davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1890-07-07

WE were talking to an intelligent
young laboring man, the other day,
and in the conversation he said: 81
have been working five and a half
months for some of the best farmers
in this part of Kansas, and during
that time ! have received, in money,
inst taDo dollars and hat. These
farmers are all as good as the wheat,
but they just haven't got the money"
Now, You fellows who are claiming
that shines are just as good as ever
they WERE" chew on that a while.
Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1890-07-07

IT is said that the postmaster at
Baldwin City has all he can do to
hand out sample copies of the lola
Register Westphalj0 Times.
The postoffice at Greeley is also well
supplied with this same Funston
hand-organ. Scott, in the last issue
of the Register, infers, in left-hand-
ed way, that he is only sending out
these sample copies" from pure love
of Funston. No man with thimble-
full of brains will believe any such
stuff. A Kansas newspaper man has
no money to ''throw at birds" or fool
away on dying political dead-beats.
The fact of the matter is, Charlie is
making whole sockful of money out
of the little scheme.
Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1890-07-07

FARMERS, you eau help TO make the
AGITATOR interesting. Send in short
letters or items.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1890-01-23
Russians Eat With a Rush.

Most of the people whom l have met
are well-bred and highly educated, writes
correspondent of the Chicago Inter
Ocean. But some of their table manners
are very peculiar. They are very hearty
eaters, and demonstrate that it is not
Americans only that eat with rush.
The women are not as handsome as the
Swedish women, but they are very polite
and have great energy. Only a few of
the women have seen smoke, but these
do it prodigiously, smoking three or four
cigarettes during dinner and never say
''by your leave"
Fruits and vegetables are scarce and
very expensive. They are mostly brought
from the south, from the Crimean region.
People live mostly on meat, fish and
bread. OF the latter they have many
kinds. They drink, drink everything
but water, that is considered deadly
poison and must not be touched.
The meals here are coffee, from to
8 A. NJ; breakfast, from IL to l; din
ner, from 5 to s, and tea from 10 to IL.
Everybody that can afford it takes in
the morning a cup of very strong coffee
with very thick cream and a roll or piece
of black bread Most take this before
rising. AT IL they have fish or omelette
and more coffee or tea.
Dinner at the hotel is table de hote.
You first help yourself from counter to
what the Swedes call smergos brod This
is often translated sandwich. On this
counter is little salt fish, garnished
with lemons, some more salt fish with
parsley, kaviar, preparation of fish
spawn, considered as a great dclieacy
here, a little cold tongue, dried beef,
cheese and bread. The Russians call
all this variety kakuska, and they cat
enough of it to make meal.
After you are seated comes soup, two
kinds; fish, one kind; and always beef,
and one vegetable. Then may follow
game or chicken, or calf's brains or some
other favorite flesh food. After this
some dainty cream pudding, and at last
some black coffee in small cups.
With this table dc hote native
drinks at least four kinds OF liquor and
smokes a cigar or two, women cigarettes.
The tea at 10 p. NJ. is very strong and is
served with sweetmeats and sweetcakes.
One need to have neither belief in body
nor in future state to go through with
all this daily. Still, many do so and are
happy.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1890-01-23
New JERSEYS Oaeer Green Sand.

DR.. Van Cleve, of Newark, N. j., gives
in the New York Star a brief account of
one of his States queerest geologic char
acteristics.
"Nearly all the way" he says, "from
Sandy Hook to Cape May is a curious bed
of what looks like gravel, but which has
been called Jersey mari, or green sand
by the farmers for the last two centuries.
If you examine it carefully you find to
your surprise that it is not rock in the or
binary sense of the word, but a mixture
of fish bones and scales, sharks teeth and
other remains of life in the ocean, some
of which is petritied, and some as natural
as if it had been alive the week previous.
At Squankum have seen little boys and
girls make necklaces and bracelets out of
huge sharks teeth that were almost as
clean and bright and a good deal larger
than those caught to-day by our fisher
men. Some are so large as to be mon
strous, being triangles whose sides were
each three inches long and whose edges
and points were nearly as sharp as sur
gical instruments. At some points where
the mari comes close to the surface, the
weather has acted upon this vast mass of
ancient dead matter and rotted the bones
into weak acid, which can be smelled for
rods, and which often affects the water
of wells in their vicinity. The green sand
is only utilized for one purpose-fertiliz-
ing-and in this regard it is as valuable
as the finest Peruvian guauo, and far
cheaper. Its judicious use has converted
some land that once was so sterile as to
be almost worthless into some of our best
market and kitchen gardens. The fame
of the fertilizer has spread, and we now
send it by the carload and boatload to
other parts of the State, and even to other
States and counties. The supply is mex
haustible, and, strange to say, there has
never yet been any attempt to regulate its
production, to control prices, or even to
mine or dig it upon scientific basis. 1t
is dug by the farmers to-day just ex
actly as it was before the Revolution"
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1890-01-23
FARM AND GARDEN NOTES.

Awoman can aid in caring for poultry,
and her suggestions are worth consider
ing, for nearly every woman is thought
full guide in the care of such stock, and
should be given an opportunity to use
her judgment.
The stalks from old asparagus beds
should be burned, and good dressing
of manure spread over the ground. Any
good, rich garden soil is suitable for as
paragus. Newly set plants should be
lightly covered during winter.
Many crop of fruit is lost, and many
fruit tree dies from the unsupported
cause of injury to the roots by hard freez-
ing. Protect them by tramping the
snow hard, and covering with long man.
ure. In the case of peach trees this will
tend to prevent early bloom, and loss of
fruit by late frosts.
A practical test will convince the
dairyman that his cows are capable of
consuming and digesting much more
food than the usual allowance Expert
ment will soon denote which of the cows
pay best, by noting whether the excess
of food is converted into increased guam
tity of milk orinto flesh.
The amount of honey to expect from
hive cannot be estimated from the
number of bees in the colony, but upon
the advantages possessed by the bees for
working. During long spells of wet
weather the bees can do no work, nor
can they fill the combs unless they have
ample opportunity upon which to work.
There must be bloom of some kind or
there will be but little honey.
When chicks of different ages are run
ming together and older birds are about
the food for the little ones should be
thrown under Slated coops into which
only such can enter This will save the
youngest and the delicate from being
trampled upon and crowded out, and
will give them chance to eat their fill at
their leisure. They will soon find out
what it means and more often than not
will be found waiting in the pens for the
food to be thrown to them.
The value of lime in the poultry-yard
cannot be overestimated; experience
teaches that there is nothing more effec-
tive as an insect-destroyer than thick
coating of whitewash made of fresh lime
and an infusion of crude carbolic acid.
Cleanse the house thoroughly before ap-
plying, and cover every accessible por-
ton of the woodwork, especially the
perches and the sills on which they rest.
A generous fumigation of sulphur and
tobacco is also advantageous.
When any animal put up for fattening
will not eat the feed it is an indication
that it has been overfed and the appe-
tite is palled by excess. Change the
food and reduce the quantity. A small.
bran mash with a teaspoonful each of salt
and ground gentian root, given once day
with a little hay for three or four days,
will no doubt restore the appetite. If
cornmeal has been largely fed change
and give corn ears or cut hay with meal.
1t is useful to change the food of fatten-
ing animals.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1890-01-23
Trials of City Pedestrians.

A very little thing will make man
feel very cheap. Now, how often man
kicks himself metaphorically for little
incident ON the street that no one notices.
He is walking along, and he runs into
another man coming in the opposite
direction. He steps to his left just as
the other man steps to his right, and the
two confront each other again. Then,
while the one steps the other way, the
other goes that way, too, and there is
another blockade. Then each grabs
convulsively at the others arms to push
him out of the way, and, finally, both
feeling very sheepish, go their respective
ways cursing himself and the other fellow
for being couple of clumsy clodhoppers.
The best thing to do if you run into g
man point blank is not to get Hurried,
but to stop still. If there is one other
street incident that rifles man it is to
walk ahead of friend and then turn and
make some remark to dead stranger,
who looks at you with kindly pity as if
he thought you were crazy. The sor-
rows of the pedestrian are numerous, in
deed.-lS. Louis Star Sayings.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1890-01-23
WISE WORDS.

True friends appear less moved than
counterfeit.
Revenge, however sweet, always costs
more than it is worth.
Faith puts Strengthening plaster to
the back of courage.
To pervert an idea the necessary knowl-
edge will betray the deceit.
All truths are not to be uttered; still
it is always good to hear them.
Pleasure is the flower that passes; re-
membrance, the lasting perfume.
Love, which is such a little thing, is
still the most serious thing in life.
Nothing is more simple than greatness;
indeed, to be simple is to be great.
The man who lives in vain, lives worse
than in vain. He who lives to no pur-
pose, lives to bad purpose.
Persons that cannot bear to have the
truth told of them will not improve the
matter by doing their own talking.
After all there is vast amount of COM
fort to be taken out of growing old when
one has passed the point of desiring to do
foolish things.
Give not thy tongue too great liberty,
lest it take thee prisoner. A word un-
spoken is, like the sword in the scabbard,
thine. If vented, thy sword is in an
others hand. If thou desire to be held
wise, be so wise as to hold thy tongue.
To men addicted to delights, business
is an interruption; to such as are cold to
delights, business is an entertainment
For which reason it was said to one who
commended dull man for his applica-
ton, ''No thanks to him; if he had no
business he would have nothing to do"
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1890-01-23
The Length of the Day.

At London, England, and Bremen,
Prussia, the longest day has 16t hours.
AT Stockholm, Sweden, it is 49, hours in
length. At Hamburg, in Germany, and
Dantzic, in Prussia, the longest day has
II hours. At ST. Petersburg, Russia,
and Tobolsk, Siberia, the longest is 10
hours and the shortest 5 hours. AtTor-
nea, Finland, June 81 brings a day nearly
% hours long and Christmas one less
than 3 hours in length. AT Wardbury,
Norway, the longest day lasts from May
Il to July %, without interruption, and
in Spitzbergen the longest day is 81
months. At st. Louis the longest day is
somewhat less than Is hours, and at Mon
treal, Canada, it is 16.-St Louis Republic.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1890-01-23

comfort, The trees are to be thinned
and clipped, so that the magnificent view
will not be lost, and there may be even
more sunshine and air. We are to have
lawns next summer, and tennis-court,
The barns are to be put in complete re-
pair, and the farm stocked once more;
and we are to institute an army of retain
crs of our own to take care of it all,
''For the house we shall have two fur
naces, to keep the air of equal tempea-
ture and dry throughout, The windows
are to be cut large, and hung so that u
feeble descendant of stalwart y race
can open them. The library is to have a
deep square one (window, not descend
anti built out, making recess with di-
vans and big pillows, where one may lie
and read or enjoy the finest of all our
views. Oh those hills with the dap
pied shadows of the afternoon drifting
across them You shall seel
"Of course have not told you half
that | should like to-, but you shall see,
as / said before. You may miss the
catafalque nature of the beds, as springs
are to be made for them, and the cur
tains gently banished to the cedar chests.
If you cannot open the doors we shall be
sorry. We mean to try to have it ar
ranged, but we cannot spare the escut-
cheons nor mar them with knobs.
There are trunks and trunks of costumes
and letters to be looked over, and many
will be burned-not thrown into the fire,
but carefully cremated, having lived their
lives,
Sand now am going to tell you my
pet plan. We mean to have regular
old fashioned house party here very early
next year. l suppose you think me very
betimes, but we shall hardly be ready
for twelvemonth. We shall spend our
holidays at Uncle Roberts. He is SO
like mamma, so jolly and young! He
and his big family are to receive their in
vitation to us for next year. And Franks
family and his sister and her children and
you. Wherever you are, and whoever
you may be by that time, you must come.
We will ride horseback enough to satisfy
even you, and drive the rest of the time.
You cannot pleada previous engagement,
and no other excuse will be accepted.
"Good-by now. must go and see
what else has been thought of since 1
have been writing. l can hear Frank in
the library singing in his splendid great
voice. belive the very first arrange
ment he decided upon was for music
room.
"All the time think, 'oh, poor Aunt
Augusta! oh, poor blue blooded fragile
ancestors! how much happier you would
have been if you had only known usp"
-Harper's Bdsar.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1890-01-23
SELECTING STOCK FOR BREEDING

The special fitness of pure-bred stock
to the farmer is in its ability to improve
the common stock by breeding. One of
its special valuable points is the inherited
ability to transmit its special qualiiica-
tions which have been acquired during
years of feeding and selections of the
best for reproduction, And this ability
has been proved so conspicuously and so
generally that any farmer who retains the
prejudice referred to may be understood
to mean that he has had no experience in
the matter or has made the great mistake
above mentioned. In the breeding of
cows for the dairy it is unquestionable
that the use of pure-bred bull, selected
and provided with good cows, may be
made worth $500 to any dairyman who
will rear the calves judiciously, if his
herd numbers no more than ten cows,
and this within five years. But it should
not be forgotten that the better the cows
the greater the progress made in this i'm
provement. The use of such bull will
easily double the product Of the herd in
the five years mentioned, which is equiv
alent to the doubling of the area of the
farm or the halving of the cost OF work
ing it. But equal dependence must be
placed on the feeding and care of the
herd as on the breeding of the sire. -Nep
York Times.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1890-01-23

What to do with the old cows, says a
writer in the american Dairyman, is a
question which the majority of farmers
and dairymen are often obliged to con.
slider. The minority are saved this
trouble for they never have old cows.
Many of them only keep COW two OF
three years, feed her as much grain as she
will bear, and when she shows the slight
est indications of falling off in her milk
production they either sell her or else get
her ready for the butcher Under their
treatment COW has no opportunity to
grow old. She is crowded so hard that
the period of her highest usefulness is
passed long before she has become ad-
vanced in years.
If she is properly cared for and judi
ciously fed really good COW may be
kept many years with profit to her
owner. Cows have been kept until they
were eighteen or twenty years old, and
been quite productive to the close of this
period. But there are not many cases OF
this kind. Most cows fail so much by
the time they are ten or twelve years old
that it becomes question whether it will
pay to keep them.
believe that if COW is really good
and is hearty and vigorous it will pay 70
keep her until she is pretty old. 1t is
true than an old COW needs little bet
ter care than good many young COWS
receive, and that it will cost more to feed
her than it would to keep younger COW
of the same size. But if the COW is sold
and younger one is bought to take her
place it is not at all certain that as good
one will be obtained The old proverh
assures that ga bird in the hand is worth
two in the bush" and many farmer h.;
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1890-01-23
THE FARM AND GARDEN.
CARROTS EoR HORSES.

Any horse worth wintering should
have some green food in winter to keep
its bowels open. 1t is dry and concen-
trated food that carries fevers by consti-
pating the bowels, making the hair
rough. The good effect of oil meal con-
sists in the fact, not that il directly
makes fat, but that it enables the stom-
ach to digest food more perfectly, Car
rots have the same effect. A few given
daily enable the owner Of horse to di-
minish the grain ration and keep the an.
imal in better order at less expense
american Cultieator.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1890-01-23

found that good COW that was growing
old was a great deal better than poor one
that was still young. And some farmers who
have had agood deal OF experience both in
buyingand in raising stock appreciate more
fully than they used to do the difficulties
of securing first class cows. When they
have COW that they know to be good
they do not feel disposed to part with her
for any trivial cause
Another reason for not selling the old
cows too soon is found in the fact they
will command only a low price. They
make poor beef; they will not take on
flesh readily, and the butchers will pay
but little for them after they are fattened.
When the cost of feeding is deducted
from the price received from the butcher,
it leaves but very little to represent the
value of the cow before the fattening
process was commenced.
There is such a thing as keeping COW
too long, but as far as my observation
goes it is seldom practiced. A good
many farmers do not get as good returns
from their old cows as they should, but
this is not the fault of the cows; it is be-
cause the owners do not feed them lib.
orally enough and care for them properly.
This is altogether different matter from
mourning loss by keeping the cows
after they have gone beyond the point of
possible profit.
believe in raising the heifer calves of
the best mixers and thus having cows
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1890-01-23
FARMERS FOWLS.

They should have warm house; it
can built of matched boards; the roof of
the same, and shingled only when it be-
gins to leak; a ground door; window
in the south side, not too large, and well
barred; the roosts in one end; the nest
box in corner; two or three on the
ground, with several above these, dis
posed irregularly; covers may be ar
ranged, so that the hen may creep in and
out and be as secluded as she likes. In
another corner place vessel for milk and
one for water; along the side dust-box
straw the floor; throw the grain on the
straw and let them scratch for it; feed
all your grain screenings to your fowls.
Sloppy food is not good for them,
especially in cold weather. In the morn
ing feed screenings, scraps from the
table, warmed skimmilk the very best
egg food; fill the water vessel with
water slightly warmed and the dust-box
with coal ashes.
lie afternoon give feed of corn, an
other dish of milk and another supply of
water, if necessary; gather the eggs
then, if the fowls are all iu, shut them up
for the night; allow them to run out
every day, except in stormy weather, OF
when the snow is too deep; but do not
allow one to make nest outside; in this
way they will supply themselves with
what you do not furnish them. On
pleasant days, when they are all out, dust
the house thoroughly by throwing the
coal ashes high upon the roosts, and dc
other cleaning, if necessary. Keep few
old fowls; market the old with the young
in the fall, keeping the finest pullets; in,
deed you should have no fowls over two
years old. The farmer need spend no
more time or labor with his fowls than
this. He will have eggs in winter aud
vigorous, healthy fowls in spring.
York Tribune.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1890-01-23
Touching Forethought.

Shortly before last Christmas the wife
of well-known West End physician
died of cancer. On Christmas Eve the
door-bell of the house rang, and on the
door being opened messenger delivered
a good sized package. 1t was taken IN,
and when opened was found to contain
the Christmas presents of the dead wife
to the members of the family. The
lady, realizing that she was about to
die, had purchased number of gifts and
had them sent TO the house of friend
on Walnut Hills with the admonition
that they be delivered on Christmas Eve.
Each of the gifts was marked by the
donor in her own handwriting Gin
ciaHdti Enquirer.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1890-01-23
LONG KEEPING OF APPLES.

Winter apples of the best keeping
sorts may be kept until summer apples
are available. OF course, perfectly sound
apples must be selected-a small bruise
or decayed spot cannot be allowed. A
temperature just, above the freezing
point, and equable, is essential. Fruits do
not keep so well in warm temperature,
and fluctuations are even more to be
avoided.
This should be observed in keeping
apples for use during winter and early
spring; and for this reason i; is best to
have the fruit-room disconnected from
the cellar, or at least separated from the
rest of the cellar by partition. If a
brick partition cannot be afforded, one
of matched boards will answer. Sliding
sash will enable one to regulate the tenn
perature. The fruit room should always
contain reliable thermometer.
Select the apples for long keeping in
the late fall or early winter, and wrap
tissue paper around each apple. Bought
in quantity this paper is cheap, and sew
eral bushels can be wrapped in an hour.
Place the apples on shelves, stems up.
Or, what is perhaps better plan, pack
the apples down in fre-dried sawdust or
bran, chaff or land plaster. The fruit
may be packed in either kegs, barrels or
boxes. First make layer of chaff, or
whatever is used, an inch thick; then a
layer of apples, stems up; fill all the
spaces with the chaff, and then layer of
chaff, and so on. Apples SO packed will
keep nicely In an clubhouse with three or
four feet of straw thrown over them.
The barrels or boxes should rest on the
ground.
The apples to be kept late should be
assorted out in the early spring and
placed in room that can be kept COOL
one that can be opened up to admit the
cool night air and closed tight during
the heat of the day.-American Agrieul-
turist.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1890-01-23
LIES LITTLE ROUND.

How little we know, how little we think,
That we're so near the grave, aye, just on the
brink,
To-day may he ours, in joy or in sorrow,
The bravest is never quite sure of tomorrow,
We are each, for some purpose, allowed our
life's day,
We complete our light duty and hasten away
Our going gives place to some struggling
brother,
The falling of one means the rise of another,
Toledo Bee.