There are two causes of failure to make this crop uncertain. One is because the soil is not kept clear of weeds, and the other is that it is not properly enriched. To raise a good crop of onions requires a light, loamy soil, worked into as fine a condition as possible, to render cultivation easy. The greater part of the preparation should be done in the fall, and especially the application of the... more...

Editor Prairie Farmer—I write you in regard to the corn question. I would like to know if angle-worms damage corn. Eight years ago I came to the conclusion that I could raise double the number of bushels of corn that I was then raising. I then commenced experimenting on a small scale. I succeeded very well for the first three or four years. I got so that I could raise over ninety bushels per acre. In... more...

Prof. John W. Robson, State Botanist of Kansas, sends The Prairie Farmer an extract from his last report, concerning a tame grass for hay and pasturing which is new to that State. The grass has been on trial on an upland farm for two years, during which time he has watched it very closely. The Professor says, "It possesses so many excellent qualities as to place it in the front rank of all... more...

PREFACE What are the words most commonly misspelled by the average high school pupil? In an endeavor to solve this problem, two thousand letters, with five postal cards in each, were sent to representative high schools in every state in the United States, requesting the heads of the various departments to report the words most commonly misspelled in their classes. From the many thousand replies, this... more...

PREFACE In homely phrase, this is a sort of "second helping" of a dish that has pleased the taste of thousands. Our first collection of Poems Teachers Ask For was the response to a demand for such a book, and this present volume is the response to a demand for "more." In Book One it was impracticable to use all of the many poems entitled to inclusion on the basis of their being desired.... more...

PREFACE Seldom does a book of poems appear that is definitely a response to demand and a reflection of readers' preferences. Of this collection that can properly be claimed. For a decade Normal instructor-primary plans has carried monthly a page entitled "Poems Our Readers Have Asked For." The interest in this page has been, and is, phenomenal. Occasionally space considerations or... more...

1. ALL THAT'S PAST   Very old are the woods;    And the buds that break  Out of the briar's boughs,    When March winds wake,  So old with their beauty are—    Oh, no man knows  Through what wild centuries    Roves back the rose.   Very old are the brooks;    And the rills that rise  Where snow sleeps cold beneath    The azure skies  Sing such a... more...

"WAKE UP, ENGLAND" Thou careless, awake!Thou peacemaker, fight!Stand, England, for honour,And God guard the Right! Thy mirth lay aside,Thy cavil and play:The foe is upon thee,And grave is the day. The monarch AmbitionHath harnessed his slaves;But the folk of the OceanAre free as the waves. For Peace thou art armedThy Freedom to hold:Thy Courage as iron,Thy Good-faith as gold. Through Fire, Air,... more...

WITH PIPE AND BOOK. With Pipe and Book at close of day, Oh, what is sweeter, mortal, say? It matters not what book on knee, Old Izaak or the Odyssey, It matters not meerschaum or clay. And though one's eyes will dream astray, And lips forget to sue or sway, It is "enough to merely be," With Pipe and Book. What though our modern skies be gray, As bards aver, I will not pray For... more...

Pursuant to a call published in all the daily papers, and signed by a large number of prominent citizens and tax-payers of Boston, a public meeting was convened in Faneuil Hall on the evening of Wednesday, the 7th of June, 1876, to take action on the recommendations contained in the Report of the Park Commissioners. The hall was crowded by an intelligent and enthusiastic audience; and the proceedings... more...