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 \1A tlu Mm JMnt7« ITe most hIm more poalfecr on cm huwatiuA â- ^umMdltimwm be fad to fowl! in fofWgn oonntxus, Mia kaTlng It lent baek to vm again in tlie tyaSaftar â- â- â- H^WVBB BOTWaaBiHm I to awillMr onptlppftihovidco fato gEMBd^joM M'iMB'aii»4lii |ff ii ltt tool form of egp and flaah. la eoftainlj anf Aing but an eoonomieal ona. W« moat laam to arail ounelraa of all p o a aiW a maana for f eedinii; ont onr grain at home, and thoa realiie the ptofita of feeding aa well aa thoae of producing. Oar farmer* seem to appreciate the ne- eeadty of atocking ap with cattle, hoga, aheep and hones bat the poaltry boai- neaa ia apparently altogether too tmall for eonaideration. If a f ew ati^ ohiaka are foand aboat the place, the farmers care- lessly or sorrowfoUy allades to the 'wim- 9en's doin's, ' and in nine cases ont of ten, proceeds to declare lihat "he woald not bother with them." "destroy mora than they are worth," "eat their heads lS every winter," etc. There is not a particle of reason or com- mon sense in sach talk. Men who talk in that way want their fap-ilded ideas (?)â-  shaken ap and pamped aboat a little, and in the words of the Arakansas Tra- â-¼eiler, "I'd like to be the one to do it." The farmer who failed to provide a fence for his pasture aad then killed off his cows becaose they fed throofh his fields, and "did more damage than they were wHi)h, would be called an idlotio brute yet that is preoiseiy ,what the msjoriiiy ef oor farmeis are doing with their poul- try. Tou cannot expect fowls to roam about the garden and fields, ataH seasons, with- eat doing some damage. If yon have a patch of wheat near the barn, they will scratch the seed out in the spring and trample down the stalks in the summer. They will strip tlie currants off the boshes, eat the ripening peas and nip off the young cabbages. They will do all this, and more, espedally where they are not fed â€" a weakness that few farmers are guilty off in the summer season. Nor can you realize full and regular re- tnrns from them if they are allowed to ran at large. They will steal their nests In all manner of out-of-the-way places, where hens, eggs and chicks wUl be ex- posed to vermin of all kinds. If by ahance you find a nest full of eggs they are as likely to turn out half -bloom chicks as anything else. They degenerate from well-bred, hard-working hens, into aeamperingiBcratching BcavengerB,that are •f but little more use to their owners than BO many wild fowls. Like other farm stock, they must be kept where they belong they must have a good, generous pasture in summer, and be confined therein. It takes a very high fence to cor fine fowls if the space given them ia small but if given a large pas- ture a fence of moderate height will do. A. five-foot picket or lath fence will stop any ordinary lot of hens. If they are par- ticularly unruly clip their wings. !: They must have plenty of feed and wa- ter good rooBts and secluded nests for laying and setting. With such care, fowls are profitable, and it Is a pleasure to ikeep them. Early Planting* To the wide awake farmer who is ob- servant of passing events, each revolving year brings its lessons of instruction. The wise profit therefrom, but the care- less and indigent continue to flounder along in the old ruts. When visited by drought, or when crops are injured by early froats, leasons of instruction are brought home to the husbandman if he will but heed them. Some of the past aeasona hava been replete with warnings and Buggestions for the future guidance •f the farmer. Early frosts have drawn the dividing line very distinctly between early and late planted cropa, while the long summer droughts that are so com- mon of late years point out the necessity of getting crops matured as early in the season as pos;^ ible. Early planting, followed by thorough tillage. It the best means to avoid trouble from early frosts or summer drougnt. In the minds of some there is an undue fear of getting seeds into the ground too early, lest it be caught by late froats. The rule ef the pioneer farmer was to plant com when the dogwood blossomed. The soil was then new and fresh and pushed cropa forward to maturity faster than It does now, and it is hardly safe to delay plant- ing as late as was formerly the practice. Some who plant late put in the plea that the land ia wet and heavy, and unfit to receive seed early. This la hardly tenable, because such a state of things is never ne- cessary in good farming, for all such land should be thoroughly drained so that it «an be worked in due season. It is time for farmers to become aware of the fact that the old routine way of rainng crops, which was followed with succees fifty years ago, cannot longer be depended upon. The changed conditions of the times and variable seasons demimd more intelligent thought and action. The wise farmer is not alow to adapt himself to the â- Itaation. Cktm may be safely planted aa soon as the {round will vegetateit. Thia it will do as soon as the temperature of the aoil ia 48® Fahrenheit, or above. While it makes but little growvh above the groond it is rooting and preparing for futara growth. And if fiosts come rnd cat down the bladea they start agan vigorously after a tew warm daya and oome oat all right. We have fdacted aa earlr aa the first week in April, and never had a crop of com that made ashort yield on account ol being nipped by late froata in the apring. It is highly important that •am designed for fodder shoidd be plMit ina on wett-drained land, aa aariy aa tha ktad «an be made fit to veceiye aeed. ^le jiald win far exceed the crap that Ip d^ T-HE^BLiaSO-AfOHAN CMFffJCUtym dom wiut lor Ilia fnunid ftf^ffb w foacUr taon io work well. " Tkej agoad I* ift al- moataa 86aii aa frost iaMiiol the We eaimot fMonoicttl tU* pn- metkodof fOfetingiii eto^aah azhanabadw fertili^ ef the aoil tm rapid* I7 to eoltivate It wkan aok in proper tilth. Ia breaUnff grooni too aariy in spring the bottom of the plow^ompnota tbe cuy aabaofl, presaing, it in a amootii aarfaoe, which hardens dwuig the aum- merand becomea almoMt Imp^rviooa to water. The potato alMiiId alabe planted jnab as early aa the ground ie in proper eon- dition, BO aa to aecooe a good yidd^before the Bummer drought seta in. With cropa t^uB covering the groond early in the seaaon die sun's caya wiU not parch it np, as is frequently the case with late sown crops. Again, such cropa will be driven forirard to rariy maturity, thve clearing early frosts in the fall. Proper coltiv»- tion is another important point to aecure early maturity and the aevelopment of maximum cropa. If farmers would only make a noteof the lessons which the pass- ing seasons teach, and govern themselves aocordinely, they would find it much to their advantage. How to Bay a Farm. I have known the most experienced men to be deceived in baying farms, and to be much dissatisfied with their pur- chase. I have in mind a man of the liarg^ eat experience, who had been brought up on a iannand waa ft i^^nlbbaeiTer, nbf an ecUtorof a prominent' jeoAul, whe^ ' searched a long time for a farm. He ap- preciated the risk he wasliable to in bay- ing. ' He searched far and wide, and en- gaged the best counsel, and at last select- ed a farm which proved to be entirely different from what he supposed. He found it unproductive and undesirable, and disposed of it at the earliest possible moment in disgust. The best ioformation in r^ard to a farm can be gotten from the neighbors surrounding it. Every farm has a repu- tation as marked as that of an individual. People know the past records of farms, what they have produced, how the occu- pants in the past year have succeeded on them, and how the crops have succeeded. The danger lies in the neighbors fearing to tell a stranger the truth in regard to land that their neighbor, and very likely their friend, is desirous of selling, there- fore I have known of poor farms being sold to pirtifs, to those who sought ad- vice concerning them of neighbors who preferred not to tell their honest opinion for fear of giving offence to the party de- siring to seU. The best time to look at a farm with a view to buying is in July or August, when the crops are growing upon it. Tliis is the season when few are buying farms. Generally if a man is possessed with the idea he wants to buy a farm, he goes out to explore them in winter when every- thing is covered with snow, or in spring when vegetation is not yet started. This ia a very bazardcus time to select a farm. It is best to proceed with careful delibera- tion, and if necessary to spend a whole yeir inlookiogaroaad. It is far better to lie idle one year than to be loaded down with a poor farm, than which there ia nothing worse, unless it be a poor wife. The condition of the buildings on a farm should be closely scrutinized. I should hesitate to buy a farm on which the buildings were run down and in poor condition. It would coat more to repair them than can be estimated. In looking at such buildinga it might be thought that $500 or $1,000 would put them in good shape, according to your best judgment, yet very likely it would take tbree times that amount. Then if the buildings are dilapidated everything elae is liable to be in the same conditionâ€" no fences, and no conveniences whatever in any department. If conveniences are desired Euch as cis- terns, wells, granaries, stables, cellars, and a thousana other things timt cannot be thought of, they must be built. Good buildings with convenient arrangements are great'y to be desired. The quest ian of the condition of the farm feaces is an important one, but not nearly so important as that of the build- ings. In fact, I oppose .extensive fencing of farms, and in buying a farm would not hs shocked were I to find no fencea at alb excepting those on the b3andarieB and along the sides of the road The time is coming when it will not require an investment of 91,000 to fence in 150 acres of land. When the country apenda more money for fencea to confine its stock than the turn total of the entire value of stock it Is time some new method were adopted. 1 shonld hesitate to boy a {am that had been rented for a long term (rf years. Such a farm baa b ee n ezhaoatoi laigely of ita fertility, aad canaot be en- riched again without g re at ootli^. I would not bay a large fum I baliera in little forma well tilled. When ia a poem like a new^aper oath f When It is just daahed olL " What iaitthatoakea a spring," que- rieaapoet. We alwaya aoppoaed the cake-taker in thia Una waa the flea. What ia the differenoe betweea Toin Odultree's Urth and the cbeomferanoe of the earth! Thia is the rirth of ball and thatwaatheUrtiiofgaO. There doean't aeem tele eace betweoi a batchar'a implement with whidi he eota up Ida wares. Oae k^* meat tn, mmI tlw oOwr Is a meat ax, too. Map or Ike prabaMc teat •? ff aiv A glance at the district outlined aronnd Peiijdeh will show the relative positions ef Russians and Afghans before the late tn* gagement. Eomaro£rs attack on Peiijdeh may possibly have been provoked by tbe Afghan garrison. But it is in suspicions consonance with the spirit that has animated the eastern movement of the Czar's armies. When Russia fcegan her eastward march from the Caspian Sea it was known thac she would not stop until she rnached the gate of India. Khiva, Bokhara, Balkh, Merv fell into her hands, and her troops went southward from Merv toward Herat. Herat was admittedly Afghan, and tberefore under British protec- tion. But just to tbe north of Herat, in tbe valley ef the Bi vers Murghab and Heri-Rud, there were many places which, as some said, belonged to Afgiiaoistan, and. as others said, belonged to Turkestan. If they l)«longel to Afghanistan, then ESag- land claimed their protectorate. If they betonred to Tnrkestan, then B^issia claimed heir possession A commissioa was appointed to determine the ownership of these places, and Sir Peter Lumsden, an Anffle-Indian official, repre- sented EngUsh interests in this body. While It was preparing to survey the eroand tbe Afchaus seiaed and occupied Penjdeh, one «f the disputed pests, and the Russians seiaed sad ocopied Pnl-i-K.lLsicB, another of the disputed posts indicated on the map. A loud cry was raised in England concerning the actions of the Rnssians, and just when it reached its loudest pitch (^isneral Eomaroff, the Ru3 sian commander, fought an engas^f ment with the Afghans. Wher«:upon England demand- ed that General Eomaroff should make an explanation and that his troops should withdraw from the debat- able resion. The objec ive point of both English and Rnssians will be Herat, tbe "Key to India,* The tepograplncal features ot the dis:rict surrounding this city show that tbe spoellation " Hill Throned Herat " is not ncinerited. The Robat Pass between the Barkheet moantains to the south-east of Pendjefa, is a narrow defile through which the Russian armies mu.st reach Herat. The latest cables announce that Sir Peter Lumsden is actively encased fortifying this point. If this be tme tliere is little danger o' s Russian coup de mean, as this defile walled in by unscalable precipiceseonldbt- heldaguinst an army by a handful of men. IF the Afghans are as friendly to England as Abdurrahman, their Ameer, asserts, then Sir Peter Lumsden, the British Com- missioner, will have no difficulty in occupv- ing this .strong position and preparing to stand a 8lege*within its walls. He will ihen wait for reinforcements from India. Wild Game in Afglianistan. In the valley ef the Kushk Bud we saw deer of various kinds, wild boar, and the goorkal, or wild ass. A large drove of them passed our line of march one morning, but we saw little of them except the great cloud of dust they turned up as they hurried off to higher ground. I under- stand that there is Uttle difference be- tween the goorkal and the kyang, or wild horse of Tibet. Marmots are also very plentiful, they have burrowed their holes into the ground everywhere, and it is dangerous to horses, as their feet sink into the honeycombed earth. These marmots may be said to be now the real possessors of ^e land, for there is scarce a yard of it which is not occupied by them. Partridges are also in 9onBiderable num- bers, and in the Koshk Valley some of out party found pheasants plentiful, and wild pigs are still more numerous there than on the higher ground. There ue large spaces on the side of t^ stream covered with tall reeds, and the pigs find cover in them. One m jming on the mach I saw a drove of aboat thirty pigs, led I7 a lai^e boar, walking op the side of the UB. They had been diatorbed by the baggage animals passing. They went op tilie hill aide, and about half a mile to the north they descended again into another bed of reeda. They caaae down in Indian file Ceraum ** Bulls.** Irish boHa tee anidi more iadAona tlian Gknnaa blaaden of tlie aame sort, bnt smie of tlie latter are very iwt^tig A Oermaa aewaps^er liaa eoueoted afew of •*» jilio^mj Jis «*After the door waa eioaed a aoft fe- male foot aU^pediato the rooas, aad with hut own hand cxtii^iiAed the ti^ec.* **The diatiotof levcdntiim ia rolling onward aad gaaahiag ita teeth aa it roDa, is wliat a Beriia rerolnaonist toU the atadenta, ta 1848. ia a qpeedi. "T he la diea' Baneit AaMdation haa dhtrilwfead twaB^rpain of ahoea among thepoor, i^iekwiBdryapBumy ataar/* Iwas aittiag at the table flnjcyfa^a aap of eoflaa. wham agaatia vaite taffed naim the dkodder. I looked n The latest Electricity Story. An unusual and very interesting phen- omenon occurred near Frankfort, Dak., lecently, in the form of an atmospheric el9ctric current of considerable power. As observed here, the currenr did not reach the ground, but varied in distance from four to six feet from it. It was first noticed by the peculiar effect it had on horEos and cattle. A buzzing soond was heard from aronnd the ears of the animals â€"similar to that made by the swarming of bees â€" distinctly audible at a distance of several feet. Horses and mules threw their heads around-in a very excited man. ner, acting as though their ears were foil of flies. ' The snapping of electric sparks was slso heard. Horses which kept their heads close to the ground were not troubled, as the current did not seem to reach down to them. Many teams be- cune frantic and uncontrollable. One horse was so frightened that it fell and tried to creep under its mate for protect tion. Oxen lAso behaved in a very on- reaaonable and sprightly manner. Far- mers were frightened, and Lurried to the bam with aU possible speed. One man thought ilia horse had the blind ataggen. He accordingly bled the animal, and re- solved "to keep dark about it" until he ooold make a trade. 'The amount of tricky atoek in tiie market aboat that time waa alarming, bat there never waa ao much innoeenee among Spiak County faxmesa before. VbuHj a -brief thonder shower oame ap, and the firat flaah of Ui^itnlng aSbided immediate reUef. The oorMnt flowed from weat to eaat and aix or aeven adlaa in width. Tb faoawKato a man ai a lonatle in Den- mark aothii^ ia reqnired bat a eartifieato from a eompeteat medieal praotitJimer atatlag tliat the individaal in qoeatimk ia iaaaaa. Aay one in Denmark la eotMed to kaepa private aaylaia withoat lioeaae, aad the pitianta inaaohaa aavlam are notaaderfKate eoatroL Deamtek haa an.czaaaBfli Iaaaaifla,daa efaiafly toOe BeaalhMilMi laiUfc af aaafla^ cUam. driahiM,. Th« ura.vall mmd fat bt nff »eaABe#y er.aa »«« j ^Oi^llMdiSIthere arrived at tk.0 •m hotel In St. Iioala a yonn. ?!* rtglafc«daa •* Walter a MttiJl'i Loodon,^Bngkiid." OntK^* and hafora hia arrival, a telegitoMLi, eetvad at the hotel fiom 0. Art£«^ Roeheater, N. T., ioquiring if ]£ had arrived there. The answer fcl" for awhile by Clerk Noble, andsfSi wen oame and regbtered a repl* Tv^ was at the hotel was sent Prefii il* weUwaa gifen^room 144, and'hJl baggage, two tninka and two vaU*rJ en.there. Preller arrived AwOa waa given room 385, where hia fiveb, were placed. The men occupied I room in common a considerable of time, seeming to be good frieiSf' old acquaintances. Both were mSi' marked for their dandified app Maxwell carrying his effeminate 1 ao far as to tralk with short mincing t_ like a woman. A week ago MucweS the hotel saddenly, leaving hia ban! in the room he had occupied, butw! had paid hia bill it was siipposed he »« return shortly. Testerday the chambermaid, in^ the room of Maxwell, was greeted Ul horribly offensive odor, which came bd one of the trunks, and reported thet at the office. This morning boih t were' brought down into the rotundii the hotel by the porters, blood drlpji from one of them, and an almost iu portable amell issaing from it. It^ taken out in front of the 4!;h street 1 trance of the hotel and opened. Witt Uj the floated body of a man appan abuut 30 years of age, dressed in and drawersonly. Ontheside of thetn just over theheadof the corpse, werec.. e-" in large letters the words ' So perid traitors to the great cause. " The tti and its ghaatly contents were at once 1 to the morgae. It is thought by many that the I. found is that of Preller, and that he 1 mordered by Maxwell, although a ph graph found and identified as that 1. Prcdler shows little if any resembluati the bloated corpse. The head of the da â- aan' was bent to one side and crashed i to the fleah of the shoolders, the feet I ing bent under and sunk inio the thid The coroner made an autopsy of the 1 maina thia afternoon, and it waa foo that the atomaoh contained poiaon, 1 what particular kind was not deter The baggage of PreUer remAios b t room lately occapied by him. Hia 1 are of much better quality than thoHcj Maxwell, being of fine leather, and 1 personal effects in them indicate tlititi owner is a man of means and cnlta They have thelabela of the CunarditH ship company, of the Roasin hoQie,1 ronto, and of the Continental Philadelphia. Neither money nor lett of credit were found. A telegram fi Ifaxwell, dated at Boston, indicated t the two men meant to go to New together. Preller apparently left Jan. 21 for a commercial tour of country, and seems from home lettentl he invited Maxwell to scconpanyl Amongthe letters found in Preller a t was the following No. 9 CUnton Place, New TorkCil! March 27, 1885.â€" I have great pie in introducing to you by this our dear brother, Mr. C. A. Prellei, 1 London, England., known to ns byi oral visits he has paid to New Yoi Hoping you may be mutually benefit) by thb friendship during his stay in 701 dty, I am youra, RiCHD, N. OwBKil Thia friendship was awakened b; 1 bringing him to a tea meeting for you men at which dear H. 6. Grunnersepi' from " Where withal shall a yonng 1 cleanse his way. " Dora Olson, 842 Val cia street, San Francisco, well, koofl to Brother Moyse. '!^y^i^.~- It has been learned that Max* after leaving the barber-ahop had beard sHaven off, thus totally cha his appearance. He was abcnt 5i inches in height, weighing about pounds, well proportioned, and of figure. His hair which was of a J sandy color, was worn without any being "banged "like a girl's. A drugi at the comer of 5th and Market sti says Maxwell came to his store on Sunday and got six ounces of chlorofoD A bottle with some of thia drug was foo in one of the missing man's tnu Detectives are of the opinion that words printed on the inside of the t were put there to make it appear thstti murder was a pdlitical assasainstld while in reality it was for money. Ad Telope found in Maxwell's trunk, gire** addreaa as 14 Paper Buildings, TeOF London. He Woiildn*t Give In* A good atory is told of an old f aiK^ New Hampshire, who would always em oat ahead of hia antagonist, in one ^1] not in another, no matter what the r* actor of the competition might be. day, ha imdhk were engaged in getL hay, when, the old man having i!| modi frmlt from the mow with the r neaa with whieh hia asaistants were iag the hay ap to him, the boys cone thinr wonld aatiaty him. " They l raj^dly forking it up, and continued i the BOW waa ao doaty as tobefsirlf' foeating, aad the old man was su" boried fai the maaa. After a little, 1 heard not a wofd of oomplahit »id^ few odnates dtfwn to the floor, co«* with hay and ahnoat dioked, eeme l Siba. Aa ha dropped, tbe boy* j^, ©«t, **intHk are yen down here for r_ â-¼UahtheiRepraaable Uncle Silxf aaavaa* ** ChmaaM yerlMj pieteff' 4^lik haw for moia hay^' OB^l ' i^ •ha itrW»«£r«aE3 J^hetJioom anj fhlfoSdh«l»*» '" wfooare safe 1 ^Se what, dear rfi^ jiomethingtoochmy Mned my eyea it aw "Jthebedgtaringat kvame, for Heaven â- â-  â- Luy dearest, I would n .world. I*«05;^8o ^tow»keMra.Mitch« pYea, yea let as l^ve »heB»T»™«*8"*^5 If not 1" J i«Was it a man then, aea ^iMiberhig the aoond al 'Sring«dhidin, f'.ihoulderâ€" "» in»n I face 1 And, oh,Li rl It hang down on ikly facade a curtain idfitwiUhaantmea rhy did Elgar le ' "Send for him- onoe-say, I ahaU g iml" I •Tea, dear, I will, the i ^rn g ^ut fou moat t kanelf now, for all our a f .. »i Mr own. I B this time Mra. Mib m. She alao had hean ht she al^t mnoh far ' liy, hootely preaenc „ nnd to Bome^extant ..j to talk mora oafanly 1 â- t tha Bobjaet of her terrc riia. Ridimond peraiate am she diatinotly felt • foot before ahe saw tb I told of the roahing t and expreaaed ne ,._..ody mnat have inad( hshooae for the porpoae "Of eoarae it is knowi jbMH there are only worn "Ahi child, you aay thai ot I am certain thrt waa moa that waa in the root Finding they could not ka belief tiiat her horri) â- pematnral, Lucy waa Mitchell to go to "G), my dear miaa," 1 ^omao, "or we ahall be 1 ff next, and I'll take can onareawi^." "Ooiae back as icon aa M Mkfer with yoa by 11 Laoy required no inoe I although of a very Bt, her nervea were uig. She, however, q r own mind that the fij 'tual ia any way, ai a thmooi^ ezan â- ea down-atairaâ€" m the cellars â€" direct! CHAPTER IjUght waa breaking ***w to Mra. Riehmou r woman waa atill in 1 Uam alternating bel elaobraigand pare -i«twot. Jfn. Mitahan looked g " ofne giria to aak tb "" «f^ «• POMi J*I dare aay mli r?*^ M Aa^ooBBBltf IvnarfaaaggantlaBiai r*y*?date pcarant 1 .V-'ysf Viir, fHirvii ^UlJta^itij ii:;* ,tt,i,ii^ *-?~- ... â- **%-: