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Show GARDEN. FARIT AND INTEREST AGRICULTURISTS. MATTERS Son tlmtlon Cp-to-D- at OF Hint A boot TO Cal and Tlcld of tha Thereof Horticulture. Viticulture and Floriculture. Bolt The Beekeeper Interest. (From Farmers Review stenographic Institute of Illinois Farmers report Round-up.) In the course of an address on this subject, Hon. J. A. Stone, secretary of the Illinois Beekeepers' association, said: It matters not what pursuit in life we wish to enter, the first question that confronts us is, Will it pay? It Is an axiom that no business in this world will pay unless It is properly managed and that the time will finally come when it will prove unsuccessful financially. Take wheat growing, for example, which has not been profitable for a number of years in this state, and yet there are many farmers who have paid for their farms out of a crop of wheat One of the great faults among farmers is to all raise the same thing and get overcrowded. The Interests of the beekeepers are not so for the reason that the wild flowers are disappearing, and there Is not the bee pasturage to feed upon that there used to be. Then again, many are afraid of bees. If a person is not brave enough to stand an occasional sting, it would be better for him never to engage in bee culture. With many barriers in the way, the interests of the beekeeper are overlooked to the loss of everybody. The first objection, that the wild flowers are disappearing, can easily be overcome. No sane man ever thinks of keeping any kind of animals without in some way providing food for those animals, but when it comes to bees, because they have wings their owners will say: If you cannot sponge on my neighbors fields, you can starve." Will it pay to raise some kind of pasture for them? We know it will pay largely. Not long since off of a piece of alsike clover we obtained only fifty pounds of honey per acre, and only 10 cents per pound for the honey. That would pay for the land at $5 an acre and the hay and seed could be marketed in addition. While in charge of the Illinois honey exhibit at the Worlds Fair, we were one day conversing with a dairyman who said that his cows, on alsike clover, produced more butter than his neighbors cows. We quizzed him and said: Perhaps you have better cows. lie said in reply: They are the same cows I have had on other pasture and they did not produce as well then. I said: Are you a beekeeper? He said: No; but my neighbors bees swarm on my pasture. The beginner In the bee business should get some good book on beekeeping, such as the "A. B. C. in Bee Culture, and should take a good bee paper. Then, with a small number of hives (there are a number of good kinds) with Italian bees in them, in a few years you will have all the bees you desire, and the knowledge necessary to care for them. We claim for the bee Industry what can be said of no other. It does not take from any other thing that which would make it more valuable by retaining the same, but on the contrary adds to the value. For example, when bees go into the orchard In full bloom, to gather what nature has placed there, they carry the fertilizing dust from blossom to causing fruit to grow where there would have been none without some agent to carry the pollen, aa nature seems to abhor and all the busy bee carries off as a reward for his valuable services is not needed and is of no use to either fruit or tree, and was placed there for him to carry away. It would be well to say in this connection that we do not look for seed in the first crop of red clover, but we have observed since having Italian bees that in seasons that are dry and the blossoms not so large, Italian bees work on them sufficiently to cause a quantity of seed in the first crop. Alsike clover produces its big crop of seed the first crop because bees work so heavily upon It. Can this be said of any other industry, that, by taking a part of the things we have named, the remainder is made greater? A beekeeper friend living in the northern part of our county said to me during a walk through his alsike clover fields. "I will get three crops from those fields; I will get a crop of honey, a crop of hay and a crop of seed. Beekeeping will enable us to save what is otherwise going to waste, and with no loss except the time for their care. Dr. Vant says, Honey Is a physiological sweet In other words, its constituents are such it is absorbed into the blood without undergoing chemical change. Such is not the fact in regard to sugar. Honey is an inverted sugar, and is rapidly absorbed into the system without being acted upon by the gastric juices. It Is not only a delicious sweet, but a healthy and delicious form of food as well. It Is also recommended by those who have used it as a nourishing drink, diluted with wat r in the blos-ao- proportions of two to five iter eent IN YEAR. Honey improves the appetite, (ones ihs system, and has proven to be of gTeat value in many diseases, prod icing a ATTIE, what are contraction of the muscles ol the diyou doing? Dreamgestive organs, and as an aid lo digesing, I declare! Did tion it is wonderful in building up lost you know, child, you have just fifpower. It is a great remedy lor conto teen minutes sumption. In view of all the facts dress in before the stated, is it wise or economical to let dinner-bel- l rings? the interests of the beekeepers of the She had donned state lag in the rear of other things her prettiest cos-"- li not half so beneficial to mankind? Our tume and brightest beekeepers interests should be represmiles in honor of In sented the state experiment station, new the arrival, Guy Edgerton. for which we have pleaded so far withHow my beautiful sister would have out avail, and wTe ought to have our known that pure food law in the state enforced, as wondered could she have the hero of was new same arrival this we hope to have it. my dreams. I will tell you how he came a to perform so important a part Vineyard. Pruning E. G. Lodeman in Department of Agri- in them. We at home home always made it a culture Report: Fruning a vineyard, as practiced in the east, may be divid- practice to celebrate the birthdays with ed into two distinct processes, block- a fete. Five years ago, when it lacked ing and stripping." Blocking con- but two weeks of my sisters eightsists of pruning a vine as nearly as eenth birthday, my mother died. We mourned her loss deeply; but possible without the removal of any of the brush. It requires long experience Kate, for her oaths sake, given in the to do the work rapidly and well. The shape of enameled invitation cards, pruner estimates the probable capacity would not give up her usual party.dont I pleaded, please Oh, Kate, of the vine, compares the values of the canes which may serve as bearing have it! You dont know what you are saywood the next season, removes those which are least desirable,, and shortens ing, child. I can not change my plans and to their proper length those which are after the invitations are issued, Ls best. father thinks it to remain. And so it ended. The party came off. con. name as its suggests, Stripping, I protesting I would not appear in the sists of forcibly tearing oft the trellis drawing-room; and I did not. But, sitthe several parts of the vines. These on the balcony, watched the alone are thrown between the rows, to be ting flit to and fro in the brilliant forms removed either by wagon or by drag- drawing-rooging through the vineyard a pole 18 I was crying bitterly, when a firm to 25 feet in length, by means of a sounded beside me, and, looking step chain attached to it at a point about up, I met the gaze of Guy Edgerton, six feet from one end. By this latter my sister Katies ardent admirer. contrivance nearly every cane is caught Why do you not join the company, up. Although these two terms apply Miss Howard? particularly to the methods commonly He bent forward and looked in my practiced in eastern vineyards, they face. What, in tears, little one! At also stand for similar processes where this I cried harder than ever. a vineyard trained upon the horizontal Wont you tell me what grieves arm system is under treatment. But you? with this system the blocking of the At this I told him all. How it seemvines is a comparatively easy matter. ed to me sacrilegious so to treat my Assuming that the vines thus far con- mothers memory. sidered in detail have passed their third He said nothing, only smoothed my season of growth and are in readiness hair tenderly until I ceased weeping. for their next pruning, the work is As I looked up he said: done as follows: The canes which Little Mattie, I am going away tohave been matured from the buds upon morrow going to Europe. Will you the arms of the vine must be spurred kiss me ? back to about too buds each. This I was only 15, so I raised my head doubles the number of buds upon the and kissed him. Thank you, little one; and when I plant as compared with the preceding year, and consequently doubles the come hack will you give me a kiss of yield for the fourth year. In case the welcome? I have no mother, no sister, arms from adjoining plants do not ex- Mattie. No one to welcome me back. tend to each other, the cane formed Will you? from the last bud upon the arms must Yes, sir, I sobbed. He said Thank you again, and then be bent dow'n to the lower wire and tied, so as to extend the arm to the left me. desired length. The framework of the For five years I had heard nothing vine is then complete, and after strip- from him, and now he had returned. This is what I had been dreaming ping the vineyard is ready for its about this pleasant morning. of the season. fourth growth The dinner hell roused me from my The pruning for the fifth season is pretpractically the same as for the fourth. reverie, and hastily donning my There are, however, two canes to be tiest blue muslin, I sought the diningshortened where last year there was room. As I entered my father presented me but one. The buds may be reduced to Mr. Edgerton. to the same number as before by cutting My little daughter, Mattie. one cane away entirely and reducing I think we are already acquainted, the other to two buds, or the number and then passed on. he said, may be increased by leaving both two weeks every girl at the For canes. In this way the number of buds may be controlled at will. After the capacity of the vineyard has been determined the pruning becomes a less difficult operation. The canes are each year cut back to the same number of buds, as already described. But the continually lengthening branches soon become unsightly, and they must be renewed by young shoots from their bases. Occasionally the branches are allowed to become much longer and much more irregular. On this account the system has not become very popular, although, theoretically, it is one the beet. THE FIFTH good-bye- far as possishould be avoided. It ble is true that all of the pure breeds have been developed by the process of but it should be made as wide a3 possible. for a few generations is bad enough, but if continued for many generations disaster must result. That Is, the breeds were originally produced by but now that each breed has become widely disseminated there is no reason why breeding should continue within a family. Purchase every year a cockerel or make a swap with som neighbor. Avoid So Coarse Manure on Potato Ground. If coarse manure is spread on the potato ground just before plowing It will do hurt. It will remain dry under the furrow until midsummer. When it does ferment it will breed fungus, and the tubers will rot. If rotted and spread in the winter, the fertility will be incorporated In the soil, there will he a vigorous growth and no excessive heating Ex. Good Top to Pasture. A good top to the pasture in the summer protects the plant roots from the hot sun, and in the winter prevents injury from thaw-in- z and freezing, especially in that class of soils which has a tendency to spew up. While some pasturing is of benefit to the giowth, damage is oLen done for which the feed obtained will not compensate. Ex. Will you promise not to doubt my word? Oh, certainly. Then, Miss Layton, I have kissed no lady for the space of five years. Oh, Guy is probably faithful to some fair lady who favored him then, suggested Ned Archer. Exactly so, Ned, and he passed to meet his valet, who came with letters. My cheeks were burning, and I arose and fled to my room. Here Kate burst in upon me. Her you are, she said, merrily, I have been out hunting for you. We have made up a party to ride out to the Shaker settlement and take dinner and return by moonlight. Wont it be fun, and dont you want to go? No, I guess I had rather stay at home and have a quiet day of it. What a little old maid you are! Well, you neednt go unless you want to! and she was off. I watched them drive away. Then I took my sewing and ensconed myself in a baby window in the quiet, cool parlor. Scarcely had I seated myself when some one entered the room, repeating those lines of Leigh Hunts little ballad: Say Im weary say Im sad. Say that health and wealth have missed me; Say Im growing old, but add Jennie kissed me! My heart gave a great bound, for 1 recognized Guy Edgertons voice. Not knowing I was there, he came to the very window where I was sitting. He drew back the curtain and looked in upon me. Why, Mattie, you here! I thought you were out with the riding party. How cozy you look here. May I sit down beside you? Yes, sir, I answered frankly. His dark eyes searched my face for a moment, then he said: I am going away tomorrow, little one; will you redeem your promise before I go? I have carried the kiss you gave me last through all my travels, darling, and have brought it back to you pure as you gave it. Will you kiss me and be my wife? I kissed him. Boston Herald. THIEF IN THE FOUR HUNDRED. New York Society Startled by the Presence of a Woman Culprit. New Yorks four hundred is greatly disturbed by the presence of a thief an unknown woman thief within its inner circles. During the past winter thefts have occurred at select functions in widely separated points along Fifth avenue and the adjacent fashionable side thoroughfares, where it would have been impossible for an ordinary thief to get his nose inside the basement door. Costly wraps have been claimed by some particular guest and worn away as her own. Valuable sealskin coats have been appropriated by this guest, and their rightful owners have never seen them agaiij. In one or two instances costly sealskin wraps have been taken from the cloak room at private dances, and comparatively poor garments left in Several society women their places. have leagued themselves together for the detection of the unknown, but so far they have not succeeded in catching her. In fact, a theft of the kind was committed week before last under the very noses of the matrons who had determined upon the capture of the culprit. No clew has been found to the identity of the aristocratic culprit save a handkerchief marked F in one corner. It was in the pocket of a cheap fur cape which was left in the place of an elegant sealskin garment worth $1,200. There Is Nothing New. Apparently we have not learned so much during the last few thousand years or so a3 we fancy we have. Prof. W. M. Flinders-Petrithe eminent Egyptologist, has been telling an interviewer of various odds and ends that he has unearthed from time to time in the buried cities of Egypt, where men and women lived and loved, and scheme and fought nearly four thousand years before the Christian era. Among these items were rag dollies, no doubt hugged and rocked to sleep by little Cleopatras every whit as affectionately as the waxen babies made in Germany are today fondled by our small Dorothys and Phyllises. There were draught-boardtoo, and fishing and rods, babies rattles, whip-top- s and many a domestic article that we have nowadays in use. What is more, he and his learned companions were able to discover from the skeletons of men and women who had lain for considerably more than four thousand years asleep within the tomb, that we moderns cannot even lay claim to a monopoly of such diseases as rheumatism and spinal curvature, and rickets. The we now know, is nothing new; next we shall hear that the motor car provoked the charioters to mirth, as an ancient comic papyrus of tno period shows, when Seneferu, first king of the fourth dynasty, was on the Jirone considerably before Joseph was f'Hd intc bondage. e, house, save myself, tried their fascinations upon him, but to no avail. What a pity! sighed Flo Archer, that his uptown mansion and huge bank stock have no mistress. The But her sighs were in vain. last morning of Mr. Edgertons stay the subject of conversation turned upon kissing. Mr. Edgerton, sitting by, did not join in the conversation. Pretty Flo Archer saucily demanded Mr. opinion. Now, really, Mr. Edgerton, dont you like to attend forfeit parties? fco, Miss Archer, I do not, I think a kiss obtained by compulsion no kiss at all. Fie! We shall get up a party on purpose to test you. We believe you would assist. I certainly should not. Why, Mr. Edgerton! You shall do penance for that speech. You are to tell what lady you kissed !ast. That would not do, as the lady is present, and would be the sufferer, ns rather than myself. Well, then, you may tell how long it is since you kissed her. s, tip-eat- s, NORTHWEST NOTES. Montana will furnish 419 men for service in the Cuban war. Bands of starving Caiornia sheep are now feeding on Nevadas ranges. A regiment of veterans will be at Butte in case of war with Spain. A successful attempt at tobacco raising has been made by a ranchman living near Cheyenne. Joseph Jones the well know farmer of Nevada who died at Genoa, left property valued at $40,000. Two hundred and fifty thousand sheep will be shorn in the neighborhood of Douglass this season. The streams all over western Montana have been rising rapidly, and the railway people are watching for trouble. Henry J. Burleigh, the Dillon lawyer, who disappeared so mysteriously some weeks ago, has been heard from at Portland. An offer to purchase $10,000 worth of Reno water bonds for $9,000 for the entire amount, was rejected by the city council. A reward of $25 is offered for the recovery of the body of Fred Mather of Carson, who was drowned in Washoe lake on the 4th. Agent Nickerson of the Shoshone agency will have the Wind river canal put in shape to furnish water for the Indians, who will perform the work. Considerable excitement prevails in Rock Springs owing to the fact that three men have been arrested charged with stealing cattle belonging to poor people about town. The negro who gave the Denver police so much concern a few months ago by his attacks upon unprotected women, reappeared one night recently and sandbagged two women on Nob hill. R. J. Conway who lives near Elko, Nevada, while applying alcohol to a rheumatic limb, got too near the stove and the alcohol ignited, severely burning his hands and setting fire to the house. Mrs. Lizzie Ward of Vancouver, en route to Des Moines, la., became deranged while on the train, and was suffering irom extreme nervous prostration when taken off at Cheyenne. She is in a critical condition C. W. Thebo, formerly of Kalispell, but who now registers from Dawson City, left Butte last week on his way back to the gold regions. Mr. Thebo has just completed the purchase of 1600 head of cattle and will drive them over the Dalton trail. He will begin loading in a few days at Anaconda. The second annual Decoration day celebration upon the Custer battlefield will be an interstate affair, Wyoming, Montana and the Crow agency participating. Col. W. F. Saunders of Helena, Mont., will deliver the memorial address. One of the notable features will be the presence of 100 Crow and Cheyenne Indians in a war dance. Charles E. Blydenburgh, county attorney; H. Rasmussen, treasurer and John Irons, county commissioner of Carbon county. Wyoming, have begun suit against the county commissioners to compel them to pay the amount of their salaries during the time the Republicans were holding the same These were contest cases growing out of the fact that Finns who could not read the constitution were permitted to vote, afterwards declared unconstitutional by the supreme court. Mr. Blydeuburgh sues for $1,200, Rasmussen for $1,625, and Irons for $200. William Hines, stock agent for the Fremont, .Elkhorn & Missouri Valley railroad, has returned from a trip through the Big Horn basin, in Wyoming and reports in the Derrick that he never saw cattle and sheep looking better at this time of the year. The Big Horn basin country is blooming. The new town of Thermopolis has 350 people and many substantial buildings. Four large stone store buildings are being erected. The town is quite and orderly and well governed. A large number of visitors will spend the summer at the hot springs. Fully 150,000 sheep will be ranged in the basin this year. The citizens bridge committee of Laramie, Wyo., has accepted the bridge over the North Platte river, on the new stage road from Laramie to the Grand Encampment mines. The bridge is a fine structure, being composed of wood and stone. John Moore of Whitehall had his neck broken by falling from the Parrot smelter smokestack at Parrot, Montana. The stack had been struck by lightening and Moore went up to repair the damage and was over come by dizziness. |