Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1884-03-19
TOPICS OF TIE DAY.

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TOPICS OF TIE DAY.
The estimated total cost of fires and
insurance companies in the United
States is Sl50,000,000 year. Com
menting on this, the american Archt-
tect says that every man or woman in
the community who is paid for his
or her labor works one week in every
year as a gratuitous contribution TO-
ward paying the salaries of insurance
agents and the fire losses caused by
carelessness or crime.
The beet-sugar industry in Denmark
is very profitable; three extensive new
works are to be built with capitol OF
100000 crowns, subscribed to a
great extent by the beetroot growers
themselves who are under contract to
supply the works with beet roots for
the next ten years. The three new
works will supply the home consump-
ton of the whole of Denmark, and are
hattering exhibit of successful coop
Grafton on the part of the farmers,
1t will surprise some people to learn
that the sagebrush lands of Idaho,
naturally the very emblem of sterlllty,
and desolation, can be readily convert
ed into fruit-farms whereon apples
peaches, ncctarincs, apricots, pruncs'
grapes, and all the small fruits are
produced in the greatest prolusion and
of a quality unsurpassed. 1t is declar-
ed that the Boise, Weiser Fayette, and
other Idaho valleys c.nnot be eXcelled
by any region east Of California for
the production of fruit.
In 1881 a Fargo (DahotW farmer
noticed stool of wheat in his oat-
field, which consisted Of twenty-five
stalks, headed ont. These contained
$50 grains, of which 100 were planted
in 1889, yielding onc-hfth Of bushel.
Last spring this wheat was planted
and carefully cultivated, The product
Is seventeen bushels, an increase of
eighty-iiye fold, and yield of lifty-siX
bushels and thirty-two pounds to the
acre. Seventeen bushels from single
kernel in three years is good growth.
Another bit of historical fiction
seems to be exploded. In late num-
bers of the Dublin runners gazette, a
capable writer brings forward evidence
to show that no faith can be put in
the alleged antiquity of wheat found
in Egyptian mummies, the germina-
ton of which has been used AZ Il
remarkable instance of the vitality of
seeds. The secret is that the Arabs.
with the deceptive ingenuity for
which their race is distinguished, have
put modern wheat into the mummies
Frenchmen are beginning to outStrip
both the English and the Americans
in the ingenuity Of their advertising
lodges in the endeavor to attract at
tention to their discoveries. The fol-
lowing will serve as an example: y
certain inventor OF a face wash i'm
proves the shining hour of a family
party to invite a reporter, who careful
Iy inspects the physiognomies of the
inventors wife, daughter, and mother
in-law, and prints his impressions in
praise of said corcOction, giving the
names of all the members Of the
family.
1t would be singular if the gum
wood Of Southern swamps--lor which
no valuable use has thus far ever been
found-should suddenly gain an i'm
portant commercial value. This prod
uct is found in great abundance
throughout the South and West
Though a hard wood, susceptible of
fine finish, its liability to sudden decay
has made it practically worthless. by
chemical treatment, however, the wood
is made so durable that it is now spoken
Of by Southern newspapers as a cheap
and good substitute for black walnut
which is growing more and moro
scarce.
"Hew Remedies" states that when
Hungry pigs see food their mouths
water, and the gastric secretion is
largely increased. A manufacturer OF
pepsin, taking advantage of this fact
turns hungry pigs into a pen where ;
trough filled with food tempts the an
imals, though wire screen prevents
their eating it, and thus absorbing the
pepsin contained in the peptic glands
Then the hogs are killed, AMI thu
yield of popSin is comparatively yer,
large. Take it altogether, alive o
dead home or abroad, the groa
American hog is shamefully cheatc'
and abused.
1t is asserted that in Paris no fewe
than 10000 women earn their livinI
by the manufacture of artificial flowers
The rose is the test of profcicnc
which the workshops demands, who
ever can counterfeit rose being SUI
posed equal to the imitation of an
flower whatever. In this, as in othe
branches of industry, there is usual
division of labor: the bud, foliag
and the mounting being done by dilfe