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A few seasons ago I handled a farm where the land was of good quality and reasonably fertile, No man will _ be able to produce maximum crops on » 'that farm until the owner is willing * to put a few hundred dollars in the farm in the way of proper drainage. The owner is cheating himself out of the full benefit of his farm year after r, while a tiling sytem would pay -- me. time MY EXPERIENCE WITH TILE. | ! little fall it is sometimes "to lay the head of the drain 'rather | shallow. It is not always 'son we have ! able to clay, will carry away sediment, keeping the tile clean. Owing to too mueh or too. necessary »oiisible to, get below the frost line. For this rea- found cement tile prefer- despite the slight extra cost, as they are not injured by the action of frost. oT _ The old method of digging the .open_ to. quires so little attention f e ni return ved for both the feed and labor put into it. STE EE ~ One practice we have 'always to: follow with the breeding to them with stalk we always provide shelter for but them during rainy and snowy weather or itself in one or two seasons. No| trench and leveling and laying tile ,, extremely severe cold. That is just one can get anything out of his farm' was a slow, back-breaking, and ex- 4 egsential as keeping them out in #f he isn't willing to put something in.| pensive task when elbow grease Was the open in good weather, for if the ing at Toronto, where rise of $1.50. Halfway methods in tile drainage will get halfway results. It does not cost any more in proportion to tile the farm thoroughly at one time. Proper drainage keeps the soil loose and con- serves fertility, makes it possible to get the ground .in shape for seeding at the proper time, causes it to warm up earlier in the spring, thus lessen- ing the danger of early and late late frosts, and stimulates plant growth. These advantages will be realized each season. When the sea- son is cold and backward during the early spring, I have found the advan- tage of tile drainage even more noticeable. With our rather heavy black level soil, which has a tendency to hold water, for long periods during wet weather, we have to drain at least every two rods to get uniform results. On more rolling or gravelly land it is not necessary to drain quite this close. Tile should be deep enough that it vill not be disturbed by the deepest 1'owing. It is better if the drains J:ave sufficient fall to carry the water « t rapidly, as they will drain the soil ¢ ticker, and the force of the water a Artificial Tncubatirig. 8. W. Knipe { shall not make any effort in this uiticle to give instructions how to « perate an incubator. 1 will rather devote it to a few suggestions as to what you onght not to do. It is not a wise policy to wait until a few days before you intend to start hatching before ordering your incu- bator. The dealer may not have the size you desire in stock. While a second-hand incubator is ' not recommended, nevertheless there are many purchased each season on account of the lower price. If you do buy a used incubator thoroughly test it before using. If any parts are miss- ing procure them, but probably one of the greatest drawbacks to buying a second-hand incubator is the fact'that rarely are they accompanied by the --book--of-- manufacturer's instructions. These Instructions usually can be ob- tained at a very small cost from the maker and in no case should one at- tempt to operate without them. The * latter also applies to the purchaser of & new incubator. Do not attempt to put it together any other way than in- + structions indicate. Do not experi: ment. The manufacturer has already done that. Because you have used one make of a machine don't think in- structions with another make can be dispensed with. IL {s absolutely no use to expect good results from the best incubator made if you put it in a room where windows have been sealed tight in one way or another to keep out the winter winds and frost. The incubator lamp uses a great quantity of oxygen and gives off a volume of poisonous fumes, which are sure to cause trouble unless reduced to mink mum by proper ventilation. Have a regular system in looking at- ter the machine. Eggs can be turned and lamp filled just before or after "supper daily, and then in the morning all that will be necessary will be to turn eggs and see that the tempera- Ature is alright. Have a table or shelf "" gonvenient to place trays on when turn eggs. Do not forget to close incubator door when eggs are removed for turning. | crops owing to lack of drainage? This lambs are due to arrive we like to give the motive power used to get the work fences get very wet and they are then done. We find that a machine ditcher phoused they take very heavy colds does as good or better work, and 18 from which they do not guickly re- less expensive and less disagreeable over, than the old method. The machine, 1¢ the stalk pasture is good they can work better in dry weather than require little else except plenty of in wet, as the leveling is done by sur-| gait and perhaps some clover hay. We vey instead of by water. A compet- feed very little if any corn, because ent operator should be in charge of jt produces excessive fat, limiting any the machine, and the owner of the grain feeding to oats. Ewes in thin farm should inspect frequently. A flesh, however, need some corn or suf- very slight mistake may make an én-| ficient other grain to put them in good! tire drain worthless. | flesh, and plenty of clover hay. Sheaf What is the use of paying high oats is an excellent winter feed for taxes and making other improvements sheep. on land that will not produce good, Two or three weeks before the is about the only improvement on the a good feed of oats to the ewes each | and keep them there; you will then | there will be a place for the best bags farm that is permanent. We have to paint, build fences, buy new machin- ery, build new buildings, restore the fertility of the soil, and do other! things of like nature several times in the course of a natural lifetime. The farm, once properly drained, is drain- ed to stay, and the work that has been done goes on making money for its owner day and night, and will do so for future generations with little attention, if the work is done proper-| ly--D. P. suitable brooder accommodation for them, better a trifle warm than too cold. They can get away from the heat, but they can't stoke the fire. The better. care given the chicks will in. sure better results for the breeder. A Place for Grain Bags. One of the big expense items of the farm is the replacing of grain bags! destroyed by mice and hats. Many farmers have no regular place for their grain bags; they are lying around here and there, and usually when wanted are found to have holes made by mice and rats in trying to! get at the few pieces of grain left in them. Have a place for your grain bags now where to find them and will also now they will be in good condition to use, Make a box about three feet each dimension. Put a partition in it so k k and one for the others that are not! so good. This saves much time in sorting when wanted for use. Quite often you can get from the junk deal- er a piece of screen or woven wire cloth that has been used in an old grain separator. This is usually heavy metal with small, round-hole perfora- tion, or heavy wire woven together, | clear through the handle close to the | cut it off long enough to put the end day so that they will provide plenty of milk for the new-born lambs which, if they happen to be twins or triplets, will demand a great deal of milk to start them off right. We have never found any feed that would answer this purpose so well as oats, because of | their combined bulkiness and protein content. Then they also help to de- velop a strong lamb which will require little close attention after it has re-| ceived its fifth or sixth meal. I would rather feed corn after the lambs ar-| rive than before, though if too much! is fed it has a tendency to make them lose their wool. stn A Protected Ax Handle, How many of us have had the ex- perience of breaking or splitting our ax- handle when chopping a limb or splitting a block of woud? Here is a plan I use; and I find that it lengthens the life of a handle 'several times. Get a spool of copper wire, twenty-gauge preferably, and wind eight or ten inches of the handle next to the ax tightly with it, as that is where most ax handles are broken. Drive a small nail in the handle, the distance you wish to wrap it, to a depth of half an inch, then 'withdraw the nail and cut off half an inch of the nail. Now put the end of the wire in the nail hole and drive the piece of nail in flush with the handle. Wrap the wire tight and. close to- ward the ax, first having made a hole ax. When the wire reaches the hole through the hole, but with small enough openings so mice cannot get through. Put one piece on each of the two sides or ends of the box; this will let air circulate and keep' the bags from molding or, rotting. Make the box of inch boards; | also make it tight, so that no mice or| rats can enter. Put on hinges and a rasp hook to the cover, oven Selection of Seed Improve- ment, Different selections "of seed of various classes of grain have been | carefully tested at the Ontario Agri- cultural College for from six to nine | years. The average results show that even one year's selection of seed grain has a marked influence on the result- ing crop. In every instance, the large plump seed gave a greater yield of grain per acre than medium sized, "Always turn your eggs first; then |small plump, shrunken or broken 'teim-your lamp and fill it. It is Impos- seed. In the average of the six classes 'sible to trim and fill your lamp with. of grain, the large plump surpassed "ont soiling fingers with oll, and eggs | the small plump in yield of grain per 'will 'absorb such substances very acre by 19 per cent., and in the aver- rapidly, resulting 4n eventual killing age of the three classes of grain, the of live embryos. You will find that plump seed gave a yield over the «one filling of the lamp may last for shrunken seed of 20 per cent, It shoul two days, but it's best to fill it daily, be understood that equal numbers off © 'then you are positive it will always seed were used in this experiment. Take a last look at tem-| The results throughout show that a | large plump seed will pro "er, more 1 : tive plant ture before retiring; have heat g enough just to hold damper up of an fnch. This will take change of either lower or ide temperature, small plump or from a shrunken seed. Prepare the earth to meet its springs.| When sweaty, ponderous, | an Loud breathing, true, "How is it, Dave, that you never, seem to have any trouble with your hired men?" inquired a city cousin who had driven out to the farm for the day. "There is your neighbor, Tom, down the road. I was chatting with him this morning, and he was in a terrible grouch about the hired help question. He says he has had four different men this season, - They stay a month or so and off they go. You've had the same man for two or three years, and as long as I have known you, I've never heard you com- plain about your help. How do you explain it?" "Why, 1 don't know," said Dave. "Of course there are all sorts of hired men. You spoke of my neighbor. He 'has had men around for weeks that I, wouldn't have kept overnight. I, wouldn't have let them sleep in a bed: in my home unless their clothes had i get some young fellow I've known for! years and his folks before him. I don't wan any hap arvend who uw prine 'not. only because of, but for the sake of the, ne of Run's pounding with a fork, course, but I've always _show-d at "Well, pretty high, of In neighbor Brown's farm: 'an oll can sits on the bench, ever ready to provide oil for a dry bearing, rusty nut or a shiny plowshare. Ordi narily the can would leave a telltale ring of oil on the bench where the lubricant that ran down the spout would creep over the sides. But not this one. A tin washer, the kind used for putting on prepared roofing, had been drilled out to fit the spout. The slight depression on the upper side collects whatever oil spills, and when the dan is again used it runs out. . ie Sewing Grain Sacks. A bodkin or needle suitable for use with string or' twine can be readily made from one of the openers that are used to open tin containers. The wire opened is straightened out and the ends rounded up with & file or on the grindstone that they may pass freely through the open weave of the sacking. This simple modification is so easy that a few of the openers can be put aside until such time as the bodkins are needed, when one or more may be straightened up and pointed for use. This 18 a simple detail, How- ever, it is most necessary when sewing the sacks, and is a hint worth re membering for this need. J Live Stock Sales in January. At the principal markets in Canada, reported by' the market division of the Dominion Live Stock Branch, the volume of business transacted during January compared favorably with that of the corresponding month of last year. The total sales of cattle at Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Cal- gary, and (Edmonton were 59,4 against 57,878, of calves 9,978 against 8,627, or hogs 119,398 'against 111,879, and of sheep 24,430 against 80,719. Generally prices on ca and lambs were about even with those of January, 1928, while hogs were somewhat lower. aren Invest in a. few smiles daily and you will always have interestain re turn, . A worker is known by the condition of his tools. Where, and in what con- dition are yours? Dave's Hired Men BY J. E. RUSSELL. left home to work out, Well, sir, I had a pretty tough nine months from the first of April to the last of De- cember, but I stuck it out, They gave me the poorest room in the house, a little seven by eight cubby-hole, where I couldn't stand up straight even on the high side without bumping the ceiling. It was boiling hot in summer and freezing cold in winter, The bed was hard. The quilts were ragged and none too clean. The family gave me to understand that my room was better than my. company about the house, and I hardly knew what to do evenings. I ate with the family un- less there was company, and then they didn't call me to supper until the others had eaten. I had to take what was. let, and Sometimes it us pretty slim pickings. never ask- ed me to go anywhere with them. Sunday they generally went off visit- tng and left me to look after things. "I made up my mind that if I eyer had a farm of 'own and kept a hired man, I'd treat him as I'd like to be treated. My hired man has as comfortable a bedroom as there is in the house. He si us, company or no up just as ear Sia ttle! the captive kin, at the table with| - chs, 9and10. ~~ Sa +Saukeame to the throne as the first the m country' cam ousy. - He "or eis rk melancholy, and was ty of a serious crime Patt the Pricets of the sanctuary. Samuel, who. ad ¢ hosen him under the guiding of God, now by the same providence authority declared his rejection, and that God would put another in his lace, For the brighter and better eature of his character one should turn to David's noble and touching elegy in the first chapter of the Sec- ond Book of Samuel. i 16: 18, Samuel came to Saul. Urged by the prophet, Saul had made an expedition against the Amalekites, a wandering tribe of Arabs whose home was in the wilderness south and south. west of Palestine. They had disputed the passage of the Israelites an m defeated by them in the days of Moses, and ever since they had har. ,rassed and robbed the people of the isouth, Samuel had given the stern command, in the Lord's name, utterly to destroy. both them and their pos- sessions, but Saul, disregarding the Prophet 's word, brought back the kin, of Amalek as a captive, and brough the best of their cattle and sheep. Now he greets Samuel with effusive friendliness, hoping to conciliate him, and declares, "I have performed the commandment of the Lord" Z Vs. 14, 15. 'To sacrifice. It is quite; likely that what Saul said was e, and that the sparipg of the best of | the sheep and of oxen was | lar both with the army and the people. | A great sacrificial feast upon his tri- | umphal return would have Plonsed the | people very much, and the king's van- ty 'would be gratified in displaying Vs. 16-19. What the Lord hath said. To Samuel, the serious side of the matter was in Saul's refusal to be gov- erned by the word of as God's prophet, had spoken. For though: ] in , Sams vel held that he had received i ship Jehovah, and was subject: always to Jehovah's command. ; Vs. 20-28. Hath the Lord as great delight. Samuel sweeps aside the king's flimsy excuses, and utters here one of the great words of prophecy. Flickering Lanterns. It happens frequently that even a king- : it has been burning for a short time, making a noise like the exhaust on a motor-boat. . Some Roope 'are very much alarmed at this and imagine that the lantern is about to explode. There is nothing 'dangerous in the flickering of a lantern. This is caused by water in the oil font, which sogks into the wick and prevents a perfect combustion. To remedy this the oll font should be emptied and wiped with a rag or waste on the end A | wire, The font should then be re- filled with fresh kerosene, and the wick replaced with a new one. Frozen Ground Pipes. To thaw water pipes in' frozen earth, dig off a few inches of dirt and pour in unslaked lime, © Pour over some water and cover immediately with canvas and bricks or stone to keep out 'the wind. In the morning the ground will be thawed for two sq To got ling the word of the Lord is serious new lantern will begin to flicker after! | 14 a| Planning a nobler to-morrow. "| Beason most freely with wisdom re 'children of a crus! ageq d stern BE eo! and stern | true cy. Saul shad & hard n; but he Do we need understood it perfectly. 'revival of Puritan morality in order to "fear 1 ng but God, and hate othing but &in?"* Evil that is black nd ruthless' sud wnrenatant and vicious ought not 'to be tolerated. 2. Compromise, Saul's victory was decisive, but he did not carry out his commission, The spoils were tempt-| ing. Israel had need of live stock. Agag could be held to ransom. Saul, made no claim to motives of humanity. Like Judas he saw no sense in wasting things of market value. Then as now, to share the spoils of evil is to com- promise with evil. Governmental partnerships in the liquor business is perhaps our most pertinent case of this sin at present. So a review of Saul's pitiful defence of his sin is timely. In this we have "a study of conscience unsurpassed in the liter- ature of the world. : What an exhibition of ris excuse making, plausible twistings of conscience, Cowardly shifting of blame, and abject selfish pleading we have in this striking dialogue. Saul | said, "I have sinned," oftener than' any other person in the Bible, He h so often that the phrase of confession had no real meaning. e key to the heart of the story is found in the Golden Text. With exalt- ed moral Tuxpose, following a long sleepless night of prayer, Samuel ar- rives at what was to that age a new truth. "To obey ia better than sacri- fice." s The Kingdoms We Loss. Reject- and ba business. No man can do it with im-| punity. Loss of the kingship of char- acter will be a first result. Then truly God which he, "the heart knoweth its own bitter- centre of the furrow. the soul is dethroned. 4 "of vil will inflict 1 torments, "Peace of mind will give place to fret and fever of life. Wilful lead to woeful losses. Unhappy Saul enters upon that down grade of personal disobedience. = The end of that way fis darkness, defeat and death. ness." the Two eyes open to beauty and truth, One tongue tuned to a song, Two hands waiting the bidding of love, Helpful the busy day long." 'One brain empty of selfish deeds, Refusing to pamper a sorrow, Filled with the thought of neighborly 'These things mix in the dish called day; al, 'Lighten, as need be, with. Drying} an strength; £0 | Garnish with humor, and playing. ete fp ere How a New Idea Arrives. ; An old Beottish paper contends that y, | planted. | started also from land that is though the most suitable im is a good friable loam. having a 'porous sub-soil; 'a wet retentive" which water is slow in should be avoided unless i drained. : awa © PREPARING THE BED. "Instead of beginning with seed, the L | amateur will be well advised to pur" : chase .one or two year old roots, then it is not advisable to '8p "from planting, and only for a limi period then. 2 It is wlways well to have the bed ared in the fall, when a three inch layer of fresh manure or its equi- valent in leafy mold is spaded or plowed in very deeply, and a dressing of lime and wood ashes put on. The surface is 'then left rough over wins = ter. When the ground has dried off in the spring the furrows are drawn out and good plump roots are them 'When the ground has to be prepar ed in the spring well-rotted manure should be used. The rows should be at least three feet apart; four feet is The soil must be thoroughly under, The coarse bone meal may be ° applied directly in the broad furrow which will be made, 'using a large handful to each yard of furrow and touching it into the soil with the rake. Furrows are drawn out with the plow or spade, eight inches deep, three to four feet apart and nine to twelve inches wide. The roots are set ighteen inches 'apart. Make sure that the crown of the roots is in the When in posi. tion the roots are covered with two "inches of fine soil, n go tha it will not dry out is gradually filled up as the season advances and should be quite level by late summer. The reason we cover the Toots so lightly to begin with is to give them a chance to become some- what established before they are buried deeply. itive is then as sooh as the es appear, The beds should be so rich in plant h will be steady, but if ° the tops at any time appear to be 1 To should: 'be given rably in showery wea~ ° they or tollowing « rain; never apply it when the ground is dust dry unless it be followed with a copious water .| checked a light application of nitrate : > firm so thal quickly. The furrow