392 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aug. 



to the fire, and they will be as good as before." 

 I was incredulous ; so he took them himself, and 

 held the stems' ends in the fire until they were 

 completely charred. This was in the morning. 

 At evening they were again looking fresh and 

 vigorous, and have continued so for another 

 week. What may be the true agent in this re- 

 viving process, I am unable to determine fully ; 

 whether it be heat driving once more the last 

 juices into every leaflet and vein, or whether 

 it be the bountiful supply of carbon, furnished by 

 the charring. I am inclined, however, to the lat- 

 ter cause, as the full effect was not produced un- 

 til some eight hours afterward, and as it seems 

 that, if the heat was the principal agent, it must 

 have been sooner followed by visible changes. 



Lime for Green Flies and Rose-Hoppers. 

 — A few days ago, we discovered that a number 

 of our rose bushes were thickly covered with the 

 green-fly and rose-hopper, and tried what eS"ect 

 air slaked lime would have upon them. Bend- 

 ing the branches over so as to expose the under- 

 side of the leaves, they were thoroughly dusted, 

 end in particular, all the young shoots where the 

 green fly was most abundant, leaving the plants 

 quite white. On examining them afterwards, we 

 found that wherever the lime went, the insects 

 had disappeared, and they are now clearer than 

 they have been for years, although care has always 

 been taken to destroy these insects by soap suds, 

 and even tobacco water applications. — Ohio 

 Farmer. 



YOUTH'S DEPARTMENT. 



CRACKING- A COMMANDMENT. 



A little girl once went with her mother into a 

 shop ; as she stood there she saw a basket of or- 

 anges for sale. They looked ripe and juicy. 

 While her mother was engaged in another part of 

 the store, sheliept looking at the oranges. They 

 made her mouth water, and the thought came in- 

 to her mind : "0 ! I wish I had one of them." 

 This was the beginning of the temptation. She 

 ought to have resisted this, and turned away 

 from them ; but she didn't ; she kept looking at 

 them, and the longer she looked, the more she 

 wanted one. At last, watching her opportunity 

 when no one saw her, she grabbed an orange, put 

 it in her pocket and walked away. In a moment 

 her conscience began to trouble her ; she felt very 

 uncomfortable indeed. Presently she sidled up 

 to the basket and put the orange back again. 

 Still she kept looking at it. She was tempted 

 again to take it, and again she put it back. 



As she walked home with her mother^ she 

 looked and felt very sad. When they were alone 

 she burst into tears, and said : "O mother ! I 

 have cracked one of the Commandments. I didn't 

 break it; I didn't quite break it, mother, but I'm 

 sure I cracked it." 



This little girl did right in putting the orange 

 back. This kept her from quite breaking the 

 commandment ; but if she had resisted the begin- 

 ning of the temptation, by turning away from the 

 orange the moment she felt a desire for it, she 

 would not have even cracked the commandment. 

 We must resist little temptations, the very begin- 



nings of evil. We must also pray to God to keep 

 us from temptation. This is what Jesus has 

 taught us to do every day, when m the Lord's 

 prayer we say — "Lead us not into temptation." — 

 King's Highway. 



THE POWER OF ONE GOOD BOY". 



"When I took the school," said a gentleman, 

 speaking of a certain school he once taught, "I 

 soon saw there was one good boy in it. 1 saw it 

 in his face. I saw it by many unmistakable marks. 

 If I stepped out and came suddenly back, that 

 boy was always studying, just as if I had been 

 there, while a general buzz and the roguish looks 

 of the rest showed there was mischief in the wind. 

 I learned he was a religious boy and a member of 

 the church. Come what would, he would be for 

 the right. 



"There were two other boys who wanted to be- 

 have well, but were sometimes led astray. These 

 two began to look up to Alfred, and I saw, were 

 much strengthened by his example. Alfred was 

 as lovely in disposition, as firm in principle. 

 These three boys began now to create a sort of 

 public opinion on the side of good order, and the 

 master. One boy and then gradually another sided 

 with them. The foolish pranks of idle and wicked 

 boys began to lose their popularity. They did 

 not win the laugh which they used to. A gener- 

 al obedience and attention to study prevailed. At 

 last, the public opinion of the school was fairly 

 revolutionized ; from being a school of ill-name, 

 it became one of the best-behaved schools any- 

 where about, and it was that boy Alfred who had 

 the largest share in making the change. Only 

 four or five boys held out, and these were finally 

 expelled. Yes," said the teacher, "it is in the 

 power of one right-minded, right-hearted boy to 

 do that. He stuck to his principles like a man, 

 and they stuck to him, and made a strong and 

 splendid fellow of him." 



MT MOTHER. 



I am now so far advanced in life that my friends 

 begin to call me old. But I have not lived long 

 enough to learn why I should not still respect my 

 mother, and regard her aflfectionately. She is 

 quite advanced in years, and has nearly lost her 

 sight. She sits within a few feet of me, sewing 

 up a rent in my linen coat while I write this. 

 She knows not what I am writing. She has been 

 a widow eight years, and is still toiling for the 

 welfare of her children. She has never studied 

 grammar, nor philosophy, nor music. These 

 things were seldom taught in her young days ; 

 but she knows their value, and has toiled many a 

 hard day to purchase books for children, and sup- 

 port them at school. And shall I now curl the 

 lip in scorn, or blush in company, to hear her 

 substitue a verb of unity for one of plurality, or 

 pronounce a word twenty years behind the Web- 

 sterian era ? Never — no, never ! The old dilap- 

 idated grammar in my library might testify 

 against her style ; but its testimony would be in- 

 finitely more terrible against my ingratitude. I 

 recollect well when she rode seven miles, one cold 

 winter's day, to sell produce and purchase that 

 book for me, when I was a little boy. It required 

 a sacrifice, but "mother made it." — Home Journal. 



