California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 



a requisite that we know what'it will produce 

 iu the greatest quantity and i^erfectiou at the 

 least cost. Some lands are best adapted to 

 grazing, others require to be tilled and plant- 

 ed; hence, a knowledge of soils becomes ne- 

 cessary. The different fegetables require 

 different foods, different climates and differ- 

 ent soils; they feed on different elements, and 

 what will make one species thrifty will not 

 bring another to perfection, and these differ- 

 ences must be considered and met in order to 

 insure success. Animals, in order to be bred 

 properly, must be watched and cared for in 

 accord with the laws of their nature, and 

 those laws must be known and understoou, to 

 be successful. No ignorant man or quack 

 can successfully handle the iirinciples of life 

 and being. If we wish to apply manure we 

 must know when, how, at what time and 

 place, ana its constituents. Of course, most 

 plants will derive some good from any man- 

 ure, but to apply it successfully, that is, un- 

 derstandingly, insures against waste. What 

 can we cultivate with most profit to ourselves, 

 is the great question, and the other is like it, 

 How can we cultivate most economically? 



There are those who shudder at the word 

 science, as they suppose it means technicali- 

 ties and a list of terms, but it is not so. Ob- 

 servation, reading and experimenting can 

 make a man practically scientific, even if he 

 disowns the name, and it is this science I 

 would jDlead. Go into the world with eyes 

 and ears open, and senses awake. Study to 

 learn and learn to excel. All knowledge of 

 material things aids the farmer. Many will 

 not inquire for fear they may be misled, but 

 good common sense is the stomach to digest 

 all information, and it is not a requisite of 

 success to swallow all that conies within reach 

 like an unfledged robin. Reason must be 

 brought ta bear on the laborers of the farm as 

 ■well as on any other calling of life. Prize all 

 things, but learn to do what you try in a 

 methodical and intelligent manner. — F. G. 

 McCaidey. 



Facts From Farmers Wanted. 



The importance of having practical writers 

 for an agricultural paper, men who write from 

 experience and not mere theories, cannot be 

 over-estimated. In the struggle which usu- 

 ally attends the farmer's life, he too often 

 forgets the great good he could confer by 

 commtmicating more or less of his experience, 

 including many j'ears of close observation, to 

 the columns of the leading agricultural jour- 

 nals jiubUshed in the section of country in 

 which he resides. This woiild be much more 

 satisfactory to all concerned, than to be con- 

 stantly complaining that the writers for agri- 

 cultural papers are not, as a general thing, 

 practical farmers. 



Such men forget that our present knowledge 

 is the sum of our own experience and the re- 

 corded facts based on the experience of others. 

 They forget that it is to the thinking men as 

 well as the working men, that wo are, in the 

 main, under obligations for the progress of 

 agriculture. It is not only to jiractical farm- 

 ers, but to men of scientific attainments, as 

 Liebig, Johnston and others, that progres- 

 sive farmers are under lasting obligations. 



It will not do to set up the claim that suc- 

 cess depends upon brute force alone, or that 

 no agricultural paper possesses a cost value in 

 timely hints or as a record of experiments, 

 because, forsooth, its pages are not wholly 

 made up of the writings of successful farmers, 

 who are so engrossed with their duties on the 

 farm that they never take the time to express 

 their view on paper. 



^Ve are prepared to admit that every farmer 

 must be governed more or less by the results 

 of his own experience, or, iu other words, he 

 must be a law unto himself; yet it does not 

 follow that he can derive no benefit from the 

 experience of others whose farms are unlike 

 that of his own in many respects. 



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The Best EnncATiON. — Edward Evcrett,the 

 gifted orator, never spoke more truthfully 

 than when uttering the following words: "To 

 read the English language well, to write with 

 dispatch a neat, legible hand, and to lie mas- 

 ter of the first four rules of arithmetic, so as 

 to dispose of at once, with accuracy, every 

 question that comes up in practice — I call this 

 a good education. And if you add the ability 

 to write jiure grammatical English, I regard 

 it as an excellent education. These are the 

 tools. You can do much with them, but you 

 are helpless without them. They are the 

 foundatii.>n ; and unless you begin with these, 

 all your flashy attainments, a little geology, 

 and all other ologies and osophies, are osten- 

 tatious nibbish." 



It is too generally the custom among the 

 schools of to-day to neglect these so-called 

 "common branches." They omit the foun- 

 dation, and build up a vast and imposing 

 structure of showy accomplishments. No 

 sooner does a pupil of one of these schools 

 attempt to enter upon the busy scenes of life, 

 than he finds this "castle iu the air," built at 

 so great a cost of time and money come tiun- 

 bling down about his ears. 



It is in part to the business college that we 

 must look for a remedy for this state of affairs. 

 These schools, when properly conducted, lay 

 the foundation firmly by imparting thorough 

 instruction in all the more useful branches of 

 an English education. Then the structuri* 

 built thereon in not merely ornamental — it is 

 massive, and it has a look about it of com- 

 mercial utility, suggesting the 'scenes of a 

 busy and useful life iu the arena of business. 

 The lessons there imparted have special ref- 

 erence to the practical affairs of life. They 

 teach the pupil how to make himself useful in 

 any capacity, and how to earn his Uving hon- 

 orably. The}' imjjart to him confidence iu 

 his own abilities, through use of them while 

 at school, and furnish him with the tools with 

 which he must work out his success in his 

 after carees. These institutions have been of 

 great assistance to the aspiring young men of 

 our country, and hence their remarkable pop- 

 ularity. 



Tropical Plants for Ornamental Pur- 

 poses, etc. 



Among the great variety, I ■would men- 

 tion some of the palm family, and first, 

 the corypha Australia, or in common par- 

 lance, the Australian cabbage palm; the 

 Cycas revoluta, or sago palm; the foliage 

 is most graceful. Isaboea spectabilis 

 produces a sweet syrup called palm-honey 

 used for domestic jmrposes. Tlie nuts 

 are used by confectioners, and by the 

 boys as marbles. The leaves are employed 

 for thatching roofs, etc., ■whilst the trunk, 

 which is hollow and very hard, is con- 

 verted into an excellent ■water pipe for 

 the purposes of irrigation, etc. 



But the most available tree for orna- 

 ment and use, with -which I am familiar, 

 is the celebrated Bahia, or Naval Orange, 

 the king of oranges, witliout pulp or 

 seeds, smooth and thin-skinned, the flavor 

 most delicious. And last, but not least, 

 is the Passaflora or Granedellis, the Gar- 

 abalda and Chinese Peach, the former of 

 which is not only graceful as an ornament 

 but produces abundance of fruit every 

 month in the year — iu this respect like 

 the Naval Orange. The smaller variety 

 is the best fruiter, and resembles straw- 

 befties and cream. It also forms a de- 

 lightful shade for balconies, verandahs, 

 or out-houses, etc., being one of the great- 

 est runners, and will make its way over 

 the house top, if allowed so to do. — Win. 

 Hohbs, in Los Angeles E.npi-ess, 



Several fruit-dealers iu Portland, Me., are 

 sending apples to Europe, receiving twelve 

 dollars a barrel. 



gcruodtdd ^CiTiling* 



Love Lightens Labor. 



§GOOD wife rose from ber bed one mom. 

 And thou(,'bt, with a nervous dread, 

 Of the pile ol clothes to lie wsshed, and more 

 Thau a dozen iiiouthti to bt! fed. 

 ' There were mealB to yet for the men in the 

 riJ-c^ fields, 



<* CJ And the children to fix away 

 To school, and the milk to bo skimmed and chumed; 

 And all to be done that day. 



It had rained in the nif^ht, and all the wood 



■\Vaa wet as wet could be: 

 There were puddings and pies to bake, besides 



A loaf of cake f<jr tea. 

 And the day was hot, and ber aching head 



Throbbed wearily asmie said, 

 *'If UiaiudeuH knew what i;o<k1 wives know. 



They would be iu no haste to wed." 



*'Jennie, what do you think I told Ben Brown?" 



Called the farmer from the well; 

 And a Hush crept up to bis bronzed brow. 



And his eyes half bashflUly fell. 

 "It was tills," he said, and coming near, 



He smiled — and stoopin;^ down, 

 Kissed her cheek—" 'twuB this: that you Wel© the best 



And the dearest wife iu town." 



The farmer went to the field and the wifo 



In a smiiing absent way. 

 Sang snatches of tender little songs 



She'd not sung for many a day. 

 And the pain in her head was gone, and the clothes 



Wi-rn white as the fuaiu of the sea: 

 Her bread was light and the butter was sweet, 



Aud as golden as it could be. 



"Just think," the children all cried in a breath, 



"Tom Wood has run off to the seal 

 He wouldn't, I know, if he only had 



As happy a home as we." 

 The night came down and the good wifo smiled 



To herself us she softly said 

 " 'Tis so sweet to labor for those wo love. 



It's not strange that maidens will wed," 



Letter From Nell Van. 



My dear "Snip," your "FamiUar Talks" iu 

 the July number of the AGBictjLTnKisT sounds 

 much too sensible and practical for one bear- 

 ing so flippant a cognomen; still, we ■n-ill not 

 quarrel about that, since a rose by any other 

 name is as sweet. I have been reminded that 

 the name I bear (which answers my purpose 

 well enough) is too undignified for the mat- 

 ronly advice offered so quaintly at various 

 times to the readers of this charming Uttle 

 household journal. 



Your useful suggestions are doubtless be- 

 ing put in practice all over the State by many 

 a young house-keeper, and thoughtless old 

 one, who, like myself, feel glad of any im- 

 provements in the kitchen department. 



As an interchange of thought is often de- 

 sirable, and as we may never meet and become 

 acquainted other than through these columns, 

 I will offer a few of my own house-keeping 

 experiments. 



Carpets will wear and preserve their beauty 

 twice as long if, when beginning to show 

 signs of wear, they be ripped apart in the 

 center and the two outer seams sewed to- 

 gether. 



Stair carpets should be taken up as often as 

 once in two months, shaken, and sUpped so 

 that the edge of the stair comes in a new 

 place. To do this, it is necessary to buy the 

 carpet a yard or so longer than needs, and the 

 difference in the wear of the carpet wiU more 

 than compensate for the extra expense. 



Many good house-keepers always put straw 

 underneath their three-phes and ingrains, but 

 I find thick paper, or several thicknesses of 

 newspaper, quite as good, and always use it 

 under all my carpets for it keeps out cold and 

 dampness. 



To clean paint, put a tenspoonful of am- 

 monia info a quart or more of blood-warm 

 ■water, and the finger marks and fly specks 



