7 
SEED-TIME AMD HARVEST. 
JV, • \f .• , • . • ir'’ V * '• ■ -* ■ 4 ■ •'' ' • <■ 
but the market has become so accustomed 
to it that most buyers would grade a barrel 
as second quality if they did not find them 
“topped out” with a few extras. Yet where 
one has enough so that he can put these ex¬ 
tras in separate barrels and have the others 
run evenly throughout, he can soon estab¬ 
lish a reputation which will make this the 
most profitable way. After packing, allow 
the barrels to stand open a few days to 
sweat and dry off, as they will do this bet¬ 
ter in the barrels than in the heap. Then 
press the head in firmly and put the hoops 
on evenly so that there will be no rattling 
of the fruit in the barrel, and no bursting 
of heads on the way to market. Set in a 
cool place until ready to sell or to store in 
the cellar. Before putting the apples into 
the barrels, see that there are no nails pro¬ 
jecting which will mar the fruit, and if in¬ 
tended for distant market or for long keep¬ 
ing, it will pay to line the barrels with a 
clean, stout brown paper. Do not think 
that anything will do to go into cider; use 
only sound apples, and keep them free from 
filth of all kinds. In the days of “natural 
fruit” apples, it was possible to get a good 
glass of cider, for the fruit was sound until 
ready for the mill; but to look at some 
cider-mills and see the mass of rotten fruit 
taken up from the ground with the drop¬ 
pings of fowl and a few tobacco quids, and 
delivered to mill in the dirty farm cart, is 
enough to deprive any one of the appetite 
for cider. Even if the cider is to be used 
for boiling down to apple jelly, or to be 
converted.into vinegar, it is better if made 
from sound fruit and handled with care. 
In the neighborhood of large orchards, a 
fruit evaporator would be more profitable 
than a cider mill, as it would take many 
apples only slightly bruised or otherwise 
defective, but not really fit for barrelling, 
at much better prices than they would be 
worth for cider .—The American Cultivator. 
How to Tell a Good Potato. 
To distinguish a good from a poor potato, 
take a sound one, pay no attention a to its 
outward appearance, but divide it into two 
parts with a sharp knife and examine the 
exposed inner surfaces. If there is so much 
water or “juice” that a slight pressure 
would seemingly cause it to fall off in drops, 
you may be assured it will be “soggy” 
after it is boiled. That is evidence of a poor 
potato, and don’t you buy it. 
The following are the requisite qualities 
of a good potato: When cut into the color 
should be yellowish wdiite; if it is a deep 
yellow it will not cook well. There must 
be a considerable amount of moisture, 
though not enough to collect in drops and 
fall off, even with moderate pressure. Rub 
the two pieces together, and, if it is good, 
a white froth will appear around the edges 
and also upon the two surfaces after they 
are separated. This signifies the presence 
of a proper quantity of starch. The more 
froth then, consequently the better the po¬ 
tato; while the less there is the poorer 
it will cook. The quantity of the starchy 
element may also be judged by the more 
or less ready adherence of the two parts. 
If the adherence is sufficient for one piece 
to hold the other up, the fact is evidence 
of a good article. 3 hese are the experi¬ 
ments usually made by experts when buy¬ 
ing potatoes, and are the best tests that can 
be given short of boiling; but even they 
are by no means infallible. 
Fading- Leaves. 
Yes, tliey r are fading all around us, and 
how forcibly they remind us of the brevity 
of our own lives. In the springtime they 
burst forth a tiny bit of delicate green 
brightening into the deep green of summer, 
vigorous and strong, showing no signs of 
decay; but even now, though the frosts of 
autumn have scarce touched them, they are 
putting on their bright robes of death and 
ere long their lifeless forms wall be borne 
to and fro by the chill wind; and these are 
the forms of those same leaves which only 
a few days ago fluttered in the gentle gale 
or danced in the sunlight of summer. 
And is our life as. brief? Yes, and more 
uncertain for “Thou hast all seasons for 
thine own, O death!’’ Starting in full 
strength, eager for the race, how few of us 
pass beyond the summer of life, how very 
many, in fact, fall in the springtime ere the 
sun of our life reaches its height. Leaves 
