davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-08-22
Let Us Have the Steam PlOw.

1t is no longer a question whether
steam plowing is practicable or profita-
BILE. That has been abundantly shown
by the constant use for several years in
England of these implements, and the
proof that the heaviest lands may be
plowed thereof, in some cases, not over
one dollar per acre. The question is
with us:
Can we apply this system of plowing
to our peculiar circumstances? We
need it. By no other means can our
heavy soil be properly prepared. 1t has
been shown that clay soils which have
been cultivated in the best manner by
horse power, when cultivated by steam
to depth of three feet, gave imme-
diately double the usual crops. Such
cultivation is manifestly impossible
without the aid of steam. With this
power the heaviest soils can be loosened
and mellowed, and made to admit air
and heat-made in fact, to breathe and
hve-as deeply as we may desire. The
very impossibility of doing this in our
present circumstances has given rise to
a prejudice against it, and deep cultiva-
ton has come to be a bugbear with
many.
But if we were once able to penetrate
and loosen the soil mot invert it) to a
depth of thirty inches, we should never
hear the least objection to the practice.
The result, of course, as the conditions
are equal, will be the same here as in
England, and this is sufficiently profit
i able to lead us to make an attempt to
secure it. Cooperation is the method
in which it may be done. Congress has
removed all import duty on foreign
made steam plowing apparatus and en-
gines, so that the objection of the en-
HANGED cost is removed. Manifestly
private enterprise, at least among Or
dinary farmers, is insufficient to under
take this task single-handed, but con-
jointly it may be done.
The first attempt should be made in
such States as Illinois or California,
where level ground, heavy dry soil,
farms of considerable size, and sufficient
capital and public spirit, are all to be
met with. Joint stock steam plowing
companies in England have made a
profit of fifteen per cent. in addition to
laying aside fund for renewal of plant,
and have done the work at half the cost
and four times as well as with horse
power. Then why should not the at
tempt succeed here? There is every
thing to gain and not much to lose by
making it.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-08-22
Packing Butter.

A new method of packing butter for
the retail trade has been invented, and
it promises to answer want long felt.
The new process is described as follows !:
A frkin or barrel is prepared by filling
to proper depth with strong and pure
brine. The butter, as it is taken from
the churn and prepared for market, is
carefully selected as to color and quality
and enclosed in plain cotton bags or
sacks, weighing from five to ten pounds
each. These sacks are placed in the
barrel or firkin, fresh and sweet, and as
the brine completely covers them they
can be kept in this condition for any
length of time, it is claimed, without
any deterioration in quality. One great
advantage that is claimed for this new
style of packing is, that dealers can take
one or more of the bags from the orig
inal package, leaving the rest safe under
cover of the brine and excluded from the
air. The bags are suited to the retail
trade, as they are just about what is
generally needed for family use, but are
at the same time so conveniently ar
ranged that any smaller amount can be
cut from them in the handiest manner.
This is an experiment in packing butter,
but it is worthy of consideration by re-
tail dealers.-Bt!falo Commercial Adoer-
ttSer,
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-08-22
The Catawba Grape.

The following extract from letter of
H. w. Ravenel, Esq, the distinguished
botanist of South Carolina, written to
the Gardeners Monthly, gives true
statement as to the native home of the
Catawba grape. We have seen the wild
vines in that section so identical in fruit
and general appearance that no botanist
could doubt the parentage of this best
known of our wine grapes. And we
believe that in that section the cultivat-
ed grape will yet be produced in greater
perfection than in any other locality.
There are thousands of acres of fertile
hillsides which only need the hand of
energy and capital to produce from them
an article of Catawba wine surprising
in quality and flavor any article of that
name ever placed before the public. Dr.
Ravenel says:
with respect to the Catawba grape
we have more trustworthy data. The
place of its origin has always been as
cribed to the French Broad river, in
Buncombe county, North Carolina, not
far from Asheville, and on the farm of
William Murry. In 1858 I had from
the late William Murry, the son of the
Murry on whose farm it was first found,
an account of this grape. He remember
ed when boy seeing the original vine
at his fathers place. and had often eat
en- grapes from it. He said that General
Davy, in 1907, then Senator from South
Carolina, living at Rocky Mount, on the
Catawba river, in South Carolina, trans
planted some of these vines to his resi-
dence, and from thence took them to
Washington, where they were distribut-
ed. From this source they came into
the possession of Major Adlum, and also
of Mr.. Longworth, of Cincinnati. I had
this statement from Mr. Murry himself,
who was then living at Catoosa Springs,
in Georgia, and he spoke confidently
and earnestly of its undoubted origin
there. This grape also, there can be no
doubt, is chance Seeding of V. La
brusca, having all the characters of that
species except in the superior quality of
the fruit, and in rather less hoariness of
the under side of the leaf, which are not
essential characters"
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-08-22
Housekeeping.

Every home should be brightly and
tastefully furnished, freely, if carefully
used, and every table should be regular
ly spread with reasonable variety of
good, wholesome and appetizing food.
Economy is a very good thing, but when
it degenerates into unnecessary scrimp-
ing, it becomes meanness. The very
poor are sometimes obliged to scrimp !;
but what their necessity makes virtue,
is really crime in the well or even COM
fortably off. What are delicious things
made for 7 to eat certainly. The ap-
petite claims certain amount of what
some consider luxuries to satisfy it, and
this should be supplied in generous
abundance at the table at home. A
craving, unsatisfed stomach, is dang
erous thing, whether it is the result of
over indulgence, or of want of satisfying
food. If you desire to keep your boys
from becoming incorporate, give them
bright, cheerful homes, and freedom to
invite their friends and companions to
visit them there, furnish the table oc-
casionally with healthful delcacies, such
as ice cream, if you live where ice can
be obtained, lemonade and the like and
don't season their food with anything
containing alcohol in any form.-Mil-
soaakee Monthly.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-08-22
The Difference between a Violin and a
Fiddle,

Half century ago, or less, the some
what facetious DR.. Pond dwelt in the
quiet and out-of-the-way village of
A.. The Doctors ideas were lib
eral-much more so than many OF his
congregation nevertheless, he kept on
the even tenor of his people. He had a
son named Enoch, who at an early age
manifested remarkable talent for mu-
sic, which the father cherished and cul-
tivated with care. In the same village
resided an antiquated maiden lady, who,
having no cares of her own to occupy
her time and attention, magnanimously
devoted herself to those of her neigh
bors. One morning she called at the
doctors and requested to see him. When
he entered the room where she was
seated, he perceived at a glance that
something was amiss, and before he had
time to extend her the usual "How dye
do Z" she added:
81 think, DIR. Pond, that man of
your age and profession might have had
something better to do, when you were
in New London last week, than to buy
Enoch a fiddle; all the people are
ashamed that our minister should buy
his son fiddle Oh, dear, what is the
world coming to, when ministers will do
such thingsr'
"Who told you 1 had fiddle ?" in
quired the Doctor.
"Who told me? Why, everybody
says so, and some people have heard
him play on it as they passed the door.
But amt it true, Doctor? Z"
"I bought Enoch violin when 1
went to New London"
"a violin ? what's that?"
did you never see one" !"
Never"
"Enoch !" said the Doctor, stepping
to the door, "bring your violin here"
Enoch obeyed the command, but no
sooner had he entered with his instru-
ment than the old lady exclaimed:
"La! now; there, why, it is a tid-
dlew
"Do not judge rashly," said the Doc
tor, giving his son a wink (; "wait till
you hear it."
Taking the hint, Enoch played Old
Hundred. The lady was completely
mystifed it looked like a fiddle, but
who had ever heard Old Hundred played
on fiddle? 1t could not be. So, ris-
ing to depart, she exclaimed, "I am
glad came in to satisfy myself. La
me just think how people will lie"
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-08-22
The Yellow Locust.

The Report of the Department of Ag-
riculture says the yellow locust has al
most disappeared from cultivation at
the North by reason of the ravages of
the borer. The borer has been destruc-
tive to the locust in many localities, but
it has by no means been so destructive
as to almost drive it out of cultivation.
Through Cumberland, Dauphin, Ian
caster, Juniata, and many other coun-
ties in this State, it is still extensively
planted, and found to be comparatively
unmolested by the borer. The farmers
of that region believe it is kept down by
the woodpecker. At any rate there are
immense quantities of locust trees thriv-
ing here as we'll on the average as most
other trees.
1t seems to be fact that almost all
trees are liable to the attacks of insects /;
and that these are worse in some loca-
tions, and at some periods of time, than
others. Much of this also seems to de-
pend on the presence or absence of GER
tain kinds of birds. In Philadelphia,
the measuring-worms in the public
squares have certainly been eradicated
by the English sparrow. 1t is quite
likely, therefore, that the idea Of the
woodpecker keeping down the locust
borer is the correct one.
We should be very sorry to feel that
the yellow locust was to be given up in
the summary way the Department sup
poses it has been done-the growth is so
rapid, and the timber is so valuable for
all purposes that do not require mailing
l. d. IL L r
lived human nature, which wants tim
ber within an average lifetime to cult
vate. But in addition to this, the locust
is not a surface-feeder, but sends its
roots down into the subsoil for what it
desires to eat, and thus does not inter-
fere with other farm crops as SO many
other trees do. At any rate we are not
by any means disposed to agree with the
Department that it has "almost disap-
peared from cultivation"
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-08-22
General Washington's Farm.

A Virginia correspondent to the Coun-
try Gentleman writes as follows:
"The farm of General Washington, at
Mount Vernon, contained IN his day ten
thousand acres of land in one body
equal to about fifteen square miles. A
great portion of it was vast valley or
basin surrounded by range of hills:
third of it was neck of land on the
Potomac River, with Little Hunting
Creek Bay Oh the east and Dogne Greek
Bay OIL the west. These creeks are
navigable for about two and half
miles up from the river channel, and GER
tainly would have afforded the General
great facilities, as they now do our farm
ers, in boating and landing manure or
fertilizers on the ground, but it is not
probable that the General did anything
at this. 1t was divided into farms or
fields of convenient size by deep bitches,
which may be traced now, and showing
that one of them contained as much as
two thousand seven hundred acres. These
fields were situated at distance of two,
three and five miles from the mansion
house. The walls of sixteen-square
barn are now standing, and IS quite a
curiosity it was made of brick and quite
large situated three miles from his resi-
dence. He had two grist mills on the
place, one ran by water power, having
II iudge) twelve-foot wheel, and q race
about two miles in length; the mills,
the foundation walls of which are stand
ing, was at the head of Dogne Creek
Bay, and it is supposed that boats ran
right to the mill door. The other mill
is said to have been propelled by oxen
or horses. The General delighted to
visit the farms above spoken of every
day in pleasant weather, and was con-
stantly engaged in making experiments
for the improvement OF agriculture.
"Some idea of the extent of his farm
ing operations may be formed from the
following facts; In 1887 he had five
hundred and eighty acres i'll grass SOW
ed six hundred bushels of oats; seven
hundred acres of wheat; and as much
more in corn, barley, potatoes, beans,
peas, &C., and one hundred and fifty
acres with turnips. His stock consisted
of one hundred and forty horses one
hundred and twelve cows two hundred
and thirty-six working oxen, heifers and
steers, and five hundred sheep. He con-
stantly employed two hundred and fifty
hands, and kept twenty-four ploughs
going during the whole year, when the
earth and state of the weather would
permit. In 1850 he slaughtered one
hundred and fifty hogs Il hope not the
Virginia Pine Roosters ") for the use
of his own family, and provisions for his
negroes, for whose comfort he had great
regard"
"Of the ten thousand acres, but two
hundred now belongs with the mansion,
and the Washington farm has been
greatly reduced; but small portion of
this is now cultivated"
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-08-22
ChicagO's Records.

The official records of Chicago were,
as is known, very generally destroyed
in the great fire, and the only real
estate records remaining are said to be
in the hands of the lawyers in the form
of abstracts made by them and now in
their possession. Chicago covets these
abstracts, and the city recently offered
the holders 100000 for them. This
offer was spurned with contempt, the
lawyers demanding round three quar-
ters of million for their abstracts, and
asserting that that was ruinously low
sum. At present they have a monopoly
of the records, and the citizens are at
their mercy. Last winter bill was
passed by the Legislature regulating
the fees to be charged by the owners of
the abstracts, but these gentlemen
laugh the law to scorn, declaring that
if an attempt is made to enforce the law
they will simply establish Offices in
Michigan and Wisconsin, and charge
such fees as they choose.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-08-22
POETR Y.
THE OLD COsFLE,

They sat in the sun together,
Till the day was almost done,
And then, at its close, an angel
Stepped over the threshold stone.
He folded their hands together,
He touched their eyelids with balm,
And their last breath floated upward
Like the close of a summer psalm.
Like bridal pair they traversed
The unseen, mystical road,
That leads to the Beautiful City,
Whose Builder and Maker is God.
Perhaps, in that miracle country,
They will give her lost youth back,
And the flowers of a vanished Spring time
Shall bloom in the spirits track.
One draught of the living waters
Shall restore his manhood's prime,
And eternal years shall measure
The love that outllves time.
But the shapes they left behind them
The wrinkles and silver hair
Made sacred to us by the kisses
The angel imprinted there
Wen hide away in the meadow,
When the sun is low in the wes.,
Where the moonbeams cannot find them,
Nor the wind disturb their rest.
But wen let no tell-tale tombstone,
With its age and date arise
Ger the two who are old no longer
In their Fathers house in the skies.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-08-22

Long before his execution, his name
was ascertained to be Louis Roseeneau
"a noted adventurer and gambler, who,
however, by cool effrontery and win
ming address, backed by his great beauty,
had been enabled to move among the
first circles of Partisan society.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-08-22

A bookbinder said to his wife at the
wedding at seems that now we are
bound together, two volumes in one,
with clasps" "Yes," observed one of
the guests, " one side highly ornament
ed Turkey morocco, and the other plain
calf" and the next moment was making
rapid strides down stairs.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-08-22

He that is down need fear no fall.
Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1872-06-28
Remedy for Striped Bug.

Some weeks ago saw in the Farmer
a recommendation of the use Of ground
or calcined plaster as q remedy against
the striped bug. My own experience
allows me to tell you how I have inn
proved on that remedy. Having occa-
sion to use Paris green and calcined
plaster, in the proportion of one of the
former to fifteen of the latter, as de-
stroyer of the potato bug, tried the
stuff on sqr ash, melon and cucumber
vines; with me the mixture busted on
from a common dredging box has
proved equally efectual against the
Colorado potato beetle and the striped
bug. On squashes of the tenderest va
riety foliage, like the Hubbard, for in
stance, and on the harder, like Cymlin
and the Winter Crookneck, this mix
ture, whether put on while the plant is
wet or dry, does not injure them and
so of muskmelons and cucumbers. The
watermelon, however, does not like to
be so treated, but would recommend
that the mixture be used with care.
l give you my own experience in this
business-limited as it is-because |
know with what extreme difficulty Gu
cumber and other vines are protected
from the striped bug.-B. F. j., in Proi-
RTE Farmer.
Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1872-06-28
Robert Collyer and the HOrse-ShOe-its
| Formal Presentation to Cornell Uni

ITHAcA,N. Y, June 5.--The Rev. Robert
Collyer gave the last lecture of the
Adelphi course here last night At the
close of the lecture, Mr.. Collyer re-
marked the he now had q little cere
mony to perform that he had performed
nowhere else and to the complete CUR
prise of every one, produced the much
talked-of horse shoe, made by himself,
and presented it to Vice President Rus
sci with an appropriate speech, which
was loudly cheered by the students.
Mr.. Collyer said that last fall, in tho e
terrible days after the great fire in Chi
cago, the statement went the rounds OF
the papers that the members of Cornell
University had promised to raise $4,000
for the relief of the sufferers, on condi-
ton that he would make them q horse
shoe with his own hands, which was to
be placed in the museum of the Uni
versity but at that time nothing had
been said to him about the matter. He
wrote letter to Chicago paper, giving
that fact, supposing it to be merely q
rumor. such as are always going round
and coming from no responsible source.
He, however, received q letter from
Pres dent White, saying that the offer
had been made in good faith, and that
the money was now ready. He had
made the horseshoe gladly on those
terms. He now presented 1t to the
University, and hoped the students
would ever keep it, and that it would be
always looked upon as sign of their
| respect for honest labor. The horse
shoe was inscribed "Robert Collyer,
| Maker"
Vice President Russell received it in
the name of the University, and as
sured Mr.. Collyer that nowhere was
honest labor and honest worth more
recognized and appreciated than at Cor
nell and that the most earnest and
successful students were working their
way in the face of every kind of incon-
venience; but that the shoe would be
ever kept and valued as token of the
high respect the students felt for his
useful life and services to humanity.
Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1872-06-28

of the Pope to the pontifical chair was cele-
brated with great pomp at Rome on Monday,
June II. A delegation of L, 900, representing
all the nations of the earth, paid their re-
spects to his holiness at the Vatican......A
new and hitherto unknown epidemic Is said
to have broken out IN some of the Brazilian
towns 1t is terribly fatal, and thousands
have been carried off by it,. Yellow fever
and smallpox are raging at Montevideo......
Prof. Agassiz's scientific expedition was at
Callao, May "a, and proceeded thence to
Panama.
The Emperor of China is to be married
on, the 10Th of October.....Th miners
strike in Westphalia is spreading. The
workmen in over ~ mines have ceased
work..... Gorilla is SPANS latest Premier.
......AdYIces from Yokohama state that the
intention of the American Government to
demand the opening of the great tea districts
of Japan to American commerce meets with
cordial favor from all parties. The Ameri-
can Charges visit to the district has resulted
most satisfactorily, the officials everywhere
receiving him in a most cordial manner.
The people everywhere, it said, were elated
at the prospect of their country being opened
to foreign intercourse, and are preparing to
welcome the United States.....The Dominion
militia are in camp 5000 strong-at Wind
OIssss
buster steamer Virginuis, Disguised with
the management of the Cuban agent and
| the cowardice of his creole crew, has re-
| signed his command and returned home.
SEVERAL London dealers in Erie stock
have failed, on account of the decline IN
the price of the shares. 1.-THE cable an
| nounces that the state of Spain is alarm
ing" that Serrano has fed to England and
| Sagasta to France, and that the Radicals are
arming to meet the threatened uprising OF
the revolutionary Republicans. 1.-THE bill
prescribing Jesuits has passed the German
Parliament......B BY collision on the Orleans
! (France) railway, on June 49,, several per-
sons were killed and thirty ipjured......A
London telegram announces that a lockout
was begun by the builders of that city, on
June 19, by which 10000 journeymen are
thrown out of mploymenl......The cable
watts rumor across the waters that Miss
Nellie Grant is engaged to Scottish Lord.
1.-THE Pope protests vehemently against
the approaching enforcement of the law
suppressing converts in Italy. He cannot
submit to such usurpations, and conflict
between the Holy See and the Italian Gov
eminent seems inevitahle.....A town on the
Japanese Island of Sekishu has been de-
stroyed by an earthquake; 500 people per-
| ished Two steamers collided-one being
sunk-near Shanghai, May 4, causing the
less of sixty lives, nearly all Chinese.
The Carlists are again on the war path III
the Spanish Provinces of Tarragona, Blscay
| and Galicia...... Vain aseda has resigned the
Captain Generalship of Cuba......A Dictator
is the latest remedy proposed for the illi
which affiict poor Spain.
Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1872-06-28
Having Tools.

Thousands of farmers under whose
eyes this item will fall will find it pecu-
liarly addressed to themselves. Its CD
ject is to induce them to make use of the
first stormy day to overhaul their NOW
ing machines, tedders, horse-rakes, and
forks; see that every worn part is re-
newed and every weak part made
strong, and that everything connected
with them is in frst-rate running order,
duplicates being provided of such pieces
as are liable to break in the field. A
dollar spent now may save many dollars
in lost time and damaged hay. There
is no more unpromising sight than that
of farmer driving five miles to town
in the eight of the haying season to re-
pair last summers damages to his hay
rake. ...l....