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Show fiomc gfrcle Speak the Good "Word. It isn't the thinking how grateful we are . . . , For the kindness of friends come to bless Our sorrow of loss 'Xeath the weight of the cross; It is telling our gratefulness. It isn't the love that they have in their hearts, Aug neglect or forget to reveal, That brightens the lives Of husbands and wives; It is telling the love that they feel. It isn't the thinking of good to mankind man-kind That comes as a cooling drink To the famishing ones Of Earth's daughters and sons; It is telling the good that we think. It isn't the music, asleep in the strings Of the lute, that entrances the ear, And brings to the breast The spirit of rest: It is only the music we hear. It isn't the lilies we hide from the world. Xor the roses we keep as our own, That are strewn at our feet By the angels we meet On our way to the Great' White Throne. It isn't the silence of hope unexpressed That heartens and strengthens the weak To triumph through strife For the great things of life; It's the words of good cheer that we s;ieak. William J. Lampton in Xew World. Two Good Palms. EBEX E. REXFORD. The best variety of palm for general culture is Kentia Relmoreana. This sort has large and graceful foliage, of a rich, dark green, borne on long stalks which rise gracefully about the pot to the height of four and five feet, in 3-year-old specimens which have been well cared for. Such a plant is a thing of beauty that will be a joy as long as it can be kept healthy. Soil is not of so much importance as many think, for good specimens can be grown in any garden loam if it is enriched by the application of a good fertilizer, but it is well to take some pains in preparing pre-paring a compost for the plant. I have found that t wo-thirds ordinary loam mixed with enough sharp sand and old, well rotted cow manure to make up the other third, will give excellent ex-cellent results, and such a soil is within with-in reac h of most amateurs. If the coW manure cannot be obtained, use more sand and substitute bone meal as a. fertilizer, using in the proportion of a tablespoonful for an eight-inch pot. This will last for three months or more. Then add as much more of the bone meal to the soil, working it in well about the roots of the plant. Perfect Per-fect drainage is very necessary. Have at least two inches of broken crockery or something similar in the bottom of the pot. More palm troubles are due to defective drainage than anything else. Too much.' water at the roots, or undue retention of it there, will almost al-most invariably result in unhealthv root action, the first indication of which is seen In the browning of the tips of the leaves. Therefore, make sure to have good drainage. In watering, observe the old rule of waiting until the soil looks drv before applying anything. , Then use enough to make the soil moist all through. An even, moderate amount of moisture is what should be aimed at. Scale and mealy bug often attack this plant. They must be kept in check if you want your plant to remain healthy. I know" of nothing better as an insecticide in-secticide than Ivory soap melted and added to water, of a sufficient quantity to make a bath for your plant. Use the soap in the proportion of a quarter quar-ter of a pound to ten quarts of water. Put the infusion in a large tub. set the palm in it and go over it carefully with a brush stiff enough to loosen and remove every scale, using the soap water freely. In this way you can keep it clean and free from insects with but little trouble. Latania Rarboniea, better known as the fan palm, is another good variety for the use of the amateur. This sort has nearly circular leaves deeply split into segments. They are often a foot and a half across, on stalks a foot or more in length. An April Day. When the warm sun, that brings Seed-time and harvest, has returned again, 'Tis sweet to visit the still wood, where springs The first flower of the plain. I love the season well. When forest glades are teeming with bright forms. Xor dark and many-folded clouds foretell fore-tell The coming-on of storms. From the earth's loosened mould The sapling draws its sustenance and thrives; Though stricken to the heart with winter's win-ter's cold. The drooping tree revives. The softly warbled song Comes from the pleasant woods, and colored wings Glance quick in the . bright sun, that moves along The forest openings. When. the bright sunset fills The silver woods with light, the green slope throws Its shadow- in the hollows of the hills, And wide the upland glows. And when the eve is born, In the blue lake the sky, o'er-rcaching far, Is hollowed out, and the moon dips her horn. And twinkles many a star. Inverted in the tide Stand the gray rocks, and trembling shadows throw, And the fair trees look over, side by side, And see themselves below. Sweet April! many a thought Is wedded unto thee, as hearts are wed Nor shall they fail, till, to its autumn brought. Life's golden fruit is shed. Longfellow. Sbe Always Made Home Happy, A plain marble stone. In a New England Eng-land church. yard, bears this brief inscription: in-scription: "She always made - hom- happy.'; This epitaph was penned by a bereaved be-reaved husband, after sixty years of wedded life. He .might have sa'id of his departed wife tl.at she was . beautiful ; and accomplished, and an ornament to society, and yet not said she made home happy. He might have added, she was a Christian, and not have been able to say, "She always made home happy. ' What a rare combination of virtues and graces this wife and mother must have possessed. How wisely she must have ordered her house! In what patience pa-tience she must have possessed er soul! How self-denying she must have been. How tender and loving! How-thoughtful How-thoughtful for the comfort of all about her! Her husband did not seek happiness in public places, because he found purer and sweeter enjoyment at home. Her children, when away, did not dread to return, for there was no place to them so dear as home. There was their mother thinking of them, and praying for them, longing for their coming. When tempted, they thought of her. When in trouble, they remembered her kind voice and her ready sympathy. When sick, they must go home; they could not die away from their dear mother. ' This wife and mother was not exempt from the cares common to her place. She toiled: she suffered disappointments disappoint-ments and bereavements; she was afflicted in her own person, but yet she was submissive and cheerful. The Lord's will concerning her was her -v Aland Al-and so she passed away, living this sweet remembrance behind her: "She always made home happy." A Hint to Mothers. "If a child has swallowed anything that will not digest," said a noted physician, phy-sician, 'particularly if it is sharp, let him eat immediately two or three pieces of dry bread. This is very apt to surround sur-round the object swallowed with a sort of coating. In addition let the food for several days be more solid than usual and under no circumstances give purgative purga-tive medicine. The chances are that the child will feel no trouble from the carelessness." |