THE NEWS.
FAY L. CROSSRTT, Publisher.
DAVIS, :::::: I. T.
The Nebraska State Game Warden
has forbidden the farmers to fight the
grasshoppers longer with poison, say-
ing that the loss of birds and game is
too costly a price to pay for the de-
struction of comparatively few insects.
A famous entomologist says that not
one mosquito in four hundred ever
tastes human blood. To know how to
avoid making the acquaintance of that
one is the important thing, and on
that problem the scientists seem to be
making good progress.
By the will of the late Jacob H.
Rogers, the locomotive builder, the
bulk of his fortune, possibly eight mil-
lion dollars, is left to the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York, as an en-
dowment fund, the income to be used
for the purchase of objects of art. This
will place the- museum on a splendid
footing.
Commander-in-Chief Frederick St.
George de la Tour Booth Tucker of the
Salvation army, is now a citizen of the
United States. The commander has
secured his final naturalization papers,
having been in the United States the
required five years. He will vote at
the coming election but will not say
what ticket he will indorse.
A railroad company that operates
coal mines in Pennsylvania recently
prevented its striking miners from in-
terfering with non-union workmen,
who were employed in pumping water
out of mines, by building a barbed
wire fence seven feet high about the
pump house and dynamo plant and
then charged it heavily with electric-
ity.
Youthful aspirants who plan to
make a living by writing poetry ought
to note the fact that the livelihood of
the English poet, Austin Dobson, was
earned as principal of the fisheries and
harbor department of the Board of
Trade. He has just resigned after
nearly half a century of service. A
few men only can earn fame as poets.
Fewer still are they who can trust to
the productions of their muse to pay
the butcher's bill.
As soon as the weather will permit
and proper locations can be selected,
there will be pitched near Boston the
first of a number of camps for con-
sumptives. This camp (and each suc-
ceeding camp will be like it) will con-
sist of ten piano-box tents, arranged
in a circle, with an open-air fire in the
center, and surrounded by a duck wall
eight feet high. Each of these tents
will be a consumptive's home; a con-
sumptive will sleep there, even
through the coldest weather, with no
other protection than plenty of felt
blankets, felt sleeping boots, and a
two-inch gallon jug of hot water.
As a result of a tangle in the steer-
ing gear of his automobile, Arthur
Fasker of Philadelphia met with a pe-
culiar accident. He started to take a
spin down to Baltimore recently, but
turned aside from the high road when
a few miles out from the city. He was
coursing at a speed of eleven miles
when suddenly, without apparent
cause, the machine spurted and veered
to one side. It was going at the rate
of seventy-five miles an hour when it
jumped a fence and struck a tree. For-
tunately, instead of being an upright
tree, it was leaning, and instead of be-
ing crushed by the Impact the ma-
chine slid up the tree and lodged in
the branches, forty-five feet from the
ground. Mr. Fasker was unhurt. He
climbed out of the seat and slid down
the tree and walked to a farm house,
where he hired a farmer 10 bring hira
to town.
According to the Medical Record, a
gang of swindlers has been playing a
despicable trick on numerous pharma-
cists in Brooklyn. A man goes to a
drug store with a simple prescription,
has it made up. and takes the mix-
ture away with him. In an hour or
two, or the following day, the pur-
chaser returns with the medicine,
which he says he gave to his wife or
child, as the case may be, and that the
patient was nearly killed by poison
which was there through the blunder
of the compounder. He says his phy-
sician has analyzed the mixture and
demonstrated the presence of poison,
and he allows the druggist to test it
then and there. The poison is, of
course, found, as the swindler has
added it himself, and he thereupon an-
nounces his determination to sue the
druggist for damages to atone for the
results of his aiieged blunder. If the
pharmacist becomes frightened at the
idea of a suit for damages, and thinks
it may be possible that a mistake has
been made, he may accept the sugges-
tion of the blackmailer to settle the
case out of court. The amount of set-
tlement is said to vary from $50 to
$200.
Miss Mattle Helen Beals, the young
woman of Wichita, Kan., who drew
a farm near Lawton, Oklahoma, in the
recent land lottery at El Reno, was
marshal of the new town of Lawton
for one day, and she says that was
enough. She says: "I am mighty
glad to get out of Lawton. Such
shooting, drinking, robbing and kill-
ing you never saw. It makes me shud-
der. I don't think there are a dozen
women on the town site. But those
there are well treated." She thinks
she will get $35,000 for her farm,
which is to be cut up into town lots.
Since the negotiations between the
steel workers and the United States
Steel corporation have been broken off
additional precautions have been tak-
en to protect J. P. Morgan, the head
of the great concern. Several police-
men now guard the entrance to his of-
fice constantly and every person who
enters is closely scrutinized. One of
the officers acts as a personal body-
guard. He reports at the office before
Morgan's arrival, accompanies him to
lunch and everywhere else that he
happens to go, and then seeb him safe-
ly off for home at night.
. VHB
siU/WV
A silvery title, called "Sunny Side,"
Goes creeping round the earth.
And never a place but wins a grace
In the Jubilant flood of mirth.
From the dancing £leam on the fretted
atri am
To the dimple on baby's cheek
That, In and out. to his merry shout,
Twinkles a hide and seek,
Wherever It goes, the darkness glows
And men and women sing:
It fills their eyes with a glad surprise
And stays their sorrowing;
The heart Is a tune, the world is June,
Nothing Is old or gray.
As It passes along with the swell of a
song
Like a musical break of day.
O Spirit of Love, in the blue above,
Who makest the sun to ttaine,
Who Ruidest the flight of the planet
brlKht,
And tallest the stars by name.
It is thou dost hide In the "Sunny Side,"
And creepest from heart to heart,
And. soul or clod, we share the God
Who comes, and shadows part.
The Traumerei.
BY C. JOYCE.
(Copyright. 1901, by Dally Story Pub. Co.)
Dear Jack—Tomorrow is the begin-
ning of the world! The banners are
planted, the flags are flying, the drums
are waiting. Oh! Jack, do you know
it out there—do you know it, or have
you forgotten? I am to be married to-
morrow—in all the war paint and
feathers I can hold. (Tom's dream is
to see me a convulsion of sunbursts.)
Tnese few brief moments are my own—
the very last perhaps that shall ever
be my own, absolutely, to do with as
I please.
I am here in ray old sky parlor on
an air line with the moon, my walls
stripped bare of campaign trophies, the
landmarks all destroyed. Out of the
shoal of treasure I have saved only
the old red slippers, my "Seven League
Boots" (I quailed at them)—lo! they
are on my feet this instant. Isn't it
wonderful I can keep from flying across
the world to you?
The play time is over, Jack. I am
a woman now, with all the deeps and
all the shallows of a woman's soul.
My wedding gown and veil aru
stretched in state across my couch (I
shall look like a pound cake), and I've
kissed myself good-bye a dozen times.
It is the impossible come true!
The world is very beautiful—in spots
—I know that well. I love it all—the
strong, swift wind, the smell of the wet
brown earth—but tonight, tonight of all
nights, a street piano stopped beneath
my window and played—the Trau-
merei!
Think of it, Jack—the Traumerei!
With a gust it swept the past wide
open (What a little heap the wedding
bells and orange flowers made.) Dear
Mr. Far-Away, how long ago we are!
Oh! I can laugh as much as you at
that vanished night—the night I
thought the whole world hushed to
hear you say you loved me—I can
laugh at the two mad mortals who
thought God had the time to solve the
problems of their hearts, and when
their eyes were shut cried out all men
were blind.
The stillness and the darkness were
fragrant with the breath of coming
rain—have you forgotten how I shiv-
ered in the shadows? You stretched
your arm to draw me to you. but for
some vague reason I moved away. Even
yet I can see the dear wonder in your
eyes—and then, without a word, you
took your violin and played—the Trau-
merei.
That first sweet letter is beside me
now.
"Oh! Dear, Dear, Dear," you wrote,
"a bird with a golden throat is in my
heart today. How can my pen find
words to say when crotchets and qua-
vers come drip—drip—dripping from
it? But listen hard; perhaps one lit-
tle note of its pure melody will reach
you. I love you—love you—love you!
|£VW>
"Think of It.Jart;—the Traumerei "
This is the burden of it, in every ma-
jor and every minor key that ever was
or ever could be written. Twelve long
hours since I have seen you, Dearest-
twelve more must crawl across the face
of Time ere I can touch your hand. I
wonder if you know how much this
means to me? How heignt and depth
are filled by you. Tonight a star—h
great white star—came out and climbed
across the west. I watched it going
past the hills and down the slopes of
Heaven until I lost it. 'Take her my
true, true love,' I whispered, and when
a sudden breeze came floating sweetly
by I thought it brought a message from
you. How fanciful my heart has
grown, beloved. I only wish It had al-
ways been as stainless as it is this mo-
ment. Good-night—good-bye. Oh!
love me, Dear, although I am to little
What a pair of precious fool* we
were, Jack.
Life is a big round apple—but
took our bite too soon.
Communing with the saints has made
m* clear of sight.
On the whole, I think It has added to
my flavor.
I never lose my gloves and my shoe
strings are always tied now—though i
wonder how you'd view my enthusiasm
for Welsh rarebit and beer. That ri-
diculous piano man went up the street
four hours ago, yet here I sit at the
edge of dawn waving farewell to you.
Change is the inexorable law of na-
ture. We must go forward or back-
ward; there is no standing still.
After all, I am satisfied with you as
you arc, though I shall never find you
again, any more than I shall find those
sweet spring mists when the whole
EOR WOMEN AND HOME
"He has no imagination."
world ended at the mountain top and
you and I had no one but each other.
Oh! Jack, I hear your "Strad" la up
for sale. For Sale—with all that sum-
mer's melodies asleep upon its strings'
Don't laugh. Fate is a scurvy god-
dess, but I am not vanquished.
My head tomorrow shall wear the
glory of the Aurora Borealis—and my
feet are capable of doing rag-time up
the aisle.
Tom has no soul for music—he Is
forty, fat and bald—the Traumerei
only gives him a hollow in the stom-
ach. He has no imagination, Tom, but
a town house, a country seat, and two
pairs of cobs.
On the whole, I think I can face to-
morrow calmly. (The envy of my
bridesmaids spurs me on.)
What if I beat against the bars?
That one mad flight into the air only
tired me—the width of the sky fright-
ened me.
The world Is such a pigmy world to
conquer—and yet—and yet—God help
me—the Traumerei! NELL.
LOG OF TRANSPORT THOMAS.
Vessel with Cargo of School Teachers
for the Philippines.
Wednesday—There are 600 teachers
aboard, 160 of them women. Some
are mere girls—others are merely girl-
ish. All are bound for the Philip-
pines. Many of them, no doubt, would
be glad to touch at the port of matri-
mony on the way.
Thursday—Thers is spooning going
on everywhere, all over the boat. All
the handsomest men are in great de-
mand. One fine-looking fellow from
Cleveland, in order to escape from at-
tentions of six Boston spinsters, spends
most of his time in the foretop. It
isn't at all comfortable up there, but
he says he prefers it.
Friday — First engagement an-
nounced. He is just out of college
and 23. She is a Portland school-
ma'am and 37. The example seems to
be contagious; three more engage-
ments were announced by noon.
Saturday—Captain says he can't
work his ship unless the spooners get
out of the way. The captain is not a
sentimental person. All the sailors
go round with broad grins on their
faces. It is supposed to come from
hearing so much lovey-dovey talk.
The bos'n is the only one of them that
keeps a sour face. It is said he has
been married four times. The engage-
ment roll now numbers eleven.
Sunday—This was a day of rest for
everybody except the spooners. The
steward says he doesn't care how much
love-making they do on board. It's a
great saving for him. he says. Those
who are the deepest in love don't care
to eat. Nineteen engagements to date.
Monday—The captain says there's
no use talking, the serenading busi-
ness has got to stop. The sailors
can't hear the orders because of the
love songs. There's a Chicago school-
ma'am with a mandolin, who makes
life miserable for everybody. She
sings the saddest love songs every
night until 12 o'clock. The captain
says he'll either put her in irons or
feed her to the sharks. Thirty-four en-
gagements up to 6 o'clock.
Tuesday—Thirty couples petitioned
the captain to-day to permit them to
be married on board. He said he'd be
jammed if he would. He was ordered
to carry over to the Philippines a lot
of salaried school teachers, and he
meant to do his duty. He wasn't run-
ning any floating tootsie-wootsie shop,
and he wanted them to know it. The
kind of knots he was interested in
were the kind that a ship is oxpected
to encourage. He said a lot more
about most of them being old enough
to know better—and the Massachusetts
girls didn't like it one bit. The thirty
couplep have agreed to get married as
ooon as they reach Honolulu, but the
others have reluctantly conchided to
wait until they get to Manila.—Cleve-
land Plain Dealer.
ITEMS OF INTEREST FOR MAil><*
AND MATRONS.
The Wife's Allowance—How Home
Get Through College—UeultH
Hcauty—Some Notes of the Moilcs for
Our Fair Headers.
THE WIFE'S ALLOWANCE.
Experience and observation have led
me to believe that a wife is not apt
to be happy or contented without an
allowance. She will rarely use «lt for
any purpose save that which will bene-
fit herself and her family. Frequent-
ly she will use the most of it for the
good of those whom she loves.
It does not seem fair or just to place
a wife in a position where she is com-
pelled to ask her husband for every
cent she needs. For, if the husband is
the bread-winner, is she not the bread-
saver.
No good wife is unreasonable about
money matters. She will often deny
herself comforts and necessaries in
order to assist her husband in his
career. More than one wife's allow-
ance, hoarded for some cherished pur-
pose, has been sacrificed to tide her
husband over a financial crisis.
Few wives hold the same opinion as
their husbands in all things. One may,
some time, wish to use money for
some good and legitimate purpose,
with which the husband would have no
sympathy. And the wife having no
allowance, he may refuse money for
that purpose. Yet he would hardly
stop to ask his wife's opinion in using
money for any purpose which he might
approve.
Most wives are true helpmates, and
husbands ought to be Just and gener-
ous enough to share the income with
them, no matter how small.
I hope the time will come when
parents will insist that the "wife's al-
lowance" be properly adjusted before
the daughter's marriage, and thus in-
sure the comfort and happiness of
their child, in regard to money mat-
ters. ELIZABETH T. REED.
HOW SOME GIRLS GET THHOUGII
COLLEOE.
A professor in one of the largest
educational colleges in the middle
West, in talking of the conditions un-
der which girls work their way
through college, declares that a girl
of ordinary ability can and often does
earn her way although a considerable
draft is made upon energy, business
tact, good health and common sense.
K !arge proportion of the girls ol
i that college are wholly or partly setf-
; * importing, but most of them receive
■ 'Olns hrlp from home. These girls
'nualiy begin college with a small sura
I (h money, although some start without
xny or but little ahead. But in or
binary cases a girl who has the qua*
Ities requisite for successful self-sup-
port at college can earn or save $100,
$200 or $300 before she comes.
as to methods, domestic work in
some form is the only sure way. Some
go into families and work for Loard.
Others board themselves and work by
the hour at sewing, ironing, caring for
rooms, etc. A good compromise is to
take a room at the college home fitted
for self-boarding and then find a place
to wash dishes to pay for dinners.
The time is less broken than when in
a family. In the long vacation girls
can sew, work in kitchens, wait on
table at summer hotels or canvass for
books, pictures, etc. Of course a girl
who can furnish any kind of skilled
labor has a great advantage.
If a girl succeeds in getting through
her freshmen year in this way, she
generally gets through the whole course
unless through failure of health or
family trouble. It is a misfortune for
a girl to involve herself in heavy in-
debtedness. It should not be recom-
mended.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY.
This is the very best time of the
year for massage and beauty treat-
ments. All this curl-wilting heat and
humidity may seem destructive to any
appearance of neatness and trlmness,
but they soften the skin say the
beauty doctors, and make it more
amenable to reason, more responsive
to treatment.
Space is annihilated by the makers
of aids to beauty. Powder boxes no
bigger than a thimble can be bought,
and each one contains powder, a puff
and a mirror. Rouge boxes of the
same dimensions come also, but It is
sad to reflect that most women who
rouge think the lilliputian rose-jar of
very small use.
The woman who would fill all hol-
lows and round all angles with heal-
thy adipose tissue must resolutely re-
fuse to harbor worry. Even if there
are things to worry about, everybody
knows that fretting does not remedy
or soften them, and It emphatically
does cause wrinkles and loss of flesh.
It may seem difficult to avoid it, but
a determination to do so, steadily kept
in mind, will conquer in the end.
FARM ANL< tfAiLDEN.
SUITABBLE GOWNING FOR ALL PALL RECEPTIONS.
FOR SCHOOL CHILDREN.
It seems entirely too early to even
think of fall, but it is coming on swift
Personal Appearance of Scott.
Walter Scott had, in childhood, light
brown hair, which grew darker as he
advanced in years. A fever in baby-
hood fastened upon him a lameness
from which he never fully recovered.
He had a high, almost conical fore-
head, and light blue, speaking eyes,
which now, softened in love and ten-
derness, now filled with humor and
sunshine, and now flashed in passion
and power, deep set in eyebrows, so
bushy that his friends humorously
called them a "pent house."—Journal
of Education.
It's not all the fault of the street
commissioners that the city doesn't
mend Its ways.
GIRLS' BIX)USE DRESSES.
feet and naturally thought must turn
to warmer frocks and jackets for the
cool mornings of school, although the
ginghams and percales will answer for
many weeks yet with a lightweight
Jacket for the cool mornings. So far
as one can look ahead the box coat
promises to be worn by o!d, young and
middle-aged, r.a well as children.
troubled with the deposit of flesh about
the neck and chin. This can be pre-
vented, or at least decreased, by ex-
ercise with the head, especially with
the backward motion, which stretches
the neck muscles. After repeating
these a number of times, tin motions
from side to side can be used, and also
the roation of the head. These muscles
are seldom put into action by women,
so that they become flaccid and the
fat is deposited in them. A small
amount of exercise dally regularly per-
sisted in will accomplish much more
than one would believe. If unable to
take as much general exercise as Is
necessary to keep In good bodily con-
dition have massage twice a week, if
not more. It would be better to deny
I one's self some other things in order
! to have this great aid to the maln-
] tenance of health, not to mention
! looks.
MATTERS OF INTEREST TO AGRI-
CULTURISTS.
Some Up-to-Date Hints About Culti-
vation of tliu Soil and Yields
Thereof—Horticulture, Viticulture and
Floriculture.
Horticultural Obaervatlui s.
To what extent is it possible to
smother the roots of trees by layers of
earth over them? There are more an-
swers than one that will be given. Ihe
following from Vicks Magazine gives
one view of the subject: "It is a fact
not generally known that trees may
readily be killed by smothering the
roots—that is, by covering them so
deeply with soil or other material, that
the supply of air Is unduly cut off and
the tree dies. Such instances have fre-
quently come under the observation or
the writer in connection with land-
scape gardening improvements. He
recalls especially the case in a Western
New York town, where, on a certain
street, the front pari of the lots laid
so much higher than the streets that it
was desirable to cut the soil down be-
fore buildings were erected thereon.
Now '.lie rear of the same lots sloped
away so low that better shaped build-
ing shea could be created by filling in
earth in these parts. The conclusion
was easily reached that by moving
soil from front to rear in the lot the
surface would be about the right shape
and this plan was carried out. In the
back of these lots, however, there were
seme vigorous old orchard and other
trees, which were highly prized. The
ailing in of earth to improve the grade
called for a depth of as much as three
and four feet of soil over the roots of
these trees. In most cases the owners
before moving In the earth made boxes
of plank about four feet across around
the trees, to keep the soil away from
the trunks, thinking that this was all
the provision needed for their safety.
Now for the lesson: The result of that
filling in of earth was that after five
years, not one of the former healthy
trees was alive wherever the soil was
deeply filled in. The trees had been
smothered effectually. So far as the
final outcome was concerned, the box-
ing of the trunks to keep back the aoil
might as well not have bsen per-
formed."
• •
Now for a little on th«s other side of
the question. The writer of this para-
graph knows a good many instances
where dirt has been "filled in" over the
roots of treeB, in this case forest and
shade trees. In svery case the trees
have remained vigorous. Some of
these cases are ou railroad grounds
and some on school grounds. Near
the home of the writer the hickory
trees have been dying for the last five
years. On his own lot all the hick-
ories and most of the oaks have died
except where the earth has been filled
in over the roots and hickory whose
roots are buried .the deepest is the
healthiest of all. These latter trees
are not even boxed to keep the earth
from the trees. How much value there
may be to the boxing we do not know.
We have seen boxes put around large
oak trees whose roots must have ex-
tended 25 or more feet from the trees.
The active parts of the roots are near
the extremities and are the parts that
need the air. The boxes around the
trees admit tne air only to the trunks
and not the active areas of roots. It
is evident to any thinking person that
the air in the box would have to pass
through more earth to reach the roots
than from the surface to the ground.
There i  without doubt a possibility of
killing roots by burying them too deep,
put the smothering out is not by any
aieans as likely in one locality as in
another.
J. P. Brown, secretary of the Inter-
national Society of Arboriculture, pre-
dicts that "fifty years hence Kansas
and the states today planting trees will
be supplying California and the Pacific
coast states with timber." He says
further that with a continuation of the
present rate of timber cutting there
will soon be a great dearth of
forests west of the Rocky moun-
tains. He suggests government
ownership of these forests as the
only means of preserving them.
Tree planting is now going on quite
extensively in the states west of the
Mississippi river, but not so fast as it
would be done were the plantations
owned by the state. The individual
planters say that they cannot hope to
reap any returns and do not like to in-
vest too much of their own money In
posterity. The state is perpetual and
can afford to invest in forest planta-
tions even though they will not give
returns till the next generation. The
hard woods, the most valuable of all,
are not favorites for planting, taking,
as they do, such long periods of time
for development. This Is a question
in which the public is deeply inter-
ested; ft la a problem that the public
oniy can handle successfully and in
a scientific manner. It is not reason-
able for us to ask private citizens to
make sacrifices that the future public
may be benefited. The people of Eu-
rope long ago realized this truth, and
tlu<r governments have been carrying
©n the work of forest preservation and
propagation for generations.
PREVENTING ILBSII.
Women an  ' «-y grow oidsr are
Women's Hair.
Few women consider that they car-
ry some forty or fifty miles of hair on
their head. The fair-haired may tven
have to dress seventy miles of threads
of gold every morning.
The germ of the disease Is not fhei 
when the show opens. Great ca.~s Is
usually taken by the management to
clcan up after cach show, to disinfect
and whitewash. This being the case
the grounds may be considered healthy
and the exhibitor cannot say fairl/
that his swine contracted the disease
from germs existent in the pens. The
disease is invariably due to
contagion brought to each show
by some of the exhibits, and
we say without reserve that in most
cases these swine might have been
kept at home and so prevented an out-
break. It is very rare Indeed when in-
vestigation of the outbreak is made, to
find that no trace can be found of the
district from which the disease orig-
inally came and when found there are
usually sufficient facts to show that the
exhibitor whose swine brought In the
germs had some knowledge of the pos-
sibility of contagion, but thought it
too remote to give trouble. When an
exhibitor has such information there
is only one way for him to act, and
that is to forego the pleasure and
profit of showing for fear that he may
bring disease to his neighbors' hogs.
On general principles, If there is
known to be cholera present in a given
district no swine should be allowed to
come to the show from that district no
matter whether they have been exposed
or not. There is always a chance that
they may carry the disease. This is
the plain duty of the exhibitor, but he
should receive equal consideration up-
on the part of the management of the
fair or show. The pens provided for
the reception of his fine hogs should
be clean, dry, well ventilated and re-
cently disinfected and whitewashed.
He should see to it before he starts
that the management has so prepared
the pens for hi3 reception, and if each
breeder would take time to write to
the secretary of the show weeks aht.^c
just what he expects in this way toe
management would soon see the \.£-
cessity and advantage of having t,,.e
quarters for hogs in fine sanitary con-
dition at the opening of the show. Bv.t
this is not all. When the swine ar-
rives upon the fair grounds everything
should be done to prevent disease from
breaking out among them. Expert
veterinarians or a special veterinarian
retained for the purpose, should ex-
amine each lot of hogs before it is al-
lowed to enter the pens, and reject for
cause any animal or lot of animals
that are seen to be afflicted with any
disease that is likely to spread con-
tagion among the ether hogs. Each
exhibitor should file an affidavit that
cholera is non-existeut in his district
Each railroad company should provide
clean, disinfected, whitewashed cars
for the conveyance of swine to and
from the fair. Precautions should be
taken to keep the pens at the fair
grounds scrupulously clean, so that
bad odors may not arise to annoy the
visitors and at the same time out of
consideration for the health of the
swine exhibited. At many of the shows
the pens are not kept clean and dis-
infectants are not used or are so spar-
ingly distributed that they fall to de-
odorize and cannot possibly be de-
pended upon to kill germs of disease.
Each state agricultural association
should give some well known disin-
fecting firm the contract to keep the
pens sweet and healthy during the
show, and if this were done there
would be few reports of disease at the
fairs.
ilealtn W fthu* Stock.
Every year we hear complaints re-
garding disease contracted at the state
fairs, and there are some breeders of
excellent swine who stay at home with
their animals rather than run chances
of bringing disease back with them to
the farm. This should not be, and
there is no need of so much trouble
annually in this respect. In the first
place it behooves the intending ex-
hibitor to act fairly towards all con-
cerned. He know3 better than anyone
else whether there is cholera in his
district. He knows whether his swine
have been exposed or not—whether
there is the slightest chance that they
may take the disease to the fair and
so expose other swijie. He is well
aware of the fact that the germ may
exist for a time In the blood of the
hoga without showing the character-
istic symptoms to the fell disease.
Knowing all of these things then he
should not take his hogs to the fair.
Denend upon It that some one man
tekM tbn disease to the fair grounds.
Soil fnvestlgatlons.
The mysteries locked up in the soU
are only slowly being made plain.
Year by year, decade by decade, cen-
tury by century, the work goes on. In
all civilized lands are scientists ap-
plying themselves to the problems.
Chemists, botanists, biologists and ge-
ologists all find in this quarter room
enough for their labors. And the
farmer has need of all this kind of
help he can get. To nearly every cul-
tivator of the soil today, as in the
past., the thing he cultivates is an un-
known factor. He knows it is sandy
or clayey, wet or dry, rich or poor, but
those things are but the beginning of
wisdom.
In the state of Mississippi three men
tonnected with the agricultural college
have been giving a good deal of atten-
tion to the matter of soil investigation.
Professors Hutchinson, Perkins and
Ferris have made analyses of over 400
samples of soil and have investigated
them further than the analyses. So
far as the soils of that state are con-
cerned they are satisfied that chemical
analyses does give an Index of the
value of any soil for plant use. They
have found that "other things being
equal, soils containing the largest total
amounts of plant food will have the
most plant food available for crops
* * * and the deepest surface soils
give the best yields." So far as the
soils were examined 0.07 to 0.1 per
cent of phosphoric acid was sufficient
for maximum yields. Soils that con-
tained 0.05 per cent or less of this acid
required an application of phosphoric
acid before good yields could be ob-
tained. The soils of Mississippi are
reported by the gentlemen named to
contain all the lime necessary to plant
growth. Recently uncovered soils are
described as being unproductive. The
investigators urge the greater use of
the leguminous plants both to increase
the nitrogen and Improve the soil as
to its ability to hold water.
• • •
In some European experiments to
determine the loss of fertility by drain-
age, the greater loss of nitrogen oc-
curred in case of bare soil, the order
of losses In other cases being (1) soil
bearing young clover, (2) that under
flax and beans, and (3) that under
summer grain. Lime was the constit-
uent most easily removed from the
] soil. The losses of potash and soda
were practically the same. Chlorin
and sulphuric acid were removed in
considerable quantities, especially in
bare soil. Phosphoric acid could scarce-
ly be detected in the drainage waters
of soils bearing crops. In bare soils
traces were found.
Fruit Froapects.
Fruit has improved In many parts of
Arkansas.
Pears and grapes have been much
damaged by wind in Alabama.
Reports from South Carolina state
that fruit Is rotting extensively.
The New York apple crop is light; In
some places It Is less than one-fourth
of tho average and in other localities
c caiuplete failure.