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This butter may be otherwise first-class, and if sold on the market at once might be marked as prime or fancy, says E.P. Smith. But a slight taint develops rapidly, and by the time the butter reaches the market there is a faulty flavor suficieut to mark the butter as second or third class. This causes too great a loss to be endured wiih equaciinity, and yet butter must be sold upon its merits. . There is other butter at this time of the year that is so distinctly out of flavor that one must conclude that the manufacturer knew wha he was doing. He intended to save in feeding and make inferior butter, and he gets only the price that all faulty butter brings There is no sympathy with such manufacturers, for they are steadily injuring the reputation of American butter both at home and abroad. Most of the trouble comes direct from feeding. Every one is trying to economize in feeding at this time of the year. Frosty feed is the most prolific cause of slightly defective butter. The taint shows itself early and develops rapidly, deteriorating the butter so that it cannot endure storage very long. Creameries for self protection must insist upon farmers feeding only good feed to their cows. A little independent investigation would soon weed out the fa r- mers who feed any and every thing to their cows from those who are particular to feed only good fodder. In this way the right ones will suffer the loss,and not the helpless consumers or the innocent creameries. There are manyothet thingsbesides defec- tive food that cause trouble in the butter, and one is the way in which the cream is handled in cold weather. Some dairymen think that the cold weather will keep the Cream all ri ht without any special care on their part. In the summer time they know deterioration i rapid,and'they have to use cold storage and the best methods for aerating the milk. But frequently in the fall and winter no attention is paid to aerating or cooling the milk, and it is sim- ply poured into the deep delivery cans over night and left there until morning. The milk is effected in this way and the butter is inferior. The milk and cream must be kept sweet, pure, and clean in winter as well as in summer. If more attention was paid to winter keeping of cream and milk, and better feed given to the cows,we would have less defective and faulty-flavored butter in the market, AGRICULTURAL {'nvenient Feed Back for Sheep. “h. The usual method of feeding sheep has a number of disadvantages. When fed from the floor adjacent to their pen, the lambs are quite sure to be found walking all over the hay and grain, and making themselves generally at home in the uttermost parts of the barn. The sheep, moreover, wear ed the wool from their necks and disfigure themselves when feeding through openings in the side of their pen. Where the fodder is thrown down from the floor above the pen an arrangement such as is shown in the HANGING FEED RACK. illustration may be found serviceable. _It is a hanging rack with slats all around it, and made narrow at the bottom so that the flock can reach even the last spear of hay. There will be no crowdin with such an arrangement. The feed wi i not be sailed, and the pen can be kept closed so that the lambs cannot escape from it. Even when the fodder is not thrown down from the floor above such a rack may be hung near the side of the pen, and the hay thrown over into it from the feeding floor, giving much more feeding space to the flock than would a rack nailed against the side of the pen. One Value of Rotation. A student of first causes would doubtless find that many things which are now on- grafted as ports of our most common agri~ cultural practice, owe their origin to an observance of the ways of nature. In the rotation of crops we but follow nature in her habitual methods as Thoreau long ago pointed out,when an oak forest is cut away the earth is speedily reclcthed with pines; clover, if left to itself, will soon die out and grasses take its place. Experimenta- tion has shown thata soil may be so barren of certain elements of plant food that some one crop will make but the slightest growth This would lead one who knew nothing of the constituents of the soil, how varied they are,and how different are the require- ments of diderent plants, to exolaim that the soil itself was barren. But the intelli- gent farmer knows this is not true, and he varies the uses to which he puts the land, bringing into play, in successive seasons, its most varied capabilities. This necessity of rotation, in order to make the cultivation of the land contin- uously profitable, is so well understood that we need hardly dwell upon it here. But there is one result from rotation, per. haps asvaluable as that of bringing out the difl'erent food elements, that is not so well known. The destruction of crops with the consequent loss to farmers from fun- gous diseases appears to be increasing each year. It would be difficult to mention a crop that had not its especial enemy of this kind, which either lays it waste wholly in certain seasons or keeps up a slighter, but continuous attack upon it, depreciating the value ofevery harvest. Potato scab, and rot. the smut of cats, the rust of wheat, mildews and blights are among the things we speak of. These diseases‘are‘ ropagated by minute seeds or grains, caled spores; many of which have the curious pro rty of not being able to exist .upon ot er than the plants which it particularly affects. Thus while the spores will remain in a certain field, awaiting and ready to attack the crop as soon as it shall be planted again, if another crop is substituted the spores perish because they have not that upon which they can subsist. If deprived of their proper food for a whole year, moat of these spores will rish; although it has been ascertained t at the germs of certain plant diseases have the power to retain their vitality for two or more seasons. This characteristic, of fastening only upon the certain crop, indicates very clearly the value of a rotation where fields have become thus infested. 1f the rotation is thorough, and if seed of the diseased crops are not led. and if the crops themselves are not fed. and the manure resulting therefrom returned to the land; it is com. paratively easy to hold them in check. It is mainly because of negligence, and ignor- ance of their characteristics, that they are allowed to spread, and to become so formidable. It is important to know that the spores are not destroyed by passing through the digestive or of cattle. and therefore manure whic could ossiny contain them had better be burn rather than used to further contaminate the soil. Certain of the states have recognised that the diseases of fruit trees and plants could be held in check to some degree by proper methods of preventing and con ion, and have legislated to that efl'ect. hile too much cultural legislation is to avoid- ed, we t ink like attention might properly be given the matter as adectiug general farmcropo. AGRICULTURE IN BRITAIN. â€"â€" Great Changes llave Taken Place in the Last Fifteen Years. In referring to the resumption of its sittings by the Royal commission appointed to enquire into the agricultural depression prevailing in Great Britain, the London Times remarks that profound changes have taken place in the condition of agri- culture in the United Kingdom since the last Royal commission was appointod fif- teen years ago. In 1856 there were 4,213,- 651 acres under cultivation with wheat in Great Britain, and the average price per quarter was 59 shillings, but since that period the areadevoted to this crop has steadily been reduced. In 1879 it was 3,056,400 acres, and last year only 1,912,- 743 acres were devoted to the growing of wheat, while the price has fallen to 21 shillings per quarter. These figures reflect the desperate condition of agriculture in Britain. Taking. the whole agricultural land of Great Britain the following changes are found to have occurred during the last fifteen years :â€" 1893-4. 1879-80. Acres. Acres . Corn crops . . . . . . . . .7.755,356 8,930,468 Green crops . . . . . . . 3,293,837 3,515,485 Grass land . . . . . . . .16,478,818 14,296,841 In the fifteen years the area devoted to grain has decreased 1,175,112 acres, that devoted to roots and green crops has de- creased 2‘21,648 acres, while the area of permanent grass land has increased 2,181,- 977 acres. As the Times remarks, the most striking figures are those which records an increase of upwards of two million acres in the area ofpermenent grass laud (permanent pasture, or grass not broken up in rotation). More than half of the entire cultivated area of Great Britain is now occupied by permanent pasture, though there are the strongest ground for the suggestion that much of the landsâ€" particularly in parts of Englandâ€"which has been described as "out of cultivation" really lies hidden amongst the 16% million acres denoted as permanent pasture. And the Doctor Kicked Himself. A very eminent physican had cured a little child from a dangerous illness. The thankful mother turned her steps toward the house of her son's savior.- “ Doctor,” said she, “ there are some services which cannot be repaid. I did not know how to express my gratitude. I thought you would, perhaps, be so kind as to accept this purse, embroidered by my own hands." " Madam,’ replied the doctor, roughly, " medicine is no trivial affair, and our visits are only to be rewarded in money. Small presents serve to sustain friendship, but they do not sustain our families.” “But doctor," said the lady, alarmed and wounded, “ speak ; tell me the fee." “ Two thousand francs, madam.” The lady opens the purse, takes out five bank notes of 1,000 francs each, gives two to the doctor, puts the remaining three back in the purse, bows coldly and depsris. ) The Right Man to Kick. Magistrateâ€"Why did you assault‘thst gentleman 2 Prisonerâ€"i wont to the theatre last n' ht, 'd a high price for a seat, and my VIEW wasweompletely obstructed by a we. men's hat. Is he the husband of the woman 2 No. Her father, perhaps 2 No. Then why did you attack him! He's the man who built the theatre. â€"- Tainted Butter. In the fell and winter slightly fairith butter is very common in the market, and maker! m not be too particular i.- keep ing their stock perfectly free from all faulty lava. The better that is oulysiighdy taint. oil ofteueeeesstbogreatsltlcssto the maker. “â€" Padsrowski will give the roceods of his cocoon at Iaipaig on the i9t to the fund or erecting a states to Liszt at Weisisr. - ROYAL VISITING BIRDS. GREAT QUANTITIES OF THEM USED FOR SOCIAL ATTENTIONS. $0,000,000.00. Slade Every Yearâ€"low the Whine of Napoleon Ill. Established a Custom for the fiailre Civilized World. Visiting cards to the number of 60.000,- 000,000 are annually put into circulation by the people of the world according to the statement of a statistician. He also says that the pro rata consumption by individu- als is greatest among crowned heads and royalty generally. The popular notion of Princes is that they travel about with so much pomp and circumstantiality as to prelude the necessi- ty of carrying printed pasteboards. But the statistician bases his figures on the very best sourcesâ€"royalty’s copper-plate printers. Paris has had the monopoly of supplying the monarchs of the world with visiting cards ever since they became a social necessity under the Second Empire. 0f the specimens of visiting cards cf royal and aristocratic personages accompanying this article, all except the Kaiser’s are the work of A GREAT PARIS HOUSE. Wilhelm’s unwieldy pasteboard is a Berlin production, done by 1itography,and about fifty years behind the times in all but the paper used. "Lithography," said a leading staticner, “was first employed in the making of visit- ing cards when, after the coup d'etat, Na- polean ordered pasteboards that contained his Christian name only. Things were all in a rush then,and his newly baked Majesty tively a‘so use a la stock of cards weekly. " repaying visits" by distinguished for- eigners to their masters and mistresses. They drive up to the hotel of the party to be honored, jump out, deposit the paste- board with an attendant and continue on their tour. NAPOLEON'S VISITING CARD was two and a third inches long and a half as broad. The ex-printer to the Tuileries still has a sample, which he intends to present to the National Museum. It retains up to this day its white and glossy coat, which was due to a reckless tincture of arsenic. These arsenic-impregnated cards, it was thought at the time, caused a good deal of sickness. Lithography gave way to copper-plate engraving with the arrival of the Empress Eugenie. “’hile many people of quality used cards rinted from copper plate long before the b onde beauty was ever thought of as fashion’s dictator, the custom was not generally adopted. Some persons preferred to write their own cards or have them inscribed by a noted caligraphist. Engraved cards on other than glossy boards were first used in Paris at the beginning of the seventies, and soon after- wards tho job printers began to turn our visiting cards of a cheap and nasty kind for clerks, students and factory girls. Bristol cardboard, which admits of the use of pen or pencil, was an achievement of the season of 1878. A year or two later it be- came the fashion to decorate one's visiting card with one's portrait. Since 1886 fash- ionable children have, with us, visiting cards as indispensable socal requisites. The visiting card without words, so much in use in all circles of Parisian society, is really A CARD OI" INVITATION. It contains the name of the host and the date for which the invitation is issued, and if it is for a dinner a gorgeously appointed table in one corner will proclaim that fact. Nymphs and amorettes signify that inform- al dancing, in the country house, is to take place. A group of trees with Chinese lan- terns fastened to the branches foreshadows refused to wait for the glow engraving a garden festival, whileafour-horse mail- process. When it leaked out that the head of the state, the most talked of man in Europe, used lithographed cards, the things became in vogue. Thus an enormous industry was due to a clever man’s intent- ness to see himself in print, royal style without any appellation as to rankâ€"plain ‘Napoleon’, neither more nor less.” The use of the Christian name only is a prerogative which kings and emperors share with servants. The other day a royalist in Paris showed a correspondent a visiting card inscribed “Philippe” under a crown. Ten thousand of that sort were ordered by the Duke of Orleans before his father’s body was cold. The candidate for the throne intended to appeal to his sup- porters, or those whom he would like to win over to the cause of the lily banner,by mailing them his visiting card. coach announces an excursion. Invitation cards to picnics are decorated with an empty dinner basket. Attempts to find asuitable substitute for cardboard have been unsucessful. Some time ago in Paris it was pronounced the fashionable thing to carry sheet-iron cards so thin that forty of them. placed one upon another, made a package one millimetre in height. The letters were stamped in and enamelled. Aluminum cards have also been thought of. The visiting card of the Emperor of Austria reads: “ Francois Joseph I., Empereur d’Autriche, Roi de Hongrie." This is in the very worst of taste, accord- » ing to English notions, which strictly pro- hibit the use of the Christian name in connection with one’s title. British society has used some sort of visiting cord for nearly two hundred years. The early Eilbrlm ' bruit" Km" a Kim; is: Fussy: THE VISITING CARDS OF THE LEADING EUROPEAN ROYAL PERSONAGES. a The Emperors of Germany and Austria on their visiting cards follow a German custom and print part of their title. Ac cording to fashion’s dictum their visiting cards should either read “Wilhelm” and “Franz J oseph,"respectively,or “Deutscher Kaiser" and “Kaiser von Osterreich.” THE PRINCE OF \VALRS, almost most correct in matters of etiquette, has two sorts of cards, one reading “Albert Edward,” the other “ Le Prince de Geller,” the French term being more often used in royal circles than the other. French being the universal language of royalty, all mon- archs have their visiting cards for general use inscribed in the Gallic tongue. Some Princes use cards which give their name and title in the native language, but in most cases that is done for a purpose. “The” in front of a royal or princely title denotes that the person is a sovereign, or at least the head of his family. In England it is employed in addressing apeer, for instance, “ The flight Honorable." Only one Englishman of non-royal rank makes bold use to the prefix. ” The " on his visiting card, and this reads “The Duke of Argyll." His son’s and his daughter-in. law’s urds, on the other hand, read : " Marquis of Lorne " and “ The Princess Lou-m The extraordinary consumption of visit- ing cards by royally is occasioned by its kinship to hundreds and thousands of per- sons, many of whom their big brothers and sisters would not know even by name, can for the Almanach de Gotha. Asit is, their majestiee' and highneosee' secretaries are busy year in and year out mailing cards all over the civilized world,denoting “regrets,” “ congratulations ” or “ leavoomking.” The distaste end ladies-is-waitisg rdspeo- English cards were used exclusively by great statesmen and peers as a means of notifying the people of less quality that their visit would be acceptable. The party issuing the invitation wrote his name on the top of a card and that of the party he desired to see at the bottom. The caller “sent in his name" to the great lord by handing the footman the card of invitation he had received. Card writing continued in England until the coup d'etat in Paris brought about a revolution in the matter of visiting cards generally. The earliest means of notifying a person of an unsuccessful visit paid to him was to WEI’I‘E'ONE’S NAME “'I‘I‘II CHALK on the door. In the houses of the great lords a visitors’ book was kept, where callers registered their names if the host was “not in,” but as in those good old times chirography was not a gentleman’s necessary accomplishment the thing had its disadvantages. Finally some smart old squire conceived the idea of having his name inscribed on small sheets of paper by his clerk and leaving them at the door of patrons who were unable or unwilling to receive him. The custom was at once followed and spread all over Europe. The Chinese claim they used visiting cards as far back as the time of Confucius. In Corea visiting cards are a foot square. The savages of Dahomey announce their visits to each other by a wooden board or the branch of a tree artistically carved. This is sent ahead,and the visitoron taking leave pockets his card, which probably serves him many years. The natives of Sumatra also have a visiting card consisting of a piece of wood about a foot longand do- coretod with a bunch of straw and a knife. ,,....,,,, ‘7-..» Poets’ Corner. The Song of Hurry. Oh! it: Hurry. Hurry. Hurry! and it's ‘ urr . . all you can. \ou ve got to keep a hurrying. and bustle li ‘ a man. The easy wafiof going is a relic of the Past. And nowit‘s urryl liurry-uplâ€"XOW. Hui-i- Hurry fut! It's veryusurc if you don't run the other fellc wx , And so you want to burr . and then burr harder still. y r If some one‘s bound to boat you you can pass him in a wink If you out keep a hurry on, and never stop to think. There ma be time to catch your breath when you ave caught your car: But Sixty seconds to the minute's all of them there are: There are but sixty minutes out of every hour of those, And when you figure very fast, it's awful how it goes! And don‘t forget you've no t to get flier _ ' mighty quick. because lou ve got to get away again: and snatch it from the jaws. Whose Jaws they are don't cut the ice. nor ' what your'rc going to snatch: 1 cu can'ctcpe too particular in such a shooting ma i. lou needn‘t stop to fix your feet and tryffo walk alcrnck. For though its tough a~getting there. its tou her getting back. There's lttle time to linger on the grassy, grassy lawn. When long before you've gotten there you ought to then be gone. So keep a-humping. humping, now. andjolly . right along. With here a hurry! there a Hurry! then a Hurry! strong. If you but keep your hurry on, and hurry, hurry fast. It's ten to one you're on the run. and may get back at last. Song of' a Train. A monster taught To come to hand. Amain, As swift as thought Across the land. The train The song it sings Has an iron sound. Its iron wings Like wheels go round. Crash under bridges. Flash over ridges, And vault the downs: The road is straightâ€" Nor style, nor gate; For miles tone sâ€"towns! Voluminous. vanishing. white, The steam plume trails : Parallel streaks of light, The polished rails. 0h, who can followl The little swallow. The trout of the sky: But the sun Is outrun And Time passed by. Our bosky dons, By marsh and mood. Forest and tens. Embodied speed Is cluiiked and hurled: O'er rivers and runnols : And into the earth. And out again In death and birth That know no pain. For the whole round world Is it warren of railway tunnels. Hark l Hark! Hark! It screams and cleaves the dark: And. the subterranean night In gilt with smoky light. [‘iien out again space It runs its thundering me o, The monster taught To come to hand Amain, That swift as thought Speeds through the land. The train. ._._.-s Th Old-Time Fire. Talk about your buildin's Thet's hot up by steamâ€"- Give me the old oak fire Where the old folks used to dream. The rickety dog-irons One-sided as could be : The ashes banked with 'tators That was roastin' there for me. The dog on one side drowsin’, 0r barkin' nigh the door ; The kitten cuttin‘ capers With knittin' on the floor. An' me a little tow-head By mommy's side at ni ht: With both my cheeks a- urnin' From the red flames leapin‘ bright These steam-hot bulldin's make me Jest weary for the blaze That was hoop more comfortable In my childhood’s nights and days. An' I'd giro the finest heater In the buildin's hot by steam For the old-time chimbley corner Where the old folks used to dream. When You Sing. Sing a song of gladness, Set to a merry measure-â€" A sweet refrain to banish pain And fill the heart with pleasure. Sing n. song of brightness, Hope's pathway to lllumeâ€" A melodious lay to flood the day With sunshine. birds and bloom. Slay a song of kindness, 'v base pleasant tones and mellow Will win the ear and s oak good cheer To some misguided cliow. Sing a melody of love, To awake and glad. the hours Of weary lives. as spring revives The earth with tuneful showers. But sing no mournful ditty Breathing of grief and woe, For of sorrow and care all have their share. And want not more to know. â€"â€"â€"â€"-â€"-.â€"__. Praise That Came Too Late. A sermon in itself was preached lately in a story told by a well-known Bishop. It seems that a number of clergyman were present to bear testimony to the life and influence of a departed colleague. One after anothn‘ rose in their places to tell what they owed to his genius, his high spirit, un- swervingloyalty wdnty, s lendid courage. rare ocholarship, and phi ooophic insight. The testimony was done. At the door, all the timo,there stood a slender woman, who had been during his life nearest to him of whom they spoke. “ I never shell for t her faceâ€"the passion of it and the pot as of ltâ€"nor the power, tender but reproechful, with which she ke when at length we, were still : ‘ Oh, f on loved Edward so, why didn’t you tel him of it while he lived ! ' "3 __;_‘_‘i‘ I. i, _ ‘ ,I .-