed, it Tefieves their 3*nfc«l¥oU *&k in the next world. Dead slave* too often east into the sea. At the funeral of chiefs the traditions and history of the tribe are. rehearsed. If. these ceremonies speaks the Word, and the water of death is small, and the soul is carried to* place of rest an‘d forgetfulness. -Then; after, a long time it comes back to some descendant bn it’s sister’s side and lives another life. To such superameliorating and elevating their condition in this life, and presenting to them a glorious immortality through the crucified and risen -Savior, is the 'work, of the Board of Home Missions.-- Denver lYibune. ' It is estimated by some authorities that the lumber production of the Northwestern States will fall fully 800,- ° 00 ’ 000 . Mrticijwed amount, and that in consequence of the inferior quality of the Jog* est, the supply of choice kanbeir to meet the ‘ demand will be small. This is one cause of the recent lumber “ boom.”

THE MARKETS.

t November B,IBTO. LIVR STOCK—Cattle. $e 75 a* lo 00 gjHSSm’SSSE: 111 ;1 SJ 2“ «6 87 fOKK— Mess 10 26 <1 10 50 WOOL—ilomestio Fleece. .. . . 3S % 40 } CHICAGO. BEEVES—Extra,.... ....$4 75 @ $5 00 , y - "" |’g || J® -gj s j* \ \ J| gMfcfiawrsß 1 1 is 1 V T*sn- a, *"' i "•!•• »# I 8 75^ LuSra-1'" •» Common Dnwedßklin». .8M 00 ©Bl7 50 StifeSßlP OAmk-^iw^ 1 Llß f* Tl^ fa ' r M I Pf»*• SHEEP—Best 400 S 4so -