Seeds for Next Season. 
such matters tells us: “Upon St. Agnes 
jdght you take a row of pins and pull out 
every one, one after another, saying a 
Pater Noster, sticking a pin in your sleeve, 
and you will dream of him or her you are 
to marry.” 
® do not know if the charm was never 
known to fail but I doubt the spell working 
■'in these modern days. 
The English people have always been 
fond of fairs; but, as a general thing, they 
have taken place out of doors during 
•almost any season but that of the winter. 
However, in 1814, the great river Thames 
froze over so solid that the people resolved 
to have a fair upon the same, and did their 
utmost to make it a success. Thinking 
over all they did, and upon what founda¬ 
tions they did it, it strikes me it must have 
ibeen a “big thing on ice.” 
One of the curious amusements was the 
ceremony of roasting a small sheep, some 
would have styled it, toasting or burning it 
over a coal fire placed in a large iron pan. 
For t he intellectual portion of the people 
eight or ten printing presses were erected 
on the ice. Papers were published, balls 
took place, games were played, concerts 
were given, trade carried on and people 
preferred the icy river to the city streets 
and country lanes. The scene by moon¬ 
light was said to be beyond description and 
to rival, in beauty, the frozen climes of the 
north. Well, of course, it was “too bright, 
too beautiful to last,” for there came a 
thaw, rain began to fall and the ice to 
crack, and “on a sudden it floated with the 
printing presses, books and merry-makers, 
to no small dismay of publicans, typograph¬ 
ers, shopkeepers and sojourners.” 
You may feel sure the people did not lack 
for amusement, or deem the winter dull as 
-long as they had their “Frost Fair”; and, of 
^course, it might be said that many lived 
‘On ihe ice as long as there was ice to live 
on. They were so happy and of such joy¬ 
ous dispositions they did not mind the cold. 
It seems to me if we were to keep our hearts 
warmer by putting more sunshine into the 
same we should not growl and grumble so 
much at the inclemency of the winter, as 
some of us, now, are too apt to do. 
Good seed, that you have grown yourself, 
and has a pedigree, the longer the better, 
or has been bought of a commercial seeds¬ 
man, with the good sense to test his seeds 
before he sells them, is essential to maxi¬ 
mum crops. If your soil is all right and 
the fertilizers abundant, you do not get the 
full reward for labor, without the best seed. 
The vitality of seed, its power to reproduce 
its own kind, or something a little better, 
depends upon the circumstances under 
which it is grown. Heredity has as much 
to do with seeds as with animals. If the 
farmer understands this, and will watch 
over the growth and purity of the seeds 
for his crops, well and good. But very 
many of our farmers cannot, or will not 
do this. Charlock is among their oats, 
thistles among their wheat, daisies and 
white weed among their grass seed. Their 
corn is choked with weeds, and runs to 
nubbins, or is imperfectly ripened, and 
their vegetable garden seeds are so mixed 
that the varieties fail to come true to name, 
or aie nameless. They have no pride in 
garden products, and do not exhibit at the 
fairs. Now is the time to remedy these 
slovenly habits, and to turn over a new 
leaf with the new year.— Wm. Clift in 
American Agriculturist. 
Rotation of Crops. 
A successful Market Gardener gives the 
following: 
My plan of rotation has been as follows: 
Corn land planted in peas, which, if the 
land be strong enough or well manured, 
may be followed the same year by late crops 
of corn, tomatoes, or cabbage, among which 
kale may be sown at the last wor kin g, jf 
the latter is omitted the land may be oc¬ 
cupied by oats or strawberries the following 
Spring, thus admitting of being turfed. 
Should the land be light and it be desirable 
to allow the peas to occupy the land through 
the Summer, it may be planted the follow¬ 
ing Spring in cantaloupes, tomatoes or 
com. In regard to the cultivation of crops 
upon a truck farm, it is the best plan to keep 
