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h^jtER' . < 'V ^ " •' fey* .• .-^v. - i; l ;. ' •$.> :.4^. *f ' ^ •*'$* 5*' \U T*% fe*' •-•J. * >• r eWK^ljLj- jl» * "* O* ^ ^ J* - , , =p • '*v^\ «.;^ ^3 *? i » ~ <*~-.."<4 'j* •'V'%r?" 'V. .y, •i"y^ ' • :.$& »** » T WAS a farm house of Um colonial time, bttfit before the ucUtecta were about. It was brood at the bottom, bat broader at the top, with eaves where the swallow* could nest la communal force. And the eaves reached down so low to the ground - that I have myself ridden off the rear slope from the big chimney and dashed Into a snowdrift--and none the worse for It. There were snow piles In those up days! Almost to the eaves themselves! And under those eaves-- 'i^^Gtod bleas them!--there were warm hearts; and • ithere were also doughnuts iu huge piles, and ^A" >®ampkln pies In rows; and there were other com- ,' - JEorlRt for no one had then discovered bacteria, and V» >f*T« were In no danger from eating good food. ? s' AMm we got cold outdoors we could go hurtdt *nd be warmed internally. The house was painted •/-;£* ;W<E tor that was the warm color, like the Are la , '.the chimney, and 1 know no other reason why all ,J' old-time farm houses were of that color. Only ;-C"' ,^'jthe front was white, and there were green blinds-- ^ think it was the fashion, and the time never '^aa when anyone would be out of fashion--Ini.. ""^.twvators and radicals excepted. Fashion, yon "£•%"*< must know, is simply dotn* what others do, and -v ittot bothering your head aboat It, and believing Others believe, with Just as little trouble ' l - V'%»"yoalEftff. It is a beautiful way of keeping us .-^a# altl&, for what might come of It if no two ever H twjjid the same thing, or believed the same thing, 5 », ")r wor® the same coat, or, for that matter, loved ^ f f^the same person? The old-time people had a reatfttr the catechism. It was a good one. It kept than, all together, like a regiment. Nowadays Vr'.'Jthera are some who would even throw away the ^dictionary and spell the Lord know bow • .Jaat as aeach one pleases. " i*,"-/- Over the double door reached the big arms of a , .great butternut. Do you know there Is no tree in All the world so homeful as a butternut? Its arms those of a father, and It has not a stingy about It. Then you should lie, as I have. In September, and hear of a night the nuts falling soC one, or two, or three at a time on the root. Bat, tat, tat, until oar dreams were full of the ^ '^jjojrs of the morning; or, for that matter, even of A s$he paddings, which should come of 'It when the eat* were enough to All a big bowl. Yes, indeed! ^ p butternut pudding, with a plenty of cider, is *s "*1' good even in dreamland. To the back of the house waaaa orchard, where Spitsenbergs and Pearmains w ' 'v')grew. Some of the trees leaned ao that we could ^ J'^-walk up them, and sit with the birds. I, when a y.'s Vjboy. knew a robin so well that she built h«- nest I five feet of me, while I whittled and talked |J.y. to her. To the aide of the orchard stood a fine :];^pvn"of basswodd. in which were fifty hives of •?' r~ ®eee, to two long houses--two rows in each house. /There Is nothing so wonderful In the world as an I ^,1«ppte orchard in utosaom. It is lit for worship. t^'.;"tl1»e trees are friendly and hearty. Their arm* 3|f!*^-«ome low down to the ground, as If reaching after Jus. What wealth of blossom! There Is no sugges- 'l- > ytion ot niggardliness. Ah, even now I see the ~to*»ld grandmother In her chair, when the petals -y^came dewn In a great shower and laid lovingly on --/her white hair. And the blessed mother beside also. Nature loved them. There was a sweet 4$f fitness, and when we hoys came to their side and V-* ; feroaght the ripest Pearmains and Lady Sweets, -add otherwise identified them with the fruit, I" was oat of ear hearts. Bat how shall I ever v * «et to New year's at this rate, for I am not yet l^ ^ ialf around the house, and my soul will not let ;^n*£nsharry on. To see things and hear things when th«gr happen is well enough; but ah. to have them v?,i i anf's self and b® able to call them out of the ^ --Imemory, that Ui worth the whfia. "Tls better than phonograph. ' E. „ Thpre was an offset Iff the turf. Just beyond '"flie harvest pear; and this was where the little 6 . X^Tmother had her {rinks, and popples, and bachelor and cinnamon rosea, and Johnnie-Jump- It was a place of marvelons beauty, and of ous work--of that I can testify. But It dsndm in the early morning, before the day a gridiron--and again after sundown. You have seen the little mother and Granny s, or some other one, going: about this Island In the midst of Oil world. "Ah, <Usr and "Ah, that!" "It smells like a fresh babe," said Granny Williams." "Indeed," a^fie little mother, "bat I bad not thought ot • but. as likely as not, for It has a soft pinkish : color." Then she would snuff at It, like AH the time she was gathering. la bar aprsa dropped rose leaves and poppy leaves to presa ba* tween the leaves of tha big Bible. r> A little down the slope lay the vegetable garden my father, full of long» narrow beds, all tarasd ever «ad> year by the spade and tha apine. Oh, Loid I bat yet I have the memory of It In my back. Why had they not thought ot gardens to be farrowed by horsspoiwerf But they had not 1 think because they were yet too full of OU ttngtand. •nd a Yankee was, after all, the moat Imitative creature in the -world. He shook his fist, and wagged his tongas tyke the great bell at Moscow at the world Englishman, hut for all that he was htlnself English, both in his stomach and in his head. He not only spaded his gardens, bat he took his snuff like an Englishman, aud he bollt his fence after an English pattern. What else could explain why he had so many little yards about oar house, and built our house close down by the road? As if we were crowded Into a little Island, and had not room enough to turn aroand In. We are more independent now, and really are getting some notions of oar own. But then oar house stood only a s-tone'a throw from the highway, and there was a little box of a yard In front, and this was full of locust trees and honeysuckles, and there at night the honey moths woold come and play high-spy in the blossoms. Oeorge m, our great gray cat, would sit down to look at one that came too near^-for what was it?--a bird or a butterfly? And like all of us, he was a bit of a naturalist. He liked very much to classify the world, bat never hesitated to pat the choicest specimens in his bitHiinCu, which Is, I see, the way with other scientists. They will eat a megalotheporold as quick as a pig. But you should have seen the "startlona," as they gt»w In rows all about the vegetable beds, tor OK father also had an eye to beauty. Did he not aat hollyho&s ail about his corn fields? Then, when the great stalks of crimson and gold stood up la summer, and the folk that went by to church stopped to look with admiration, he said, "Truly, one shall not live by bread alone." And he liked best those neighbors who looked the longest, at the little mother liked best those who ate most af her goodies. The saffron, and dill, and the roe snd rosemary, and srrsvrsj, and fennel, and the mints, grew by the brook that ran down back ef the house and garden; and» Indeed, there were also more of these herbs that stood always In the place of a family doctor. Indeed, you may look; but it was not so bad aa exchange. And as for the notions, they may havi been no worse than the guesses of the profession nowadays. There is no good living where there are ae fetooks, and this was a brook of the first water. It bubbled out of a rocky hollow, some little secret cavern, and then it laughed and tumbled for half a mile before it got over its fun. The little mother la summer would walk with us there, and she would sometimes say, "Now, let us go father over to the glen, where the bigger brook is, and the ferns, and the wltchhasel and the yellow birch, and the beechdrops." Oh. it was giorious run} Bat at night, after work, the dear father would mcne early from the field, and say, "Now, let as all go .for strawberries." Then--ah, but how caa I tell you such delicious Joys! You know nothing o( wild strawberries, much less do you know the Might of creeping about the meadows and down by the stumps In the pastures, while the bobolink whistles, and the brooks gurgled, as we gathered the long stems that lay lovingly against the graak Where are we? I had no business out of season and In midwinter to take yon through snow banks taplck strawberries. But 'tis such tricks the memory plays. We will get at once back to the hous* The front door, as you see, opens just In the rnld- Se in halves, and from that tha hall runs back as straight as a Puritan's nose, right through every* thing till It lands in the big kitchen. And the twa halves of the door swing open separately. I know not why It was, unless tt were an Inheritance from pioneer days, when it was well to he able to look oat and parley a little before opening the way toe aa Indian rush. So, at any rate, all the doors la those days were cut across the middle. In the big yard was the woodshed, and that was full of piles of wood as dry as tinder. It was the comfort ef whiter, and the very right arm of a sarreasfal home. FIpP* the woodshed we all went, kicking first the dfrt ftrom our bests. Into the great living room, where we were all together. Over this dear was twined with care a great bittersweet, and. tl1 over the stone curb of the well waa a wOd whlte-flowerlng clematis. ~*Father," said the little priestess, "'tis as well professor sxasiinln. a new cfcsasical milium ^ cultivate the beautiful and enjoy it. the Future with UBtertna jits Injures" nil world has Whjr ir snouid tt all be shut up In books?" "It Is sow" •aid my father. "God made the world, and ha put the flowers here as well as the potatoes. I have no patience with those who do not follow God." "To be sure," said my little mother "and the weeds are here to teach us diligence and patience." "But the quack," said my father, "that might as well be left out" "And the burdocks," said she, "are excellent for beer, and the leaves are good for draughts." "Perhaps, if we could «ee It." said he, "all things are good." " Tls for us to make the best of everything," said she. And as our Jim came up, she pat her hand on his arm and on mine, and then said slowly: " Tis a world in which we can make beautiful boys and girls--If first we ourselves are right. What more could we ask*" And the birds, ah, but you should have seen how they nested about that house. "They will eat all the cherries," said my Uncle George, and he rapped his cane lustily on the floor of the porch. But our father smiled and said, "Let ug count them all Into our family, and plant for them also when we plant." So he put in a few rows of peas more, and said, "They are for the orioles." And a down cherry trees down by the fence were for the robins, and for the cedar birds who have a cherry tooth. Then he went up to the wood's edge, nearby the big beeches, where th*re were wild cherries, and into these he put scions of finer sorts; "for the birds, my boys." So the robins, and the bluebird^ and the wrens, and indigo birds, and the goldfinches, and the catbirds, an(i all other sorts of thrushes and finches, and I can't tell you how many more, came to us; and they filled the trees with nests, and they paid for all they took in song and helpful labor. And a robin built Its nest in the window seat of his bedroom and sang to him in the morning, while he lay in his bed. Ah, yes, they worked well together, my lather and the birds. The barn was not far away. " Tib net decent" said the little mother. "There should be shade for the cows and the pigs and the hens." "You are right, little mother," said my father; and he brought a load of willow sticks; and be planted them all the way around the barn and Its yard. And these grew and throve mightily, and at last they were a great grove, that hung all over the barn and hid It. The little mother said, "Did 1 not tell you?"--and then she drew the breath coolly through one corner of her mouth, as she surveyed the transformation. "Indeed, you did, little mother-- you said it--qnd no one would have done It, had you not." And the hens cackled their delight, and the cows at lay down facing the moon, as it sifted In betwseniifie leaves, snd all day they were nicely comforted from the Mm, And when old Daisy went to the tab to drink she would look up between sips, as if to sap* The Lord be praised for this shady yard." A true barnyard Is a delightful place, full of peace and love. Li I ah, the collie, comes and puts her head through the gate once an hour, and, surveying matters, says, "Yes, all Is as It should be; all is correct" then she goes back to run along where Jim and I and our father are at work In the orchard. Or if it be--and It really Is--or It ought to be. New Year's day, she looks In at the kitchen window, and waits till we open the door that she may curl up by the fire But George III gets up on his hind feet to the door latch and rattles It, and then waits till we let him In. A true cat Is half human. Ah, If but--If they could once get articulation, what would come of It? It Is well that they cannot for they would rout out and dispossess half or more of the human sort. So with quack and thistles, and talking cats, and collie dogs, we should be made either wiser or killed off. "Come," said my uncle George, "let us make our New Year's call!" In those days it was not yet forgotten to be neighborly, and once a year we all expected to look In on each other, and break bread, or at least cut cake. And we sat down to a bit of gossip and exchanged news; and when It was over everybody knew all about everybody else, and there was no need at all to print It. But I shall tell you nothing at all about tt It was our own business and we were simple folks, and you who live today have your big notions and your new ways and you laugh too easily. So our New Year's day went by In Its own homely way, and we had ous calls; and ve went home at night and rubbed onr hands and our stomachs and were content. Not one of us envied your telephones and telegraphs and other knick-knacks--or ever gave them a thought. Bless the Lord, enough Is enough, and it is not likely you have any more Idea of what will be about a hundred years from now. Indeed I think they will call you savages. Pish, but what a world of conceit tt la. things never get you anywhere. If your philosophy of life Is what you data tt to be 'tell etfcsrs aboat tt. --Grit . -Ssratiag the time *lHa facts lor- the itfcei by you wm others. Polaoned air M&ka of beings. The (3?i0t enough of the Indigo philog<»phy, ^and kntte and gun reformation. Sock : Analyzing Quality. 1 know men who regard poUtla as a sort of sporting institution, like horse racing." "So do I," said Senator Sorghum; "only they dont usually give the candidates In an election nearly the conscientious and discriminating scruttnv that they apply tt the tor * tarf eveat* •'it Farewell, Old Year The hours ape*4 oa, tha night Is let* Mate open door I wait- . A ttmaAU passing jmM§ I how To k)aa his whita and rurowad brow, Asd ttUak of all his deeds, how vmk, The dearest friend I ever knew! He brought me peace, thea health; Chan love. The iweetMt lift all rise above. He brought ae am ties to plaos of 1 And Mattel eatth for ttwmd fMM. This yaar (hat ta the vernal aprla* Brought roses to these ch«eks ot ariast This year that In the autumn's gold Taught my lone heart love's story old. Ttano'a portals close, twelve strikes the Farewell, old year. Farewell • Farewell! --Ruth nnrmrtad HMstlnotlon of Two Presidents. < Martin Van Buret*, the eighth President was the first President born afte^ we had declared our Independence of England, and Joha Tyler was the first boru after the format ion of the United (PtepMeA kjr tbe Unit** StaMe Depeetaw* ef A*rtce»unk) atr wqfebs less^than eosl air ,, _ box- daft, hr wtbter $1potato shipmate against nip Into the fanner's profap- wifl as toto the potatoes. Next IfwvittMr heat, the matter of get- It to ctrcalate so that It reaches all the potatdea In the car Is of greatest Importance. The directions for preparing a box car for potato shipments given Herewith are In accord with recommendations of the United States Department of Agriculture, and apply to winter shipments of sweet potatoes destined for northern points, as well as to the white variety. Suitable Lining le Important. A stove will warm enough air to protect a car of potatoes from free* Ing even In severe weatlier, providing the car lining is built and kept in such a condition that the warm air can get down to the floor and sides where it Is needed To accomplish this a complete air passage must be formed entirely around the load. When potatoes are loaded In bulk. It Is necessary to construct what are in effect two bins, one on either side of the centra! area where the stove Is placed. If the shipment Is likely to pass through severs weather. In many instances, of course, It is entirely safe to ship without artificial heat In the car. before constructing the bins, the 8-foot boards and other of these boards awed Into 6-foot lengths to make a tel width of 4 feet. This will leave a lew 4-foot lengths. One foot should be sawed off the remaining 16-foot boards, leaving them 15 feet long. This lumber Is all that Is required by an experienced loader to completely eqnip a car with false walls and bulkheads. Detailed directions for putting up the lining, easily understood, are contained hi Farmers' Bulletin 1091 issued by the United States Department of Agriculture. The shipper Is cautioned not to load potatoes so close to the celling that they block circulation. There must be a large unobstructed opening for the warm air to pass down to the floor after It has spread the length of the celling from the heater. The circulation Is slow and labored, and to limit It by piling the sacks so that they extend beyond the -false walls causes serious Interference. In placing potatoes in sacks on the false floor next to the walls care should be taken to set them a few Inches from these partitions, since they »re in the region where the frost first becomes effective If the car Is not properly heated. Lined Cars Returned to Shippeta, It is recognised that prep**at!on' ot the car In the manner Indicated! Involves a considerable initial expense. Usually, however, shippers plan to use both the stove and the lumber for repeated shipments. In Maine cars are equipped substantially in the way de- 25t and 754 WATCH THE BIG 4 Stomach - Kidn eym-Bemrt-Zjver the vital org-- tiaalltll by regularly taking the woridPa stand* ard remedy for kidney, fiver, COLDMEDU, fc'-m: v, -> . The National Rsm«dj <oS Holland lor. wwrturUe and endowed by ^ mine. A* sH druggists, three aiscs. . " ' Leek far «fce nee GeU MofeS mm -arm* iMt.-' •. 00 YOU SUFFER roOM ASTHMA f * « Mihlwilljr to atop iwiwi laimwtioa fro* Girls! Girls!! Clear Your Sldn WlthCuticura la>f ISf. Ofca--125--i Sdc, Teh-- gu FISH rananr catch m Tiuat rum lag [sag Be^«riAOo, D»t*.A.Chpee*B>|r, W«e. False floor stringers correctly built in box car for protection of potatoes from cold. Circulation is net blocked, as would be the ease If feting* ere were run across ths ear instead ef lengthwlee. walls and celling of the car Itself must be covered with building paper. Following this a false floor Is laid on supports running lengthwise, thereby creating air channels four to slk Inches deep, extending beneath 'the false floor from the center of the car to either end where they connect with vertical air passages formed by false walls built four to six Inches from the car ends. Likewise, false walls are built a few Inches from the sides and a false door Is erected at one side for a stovepipe to go through. Bulkheads are put across the car at either side of the door to form a well for the stove. These walls, as well ns the center bulkheads, rise well toward the ceiling. The bins are lined with paper, the same as the car walls. The false noor supports permit the cool air to settle below the false floor and to move toward the base of the stove, where It rises as It Is heated and circulates toward the ends of the car, between the load and the celling. A rough estimate of the lumber and paper required to line an 8 by 8% by 36-foot car, with doors 5 feet wide. Is as follows: , SI pieces 2 by 4 Inches by 14 feet, ft ptecea t by • Inches by M feet. 1,100 equare feet of 1-Inch lumber, IS feet UH square feet of building paper. The 18 2-by-4's should be sewed In hslf. making 26 pieces 7 feet long. Six Inches should be sawed ofT the length of each of the eight 2-by-fl pieces. Enough of the 16-foot boards should be sawed into 8-foot lengths to make a total width of 57 feet of scribed and used by shippers repeatedly, the cars being returned to the starting polpts free of charge to the shipper. The general rule west of the Mississippi is to permit the return of linings and stoves by freight free of charge. In other regions the regular freight rate usually Is charged. Efforts are being made to have an arrangement, similar to that existing In Maine, applicable throughout the country, and where the car lining and stove are removed It has been recommended that the railroads return them to the shipper at one-half fourth-class rate. INCREASE OF HESSIAN FLY Parasitic Enemies and Unfavorable Weather Tend to Keep Pest Withi in Bounds. If it were not for Its parasitic enemies and unfavorable weather, the Hessian fly would Increase In such vast numbers that wheat growing in this country would be practically Impossible Inside of two years. The United 8tates Department of Agriculture, as a result of recent studies, now published In Department Bulletin 1008, Rate of Multiplication of the Hessian Fly, by W. R. McConnell, found thpt the increase In breeding of the insect was much higher than had been before realizetl. The data collected afford an explanation for the very sudden development of a Hessian fly outbreuk and furnish a basis for predicting more accurately the approach of a dangerous infestiitjloi). t JM-i n rPISOSn lAflAMDMMt *»**•&* 1 Hard DICE LONG KNOWN TO 1VORLO, Amusement Is Probably the Most Ancient Gams, According to flaoSrda ' ot Oid Writers. ? The oldest amusement In the ma-Id Is dice-throwing. In some form or another, dice have existed in every period of history. They are shown on early' Egyptian monuments, snd some dug up at Thebes recently are exactly similar to those in use today. They are mentioned In laws regulating played in ancient Greece and and most other countries In Europe. The invention of dice It attflbnlsd to Palamcdes, one of the heroes wha sailed against Troy, about the use of cubes with Diseased Condition of Seed Sweet Corn Much Damage Done by Ear Worm and Rot Molds. •V'^> -as />*£ v . ^ - • v.; t* V < , v , V i * • . ... . ^ w 4 - - drawers Urged to Exereies Greatest Care to Insure Quality of Next Year's Supply--Test WltW Rag-Doll Germinator. * Decease ot the damage which has been done to sweet corn throughout the Middle West this season by the ear worm, followed by root and earrot molds, com growers are urged by the United States Department of Agriculture to exercise every possible care to Insure the quality of their seed for next year's crop. These molds have In many cases rendered a considerable percentage of the ears wholly unfit for any purpose. Other ears, but partly overrun with molds, are unfit for seed but should be used for feed only after the moldy part of the ear is shelled off. This applies especially the corn which has been grown for i7>ed. In certain fields hi the corn belt the damage has been so great that the corn was rendered unfit for harvesting as seed, practically no ears being found which were net Injured. Theqp observations and reports to the department are all bsM on the evident and conspicuous defects that have been found In sweet corn and dent varieties. It Is known, moreover, that many of the apparently good ears in these damaged fields are diseased and unless special precautions are taken, for example testing with the rag-doll germinator, they may pass as good seed corn. During the past three years Jt has been found that much of the sweet corn seed which has been purchased in the open market has been badly Infected with mold aad ear-rot organinns. Tha quality of aeed obtainable for use next spring depends, then, upon how the seed grown last year has been cared for, and upon the attention given the selection 4$ aeed from this season's crop. V TOO MANY POULTRY LOAFERS Best Plan to Weed Out Nonprodueers and Keep Only Good Leylng and Breeding Fowls. One reason some folks complain that "chickens don't pay" Is because they compel one or two good hens to support a dozen lazy ones. There are some deadbeats In every flock, just as there are also some excellent laying and breeding hena. The thing to do is always to weed out the least desirable fowls, then keep only the best ones and keep them well --In a good house, weU managed aad cared for. Market Corn Through Stock. More than 80 per cent of the corn crop is fed to farm animals. The best place to feed it is on the farms where It Is grown. The shrewd feeder doesnt worry much about the market price of less than 20 per cent of the corn crop. Good Seed Important Good seed are far more important than many farmers have believed. It la a very difficult matter to produce good crops with poor seed. - *• Inspect Stored Crops. Go over fruit and vepetublea in storage'and pick out decaying ones. Keep root crops cool and squaahttgr aad warm. Manu s for the Garden. Get manure now for next years' gain den. . It 4%-tfca 1244 B. C., but the numbered sides for gambling purposes Is probably much earlier. Frequent passages In the worfca af ancient writers and numerous lept*- dentations In marble and paintings show how popular dtae-playlag mm* among them. Shaw and the Tourist. George Bernard Shaw recently cosk vulsed an audience by relating a" story of a tourist who asked a rustic whether he was on the right track for Strut ford-on-A von. The yokel remained silent. "Come, coaie," said tha tourist encouragingly. "Stratford- Shakespeare's town--Shakespeare, the famous poet, you know. Surely .vou know Shakespeare?" "Yus," replied the rustic, brightening. **Be yon be!? Operations on OM Men. The venerable Dr. Beverley son, in a letter to the Medical wm*,** . (New York), protests against seaie «f the operations which are performed oowadays on elderly persona, whona £? 4here is scarcely a chance of saving. Too many of these are done, he eaysu and the result Is only Increased dla» comfort to the patient. ^ Ida Hours With Sta»tstiola«», It Is estimated that a ntan irh* reaches the age of eighty years spends ; two years of his life dressing. N«»- : bgdy has the courage to estimate how many of her years a woman devotes to --but. as we were saying. It's a hanl 4 winter that has no soft spot& Lhmltatlens ot an Adage. •'Man wants little here below." u* ed Bolt. "That goes ft* traaMe only," replied Nutt. One man believes everything ha bears; another doesnt believe any^ thing he hears. Both are Infant or Adult, At all Druggists. Free Eye Book, •atoEptHarii feISS ft' fe Cs*CWas^