170 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[November, 



upon which to raise another stage, and so on 

 until, in time, if he has the ability and the 

 perseverance, he may make a breed for liim- 

 self. There is a breed of swine common in 

 the West, the Poland China, which has been 

 built up in precisely this manner. From com- 

 mon but good materials a selection was 

 chosen, and by good feeding and care im- 

 provement was mad'. This was fixed by 

 selecting the best for breeding — the breeding 

 being wholly subordinate to the feeding, be it 

 observed — and in forty years a breed was es- 

 tablished. But one may see even this fine 

 breed run down to the condition of the land 

 pike or the rail-splitter by neglect, and its 

 miseries perpetuated by breeding down. 



This heresy is akin to a system of morality 

 or religion which removes all incentives to a 

 virtuous life. If our stock is predestined by 

 its birth or breed to maintain its high charac- 

 ter, the incentive to generous feeding and 

 good care is removed. If one has the breed 

 he may neglect the feed. But the very re- 

 verse is more nearly true. If it were not, the 

 majority of farmers would be in a most hope- 

 less state. If they had no hope that they 

 could better their stock by better feeding, by 

 better Jodging, by more gentle training and 

 careful handling, they would have no oppor- 

 tunity of improving them at the start, and 

 like a man who believes himself to be lost, 

 would make no effort to save themselves. 

 Few farmers or graziers can hope to possess 

 herds of pure-bred cattle. But every one can 

 procure the means of infusing the best blood 

 in his herd. If he is led to believe that breed 

 is the one thing needful, iind that he cannot 

 breed but from pure-cred animals, he will 

 stay as he is and do the best he can. If, on 

 the contrary, he is made to see that feed is the 

 main thing to be secured and breed the next, 

 he is at once induced to improve his stock, 

 first by better care and feeding, and then by 

 the addition of pure blood, which will give 

 him material upon which feeding can be made 

 to produce its best results ; he will be very apt 

 in the pursuit of his own interests to begin to 

 breed up his herd without delay. And the 

 farmer who has no present possibility of doing 

 any more will at once begin to improve his 

 herd from within, hopeful of at least some 

 measure of success by better feeding. — N. Y. 

 Times. 



THE RACCOON. 



Dr. R. H. Stockwell, of Michigan, treats 

 the raccoon as an animal injurious to Agri- 

 culture, and writes as follows in the Jhn. 

 Agriculturist for August. 



The raccoon is described as a nocturnal 

 animal, while in trutli all hours of the day or 

 night are pretty much the same to it. Its 

 shrewdness, however, leads it to seek the 

 cover of darkness, while experience has 

 taught that fishing is attended with better re- 

 sults when practiced in the shadowy and un- 

 certain light of the moon. I have observed it 

 at different hours during the day skulking 

 along the margins of streams, hunting for 

 frogs and turtles, or stalking the wild duck 

 and her brood, and even feeding in the maize 

 fields. In one instance the writer caught a 

 coon invading cautiously the well-stocked 

 poultry yard at high noon. 



Where only high and dry woodlands or 



bi'oad expanses of prairie prevail, the raccoon 

 is seldom encountered, save as a rambler. 

 Low, moist grounds, with lofty trees, are pre- 

 ferred, like the well-wooded swamps and 

 lagoons of the .South ; while to the northward, 

 forest slopes, bordering lakes and ponds, or 

 traversed by brooks and rivulets, are selected. 

 The purely evergreen forests of the North 

 rarely shelter it, since nuts, acorns, and other 

 mast are an important factor in tlie problem 

 of life at certain seasons of the year. Hence 

 its presence therein must be held as accidental. 

 But wherever the coon is established, it wan- 

 ders over wide stretches of territory in sum- 

 mer, often miles away from its home, absent- 

 ing itself for days and even weeks, especially 

 during the wooing season. It is during such 

 excursions that it is met with in the open 

 prairie, being led thereto, presumably, in 

 search of grouse, plover, and other feathered 

 creatures and their nests, along with mice, 

 hares, and gophers. 



North of Ohio and Indiana, the raccoon 

 hibernates in winter, but rarely, if ever, in 

 lower latitudes. But even in his most ex- 

 treme northern habitat, the habit is by no 

 means general or constant, as with the bear, 

 but appears I'ather as assumed, to correspond 

 with diminished food supply. In Northern 

 Michigan I have found them racing over the 

 snow on bright mid- winter days, while with 

 the advent of extreme cold or stormy weather, 

 it retired again to its peculiar sleep in the 

 recesses of its lair. At the same period, a 

 pair lield in confinement, and abundantly sup- 

 plied with food, at no time exhibited any 

 tendency towards hibernation, though con- 

 stantly refusing ;idmission to their kennel of 

 all articles looking to increased warmth, pre- 

 ferring t* make their beds upon the naked 

 boards. Even during the coldest days, when 

 tlie thermometer was down in the twenties 

 below zero, the advent of a tub of water was 

 heralded with manifest delight, in the cold 

 water of which they would paddle and play, 

 and push the ice about until wetted to the 

 skin. 



BUSINESS LA\A^. 



A note or contract made (or dated) on Sun- 

 day, or by a minor, or without consideration, 

 is void. 



Signatures made with lead pencil are good, 

 in law. 



The maker of an "accommodation" bill or 

 note is not liable to the party accommodated, 

 but is bound to all others as though there 

 were a valid consideration. 



A note falling due on Sunday, or on a legal 

 holiday, must be paid on the day before. If 

 Saturday should be a holiday, and the note 

 fall due on Sunday, it should be paid on Fri- 

 day ; and if Monday is a holiday, and the 

 note falls due on Monday, it should be paid 

 on Saturday. 



A note may be endorsed on the face or back 

 — usually on the back ; and the endorser is 

 liable if the maker fails to pay, provided he is 

 served with notice of protest within twenty- 

 four hours after it falls due. 



A note is a written promise to pay. An 

 acceptance is a draft, accepted by the payer, 

 and made payable at a fixed and definite time. 

 Either is negotiable. 



Principals are responsible for the acts of 

 their agents. 



The acts of one partner bind all the rest. 



If a check or draft is not presented for pay- 

 ment promptly, that is as soon as it can reach 

 tlie place of payment in due course of busi- 

 ness, and if, the meantime, the bank or payer 

 fails, the holder and not the maker must lose 

 the amount. 



A note or draft may be presented at any 

 time during the day that it falls due, even 

 after business hours, and the payee has the 

 right to refuse anything except bank bills or a 

 certified check, and if not so paid, the note or 

 draft will be protested the next day, and no- 

 tices sent to all endorsers, who then become 

 severally liable. 



An endorser is not liable if he endorses 

 after the words "without recourse." 



All claims which do not rest on a "seal" or 

 "judgment" must be sued within six years 

 from the time they originate. 



Part payment of a debt that has passed the 

 time of statutory limitation revives the whole 

 debt, which holds for another period of six 

 years. 



A debtor has the right to designate on 

 which bill he wishes to make payment, when 

 partial payments are made. 



An oral agreement must be proved by wit- 

 nesses. 



The finder of negotiable paper or other pro- 

 perty, must make reasonable efforts to find 

 the owner, or otherwise he will be liable to a 

 charge of larceny. 



Notes do not bear interest, unless stated in 

 the note. 



A will should begin with the words " In the 

 name of God, amen ;" and all bequests should 

 be plainly and unequivocally made and stated, 

 without interlineations or erasures. Any 

 char.ge in a will should be made by codicil, 

 and both that and the principal instrument 

 should be signed and sealed before two wit- 

 nesses. 



All legal instruments are to be interpreted 

 according to the natural use of language. It 

 is better to avoid any peculiar phrasology or 

 technical terms. 



THE CARE OF CANARIES. 



The greatest favorite among birds appears 

 to be the canary. The best singing varieties 

 are imported from Germany, principally troni 

 the Hartz monntaius, where they are bred 

 by the peasantry by the hundreds of thousands 

 yearly, and from there are sliipped to this 

 country, England, France and even to Aus- 

 tralia. This bird had its origin in the Canary 

 Islands, where its color is of a greenish gray. 



It was first introduced into Europe in the 

 sixteenth century, where their notes, particu- 

 larly in Germany, were greatly improved by 

 raising them in rooms where other birds — such 

 as nightingales, woodlarks, skylarks, and the 

 like — were commonly kept. They would take 

 notes from each bird, and by mixing these 

 notes the canary has attained the beautiful 

 and varied song transmitted to its descend- 

 ants. When the compost soug of the canary 

 was thonglit completed the use of other birds 

 was not deemed requisite, as the young ones 

 learned from their parents. 



Instead of a succession of noisy notes the 

 bird should know how, with a silvery, sono- 



