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That depends upon circumstances; we believe in the idea of pulverizing the soil by all possible means, but if a field is so situated that accumulations of surface water are to flow over it and follow the course of the furrows, and in its passage carry with it large quantities of the finer portions of the son to no one knows where, then we should say omit plough- ing until spring ; or again, if the soil is of that peoulisr characterjthst its surface, on becoming dry, is carried away by the winds of winter, as is frequently observed, then we should say again, omit fall plough- ing, We like the idea. expressed in an article we recently read upon the subject, which was, to plough in very narrow land so that between the dead furrows there is little more than an elevated ridge of earth, causing the dead furrows to be carefully cleaned out with a shovel, the loose earth being thrn wn upon the ridges ; in this way the deed furrows serve as drains for the free passage of the water in winter, and in the spring the soil can be worked almost as soon as the frost is out of the ground. This would be especially The farmer’s cnw, the one which supplies his family with the milk and butter he uses in his family, is seldom, if ever, a thoroughbred one ; she has no registered pedigree; she is not pampered and pushed up to that extreme which is dangerous alike to health and profit, but she is Inu- aily a good sized and good natured ani- mal, generally with a. good share of Alderney, Jersey or Guernsey blood in her veins. She is a milker of more thani average merit, while her milk is rich in butter. She drops fine calves every year with becoming regularity, and does not stay dry and unprofitable two or three months out of every twelve. She csrriel only a moderate amount of flesh, has a fairly large and not meaty udder, with clean and good sized teats. She has a bony and intelligent head, soft hair, fine skin, fair horns and a heavy and well developed rump. Her skin is soft and velvety and of that yellow tinge which denotes butler qualities. The inside of her ears, as well as the base of her horns and just back of the forelegs. on the body. are heavily tinged with yellow. If you do not get as gooda rice for your butter as some one else oes you may count that there are nine chances out of ten that the fault lies with you and not with the purchaser, remarks an exchange. Really choice butter is not so plenty but- that any one who makes a really first-class article can eesils7 obtain the highest market price. It is very natural for all to think that their butter is just as gocd as their neighbor’s, but if the neighbor's brings ahigher price it will pay to try and improve the quality a little. A rec'pe for 3 51111.11 cream cheese is as follows: Take one pint thick cream, mu: 8 little salt. aocmdmg to taste; put it into a wet, :cslded cheese cloth. tie it. and hang up for two or three cays: then change again into another cloth for a day or two, and put a. weight on it, by which time it will be ready for use. A good dip for youngr lambs infested with ticks is made of a mixture of one gallon soft; soap, six pounds grease, one pint crude catholic acid. all boiled in ten gallons of water, with nine gallons of cold Inter added. Breeds of cows tttongly predisposed to milk production will sometimes give milk before the heifers have had their first mlf. The tendency is increased where the young calves run together, ln which case, unless nrecaubions are taken, they Are almost sure to learn to suck each 0 :her. Horses that are troubled with worms maybe safely and speedily relieved by glvlng themalmall dose of turpentine mm or three times in their feed. 1t nauseates the worms so that they lose their grip on the Intestines and pass through the excretions of the stomach. To fatten a. horse, mix a bushel of flax used, one of barley, one of oats, oneof cvrn, end grind the mixture together. Ieed two or three quarts of the mixture tiree times a day, mingled with a peck of at hay and straw. If the horse eats Badily, let the quantity be gradually increased until he wlll eat four or s-x Inert: at every feeding three times a in]. The beta butter ever produced from a. chum would have been wretched atufl‘ if the cream had been allowed to absorb odors from the cellar or kitchen. Sheep should noh be allowed to run In maddy yards or be driven through the mud to and from the field. Such treat- mént may engender foobrou. Cows become verv fond of beanstnlka, after a lime: use cf them, and prefer them to good buy. W hen com stalks are fed, c'over should be fan with them. or cottonseed meal. Timothy and clover mixed in better than clear clover. A writer annex-ts that after 35 years’ ex- perienne in Iowa be has never known a mortgage foreclosed --n a diary or stock f m. 011 meal and more make sleek cattle, There are B-Iid to be fifty-two kinds of sheep in the world. The pig is no exception to the rule that all domestic animals require salt. More batter is spoiled by being over- worked than by not being worked enough. A cream thermometer will save back- ache ; sixty-four degrees is the corncb thing. When tile cream gets too thick in the chum. add some warm water (not hot) to Host the butter, and it will come sooner. pa 1. Dairy and stock Topics. Gamleneea wxll help tr) fill the milk Ploughng 1n the Fall. FOR THE FABMER There is a youth up-town who is so lazy that the only work he does 15 when laborlng under a mistake. JOHN MCKAY.” McKay wss Captain of the Manistee. The people of Ashland pronounce the handwriting on the slip to be his without doubt. None of the bodies of those on board were ever recovered, but stray pieces of the vessel were found soon after the disaster. A Relic of a Lost Steamer. Eighteen months ago the steamer Maniatee Went down in agale on Lake Superior and all on board perished. On a recent Sunday aftemoon a party of trout fishers, while angling up Fish Creek, which runs into the lake at Ash- land, Wla., some distance from its mounh, found a sealed bottle containing a piece of paper on yvhigh was written: “0-11 board Manistee. Terrible storm to-nlght. May not live to see morning. Your: 150 the world. All this time the spectators were en- deavoriugtostop the fight, but their efforts were unsuccessful until the two men Bank to the ground exhausted and covered with blood from head to fee‘. They were taken to their homes, where both are reported he have died. Fatal Quarrel Over a Cow. On Thursday in Newark, Wirt county, ‘ W. Va... 9 cow belonging to James P. Buf- flngton, a. farmer, broke down a panel of fence surrounding the garden of August Kiitesu, and entering the garden, de- stroyed the growing vegetables. Kilteau drove the cow out with a club just as the owner was passing. The two men, after handy'ng epithets for a few moments, en- gaged in a rough and tumble fight in the coursa of which Buflington was repeatedly struck with the club in the hands of Kliâ€" tesu. Several men, including a Justice of the Peace. interferred and separated the men, but Buflington drew a dirk knife and rushed at his antagonist. Kilteau struck him on the head with his club, knocking him down. Buffington sprang to his feet again, and stabbed Kiltesu seven times in various pints of the body, leaving him in a dying condition, but not before he had again clubbed Buflington, breaking four of his ri-bs,and fracturing his skull. No part of the animal goes Lu wasm Hie hide, when pmpei-ly tannedâ€"and the process is a long oneâ€"makes ex :elleut‘. and costly leather ; the oil which is tried out from his fan is the best known to commerce for lubricating purposes; his flesh, fresh cooked, is well esteemed by those who like in, and when smoked, like beef,ls a delicacy. The rest (f him is, by a simpler prosess, canverted into a. fertil- izer. Upon the whole, the porpoise seems to have a future of usefulness before him. Slowly and steadily the great sieve is drawn in toward the beach, and when near enough a second smaller sieve, mede of quarter-inch line, is brought: into play inslde thelarger one. With this a few porpoises at a. time are out 011" from the main school and hauled by main force to the beach, where they are despatched with lances and knives. It; is no boy's play hauling this small sieve ashore nhgough thersnrf. At the wings and bag of the sluve small surfboats are stationed, whose crews en- deavor to frighten the porpoise outuf their purpose when they attempfi a combined charge upon the net. Such a charge is fatal t ) any net if persisted in, for the huge ani- mal, weighing often athousand poundseanh Gan burst through anything in the shape of a. net when once they give their minds to it, and the only safeguard is to diatract them and divert their attention. In so large an enclosure they have, of course, a. wide semi-circular space, id which they can swim about freely, and a general panic can usually be avoided. Tne capture of a school of porpoises is exciting in the exnreme, and involves enough apparent danger to set the blood in lively circulation. When the school is dis- covered the steamer puts all". paying out a. large sieve, nearly a mile long and some twenty-four feet deep. With this the school is enclosed as far as possible, the net cutting them of! from the open saa. Oats and Peas. J idging from the pracLlce oi manyfarm- ms, mvd, in fact, we m:ghnssy ofall With- in the elrcle of our observation, the reni lending value of the combination of nuts and peas has been lost sight of, We re‘ member distinctiy in our younger days, how the farmers placed great reliance up- on gr ~uud cam and peas us a. fattening fund for swine, and how essential it was believed to be to sow a. patch to he used exclusively for feeding purposes. R5- gsrding the proportion of each kind of seed employed, our memory fails us, but we call to mind how the oats would gl‘uw and Mind the support for the pea vim s, which were thus supported and kept (H of the ground ; and the out and pea patch often contributed a fine mess of pens for the family dinner. When ripe they wore out with the scythes, handled oxre'ully, and when thoroughly dried taken to the burn to be thrashed, to be ground for early feed, which could be prmvided some time before corn would be suflicieutly dried for grinding, and either swme iattenad very rspi‘lly under the out and pea. feed, or else our powers of comprehension are at fault. But in these times it is an exceedingly rare thing to see afield of oats and peas, or. in this section, to hear of peas being grown for feeding purposes. It is possible that some of the practices of the past might be pursued with benefit in these days of ad- vsncemenf. desirable when any particularly earlycrop is to be planted, and eat-linens is one of the important: facmra of success. Bunting the Porpoise. A Lion's Suicide. The only recorded attempt of a lioness to devour herself is reported from Dublin. The lioness was in captivity, and consti- tuted part of the show in a zoological garden. One morning it was discovered that six inches of her tail had been gnaw- ed ofl'. She was watched, and was seen in the course of the day to gnaw off as much more of her tail as she could get at, whereafter she began to eat her fore paws. She was shot. One explanation offered of the singular conduct of the animal is that she pined in captivity, and deliber- ately set about to destroy herself. An- other is that she was afliicted with hys- teria, and was not responsible for what she did’. It being a first case, it is hardly reasonable to demand a positive statement of the cause. More may be learned w’ ten another lioness makes a similar attempt. ‘ An Indian Dude. The Calgary Herald says: Give Bull's Head, chief of all the Sarceesâ€"a tribe numbering ten men, 57 women and several childrenâ€"a cigar, put him on the platform of I. G. Baker's store and he's there every time. With his left hand resting on his left hip, his body curved back like a Grecian bow on the wrong side, and his right hand dainiily toying with his Havana, h) is an Indian exquisite â€"a dude of the first water, This was ap- parent on Tuesday last, when he brought in his tribe to have a grub dance for the benefit of the pale warriors. Bull’s Head was in a. state of glory, which has not visited him since Inspector Mcllree took him by the necktie and snatched him off to the guard-house. His men squatted round in aclrcle. the tom-tom in the midst and the fun commenced, while the 9th Baitalion and the men of the 92nd, who were yet in town, gathered near and look- ed in wonder at the heathen fight. There were several ladies there also, and no doubt the redskins reminded themselves silly that since Punndmaker had won a. white wife, their turn might come. After the grub dance was over, Col. Amyot put the 9.h Battalion through the bayonet exercise for the benefit of the dusky visitors. The Sarcees had never seen a bayonet exercise before and their eyes protruded at the sight to such an extent that they would have served readily as hat-pegs. Mr. Begg laughed heartily. After the canoe at the fort, the braves pro- ceeded to the corner of I. G. Baker's and went through a very similar performance. W. Bowen brought ( ub some tea, tobacco and biscuits to them, and the poor crea- tures lost all their Indian decorum in their delight at the welcome presents. -â€"â€"_m~.~>«.â€"â€" The greatest difficulties of construction have not as yet been grappied with at at]. At Culebra the summit, where awh 2"" feet deep will be made to “09 "MW level, only 31mm arwen feet have been ex- cwgtpd. The great dam which it is pro- posed to build between the hills of Obispo and Santa Cruz to control the waters of the Chagres has not been begun, nor has spade been put to all those sluicas and channels which are to le built to our] 05 the waters of the turbulent river in the rainy season. Vast P: eparnlions and lllllo llo e. The Panama Canal is in such a. state that its uliimste completion ls beyond question. But it appears rqually certnin that the present company never can complete it, Three-fourths of the esti- mated cost of the canal has already been spent, and the result is a mere scratch 'dcr: ss the Isthmus. But the preparation for the actual work of digging the canal, iho clearings, bJrings, soundings, surveys- houses, barracks, hospitals, drudgss, ex- caVators, etc , are Complete. The build ing of the Suez Ca 31 was child’s play oimpared to the building of this one, There nature seemed to have intended that the watu‘u of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea should mingle. Here she has opposed every possible obstacle to the marriage of the Atlantic and Pacific The canfiguratiun and geological structure of the country. the deadly climate. the intense heat, the difference in tides, the Chagres, alternazeiy a brook and a devastating torrent, the thickly matted jungle, all conspire to render the digging of a canal across this isthumus one of the most difficult pieces of engineering work ever attempted by man, if not absolutely the most uiflicrlt. It is a common saying that every tie of the Panama Railroad represented ahnman life. Every foot of the Panama Canal will represant not only a life, but a for- tune as well. The work of preparation for the actual digging of the canal has met with great obstaclrs. The soundings in the section between Pedro McGill and Gorgona I believe never would have been made but for the indomitable energy of Mr Burt, now general superintendent of the Panama Railroad, who transported on men's backs. through a before impassible jungle, the machir ery necessary for the work. in going along the line of the canal one sees to-day the perfect state of preparation and the utter absence of anv- thing like a canal at a glance. In those pretty villas on the hillsld-ts live the chiefs of sections. Leaning on their spades or loitering beside the huge excavators are a few scattered men. Everywhere are idle excavators or empty cars bearing evidences of long disuse. The songless birds drowse in the shadow of the drowsy palms. The handful of slee,y liborers doze in the shade or throw a few shovel- fuus of earth to one side with a weary motion. in short, in going over the canal route one gets the impression that work is practically stopped ; and_from the best information to be got at here I believe such to be the case. The last revolution here. of course, has had somath'mg to do With this state of aifsirs, for when bullets fly, spades drop. But revolutions have their benefits, too, for they afford the canal company a reasonable excuse for giving up the work ; and give in up they mist before long or get a large amount of new capital. THE PANAMA CANAL. shawl settled over the noble but uncrupul- ous bird in such a way that it not only blinded him, but prevented him from using his wings, and the polieemen was enabled easily to take him in. When the King of Bavaria heard the story he sent a handsome present) to the nurse, and order- ed the eagle to sent to the menagerie. N o distinction was conferred upon the police- man, although the misdemeanor of his talking to the nurse was overlooked, nor upou the baby, whose luck in escaping from the eagle was considered suiflzient. We want to ask one question: “Can person go around a square?” A nurse In Munich, according to a story which comes. from their, set her little charge on the grass, In order that it might gmnee itself by rolling about and getttng green stain: on its frock. Suddenly a. large eagle swooped by the face of thb police- man who was talking to the nurse, and attached the baby. Quick an a. flash the nurse threw her sh‘awl at bne eagle. The -L47J , ,Au 'l‘ne uequal of the lodgment 6f France there may. perhaps, be the acquisition of Siam itself. _ It can scarcely b3 doubted that sooner or Inter French ambltion will seek furth- er conquests on the Siamese peninrula. Tue uequa! of V the lodgment of France Later, they succeeded in tnking Lang Son ; but were again driven out; of it by a superior Chinese force. Here the mili- tsry operations came to an end. The general result of the war has been to add the extent of the French possessions on the peninsula. They have annexed Cambodia, obtained control of alarge part of nhe Red RiVer Valley, and secured a portion of Burmese Siam. But‘now a treaty of peaca, which Wis soon to come to naughn. was coiciudcd between France and China. Starceiy had it been ratified. when a misunder- standing as to its terms arose. A Fiench force advanced to take possession of a fort which China had not agreed to cede. The French, baing repulsed, demanded a. heavy indemulcy, which China refused to pay, and thereupon the French seizad sevenl points on the Island of Formosa, which lies off the Chinese coasa. The French followed theChlneae troops as they retreated to Lang Sun, which is a a hundred miles north-east of 1350 N ink, and nearer the Cnlnose trouncr WEED}; ;d war vessels were sent. out, and Admiral Conrbet captured Hue, the gap“: .1 and chief port of Annam, in the summer of 1883. Vlcbory after victory attended the French advance. The two strongholds of S mtag and Buc Ninh, in the delta of the Red River, were captur- ed, and Che French 1nd now approach: d bhe frontier which divides China proper from Annam. The Chinesa Empire has always claim- ed to be the feudal superior of Anuam, and looked wthjsalouay upon the Franch occupation of that country. But the Chi- nene dii not interfere in the struggle un- til the Frenchabtacked Baa th. There. a Chinese force joined the Blaerk 715131;} in defence of the place ; and so an tuft 1'- mal war came about between France and China. But in spite of the Black Flags, the French retained their hold on Hanoi. The Annameae were now aroused to des- perate defence. They refuaed to all"" French troops to land on their cow‘» 3“ proceeded to the aid of their “mud” “'5 Hanoi, whereupon Fr-“W began W" on a larger scale. Thu: treaty lasted for eight years. But in 1882 the French entered upon vigor- ous operations, with a view to extending their Annamese possessions. A force of five hundred men Ldvunced upon the Red River, and ae‘zed Hanol. The counu'y was at this time overrun by marauding band; called “ Black flnzs ” who were called on bv the Annam chief to aid in re- dafiing the French. A century later-just about a hundred years agoâ€"the French King made a tree.- ty With a king of Annam who had been drwen from his throne, whereby the King was restored, and certain places on the coast. ware ceded to France. But the French waited seventy years before svml- ins; themselves of the privilege thus grant- ed to them. The wh- was the result of a long series of events. As long as two hundred years the French had a project; of establishing colonies and settle nenbs on the coast of Cochin Chlnn, as they had already done on than of Hlndocsten. This conquest was gradually added to a: years went on. A French protector- ate was enablinth 1n Cambodm, and 15‘ her the French arms were curled as fat as Hanoi, the priumpal stronghold on tha Red River, which fl me through Annam. About. ten ynara ago thd French made a treaty with Annam. by whxch certain commercial rights were cuuceded to them, and by which they were permitted to es- tablish garrisous and tradmg~p :ats at var- ioug pointa. In 1858 they made their claim to the territory ceded, but were resisted by the ruler of Annam They mm a. naval ex- pedition thither, and bombarded some places on the coast, but (1 d not long re- main Three year: later, however, the French troops who were returning from the Chinese war took possession of a pert of thepeninanla. zinory wnich is utllad Cochin China, Tne upper part of this strip comprises a king- dom called Annam. It is this regmn whlc'l Frame has occupied, and which has been the was of the war, which, it is to be hoped, has now ceased. On the eastern side of the peninsula of Sum: 15 the iong and? Paryow Ebrfip offer- The treaty of peace which is laid to have been concluded between France and Chins bung: to an end a war which has lmted abmt. three yams. The c 11- fl at has been one of conquest. on the part of France, and one of resistance to French encroachment on the part. of China. A Narrow Escape France and China. An Artesian Well. Charleston, South Carolina, hopes to have by August next the deepest Artesian well in the world. If it fulfills expectations it will be two thousand feet deep, will have a. diameter of at least six inches at the bottom, and will yield forr million gallons of water a dayâ€"enough for the ample suppby of the whole city. Work upon it is just about beginning. There are manufacturers in rocky New England who would bless their stars to be able to sink such a well in so short a time. is current. The rustic; know no omer coin Wages are necessarily low with 3110] a standard. I n Hong Kong coolles on the public works are paid 20 cents per day. In Hand, for more arduous labour in constructing streets, qnsys, wharves, canals and, bridges, where they have Etc remain all day in mud and water, from 5 csnts to 10 cents, which, as they would scarcely earn in the fields more than that in a week or a month, does not seem an inadequate recompense. BJya or men employed as cooks or body strvants are paid from $1 to $5 a month, the last amount only for the bes: skilled labour, and it is considered princely. The ad- vent of the French is furnishing an ex- traordinary market for certain kinds of manufactured goods, for curios and for farm produce, which is in great demand with the oflicers and soldiers. Still prices rule exaraordinary low when compared with any European standard. The money gained in trade or earned in labor is squandered at once by this most improvi- deut peeple in the world. It is often only by paying small wages and avoiding gifts that a person can secure the desired service. If the stipend is thoughtlessly raised or a “cumshaw” is given for duty unusally well performed, the recipient is too apt to disappear, not to appear again till the money has been uselessly spent and he has been driven to hopeless beggary. The Money of Tonquin. The currency of the country is the best indication oi the poverty 01 its people. The only money of Tonquin is the sapek, a. small coin .f base metal resembling the Chinese cash but only one-fourth as val- uable. For'y-zhree of them are worth one cent. There are therefore 4,300 in a dollar, which weighs over 20 pounds. Ten dollars make a heavy load for the 3M ua Whael'arrows which fill the p‘sce of drays in America in domg the heavy city tramp fixation, and the pay of a regâ€" iment in the old days of Tongâ€"due rule sufficed to load a good-sizad junk. The population of the cation is some what habit- uated to the Mexican dollar and the sil- ver and. copper coins of Hong Kong. the straits settlemcnis and Cochin China, but in the c JUDIYY nothing but the sapak 1» _ A _ _ , 7 A nu ' iect (f especial hatred, and was soon cov' ered by the reptiles, which wound them- selves about his body and bit him to such an extent that he swelled to twice his nat- ural size. After a fight of about fifteen minutes the men had everything their own way, and over fifty were glbhel'ed uP 3nd 1 carried away .s trophies of the afl'ray. They wuu Bl id to an old medicine-man, win) extracts the oil from the fat to sell to persons afflicted with rheumatism, neural- gia. sprain, and other ailment. As high as $5 per ounce is paid by those who be- lieve in the wonderful curative qualities of the snake oil. The young men out ofl‘ the rattles of many of the snakes, some having as high as fifteGn m- twantyy "*4 the snake ranged in size from sixteen inches to six feet, one large blacksnake, a perfect spec‘men, measuring a. trifle over- six feet. Had it not been for the fight be- tween the rival snsk s the young men might have been dangerously bitten. Last Sundar morning a party of three young mm, W P. Hall and t vo brothers uameJ Weatfall, had an encounterwlth a lot of rantlesnakes and blacksnakes at Rme’a Switch. The local ty is Wild and romantic. It is in the centre of a blue- stone 0 luntry, and every apru g the q lar- rymeu in blasting the rock cone across large quantities of snakes which have en- sconced themselves in the bluestone ledges to escape the rigors of the long winter months. They emerge ii tha up mg. and utter basking in the not sun for a low days they leave the spot for food and water. Just above Rose's Switch is a thick ledge or succession of rock known to almost every quarryman as the snake den. The Young men had this place in view when they started out. Providing themselves with stout green clubs they advanced 0H1- tiously upon several large rattlers found sunning themselves, and quickly disptach- ed them. not. however, before they had. Elven the peculiar :- .ttliug noise for w ilch they are so well known. This had the effect of bringing out countless numbers of rep‘iles, and before the young men were aware of it they were surrounded on all sides by a h s ing rattling lot of snakes that made them shudder with fear. For- tunately they h»d on stout beats, and the snakes were not in as good c )nditinn to bite and do harm as vhey would be later in the season. The numbn r of snakes kept il- creasing to Both an extent that the young men in their terror maintain that they must have encountered 150 or 200 snakes of the rattlesnake and blacksnake varie- ties. Finslly it was uotic d that the snakes were fighting among themselves, on inspection it val seen that the black snakes were attacking the rattlu rs, and vice versa, bmh being warmed up to their work by the beating they had received from the yzung men. Although black- snakes and rattler: mingle with each other during the l( n2, cold winter months, yet (I: the a proach of spring they separate after a eadly cc mbat, wherein the black- snakes are sometime victorious and the rattlers on other occasions. A spitz dog which‘followed the young men was an ob- Cold feetâ€"Two feet of snow. Perilous dvcnlnrcs ofa Paily of tom‘s A BATTLE “'l'l‘ll SNAKES. M4 ->”‘