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‘. ‘_,' _ .; ,4'D’VWMWW-1VN’V V' . ' A _ v . uKâ€"“MA/‘r‘uVN/‘VN/ .l‘ J I v . . .-_ \,~.~r~_,..,-x,,u\-.»un. y‘ 'y-VK’AW ,/._U.__.v..JT/h . ,. ~ . _ A -,'.~.v-‘.- .Jâ€" “.<.,,~\. ,.. Q‘sâ€"v»*/VWNW.-V*«\ ‘xvxrxxw-v a- «or.» ,2“ \41‘ . . arv‘v ~va'n"./‘.‘ . .v~...r"x~‘7q:7v‘ ..’ .r ,. ‘ vvwv‘w awry“- -. vvv ‘dissolubly united and await the sea-, .. There is a common idea that when men and women fall in love and make up their minds to commit matrimony, the times and seasons have nothing Whatever to do with the matter, but that, having resolved to take the des- perate leap, they do so without re- gard to month. or‘ day.‘ If this were the case, then according to the doc- trine of probabilities, the marriages of the year should be pretty evenlyl distributed over its months, and no! one should have the preference over? another. It is, however, a singular,§ fact. that there are favorite months; for marriage; that even impati’entl lovers restrain their desire to be in-: son which in their country is, deemed most propitious for purposes matri- monial. The matrimonial month, like the festival of Easter, is movable. It is not the same in all countries, for, while some nations prefer one, others choose an entirely different month, often in another season, as ,the favor-' ite‘for the solemnizaticn of marriage rites. In Russia, for example, consid- ering the importance and sanctity of Christmas as a festival and of Eas- ter as the holiest season of the year, it would be reasonable'to conclude that the greatest number of marriage would take place either in December or in the Easter month. Such, how-' ever, is not the case, for instead of selecting one or the other of her fav- orite festivals at the time for her mar- riage, the Russian girl chooses the sea- son intervening between the tWo as i the most suitable for'assuming the duties and responsibilities of the marital relation. Of. every 1000 mar- riages amongâ€"the subjects of the Czar there are 232 in January and 270 in February, while in March there is a tremendous falling off in the business of giving in marriage, but twelve of the 1000 copies selecting the month of wind and storm for beginning the new life. The tide then rises to forâ€" ty-three in April and ninety in May,: fluctuating with trifling variationsl until October, where there are 185, al slight decrease occurring in Novem-l her, and an almost total cessation of x the business taking place in Decem- ber, only nine couples in 1000 choosing that month. The explanation of the Russian, pre- ference is found partly in climatic con- ditions and partly in social and reli- gious institutions. The months most in disfavor are March and December. The former is not only the Lenten seaâ€" son, which by the Greek Church, is observed with an iron discipline far‘ more severe than in any other part of Christendom, but is,~â€"in Russian parlance, the rasputnya, or "change! of season." During about thirty days! there is every variety of climate thatiE the wildest imagination can devise. ’ Rain, snow, hot sunshine, freeze, thaw, thunder storm, wind, blizzard; the combination defies the skill of the " oldest inhabitant" to predict what shall be the weather of the morrow. Travel is supsended, contracts for the delivery of goods are not binding dur- ing rasputnya, for the roads are imâ€" passable, the rivers are one'day sofid and the next floods, of .ice cakes, so it has become the established custom in Russia to drink tea and wait until Providence chooses to put an end to the season which is neither winter nor spring, but a confusing conglomera- tion of both. In the land of the Czar the idea of being married without a wedding feast attended by every neighbor who is well enough to come, is entirely out of the question; quite preposterous, in fact, and as comparaâ€" tively few can come in rasputnya, that season is almost interdicted. "He mar- ried his daughter in rasputnya," was the sneering remark made by a dros- chky driver to a recent traveler, when speaking of a local skinflint, intimat- ing that the old gentleman was too- stingy to provide a wedding feast, so chose a season when few could attend. . and thus saved his roubles ,and vodki. The month of December is the worst of the year among the Russians fori marriage purposes, but for a quite, different reason from that which I makes March unpopular. Throughout European Russia the Advent season is distinguished above all. others as the period of courtship. In many of. the country villages there are still held " marriage fairs," at which are assembled all the eligible young wo- men of the village. each clad in he! choicest finery, and virtually placed on exhibition for inspection by the young men and their parents, for it should be understood that the fathers and mothers are very important fac- tors in determining the course of true love in the land of the Northern Bear. Generally they manage the business from beginning to end. selecting a strong, healthy girl, suitable for their son, then looking up her parents, and chlaffering with them as tlovthe items of property each family shall contri- bute to the new estublishhent. Finâ€" ally an agreement is reached, the .kitchen utensils. the bed, the turn 'chairs. the little stock of provisions and the holy picture to hang in the corner of the room’ are duly appor- tinned betWeen the two households In January, or February, at a (lain fee - - : : \z _ - V , ' The _ arrying Month. convenient to the majority of the neighbors, who all have other affairs of the same kind; on hand, friends are invited, come with axes and hat- chets, put up a house for the young people, and feast for a week at the ex~ pense of their parents. In Hungary the most favourable months for matrimonial purposes are January, February and November, the first having 165, the second 267, and the third 234, out of every 1000. The wrnter season in the land of the Huns seems, therefore, the most favourable for marriage, a fact which may be noted, however, in nearly all agricul- tural countries, for not only do the young people of both sexes "have more leisure during the winter for those social entertainments whic, "in every country are provocative“?r ' matri- mony, but they also findft'his season has its advantages as a time of pre- paration, marrying and living with their parents until spring, then set- ting up an establishment for them- selves. During the summer months the intense heat of the great _Hun- garian plain, while possibly having no effect upon the courting, serious- ly disCourages matrimony. for the numbers of marriages in June, July. and August combined, do not equal that of January alone. In Greece, which is further to the south than Hungary the cooler months are in high favor. Among the peo- ple who recently made so signal a failure in their effort to thrash the Sultan, the favorite marrying months are October 161; January, 148; No- vember, 145; and, April, 135; the preâ€" ference for October being probably inâ€" spiredin part, at least, by the delicâ€" iouisenss of the season. In September the summer heart comes to avnl end, the autumn rains revive the withered foliage, the flowers once more bloom, the hills are again green and for a few weeks the land of Demosthenes. enjoys a second spring. In Italy, as in Greece, lthe pleasantâ€" cr months of the year are preferred for purpose hymeneal, the greatest number of unions taking place in February, November. April and Octo- ber, which‘have 167, 139, 119, and 111, respectively. In March, the number falls off to 46 in this 1000, a fact ac- counted for, not. only by the inclem- ency of the season, for March is to Italy what May is to lands of high- er latitude, but by the discouragement of marriages by the clergy during the annual period of humiliation and prayer. There was a time when the ‘church peremptorin forbade the cele- bration of the sucizment of matri- mony by any of its priests during Lent, save in cases where one of the parties was believed to be dying and I desired to have the ceremony perform- ed for the benefit of the survivor; but so many eager and impatient couples crawled through this loophole by feigned illness and subsequent recov- ery that the ecclesiastical authorities 1 finally relaxed the rule, and content- ed themselves with discouraging Lent- en marriages, a still more effective deterrent being found in the conseien- tious scruples of the guests against satin and drinking the good things provi ed on such occasions. The effect of Lent on matrimony may be seen by a contemplation of the marriage statistics of two cities, Berlin and Vienna, on the capital of the German Empire, where protest- a'ntism is in the ascendant, ‘the other of a Roman Catholic State. .ln Ber- lin April is.th\e best month in the year; in Vienna it is one of the worst; the former city having 168 in 1000, and the latter but 78; the difference representing in some degree, the regard felt in the North for the per- iod of fasting. i In France, where the women at least are devoutedly pious, the Lenten in- fluence is almost as strongly marked as in Austria, impatient couples bur- rying to be married before the beâ€" ginning of Lent and after the con- clusion of that period, thus making February and April lzwo of the best months, the fomer having 152, and the latter 11.1 in 1000 After these two, the months next in favor‘are Novem- ber and June, with respectively '131 and 116. July, August, and September are not popular either in urban or rurâ€" 3.1 France; though, of course, there is giving in marriage during the warmest and most uncomfortable months, the business suffers a ser- ious decline in the summer season. This, however, is the rule the world over. \thn the dog slar rages by some curious contradiction the fever of love is tempered to moderation, per- haps on the theory of Similia Simili- bus, or, perhaps, because young people find the heat of the sun sufficiently oppressive without elevating their own temperature bv the fires of love. The most ardent swnin doth not protest much when the thermometer is at 100 Fahrenheit; he gives himself a rest and lets the party of the second part take a good deal for granted until the -memory climbs down from its lofty perch and the cool breezes of autumn dry up his perspiration, and fan again into a blaze the smoldering fires on the altar of his devotion. In Scandinavia, where it might be expected that the mouths of spring, the pleasautcst of the year, would be most popular for marrying, there is something of a disappointment in the discovery that this is not the case, but that the clcrgyman’s busy season, is the early winter, the months of Noâ€" vember and December being the faâ€" vorites; one with 166, the other with 156. For this there is a reason quite sufficient to account for the popu- larity of so unpropitious a season. Throughout Scandinavia. 'the prinicpal industry is fishing. It is carried on to some extent during all months of the year, but when the \Vest Indian storms sweep across the Atlantic in the late autumn and early winter and fish into fury the waters of the narâ€" row fjords on the Norwegian coast, even the hardy descendants of the Vik- ings hesitate to venture forth-on a useless, as well as dangerous taéik, for winds and waves that imperial the life of the fisherman also prevent the success of his voyage. The spring and summer, with a few pleasant weeks in the autumn,i are his fish harvest season, and during these his days and a large portion of his nights are pass- ed in the hardest and most disagree- able toil. The vessels engaged in deep-sea fish- ing are gone, for weeks, often for months at a time; those employed in the coast fisheries go out at the hour of the morning tide and return twelve to sixteen hours later. For regular rest there is no opportunity. The fish- erman sleeps when and where ,he can; in the bottom of' his boat, sprinkled by the briny spray on the wharfs un- der a sail cloth secured by a large stone at each corner, in the market place in the fish curing and drying establishments; anywhere he may hap- pen to be overcome by \fatigue, belies down and finds speedy oblivion. While leading such a life marriage is out of the question, but when the winter winds bring enforced idléness he feels his loneliness and need of acompanion so he finds, or, as often as not, his parents find for him, an eligible young girl of the village; tlheltwo go to the many roofed parish church, where the bride puts on the crown and tinsel jewelry kept there for such occasions, and the next annual census records the addition of one more family to the population of the village. Throughout the English-speaking world the favorite wedding month is June, during which, as a rule, occur nearly tWo-tenths of the 1000 mar- riages every year. The antiquarians who are fond of finding farâ€"etched analogies trace the preference for June weddings back to Roman days, when this month of June was sacred to Juno, the-patrpness of brides and matri- mony. If they were correct, it would be reasonable to suppose that the June month would be most popular in Italy, . lwhere the country people still. retain many relics of pagan supersiition and observance. The fact that June is .no I longer the banner month in Italy, but that. as already shown, climatic and religious influences have shifted the majority of the weddings to other months, gives reason to suspect that the same causes, rather than'a predi- lection for the month of June, have been at work on the British Isles. In that high latitude the month of June ‘ is the season which in the middle Unit- ed States is represented by May, the seasoning of budding leaves and blooming flowers. i In the spring livelier Iris changes on the burnish’d dove; In the spring a young man’s fancy l lightly turns to thoughts of love. ! Tennyson Was right. The idea of Looking back 2000 years for the explan- ation which is furnished by natural conditions is altogether unnecessary, [if not absurd. Love-making in the spring time when the language of * flowers is on every lip, when the birds are billing and cooing on every bough, lwhen the balmy breezes invite to out- door life, is as natural to the inmate of the palace as of the tenement, to l'llli'. lover of Lucile as to the wooer of I" Sally in Our Alley.” The early Eng- lish settlers in America. located in a country whose climate did not mater- ially differ in its seas-on from that of England. and from New England the preference for June spread little by little over the whole conlinentu l ‘ Next after June in popularity comes October. ll‘or this month also is a. fav- orite period for the contraction of alli- ances matrimonial the men of books and learning find an antiquarian ex- planation in the fact that among both I l Greeks and Romans in autumn, the season of grapes and vinta 9, occurred one of the most notable 'estlvals of theyear. But in this, as in the forâ€" mer case, it seems useless to seek far- fetched reasons when a plain common- sense explanation is at hand. In this country spring and autumn are the pleasantest seasons of the year, and even in matters of the heart people consult their own convcnience far more frequently than is generally supâ€" posed. So far as the day of the week is con- cerned \Vednesday is the favorite. If there were anything in the antiquar- ian theory, the favorite week day am- ong the Anglo-Saxons ought to be Fri- day, for Frea, the Saxon goddess after whom our day off illâ€"luck and misfor- tune is named, was like Juno, apat- roness of matrimony, but no English or American girl, however devoid of superstition, would care to take the risk of being married on Friday. Frea was the wife of \Voden, who has given the name to our \Vednesday, but the transfer of the favorite week lday for weddings from the day of Frea as [among the pagan Saxon-s to the day aof \Voden, was probably caused by l convenience rather than bv any regard u for the feelings of: either \Vorlen or his spouse. “’ednesday is the middle day of the week, and therefore the most convenient, for it affords time for preparation after the preceding Sunâ€" day, and opportunity for travel be- fore the Sunday following. Thus in the day of: the week, as in the selection l of the month, the convenience of those interested becomes the most import- ant factor. _____¢____ A. FEMININE EXCEPTION. Well, ignorance is bliss. you know. Indeed it isn’t. Wile’l I want to know something about somebody, and can’t find out about it, I nearly lose my mind. TEE PROPER GENDER. David, what makes you call liquid air she? Why, when it gets started nothing can‘ stop it. MORE TO THE POINT. My sympathy, he'said, is always with the under dog. . Yes, she replied, but did vou ever choke an upper dog loose? I am. 3 On the Farm. g o . 0 mm HOW TO ESTABLISH A CREAMERY. The proper way to organize screamâ€" ery is for the farmers to call a meet-l ins. talk the matter over and adjourn for a couple of weeks. At the end of this time elect a l committee which shall visit two or three creameries, in.. spect them carefully, get prices of machinery, building, etc., and comâ€" pare notes at the next meeting. If then there is al desire to continue, organize a stock company, elect a building committee and let this comâ€" mittee hire a carpenter and put up their own building. Buy the necesâ€" s‘ary dairy machinery from some good supply house. When everything is ready, hire a good buttermaker and pay him good wages, as an expert cannot beexpected to work forl small pay. The buttermaker should refuse to accept dirty or bad milk, asf he cane not make good butter from anything but . the best milk. The direqtors should stand by the buttermaker in case of a dispute concerning bad milk, as there are always some patrons who will forget to wash their cans, and the best way to have them remem- ber this is‘ to make them feed a cani or two of this tainltped milk to their hogs or calves. Ship the butter to some reliable commission house. Do not change commission men unless ll. is absolutely necessary, ' vcustomers will soon recognize your brand of butter and will want it all the time if it is good. If you_‘ happen to have a poor lot, do not brand it, but ip'ut it on the market and sell it' on its merits. , Above all things, a creamery must, have good drainage into a' running stream if possible, a good water sup- {ply and a good ice house. The lpatrons should hold monthly meetings and discuss the best method of feed- ing cows, caring for the milkl and listen to the suggestion of the butter- maker. These meetings if properly (fictnducted’may be made of much beneâ€" O (A GOOD GARDEN. If one desires to have a good garden this year he should begin to prepare for it very early. One ofl the imporâ€" tant items is a quantity of wellâ€"rotted ' manure made fine. A coarse, strawy lmanur-e, has no place on the garden in ithe spring. If put on in the fall and lplowled under it will serve to make the ‘land lighter and more porous, and the surface will dry out in condition to ‘work earlier in the .spring, but it ‘should not be plowod back to the surâ€" face again. Plow it down deep in the fall, and in the spring plow shallow, or better still, do not plow, at all, but work the surface fine with disc harâ€" row and smoothing barrow. But _ about the fine manure. If there is not a pile already made, make one at once of the best manâ€"a, uric to be had, and heap it up that it. .may ferment. As soon as it beâ€" gins to» throw; off steam in. the 1110111.: mg, fork it. over, making a new, heap, breaking up all lumps, or, if any is frozen at time of working over, throw such lumps well into the centre of- the pile. This may mean some labor, but if: it has to be forked over three or four times to get it fine enough, it will pay. . l . The garden soil should be drained well enough to allow working it early, [working this fine manure into the surface and making a good seed. bed, But1 if_ it is not so drained, do not touch It until it can bcl worked to a proper condition. Belore planting 0r lsowrng time comes, be sure that good lseed is at hand. Do not; run too lmuch after novelties, or be kept from igetting good seed by a little extra |cost. Plan-so that the early crops may be followed by another crop later in the season. MITLK SloN's IN DAIRY cows. The appearance and form of the udder is an important point in select- ing a milchcow. A large udder is not always an indication that the cow is a good milker. The skin of the udder should have the appearance of havmg been dusted over ‘with bran and have a fatty feeling. It is genâ€" ,erally conceded that the escuitcheon 1s ol‘ no importance in selecting a . dairy cow. OF THE BEST APPLES TO GROW. I have had 20 years’ experience in raising apples and have found 'very few varieties that are worth plant- ling. writes Mr. D.A. Blalock. Some of the best are: For summer, Red June, which is the earliest of all. It is of medium size and a handsome red, the flesh is white, tender, juicy and suh~ acid. It is an abundant bearer. After this comes the Yellow Transparent, which is a Russian. This is pro- nounced by all who have seen it to be the most valuable early apple. The tree is an upright grower and avcry early and abundant bearer. The fruit is of good size, pale yellow, and the flavor is acid. After the Yellow Transparent comes the Tetofsky, also a Russian variety, which has proved to be a profitable apple. The fruit 15.1arge, yellow, beautifully striped With red, and the flesh is white. Early Harvest is an old variety, but it is al- ways ready to hear every yearl Red Astrachan is also a good summer variety. I have found the following autumn SOME as one man‘s‘ We: varieties good for both. home and mar. ket: Maiden’s Blush, Duchess of Olden- burg, Fameuse or Snow, and Rambo; Good winter varieties are Ben Davis, Salons, Belle De Baskoop, Pewaukee, Lawyer, R..l. Greening Grimes' Golden, McIntosh Red, Stark, Northern Spy, Winesa-p and Wealthy. ‘ DAMPNESS IN THE HEN HOUSE. If you must have a cold hen house have. it, but never have a damp one. In other words, a damp house is a hundred times worse than a cold house. It is the damp house that al. ways has'ailing inmates. Colds and roup make sad havoc there. In short there never has been and there» never will be' a damp hen house in which the, bird will be at all satisfac- tory. Sick, mqping fowls never are able to do anything in the way of, filling the egg basket. So, my friend, if your. hen ccclp is not situated upon a dry site, at your earliest opportunity pro. ceed to rectify the error. Dig out the dirt from the bolttom say a foot or two in depth then .fill in with 'rocks, large ones first, then smaller and smaller ones, cover top with a few inches of gravel, and then you ’will have a dry house, providing any out. side water has a good chance to drain away. i Frequent use of dry coal ashes will. serve to absorb any moisture accruing from the droppings of the birds, the coal ashes also serving to fix ammonia. and therefore keep the air of the house pure and wholesome. Too oiten we find the coop or run where the little chicks are penned, |from one cause or another, sadly ldamp. This will'not do. Chicks even Imore than hens require dry quarters. And even ducklings and goslings in their first tender days are peculiar- ly susceptible to dampness. We as poultry keepers, must keep. dampness at bay, or we shall fail of success in poultry culture. PLOUGnHING WET GROUND. When the upturned furrow presents a slick, newly varnishedâ€"like appear- ance it is a good indication that the plowing should be postponed a few days. If plowing land when wet is- .followed in a day or so by a heavy freeze, the damage is not so great as when it dries out and becomes almost as hard as a brick. This of course can‘ only occur in clay or sticky soil. In‘ no case doles the grain in two or three days’ time compensate for the- injury don-e the land by plowing wet. | __,___ . From Pain ' to Health. I A CHIPPEWA LADY TELLSA STORY OF SUFFERING AND RELEASE. sull‘ercd From Ill-art Trouble for Yearsâ€"- ller )llscry Furlhcr Aggravated by Kidney and Stomach Trouble. From the Star, St. Catharines, Ont. In the village of Chippewa, and along the Niagara frontier, there is probably no better known or respect- ed residents Lhan Mr. and Mrs. David Schabcl. Both are of German de- scent and display [much of that old- fashioned hospitality so often found. in the fatherland. To 9. correspond- ent of the St. Catharines Star, who recently called at Mr. Schabel’s home Mrs. Sch-abel related story :-â€""Years ago my physician told me I had heart disease. I have been troubled at intervals with pal- pitation and severe pains, and some- times my heart would almost cease Lo beat. ,[ would become dizzy, rest- less and frightened. At other times I slept badly and had troublesome dreams. I lingered in this state unâ€" til last winter when exposure to cold affected my kidneys and completely prostrated .me. The spring came, when my complaints were further aggravated by stomach trouble. I loathed food and could realize that I was daily growing weaker. My physician‘s treatment would some- times slightly benefit me, then again I was Worse than ever. Finally, af- ter all hope was apparently gone and a large sum of money, had been thrown away for medicines that did me no good, a friend strongly advis- ed me to try Dr. \Villiams’ Pink Pills, two boxes of which were brought me at the beginning of the summer of 1899. 1 used them and to my joy no- ticed improvement. I continued the use of the pills faithfully until Ihad taken eight boxcs. I am now able to attend to all my.housework, feeling entirely cured. I have never had bet- ter health than I am now enjoying, and since discontinuing the pills have had no symptoms of the old com- plaints. I feel that I am under life- long obligations for the benefit Ihave derived from Dr. Williams’ Pink Pills, and will continue to praise them when opportunity offers.” ___o.._._... THE SAME EFFECT. It is very odd, remarked Mr. Hub. bub, that in Arrica there is a tribe which cannot wear clothes at all. Clothes make them Isn’t it strange, dear? ' Not at all, replied Mrs. Hubbub. The same thing happens in this coun- try also. Oh, surely not. I never heard 01 such a thing in civilized countries. Well, Mr. Hubbub, I. can tell you that even in this great and glorious land the same phenomenon is by no means unknown. When I see Mrs. Poindexter coming out every month or so with a fine new outfit from head to foot, her clothes make me sickâ€"- make me sick, I say, Mr. Hubbub -- I reflect that you. are just as able to buy me new clothes as Mr. Poindexter is to buy them for his wife, andi don’t. And Mrs. Hubbub dissolved in tears. the following sick. ",1 «my ‘: a. ., .x.‘=d...'/.\;,.',_V'. -5 - .“w‘v‘v' .2 . \',..,/,b..-,’_-‘. I“\.’*YV"‘ , > r x; \vâ€"‘N) ., M/ u. i ) i