Various

“ Here, in addition to familiarizing himself with the routine work of the grove, he should study the chemistry of soils and fertilizers, the habits of such insects as may attack his trees, and the laws regulating the supply and demand of markets. In other words, success in fruit-growing can only be attained by following the self-same rules that lead to success in every line of business under the sun, and by the practice of industry and perseverance. ”

“ A VERY FISHY FARM. ONE OF THE OLD SAILOR'S YARNS. BY W. J. HENDERSON.
It was a sultry summer morning. The rays of the sun beat down with merciless power through an atmosphere which was saturated with humidity. The sea, flashing in long slanting lines of dazzling silver, melted away in the distance into a cloud of thick yellowish haze. There was no horizon-line, for this haze hung downward from the sky like a veil. It seemed to grow thicker and more dingy in appearance from hour to hour, and as it did so the atmosphere became more and more oppressive. ”

“ I have frequently seen a man awake in the middle of the night, and, calling Dennis, give him half his blanket or pea-jacket, and then, with a contented grunt, Dennis would nestle snugly in his new bed, and sailor and pig sleep the sleep of the just, their mingled snores filling the still hours of the middle watch with a touching tale of boon companionship. ”

“ Even he who has the means necessary to make a grove must have enough more to support him until his trees come into bearing, or else be able to earn a living while waiting for that time to arrive. As I have already said, the fruit-grower may do this by raising vegetables between his rows of trees. By so doing he will not only gain a speedy return from his land, but his trees will be benefited by the constant working and fertilization of the soil. Better than vegetables, however, because more profitable, and directly in the line of fruit-growing, are strawberries. ”

“ A very few alligator-pear trees are grown in sheltered spots of southern California; but South Florida, below latitude 26°, is the only section of the United States where it can be cultivated on a large scale and as a profitable crop. Here it grows as luxuriantly and with as little care as the guava, though it requires a greater depth of soil. The tree is tall, slender, and covered with a dense foliage of dark glossy green, while the ripened fruit, also green in color, is smooth-skinned and as large as a man's two fists. ”

“ Washington, you never saw. But they'd rather fight than eat; and let an old soldier tell you, sir, whenever you meet the French, don't count on licking 'em because they are half starved and half naked; I believe they fight better the worse off they are for victuals and clothes. The Duke spent two or three weeks studying their works, and when he got through with it he knew more about them than Marshal Villars himself did. The summer had come, and the streams were no longer swollen, and the Duke begun to lay his plans to trap old Villars. ”

“ It is important to have as large a crowd as possible at a National Interscholastic meeting, and every effort should be made, therefore, to secure such a crowd. If we believe that a larger crowd would go to Manhattan Field or to the Berkeley Oval than to the Columbia Oval, we ought to have the National games at one of these two places, unless the expense of hiring the grounds puts them out of the question. It has become a sort of tradition in and around New York that the Berkeley Oval is the place to hold school and college sports. ”

“ Not only can one learn to swim quickly by the trolley plan, but it is a fine way to learn how to float. Some of us are too thin ever to learn this branch of the art, but if any one possesses latent floating power, he may be sure that the trolley will develop it.
The inventor of this delightful way to learn swimming has not patented his trolley plan, so any one may use it. The wire can be rigged from side to side of any swimming-bath. It is best not to have the line more than fifty feet long, for a greater length than that will cause the wire to sag at the middle and let the pupil sink. ”

“ In other words, fruit-growing ought to average a net profit of from $150 to $300 per acre, while it is not unusual for the profits to reach $500 per acre.
It must always be remembered, though, that such returns are only realized after years of patient waiting, hard labor intelligently applied, and under favorable conditions. Thus, while fruit-growing is a pleasant and safe business for persons of all ages and both sexes, and while the grove or orchard is better than a bank account as a pension for old age, it must be studied and prepared for the same as any other calling in life. ”

“ Although this only semi-tropical portion of the United States is just now being penetrated by a railroad, its lands are already becoming very valuable for fruit-growing purposes, and command from ten to fifty dollars per acre; while to clear them in readiness for setting out fruit trees costs about forty dollars per acre more, so that the would-be grower must be prepared to spend nearly one hundred dollars per acre on his land before his orange, lemon, or lime grove, his alligator-pear, mango, or guava orchard, or his pineapple field, or "pine patch," as it is apt to be called, can be started. ”

“ Then at least as much more money, and in some cases several times as much, must be expended on nursery stock, fertilizer, and labor before any returns can be expected. So, you see, fruit-growing is a business that requires capital to start it, the same as any other.
I should say that no one could hope to make fruit-growing profitable, and place it on such a footing that it would yield him an income for the rest of his life, without an investment of at least $5000. People have succeeded in making bearing groves for much less money ”

“ The little trees should be set in well-mellowed soil, to the exact depth that they attained in the nursery. They should be given plenty of water to start with, trimmed of all their leaves, and the earth should be packed solidly about their roots. After this be careful not to give them too much water; just enough to keep the earth about them damp is sufficient.
A year or so after being set in its permanent place, and after it has put on a healthy new growth, all nursery stock should be budded from well-known varieties of its own kind. ”

“ After the would-be fruit-grower has secured land and provided himself with the means for making his grove or orchard, there are a few cast-iron rules that he must learn and follow in order to insure success. The most important of these is that no fruit tree will attain a thrifty growth without constant attention and an ample provision of both food and water. Young nursery stock should be at least two years old before being transplanted, and when set out they should never be placed less than twenty feet apart. ”

“ The South, including all the Gulf States, contains vast areas of cheap lands available for fruit culture, while semi-tropical Florida, lying south of latitude 27°, offers a vast and as yet but little developed field for three fruit crops, the cultivation of which is but just begun. Most important of these, at present, is the pineapple, which can be raised in no other part of the United States, and which is grown in fields or "patches" of five, ten, or twenty acres. The fruit, or "apple," occupies the centre of a plant two or three feet high, having bayonetlike spiny leaves. ”

“ Nothing could have been tamer than the little gray creature, and it thrived lustily. It slept in the doctor's room, but made rambling adventures through the civilized plains of the ship, fearsomely avoiding the wilderness and deserts closed to man in the frames and timbers of her hull. ”

“ George was so eager at this point that he crawled on all fours up to Lance and gazed breathlessly into his face.
"It was Lord Fairfax dressed up as a woman! And he says, when I had come to myself a little, for I nearly dropped dead with surprise, 'If I can fool my own men and my own brother officers, I ought to be able to fool the Frenchmen into letting me into the town.' And sure enough, Mr. Washington, that was exactly what he did." ”

“ His wife stood by his side and loaded the guns as fast as she could. At the third shot fired by the old man, the defenders of the hill-top saw the man at the wheel of the foremost vessel throw up his hands and fall backward. Immediately the war-ship swung its nose around to the tide, and would have run ashore if the order had not been given to drop anchor. Grant had badly wounded the Tory, and the second vessel in the line had to take the lead of the fleet with a resident of the locality who sympathized with the British for pilot. ”

“ In your city of 1925 there will be no trolley poles, and, more startling still, no horses—or at least very few horses. The horse is doomed. Neither will there be screeching locomotives on the railways. Compressed air and electricity will take the place of steam and horses. People will not order coal delivered at their houses, nor will any ash man come around to make his morning litter. ”

“ In the Gulf States he will substitute fig-cuttings for apples; and in Florida, southern California, southern Texas, or southern Arizona he will plant all the orange and lemon seeds he can obtain. Even if his grove never gets beyond the nursery stage he may still reap a return from his venture, besides the pleasure that it has afforded him, for in every locality there is a steady demand for young fruit trees, which thus have a cash value from the moment they are sprouted. ”

“ In every city there are a number of college and school graduates who take a lively interest in the sports of the schools and the colleges, and who are always willing to give more or less of their time to the management of athletics. Up to the present time, in school athletics, this interest and assistance has largely been shown by the graduates acting as officials, because the management of the games has not been complicated enough to require their aid in the preliminary work. ”

“ In rigging the wire only one end should be wrapped fast around a post. The other end should be hitched to a stout rope and pulley-block. Before using the trolley the rope should be hauled as taut as possible and made fast securely. Then there will be a straight tight wire and no sagging.
If enough care is used, there is no reason why a trolley swimming line cannot be set up along a river-bank or the edge of a swimming-pond. In doing this, however, boys should not depend upon their own judgment. It is best by far to engage a competent man to set the posts and rig the wires. ”

“ In proof of this, the great State of California is virtually given up to fruit-growing, and receives a greater annual revenue from its fruit trees and vines than from its gold-mines.
PACKING ORANGES IN CALIFORNIA.
Any reader of this article who wishes to become a fruit-grower, and who can have the use of a few square feet of ground, or even a box filled with earth, may begin at once by planting seeds, and so starting a nursery. Of course the first thing to be considered is the locality in which the orchard or grove is to stand. ”

“ It is good that they should have divers interests. It is excellent that they should go into the management of athletic organizations, and that they should indulge in sports of all kinds, for in both these pastimes they are gaining valuable experience,—experience which some people rank equal in importance with book knowledge.
It is usually the case, however, that the young men who are officers of the National Association are also officers of their own local athletic associations. ”

“ Your city of 1925, and your country, too, will be rather more desirable places to live in than they are to-day. I envy you your youth. I shall be, if alive, past eighty, and too old to enjoy such novelties. ”

“ Inside is a great round stone or seed surrounded by a soft yellowish-green pulp, which, sprinkled with salt and eaten with a spoon, or made into a salad, is delicious beyond description. No one ever eats an alligator pear without wanting another, and the taste once acquired demands to be gratified regardless of expense. ”

“ The only trouble is to get the graduates. This is an obstacle that can be easily overcome if the search is begun at once. Mr. Evert Wendell, of this city, is a very good man to go to first. He has had wide experience in interscholastic matters, and there is no one who has better judgment than he in these affairs; and we all know that no graduate has given more time and more valuable assistance to school athletes than he has. ”

“ George jumped up off the floor, and seizing Lance's hand, wrung it hard in his enthusiasm. Lance smiled one of his grim smiles.
"Young gentlemen are apt to think more of a little thing like that than it's worth," was the old soldier's commentary on this, as George again seated himself on the floor, and with eloquent and shining eyes besought Lance to tell him of his entrance into the besieged fortress.
"It was about a week after that, when one night, as I was toasting a piece of cheese on a ramrod over the fire, up comes quite a nice-looking young woman and begins to jabber to me in French. ”

“ Interest in U.S. Revenues is growing rapidly. The great rarities, 6c., 50c., $1, and $5 Proprietary, the $200 and $500, second issue, now readily bring two or three times catalogue prices. Many millions of these revenue stamps are on legal documents, agreements, contracts, leases, insurance policies, conveyances, mortgages, wills, etc., which are now out of date and of no legal value. All the U.S. Revenues were used throughout the United States for about twenty years, consequently a valuable lot may turn up any day in any part of the Union. ”

“ In one of the largest cities of the United States there is a trolley-car line that crosses the tracks of a steam railroad. The usual rail gates guard the crossing when trains are passing, but accidents have happened there in spite of such precautions. ”

“ It would be very much better, of course, not to have the games managed by a club, if the officers of the National Association could spare the time to look after the preliminary details of the meet. But there are so many other things that must take up the attention of school-boys in the spring months that it is difficult for them to spare the time necessary for the successful management of so great an undertaking as a National meet. We all of us recognize the fact that studies should come first. ”

“ No guns that would be used in modern warfare can carry much farther than this, and even to achieve this range the pieces have to be elevated to an angle of 45 degrees. There are very few ships, too, even in the British navy, that could stand the shock of serving as carriages for such heavy ordnance, for the recoil after a few shots would almost shake the rivets out of a vessel's plates.
Many people in society invite artists and musicians to their houses simply because they hope to have them entertain their other guests. ”

“ The conductor, who has charge of the rope that moves the pole, and hangs down back of the car, vainly pulled it, trying to make the pole connect with the wire. But the rope had caught in the roof of the car and jammed itself in such a way that he was unable to see the cause of the trouble. The passengers were growing nervous, and when the alarm-bell at the crossing began ringing, announcing the approach of a train, they made a wild stampede for the doors. ”