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scnrounrunsn Sslectinz Seed. At this time when farm crops are being stored for the Winter, it is a good plan to selmt and care for the seed for next sea- son": crops. This may be taken from the crop raised on the home farm or,ifa change is desired, from that of a neighbor or com- mercial tsedsmnn. It is not everyone who realizes how great a difference in the value of the crop may be made by the use of dlf' ferent qualities of soed. And as no advan- tage of soil or climate, no extra work~in cultivation, and no effort of any kind which man can put forth, can make inferior seed yield a large crop, it is important that careful attention should be given to secur- ing a quality which, if other conditions are favorable, will produce an abundant ‘hnr- vest. The first requisite is seed suitshrc to the particular soil and climate. It is true that plants can be considerably modified by cultivation and sclection,aud that they may thus come to succeed in places in which at first they do not thrive, but this process of adaptation requires considerabletime. While it is going on, the yield of the crop is less than it would be if seed were used belong- ing to some variety which had already been acclimated, says American Farmer. It is important to use seed, the vitality of which has not been impaired. Reseeding will . involve both labor andcxpcnse, and its re- sults will be doubtful. In many cases, the late sowing will give only alight yield of inferior quality. Important as it is, vitality is not the only ghod quality required to make seed profitable. Some seeds come from prolific stock and will produce plants of the same quality, while others, which look equally well and will germinate just as readily, come from plants which gave only a light yield, and will themselves be comparatively unproductive. This fact is often ignored when selecting. Purchasers like to obtain nice looking seed, but they do not always make an edort to get that which came from heavy crops. Shrivelcd and imperfect seed will often grow, and on good land it may give a fair yield. But with such there is a. much greater risk of failure by reason of drouth, excess of moisture, sudden changes or great extremes of tem- perature, or other trying conditions. On thin soils it is particularly desirable to sow large and heavy seeds. They. will give more vigorous plants during the first stages of their existence than light ones and they will be better able to support themselves until their roots are well developed. What would otherwise be good seed is sometimes rendered worthless by being mixed with the seeds of foul plants. Very serious in- jury has often been done by sowing with grain or grass the seeds of foul weeds. It must not be supposed‘that the use of suit- able seed will of itself alone insure the production of a. good crop. The best that was ever grown will not give a. large yield if it is put into an exhausted or poorly pre- pared soil, planted too deeply, is insuffi- ciently covered, or in other ways fails toi have a fair chance for germination and for the development of the plants, A great deal of fault has been found with good seed which, owing to the unfavorable conditions under which it was used, failed' to produce afair crop. The man who sows the best does a. great deal toward securing a large yield. He makes an excellent beginning, but, in order that his hopes regarding the crop may be fully realized. he must comply with all the other conditions upon which completely succesaful grain growing de- pendsâ€"[Oranue Judd Farmer. Buy a Small Farm- I know of no farmer so happily situated as he who has both boys and girls to help carry on the farm. The principal item in the cost of all crops is labor and where the farmer and his family do the work the money received stays on the farm. No other busi- ness ofl'ers such a. chance to enter into co- partnership, and work for, and with, those we love. With the father and mother as senior partners and general advisers, with one daughter bookkeeper and general cor- respondent, anotherin charge of the poultry, and with each son in charge of some de- partment of the farm, we have a firm that would be prosperous and happy. Take your children into the firm, interest then in your plans and give them their share of ' the profits. For pleasure and profit I would place next to the farm managed and worked by the farmer and his family the small farm of 15 or 20 acres worked by the owner and one or two hired men. Such a farm if rightly managed will give the owner a. good livingand enable him to save from one to five dollars per day. With such a farm the owner will have time for rest and recreation and will be better off in every way than the man with the same ability and capital engaged in other kinds of busi- ness. I would never advise a young man to buy a large farm. I could name scores of men in New England that are up to their ears to-day in debt, who have worked 14 hours per day year in and year out who would have been well off to-day if they had locat- ed upon small farms. Such men are gen- erally cross and nervous ; they are worn out looking after details. They are not happy and they cast a gloom about them, for happiness and its opposite are both contagious. You cannot expend all your strength in physical labor and then expect your brain to do just as good work. These men have been so tired day in and day out that they have not been able to think clearly. They have kept on spending the profit realized on the portions of these farms that they have worked in paying in. terest and taxes and in otherwise keeping up the unused portions. If farmers in this plight would sell ofi" enough land to pay their debts they would be far better ofi". The foreclosure of a mortgage on such men is a blessing in disguise. It may seem extravagant but I honestly believe that half the farmers of New England are loud poor. For instance, we have. got a back pasture that gives us $25 worth of feed per year. During the last four years we have paid $110 to keep the brush down in it. Please figure the profitâ€"[Q A. R.. in Our Grange Homes. Bgus in Winter. Fowls‘iot properly sheltered and fed will be useless for eggs in winter. Constant watchfulness and care are necessary for succexs in poultry raising. healthful and happy. They should have a commodious house made as comfortable as possible. A board or gravel floor is nec- essary if thcre is any dampness ; but if the poultry house is in a perfectly dry location, where it is well drained, the ground will probably do just as. well. Large windows should be placed in the south wall of the house reaching almost to the floor, thus furnishing them with sunshine. _ Too many fowls in a. small house is an error often made. It never pays to crowd at any time, and especially so when the fowls must be confined the greater part of the time. Allow ton square feet on the floor and one foot on the roost to each fowl. A box filled with road dust and a. little sifted hard coal ashes should be provided. A plenty of fresh clean water should be given twice a. day ; water Is one of the es- sentials. In cold weather the water should be luke warm. Milk is much relished and is one of the best foods for egg production. Buttermilk thickened with brand is good for laying hens. A mess of lean meat two or three times a. week during the winter is invigorating and will increase the egg pro- duction. A few beans cooked and thicken- ed with bran or middlings make a good change. Sunflower seeds fed once a week are beneficial. Cayenne pepper is a. good stimulant. Half A teaspoonful to a dozen fowls, mixed in their soft feed is about the right quantity. It is a good plan to change the food en~ tirely every few days. There is nothing that pays better than u variety. â€"â€"lDola Fay. Deepening The Plowing- During the fall plowing is the best time to deepen the plowing, as the new sell will be greatly benefited by the action of freezing and thawing. min and snow, during the winter. The character of the subsoil should, however, in a great meas- ure, determine the depth of plowing. A hard pan subsoilhadbest be left if it; be deep. lVitli clay, a subsoil plow can be used too good advantage as this would deepen the soil without bringing the oil- productive subsoil to the surface. A soil that has an unproductive soil underneath, yet reasonably near the surface, can be benefited more by deep stirring than deep plowing, while a loamy soil of sufficient depth toadmit of deep plowing without bringing to the surface unproductive soil, will be greatly benefited by deep plowing. The character of the soil must always be considered in determining the manner of plowing. Often there will be plenty of latent fertility in the subsoil that needs only the action of the air and other elements to make it available. The deeper the soil and the larger the available supply of plant food, the better will the soil retain mors- ture and the more surely will it grow good crops. ‘ By plowing this kind of soil deep in the fall, considerable benefit may be derived. But even then it may not be best to plow too deep at one time, and especially the : case when shallow plowing has been follow- ed for some years and the fertility of the l surface soil has in a measure been exhaust- ed. \‘l'ith this class of soils the better plan in nearly all cases is to deepen gradually, in little at each plowing. Better results will be secured in plowing land deeper for the first time if it is left reasonably rough, as this exposes it more fully to the action of the different elements ithrough the Winter. A soil that is stirred deep is in a much better condition to grow a good crop than if only the surface is worked, but the character of the soil must determine whether it shall be plowed deep, or the surface plowed and the under soil simply stirred or loosened up. But in either case, the fall is a good time for doing the work.â€"â€"[N.S.J., in Prairie Farmer” Poultry. I am a. firm believer in having a separate place for the sitting of hens where they can do their work undisturbed by the lay- are. A laying hen is, in proportion to its weight, one of the largest producers of sale- able products on the farm,exceeding in this respect even the cow. Hons may fail to lay because of improper feeding. An egg is very complete in its composition, as it will produce a chick, and the food must necessarily correspond. The safest and best course to pursue is to feed a. variety. Hens are individuals, and the different members of a flock may in no manner he alike. When it is claimed that a flock does not lay, it must be considered that some of the best hens to be found may be in the flock, and may be laying, but as many in the flock may be non-producers, the good hens fall under condemnation simply for being in bad company. If a fowl is fed on onions for a week be- fore being killed the flesh will taste of the vegetable, and a fat (luck that has been given celery is rather a delicate dish to set down before a. hungry man, and by parity of reasoning it will seem that a fowl which has had the run of the farm will naturally absorb some of the flavors that run roit about stables and outbuildings. Hens like a. variety of food, besides all kinds of grain, raw or boiled (better boiled), and mashed boiled potatoes. They are fond of chopped cabbage and onions, once or twice a week ; and when they can not get grass, they will eat quite freely of finely. cut hay. They are not fond of burnt bones, because the fat and marrow are burned out but raw bones, chopped into fine pieces. they will devour greedily. Animal matter: . either manufactured or home-made, is also very essential to their health and profit, in Winter. Experiments made show that the germs of roup are destroyed when brought in contact with spirits of turpentine. 'luL'- pontine, however, is a severe dose to give, even if effectual, and if too much is given it may do damage of itself. To properly prepare it, mix one part of spirits of tur- pentine, one part of kerosene, and three parts of glycerine in a sewing-machine oil- con, and always shake well before using. With the point of the oil-can force three drops of the mixture in each nostril and five or six drops down the throat of the foul twice a. day. Fowls, when about to be moved short distances, should never be lifted by the wings or tucked under the arms of their attendants. They should be seized gently but firmly by the legs and carried head downward wherrver it:is necessary to take them. There is no danger of apoplexy, limp the ferns free from parasites and as their might be in your own casein such l W aposition, and it is not possible for the bird so held to injure itself or its feathers RENOFVCE Tllll IIINDERANCE. during any short journey about your im- How People rzny Help the Slrynnd Sons!- mediate premises. A twisted Wing or tail- feather in a fowl is equivalent probably to a cut finger with us, and no effort of poor hiddy‘s beak can restore it to its normal condition, or reunite the broken web of a single plume. Practical Pointers. The colt which is intended for breeding should possess not only a good pedigree,- but individual merit. Indeed, the second is the most necessary. The brecding of a thoroughly good class of live stock has unquestionably become the sheet anchor of British agriculture. Take up the study of certain crops an learn all that you can about them, and be prepared to put that knowledge into prac- tice next spring. I think one of the really remarkable things about rural Canada is that so few dooryards and barnyards are underdrained. These should be the first parts of the farm attended to. Sunflower seed, it is well known, is a good egg‘producing food for chickens ; it is also fine food to give the plumage a glossy appearance for exhibition purposes. Caring for the fruit trees is the most neglected part of the farm business. The orchard is planted in most any kind of a way and is cultivated Whenever there is time, whether it is in season or out of season. .â€"____o.â€"_._ erlisli Rule in India. The ncw Viceroy of India. enters upon his duties at a time when there is consider- able unrest throughout the country, and it would almost appear that this wonder of the world, a. handful of British ruling millions of an alien race, was about to be disturbed. lVith an army of 72,800 Euro- peans and 349,800 native soldiers, the eovereignty of the Empress of India. is maintained over a population of 3W),000,- 000. '1 he Viceroy governs India. for five years, and comes back home again; the British chiefs who rule over the pr oviuce are there for a short term of years, and then they also return. Officials in the Civil Service also look forward to the time when after twenty or thirty years ofservics they will go home to England, and live at Chelteuham or Brighton, or some other chosen place for Anglo-Indians. There is no founding of families to remain in India, and no leavenlug of the vast native mass with European blood. But the British Government is still supreme in India, it overcame the sepoy mutiny in 1857, and it would probably be able to put down such a rising again should it occur. There is little doubt that the natives do better on the whole than they did under the native sovereigns who bore rule, and fought with each other with a good deal of persistence, down to the Battle of Plassy in l757. Sir Edwin Arnold says that most of them are fully convinced of this, and that any change would, for them, be likejumping out of the frying-pan into the fire. Yet, from time to time,the native press exhibits an impatience under the existing state of things which has to be put down with a strong band. The editor, publisher, and printer of a Bengalce journal were prosecuted last year for articles describing the Government of India as one of brute force, and attributing to it the growth of disease, and although these persons subsequently tendered. an apology and the case was not proceeded with, the circumstance isa typical one. The very fact ofa. free criticism of the Government being dealt with in such a. way shows how different are the conditions pre- vailing in India. from those in other parts of her Majesty’s dominions. There are, however, people, both native and British, who think that western methods might with advantage boiutroduced in India, and the tendency in this direction is one of the difficulties of governing. Those who un- derstand India best tell us that a wise and firm despotism is the only possible way of governing India well, and that any relaxa- tion of this method would be to set the dif. ferent races at each other’s throats again- Nevertheless there are people who would cheerfully give every Hindoo and Mussul- mamin India. a vote. But the religious difficulties and the spread of Mohammedauism present the gravest problems. \Vlien the Mohammed- ans publicly kill a cow, n. sacred beast ac- cording to the Hindoo religion, in order to exasperate the latter, and the Hindoos retaliate by killing a pic: and throwing it into a. mosque, rioting and conflict naturally arise. The new Viceroy has thought it necessary to allude to this in a speech, the report of which is just to hand. The Mo- hammedans are not so amenable to the rule of Britain as the Hindoos, who in a large degree have been Britain’s best subjects in India, and the Mohammedan religion has made advances in India which far exceed those made by Christianity. In the prov- ince of Bengal alone the Mohaminedans exceed the Hiudoos, in a population which may be roughly stated as forty millions, by a million and a half, and this preponderance has been achieved in a comparatively short number of years. And though, in South- ern India, the Mussulmans make very good subjects, they are not so submissive as the Hindoos. They regard the European as an infidel, and they think the empire will be theirs when the British rule has passed away. Dnulsh Butler. It is quite possible that the effect of all he praises that have been said and written of the Danish butter industry in this coun- try muy be to deter our farmers from entering seriously into competition with the highly appreciated rivals already in possession of the British market. But there is another side to the story. English consumers are becoming quite alarmed on account of the extensive growth of Danish margarine. The total production of this article for the year ending March, 1893, was 16,513,844 pounds, an increase of 4,000,- 000 pounds in a. year. It cannot be possible that the Danes eat all their own margarine and export all their butter. If that were so they would not be likely to eat 4,000,000 pounds more one year than another. Any- way, English housekeepers are pondering over the statistics. They would feel safer in paying for butter brought in from a country where there are no margarine fuc- tories. Canada enjoys this distinction, and may turn it to good account. live to I'm forth Their Best. Efforts. There are many persons whose kindlincss of heart would lead them to help actively in the improvement of mankind, but who are appalled by the complex schemes that are presented and the difficulties that en- compass them. They have notlarge means or much leisure or great talent, they lead busy lives and have certain definite claims upon them, and even with the little that is in their power to do or to give, it seems so easy to accomplish more harm than good that it is no wonder they are often discour‘ aged from making definite effort in that direction. There is one means of doing good that is so simple. so true, so safe, so applic- able alike to profound theories, and to the most humble and unobtrusive efforts, that it might perhaps prove a solution of the problem to just this class of persons. It is the removal of hindrances. The wise moth- er, who sees her little ones first struggling efforts to walk, does not defeat them by taking him up and carrying him to the de- sired point : but she removes any obstacle that may throw him down, and cheers him onward. Now men and women everywhere are hampered in their efforts by disabilities, more or less serious, and to clear any of them away 18 perhaps as bene- ficial a service as we can perform for them. Some of these are very obstructive and per- sistent, dcmanding great wisdom. thought and time to dislodge; but many of them are slight, and not difficult to remove. For example, nothing more completely cramps the powers and fosters the freedom than ill health. By so much as the bodily functions are disordered will the mind and the hands refuse to do their best work. All efforts lthen in favor of sanitary measures in secur- ing cleanliness of streets and houses and persons, in procuring wholesome and well cooked food, in regulating temperature and exercise, and in cultivating healthful habits generally, must inevitably tend to increase the value and the happiness of men. And while this work may well tax the entire poWers of the wisest physician, it also affords ample opportunity for the humbler efforts of any intelligent and bencvolently- inclined person. A very common disability, which is quite possxble to remove, lies in the shyness and fear of failure, that prevent so many per- sons from putting forth their best endeav- ors. Any one with ordinary insight may observe this paralyzing element in some whom they casually meet, and may do something towards dispersing it by the kindly Word of encouragement, the timely and friendly counsel, the magnetic influ~ ence of hope, the inspiration of trust and confidence. It is interesting to notice how often a man becomes that which his friends or society expects him to be. He will rarely disappoint us when we show him that we have faith in him, and anticipate good results, and this fact is full of sugges- tion to those who seek opportunities for doing good. Again, there is the disability of ignorance. Education has many good results, but none that are more sure than the sense of pOWer and self-reliance with which it invests its possessor. We may not know the exact use a man will make of it, but we may rest assured that, whatever be the circumstances into which he is thrown, he will amount to far more, and enjoy far more, if he has had its advant- ages. And although education is a. large subject, and one worthy of all the wisdom of a nation to deal with, yet every thought- ful man or woman can do something to promote it. Whenever We share what we know with others; whenever we arouse curiosity in a child, or answer his questions intelligently ; whenever we dispel a prej- udice, or clear up a doubt, or set a. single mind to thinking for itself, we, to that extent, remove the olfitacle of ignorance, and aid in the grand cause of education. These are mere suggestions of what may be done in the way of removing hindrances from life’s pathway. To one who will watch for opportunities they will open up on every side. In the crowded thoroughfare of business, in the social circle, in the quiet of the family, in the intercourse of friends, in the school room, on the street-every- where, in fACt, may we find occasion to roll away the stone that obstructs the way of some onc‘s happiness or success. And, though such efi'orts may be desultory and unorganized, though they may appear small and insignificant, though they may not al‘ ways seem successful, not one of them is lost. In what way they may help we cannot always foresee, but that they will is certain. We cannot be eyes and ears for another ; we cannot think of him, or act for him; we cannot carry him on our shoulders to any desired haven; nor if we could, would it be any real blessing to him; but we can help him to stand on his own feet, to run his own course, to free himself from some of the trammels and hindrances which obstruct his path. Additional freedom of thought and power of action are always, and under every circumstance, blessings to mankind; and whoever helps to produce them, in ever so humble a. manner, is a true benefactor to his race. *â€" New Sour-cc of Revenue, Russia is Working a new source of revenue which, so far, has yielded richly in propor- tion to its extent. A St. Petersburg dis- patch says : “A new source of revenue has been opened in the Russian Post-Office De- partment. By a decree which became operative yesterday, all registered letters are to be opened by the postmen in the receivers’ presence, and, if found to con- tain money from abroad, seventy-five per cent. of the amount is to be seized.” There is something admirable after all about the brutal frankness of this method of rob- bing its subjects adopted by the Czar’s Gov- ernment. Here is money passing through the Government’s hands and going people, while the Government has need of money. Why not supply its needs out of this money ? “No sooner said than done,” as the saying goes. The, Czar decrees the law; nothing easier than to decree that three-quarters of the money passing through the Postofiice to the people shall be stolen in transit by the Government and appropri- ated to its purposes. So the decree is made and is enforced, and every man who expects to get a dollar sent to him through the Post office, is, henceforth, handed 8. quarter-ofâ€"a-dollar, and the remaining seventy-five cents is kept by a paternal government ! M In some parts of Flordia legislation has been found necessary to prevent the extinc ion of aligators. to the. “PLEASE I" A CHRISTMAS rusnif‘alll'. It was the eve of the thirdlChristmss they had spent together, those two, man and girl. The first had been a. happy one to her. He was kind enough then, in his rough way, and she, the girl, loved as a woman would. In the merryumaking of the Seacoast town she joined quite gladly. The second was a time of agonies and the festivities of the season were discordant on her cars. A newborn note of pain was dominant. That was a year and a (lay ago. \Vhat would this coming birthday celebration bring to the patient woman-patient of many pains, patient of many hopes unful- filled ‘3 That wailing note of the year ago had passed out of her home, yet not from her heart; it had bscn stillcd the day be- fore. It was his hand, the man’s, that had torn the one chord of melody out of her discordant life. In his anger and his rage in liquor he had cast the child. from him. Its cries of infant pain disturbed him and he stilled them forever on thehearthstoncs. And on this eve of the holy day she wait- for his coming from the sea, where she thought he had labored at his nets. There was keen pxin in her heart. She hated him for the crime he had done in his drink, but she prayed that he might come back to her to be forgiven, so much was she a woman. Far up upon the crown of the cliff she waited. Below the sea. beat boldly on the sands, broke bravely on the rocks above ; far out from the mist of the nightfall the cries of the wild birds rang in her ears as the cry of her own, as rung but a. day ago. She waited patiently, her white face turned to the white mist, and when became he came unseen by her ; came from the heat and angers of the village house. Murder was still in his heart, madness in his brain. “So it’s here ye are, is it? thy did ye leave yer place, aye T" He held her hands in one of his strong hands, stained and stiff with the salt of the sea. “ Picase Matt, the babyâ€"I could na’ stay." “ Aye, and what ails the baby 1’” From his brain his midnight act had gone; a keener lust of strength had place there: in. “ Please, dear, ye hurt my hands. Please, dear l" “ And so, my lady, you’re as tender as ye were a. year ago.” And the hand tight- ened on the hands and the girl went to her knees. The loose hand struck her in the face ; red replaced the white in the thin chock. ' " Please, Matt, this is Christmas eve.” Only a plea, patient as before. Another plow and the white was gone from all the ace. A single cry mingled with the night bird’s, a cry not of pain of body, for she was brave as women are, but ofheart. " Please, dear, don’t; I meant no harm l” “Ye did. Ye complained down in the town. They mocked me in the ‘The Yawl’ this night. They mocked me for my ways to thee, and even Bracket blamed it to my liquor. He’ll drink no sup of his this Christ- mas !” “I never told them what ye did, Matt. Let me go. Please 3” “Aye, I'll let ye go, and far at that l“ A gust of wind swept up from theses. and chilled her face, and made it white again. The salt blinded his eyes and the | girl strove to free herself from the hand that pressed upon her neck. “ Please, Matt,” as the 'Ihand tightened more, “I did na.’ mean to fret ye. Please.” " ‘Please !’ aye, ‘Please !’ That’s all yer language. Always ‘Please !’ Time ‘Please!’ when I struck ye first! Why did ye na’ fight. ’Twas ‘Please!’ when I brought ye no food, ‘Please!’ when yer cursed cryin‘ baby died, and now as ye beg all ye can say is ‘Please 3” ’ He threw her from him, then ut his knee upon her and held her fast to t e sea- wet rock, and her white face was turned up to his burning one and to the gray sky above in supplicatiou. “Don’t hurt me so, dear, please don’t." “Curse ye, yer all me trouble, all me row, and I’ll wind it up just now. I’m tired of ye, do ye hear? and ye’ll never tell about yer screeching baby i" He picked her from the stone in his strong arms and held her so hard against his breast that she cried out in her pain: “Please God, help me E” No one heard, for the sea broke louder in its fierce fight with the strand and the night birds shrilled louder in the mist. “Please, Mattâ€"” as he lifted her white face far above his own ; “please not there, the sea cries out so loud ! Please l” , “Please it's good enough for you. ' It’s good enough, that sea, to wash ye from me. Please take that. and that, and that !” He lifted the light body far above his head. “Here’s s. bonny Christmas present for ye,” he shrieked to the crying sea. , The face on the cliffs below was turned up to the gray sky : it was all white again save for the red marks on the sharp stones; This was her third Christmas. A Desperate Attack. A remarkable exhibition of_ “nerve” in shooting was given by Col. Nightingale, a famous sportsman of India. He had got a running shot at a tiger from the back of his elephant, hitting him in the shoulder. The beast rushed away, and made for some bushes 150 yards off, whence it man emerged. The tiger rushed at him, and struck him down. Tiger and man were in a confused heap on the ground. At the risk of hitting the man, the colonel fired, and heard the ball strike a. bone. The tiger, with a roar, rolled. off the man, and plunged into a ravine. The colonel’s conical bullet had carried off the lower jaw and fangs of the brute. No other shot would have saved the man, but without a. jaw the tiger could not seize him. The man, who was (leaf, and moving about the jungle, had only been scratched by the tiger’s claws. _ The tiger was sought. He was waiting to be found, for as soon as he saw the elephant on the edge of the ravine he charged furiously. A ball through his neck rolled him over down the ravine. The elephant was pushed forward, and up the slope the furious tiger rushed. A ball in the chest killed him. He was an enormous animal], measuring four test three inches at the shoulder, and the length of the skin was twelve feet " eight inches.