The Democratic advocate., 1908-12-04

A very effective storm door may be
made by tacking long piece of build,
ing or tar paper on to the screen door,
using narrow cleats or strips in fas-
tening it to the frame. The paper COW
ering will protect the wire screen from
the weather, while at the approach OF
warm weather next spring it may be
removed.
One naturalist whose name and
standing are not reported has figured
out that the production of pound of
/ honey if expressed by the labor of
one bee would require 2,500,O00 trips.
/ In view of these figures it is not
/ strange that the little fellows get hot
j under the collar sometimes when folks
rob them of their sweet stores.
Trees of the sapinduS or sOapberry
order grow in north Africa. their fruit
| being used as q substitute for soap.
while the black seeds which il contains
are used by the natives in the making
of necklaces The trees are very pro-
life, the fruit which they produce con
tanning as high as So per cent of sa-
ponin. or vegetable soap element.
A few counties in central Iowa prob.
ably raise more popcorn THAN any
area of equal extent in the world.
Here farmers make a business Of
growing it, as do their fellows else
where in the matter of field corn. The
growers receive from 81 to S1.10 per
hundredweight for it and in places
are erecting large cribs in order to
store it for higher prices.
A southern college for ladies certain
ly has much to commend it when it
lists as chief among it's claims the fact
that no entrance examinations are re-
quired and that a fine herd of Jersey
cows furnishes an abundant supply of
milk for the institution. If more la
dies colleges had less examinations
and more Jersey milk there would be
fewer broken down and invalid gradu-
ates at commencement time, with a
correspondingly greater health and
happiness in after years.
The temperature maintained in the
henhouse is not so important matter
as adjusting the ventilation so that no
direct drafts will blow on the hens
while they are at roost. Many who
have studied the question and tried
the plan recommend a burlap curtain
at the windows instead of glass; This
is justified on the ground that poultry
are more subject to disease from
breathing impure air in a poorly venti-
lated house than they are in quarters
which are properly ventilated though
much colder.
A common fault to be found with
the graded road work usually done by
road supervisors is that, while suffi-
cient earth has been brought to the
crown of the road, the ridge is usually
left rough and uneven, with the result
that few drivers have either the pa
tience or patriotism to work it down
For this reason traffic usually follows
the slopes of the highways, the crown
of the road being left until teams are
driven on to it by muddy roads in the
fall or spring. Were the crown of the
road finished more carefully and
smoothly and possibly dragged or roll
ed, the work would be much better
done and more satisfactory all around
to those who have to drive over it,
Summer is the best time for cutting
timber. 1t dries rapidly and becomes
hard and sound. Cut and saw bass
wood in summer, and in few weeks
it will become thoroughly seasoned
and will finally harden so as to al
most resemble horn. Cut it in winter,
and it will be so long in seasoning as
to become partly decayed before the
process can be completed. No doubt
great abundance in winter, and espe-
eially toward the latter part. hastens
this incipient decay. Rails cut and
split in summer and the bark peeled
to hasten drying have lasted twice
as long as winter cut rails. 1t is the
practice to cut nearly all timber in
the comparative leisure Of winter, but
it certainly would be better to pay
higher price to have it done in sum-
mer
How would it do to ask your better
half if that machine with which she
has been doing the family sewing for a
number of years past does not need re-
pairing or replacing by a new one? She
may not have got into the habit of
asking for everything that she would
like, and it is barely possible that you
have failed to mention it to her ]"
there is anything that is calculated to
tax the patience and rouse the ire OF
an otherwise even tempered woman it
is machine which is out of whack
and which she cannot get to respond
to her attempts to regulate Such q
machine Is in the same class with a
balky gasoline engine or q reaper that
won't tie bundles properly. IF the ma
chine is worn out, turn 1t in on trade
or throw it on the junk pile and glad
den the good wife's heart by fetching
her new one.
A noteworthy fact which came un-
der the notice of an Iowa farmer who
recently Travelled some 200 miles in
Wisconsin was that he did not notice