.-: s Farmer! and tlie Bo ad Question. .
T ' T AVING been appointed a del
I egate to this congress by the
I I Department of Agriculture
of the Province of Ontario,
It Is with some degree of timid
ity that I attempt to address so large
and distinguished an assemblage of
public spirited representatives gath
ered fronvso many distant States and
Europeofn countries, on so important
nnfll
mtdrpsf ne thnr nr pctni roans.
Having followed with deep interest
the progress of the good roads move
ment of recent years in both the United
States and Canada, I desire briefly to
jtouch upon a few points of the good
roads question from the farmer's point
of view.
If It is sound puDitc policy ana tne
true function of government to do in
line interest of the community as a
;Whole all those things which the indi
vidual cannot well do by himself, does
It not appear clear that the State
should pay the whole cost for improv
ing its main thoroughfares? These are
to be the leading arteries connecting
all business centres, and continuing
from, county to county across the en
tire State and separate from the many
ether local roads to be cared for by the
local authorities.
The principle of State built highways
iappears to be as old as civilization
itself, being adopted by the first ex
tensive builders of good roads the
Carthaginians and Romans. Not since
,the building by the latter of the Ap
pian Way and the 53,000 miles of solid
roads across that ancient empire, and
Which, remain as monuments of their
Wisdom to this day, has any country
obtained the priceless boon of good
roads .without some measure of State
aid. Let the State first build its main
highways and they will be ever pres
ent object lessons to the local authori
ties for constructing the other roads.
The length'and numoer of streets in
the city are short and small compared
With the compact concentration of
wealth, thus making the burden of
cost comparatively light for street im
provement. In the country districts
the length and number of only the
leading highways to be improved are
bo far out of proportion to the sparsely
settled, and scattered wealth of the
farming communities that it is entirely
cut of the question for the farmers
alone to think of paying the much
larger comparative cost for such first
class stone roads as are required. The
farmers have always borne their share,
sometimes more than their fair share,
of needful taxation, and will not object
to paying their just part for State built
good roads.
Partial measures of State aid are
steps in the r4ght direction, so far as
they go. I would not say anything in
disparagement of the good work and
the very commendable degree of prog
ress that has been made under the
partial systems of Stute aid for good
road3 in those leading States of New
Jersey, Connecticut and New York.
But in the foremost State, Massachu
setts, which has adopted more nearly
the European and Roman systems, we
find the nearest to the Ideal plan, a
continuous system of good roads built
across the entire State, under compe
tent State authority. The work is pro
jected and the roads properly located
where they will be of the greatest good
to the greatest number. The State
imilds the roads and pays the whole
tost, and afterwards charges one
ifourth of it to the county through
.which the road is built. This far less
complicated system overcomes an im
mense amount of difficulties,, draw
backs and delays with the less enter
prising local authorities of county or
township.
Let the general governments of tho
United States and Canada build ideal
continental highways from ocean to
ocean. Let the States and provinces
imfld similar highways from border to
-iborder. Let the European nations ex
pend some of their war millions In
building. Ideal highways from Europe
across Asia, thereby placing Western
civilization in closer touch with the
Chinese and other Orientals. Let the
United States and England build good
roads ia the Philippines and South
'Africa, and they will more effectually
pacify the Filipinos and Boerg at far
less cost than by use of the cannon.
J. F. Bean,' Vice-President Ontario
.Good Roads Association, at the Buf
falo Good Roads Congress.
Road That Brine Comfort.
' Before all things the United States
Is an agricultural country. It is the
tiossibillty of large returns for labor
in this direction which keeps up the
price of' labor in' our manufactories
:and in .all our industries,' and thus
brings comfort and ease within the
re:xch of all. Good roada, by lessen
ing the cost of agricultural products,
form the! most effectual means of
maintaining the condition of comfort
and even luxury of which America 13
so proud. li. W. Conn, Department
of Biology, Wcsleyan University, Mid
dletown, Conn.
A Prediction.
When in the years to come cur pub
lic roads cease to be a reproach to our
beloved land, farmers will wonder
how they were ever content to strug
gle through beds of mud or over roads
frozen Into a succession of miniature
hills and valleys. The -bicycle will
then be such a frequent visitor .n
rural districts that "Hail, Columbia!"
will have a double meaning to the
American people. S. Jennie Smith,
Syosset, Queens County, Long Island.
A Sure Indication.
Good roads and broad highways for
good citizens; alleys, slum ways and
cowpatbs for the vicious, the depraved
and the lawless. Charles N. Day, New
Haven, Conn.
WHAT WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY IS
Modern Physicist' Views Regarding Elec
trical Phenomena.
In order to follow Intelligently the
advance of wireless telegraphy from
the beginning, some rough idea must
be had of the modern physicist's views
regarding the nature of electrical phe
nomena. To this end all space must
be regarded as permeated by a some
thing termed the luminiferous ether.
Not only does this ether permeate the
spaces between the heavenly bodies
and our atmosphere (which concep
tion offers little difficulty to the lay
mind), but it also permeates all solids.
Further, its nature is such that the
movement even of solids is not in the
least restrained by such permeation,
the closest analogy being that of a
sieve, representing the solid, being
moved about in water representing the
ether.
The ether Is the seat not only of all
electrical phenomena, but also of all
the phenomena of light and heat. All
of these, apparently so distinct, are
but the result of vibrations or waves
on the ether, the apparent differences
being due only to differences in the
length of the waves and the rapidity
with which they occur, just as one mu
sical note differs from another in the
same particulars, only that the sound
waves are air waves and not ether
waves.
Now with the usual telegraphic
methods the current, as it is termed,
is sent or directed through space by
means of a metallic conductor. Actu
ally nothing passes through the wire,
as is implied by the use of the word
"current." What actually takes place
is the transmission of energy along the
path of the wire by means of vibra
tions in the neighboring ether. That
is, the metal of the wire acts merely
as a guide for the ether waves to the
destination desired.
In wireless telegraphy, ether vibra
tions are also set up at the transmit
ting station, but these, having no con
ducting guide, radiate in all directions
through space, and a small percentage
of them arrives at the receiving sta
tion, and by means of suitable appara
tus are made appreciable by the senses
or recorded. The Great Round World.
A Lapland Clock.
Terhaps it is not realized by many
persons that in the higher latitudes
clocks become more and more a con
venience, if they are not a prime neces
sity to the housekeeper. WThen the
sun Is above the horizon for weeks to
gether there is' little difference to be
noted between day and night. An Eng
lish traveler describes a clock he met
with in Lapland:
"An ordinary solid clock does not
take the Laplander's eye. He likes
something flimsy, and if possible, some
thing novel.
"At one place, hung on a peg driven
into the logs of the wall, we were con
demned to gaze hourly upon the ex
asperating device of a dentifrice ad
vertisement connected with a clock. In
this a smiling young person drew a
toothbrush briskly across a beautiful
set of cardboard teeth between every
tick.
"I was much wishful for sleep and
forgetfulness, but neither would come,
Hour after hour I was condemned to
He awake and stare at the toothbrush,
clock, and to read the legend, printed
in my native tongue, that it was 'made
in Germany,' and that the dentifrice
was put up in neat packets, priced six
pence, or one shilling, and that it could
be had of any chemist with the least
presumption to call himself respecta
ble. "I argued at the time that the clock
had drifted far from the land to which
the ingenious advertiser had destined
it, seeing,., that . the letter-press was
English, and that the Laplanders do
not use tooth-powder, even If they
could have read about it" Youth's
Companion.
- A Traveler's Predicament.
A traveler getting outside St. Peters
burg discovered, when he tried to re
enter the city, that he had left his pass
port in the bedroom of his hotel. The
guards refused, to let him pass; refused
to send for the passport.' "According
to you," said -he, "the only thing for
me to do is to throw myself in the.
Neva!" "No!" said the sentry, "sui
cide in Russia is strictly against the
law." London Globe.
PARI AND GARDEN.
When to Water Hogs.
Always water hogs before feeding,
and never afterwards. If this is prac
ticed and the animals are given ear
corn on a feeding floor, fourteen pounds
of com will produce two pounds of
gain. In -other words, every bushel of
corn ought to . produce ten pounds of
pork. If this is not being accomplished
something is wrong.
Cost of Milk Production. '
Tou ask for the approximate cost of
producing milk at the prevailing prices
of feeds, etc. This Is a .difficult ques
tion to answer, depending on whether
the cows are fresh or strippers. As
suming that they are good, ordinary
cows, and as the ordinary dairy goes,
some fresh and some strippers. We will
take a good average dairy, say of twenty-five
cows, all in, milk, no boarders,
and they will produce not to exceed
eight quarts apiece, or 200 quarts per
day. This is the average dairy,' re
member, not pure-breds.
Corn and wheat feeds average $30
here; hay, $10; silage, $3 at least. We
will feed each cow as follows per day:
Forty pounds silage at $3 would cost
six cents; ten pounds-hay at $10, five
cents; ten pounds grain at $30, fifteen
cents; hired labor, two cents. Thus
making a total per cow per day of
twenty-eight cents, or $7 per day for
twenty-five cows. On the assumption
that these cows produce 200 quarts of
milk per day, the cost of production is
three and one-half cents per quart. 11
nave let tne good iarmer work for
nothing and board himself, and have
put nothing for the use of the cows,
buildings, etc., considering only direct
cost of feed and labor. H. T. Coon, in
American Agriculturalist.
Qccse and Ducks.
Although many farmers refuse to
allow ducks or geese to be kept on the
farms bceause, as they say, they are
too troublesome, nevertheless both are
easily kept and exceedingly profitable
when rightly managed. During the
spring and summer months both will
gather their food in any old pasture
where hogs or cattle would starve.
They do best when allowed a pond or
stream of water to swim in, but they
can be kept with only sufficient water
for drinking. The young grow rapid
ly, and after the first few weeks they
require no care except to feed. They
are never troubled with mites and need
no warm house such as chickens must
have. They are healthy and seldom
die from any disease..
They do not lay during the winter
months, but from February to August
will average from 100 to 125 eggs each.
Dressed ducks and geese alwaj's bring
good prices during the fall and winter
months, and the feathers, which may
be plucked during the spring and sum
mer, will more than pay for the cost
of raising. They are great foragers,
but any kind of a low fence will keep
them In bounds. We are inclined to
think that the prejudice against them
is mostly due to the fact that farmers
have not tried the pure breeds of the
present day. Every farmer should pos
sess a flock of both ducks and geese.
Home and Farm.
Using Weeds and Litter For Bedding.
Such forms of vegetable production
as weeds, vines, stalks, etc., if gathered
and burned return but little value to
the farm. If allowed to remain cn the
ground they hinder plowing. Weeds
will grow, and they are productions
of our lands and have removed from
the soil a portion of its fertility. How
to return this to the soil In the most
convenient form and get other benefits
from this refuse should be considered
by every farmer.
Near large cities straw has become
almost too expensive an article for
bedding. Shavings and sawdust are
not entirely satisfactory. Upon the
farm we have that which can take the
place of these for stable litter. By a
little extra labor and care weeds and
rubbish can be gathered and secured
for bedding. Although not as soft as
straw, they are clean, absorb much of
the 4Jquid manure, -and soon decay in
the manure pile. When the seeds of
weeds have matured they had best be
burned, but lather than have the weeds
scattered on the ground I would chance
them in the compost heap, where a
large portion of them will be destroyed.
The leaves from treec can be easily
gathered and stored for stock bedding.
These may be considered by-products
of the farm that have -been going to
waste. Utilize them by returning them?
to the soil'ind let" them carry. in their
tissue some fertility from the stable.
J. H. Bowerman, in New England
Homestead.
Sorting: Potatoes.
Good order and execution are mer
itorious in any and every kind of
work we have to perform, and Invari
ably they have their reward, yet a
phase of neglect or absolute slouchiness
seems to characterize much that many
do, and encroaches more or less on
what Ave all do. To know an evil well
Is to suffer the inconvenience of our
own failures, to we feel confident to
portray tha shortcomings of others.
3
During the time of potato digging
I had occasion to drive past several
fields where potato digging was going
on, and talk with several about their
crop. I asked the question of several,
if they sort their potatoes when they
pick them up. In most cases the reply
was, "Oh, no! I expect to have more
time when I market them!" This idea
may seem plausible to some, but if
there are 100 bushels of small potatoes
among the 500 bushels put away, then
there . are 100 bushels that must be
handled over twice if they are not
sorted out in the field at the time of
picking up, and is it not easier to sep
arate them at that time than when in
discriminately mixed in the bulk of a
pit or bin of a cellar? Yes, and even
when sorted in the field there will still
be enough to exclude when you come
to sell. Then, if you have your pota
toes in a bin with a floor, the end of
which bin is removable, you can shovel
out into crates a load and get to market
with despatch, avoiding the inclemency
of the weather, while if you await a
fine day to, take, out your potatoes, it
will take you that day to sort and pre
pare your loads, and as you are aware,
in winter time the next day after a
fair one is apt to be stormy. If pota
toes are kept until nearly spring .with
out sorting. If it occur that they are
all mixed, it takes a pretty good eye to
tell this from the other, and the sorting
will be a little uncertain, so if a man
be not so conscientious as to what he
sells, he is liable to injure himself with
what he plants. We think that there
Is one way to do work which is a little
better than any other way, and It
pays well to learn which way that Is.
and while doing it, see that you have
it done. Farm, Field and Fireside.
PROFITS IN RAISING TREES.
Forestry Experts Point to the Telegraph
and Cross-Tie Markets.
It has been estimated that the tele
graph lines of the country require
nearly 600,000 new poles every year.
The cost of these is more than $1,000,-
000.
It is also estimated that there are
more than 020,000,000 cross-ties in use
by the railroads, and that 00,000,000
ties are required every year for renew
als.
The telephone and light companies
use nearly as many poles as the tele
graph companies, and the street car
systems of the cities use nearly as
many cross-ties as the steam railroads.
To awaken the farmers of the West
to the need of raising plantations of
wood to supply these needs of tele
graph, telephone and railroad compa
nies, the forestry division of the Agri
cultural Department has issued a bul
letin to show that such work is profit
able. The prices of pole and tie timber
have gone up nearly fifty per cent. in.
the last ten years. J. Hope Sutor, of
the Ohio and Little Kanawha Railroad,
an expert on the tie question, told the
Central Association of Railroad Offi
cers in Louisville a year ago that in
ten years more the prices of ties would
be fifty per cent, greater than at pres
ent. He also said:
"No material has yet been found as
a substitute for the wooden tie, and
no satisfactory economical method of
preserving the life of the wood or pro
longing its durability has yet been
discovered, and, excepting the minor
questions of properly seasoning and
piling, the use of the tie plate, suitable
ballast and perfect drainage and Inci
dentally climatic conditions, no serious
consideration of the future tie supply
has yet been had."
It Is for this reason the experts say:
"From every reasonable point of
view it appears that great profits are
to be made in the growing of forest
trees in the next twenty-five years."
It is declared that operations should
begin in the middle West. - There has
already been a great deal of tree plant
ing on the treeless prairies of the cen
tral West, especially in Kansas and
Nebraska. The forestry experts have
found one plantation near Hutchinson,
Kan., planted with catalpa trees
which in ten years has produced a net
value of $197.55 to the acre.
In Iowa, near Menlo, a twenty-five-year-old
plantation of red cedar showed
a net ..value,.. of . $200.54 to . the acre.
Osage orange, locust and hardy' catal
pa are the best trees to grow for these
commercial purposes. New York Sun.
The Heat of Australia.
Australia is the hottest country on
record. I have ridden for miles
astride the equator, but I have never
found heat to compare with this. Out
in the country in the dry times there
appears, to be little more than a sheet
of brownipaper between you and the
lower regions, and the people facetious
ly say that they have to feed their
hens cracked ice to keep them from
laying boiled eggs. Sydney Telegraph.
Why He Wept.
The extensive authority of parents
under the Chinese laws is well known.
A Chinaman of forty years, whose
aged mother flogged him every day,
shed tears In the company of one of
his friends.
"Why do you weep?", he was asked.
"Alas! things are not as they used to
be," answered the devoted son. "The
poor woman's arm gro'ws feebler every
day!' Sporting Times.
I 1 rrTrrrj!LJ
- rr-.' . '.-J?'
The exploitation of thg,Ganz system,
of alternating current trolley 1"PuI
sion, while not resulting iu the official,
adoption of the system anywhere, has-
been successful in bringing jc xo uac.
attention of the scientific world. It
is universally looked upon as con
taining the germ of the future sys
tems of electric traction.
A report from Constantinople is to
the effect that the Sultan has engaged
the services of Mr. Snurr. an English.
engineer, for the purpose of having a...
geological survey made in Turkey.
The work will be started in Mace
donia and Albany. Mr. Spurr has
traveled extensively in European and
Asiatic Turkey, and is a well-known
geologist. 1
During the past year the practical
Application of the light of electric
arcs'to the treatment of lupus and
other skin diseases was a noteworthy
feature of electro-therapeutics.. 'ne
alleged discovery of the efficacy of the-X-ray
8 in the treatment of cancerous
growths Is one of the most promising
contributions of electrical science to
medicine that has yet been made.
The extension of long-distance elec
trical transmission in California to an
actual span of over 200 miles, and the
general employment of voltages as
high as G0.000 in that State are epoch
making events. The experimental
transmission of power at 80,000 volts
is worth recording. .This year will
probably witness work pushed in this
direction to the limit of possibilities
of electrical engineering. ,
According to the Lancet, the essen
tial oil which forms the basis of all
perfumes is a powerful antiseptic, and
possesses disinfecting properties' equal
to those of carbolic acid. For this
reason a scented handkerchief may
not only please the sense of smell, but
prove a guard against infection, and 1
it is suggested that this fact may tend
to reconcile those who do not like perfumes-
to- their free use by those who
do like them. . .
A London physician tells the Times,,
in a letter, that he has noticed among
patients taking the open-air treatment
for 'consumption beneficial effectsAj
procured by riding in motor cars at a
speed of from thirty to fifty miles per
hour. The swift motion through the-
air is credited by him with causing,,
along with a marked feeling of ex
hilaration, increased appetite, im
proved, sleep, a healthy glow, tending,,
after a few days' treatment, to be
come permanent, and a diminution of
the tendency to cough.
One of the English astronomers, JV
J. Atkinson, who visited Sumatra to
observe the total solar eclipse last
May, made the acquaintance -of an old
Malay, living on a little island hear
the Sumatran coast, who owned a
huge monkey which he had trained to
work for him in gathering cocoanuts..
The monkey's business was to climb
the gigantic cocoanut palms and throw
down the nuts; "which he did," says
Mr. Atkinson, "in the most artlstie
manner, by screwing the nuts off with
his powerful arms while he hung by
his legs seventy to 100 feet from the
ground."
Soldiers and Sewing; Machines.
How is the lonely British soldier
amusing himself at the South African
blockhouse? A writer in the Navy
and Army surmises that in nearly ev
ery blockhouse would be found a sew
ing machine. "Above all things, Tom
my's heart loves a sewing machine.
Although he must know that he can
never suceed In getting it home to
England, yet if he finds one on a farm
he will tow it along with him, over
burdened as, he already is, upon the
march. Wherein the exact fascination
lies is a mystery, but grizzled Reser
vist and callow recruit alike cannot re
sist this housewife's help." There la
a.quaintness in the idea of the warrior
amusing himself with the mysteries
of the eewlng machine in his melan
choly loneliness. But he that sews la
tears . will doubtless reap in Joy.
' , The Chaperon in Samoa.
The chaperon Is becoming extinct iri
the United States, but she is an im
portant person ' in Samoa. She is the
constant companion of the taupou, or
village guide, who is appointed to en
tertain strangers, and show them the
various sights. Each village in Samoa
elects a girl for this office, and It la
necessary that she should be the
daughter of a chief. Her house is pro
vided for by the village, and she is-
the village, and she is
a court of native girls-
ives in the village is al- ' j
surrounded by
No man who lives
lowed to enter the sacred precincts, and
the taupou goes nowhere without an
elderly woman. If the taupou resigna
her office, the. chief can appoint an
other damsel of high degree.
Truth About the Burglar.
The industrious burglar is generally
doing something, even if it's only
time. Philadelphia Record.