njrrln.n  for lb.
By II. S. Chamberlain.
In  ll"'  long  winter  evenings  now  with
.a  everyone   with   uinbitiou   wishes
something    aside from    the routine
it  is a good time in which to take
it mnch neglected reading you prom-
■irself in your busier moments.
If von have no definite course laid out,
nyway. Kead something that will
.   your mind, add  to your fund of
I   knowledge  and  *be  an  everlasting
ictiou to you.        Do not waste your
time in reading the light trashy literature
commonly  embodied  in  the  latest    novel.
inch lime is being spent on this class
ling    matter by  the    authors    and
:. . !,rs alike,  with the substantial benefit
reetiac with the writers.
Many of tlie works of fiction of the hour
will soon go the way of all vanishing
things, and within a short decade, the
.Her wil] stare in surprise at the buy-
who happens to call for a novel popular to-day. Very few books of the pre»*
i nl day's crop ean withstand the changing
fails and fancies of a fickle public, and
what is mote, an overwhelming majority
of the modern imvels have no moo*e claim
upon immortality than the gaily colored
autumn   leaf  has. So,   in  selecting    a
wi.rk of fiction be sure that it is worth
yi.nr while aud effort to read it. If you
want to kih time, and kill it wantonly,
jnst try to keep up to date with the output
of the novel factories.
Now do not think us pessimists, old
fogies or cranks along this line. We sincerely hope we arc not. There are some
novels of recent making that are all right
and arc worth careful reading bu>. ihe per
cent of these is extremely low.
Keeping up with the times in reference
tu the most important current events by
reading the best newspaper accounts, and
editorial comments thereon, is an employment giving pleasure to the reader, and
besides this, it marks him ns a well informed person.
*! magazines, 1 right, spicy and well
edited agricultural periodicals and clean
newspapers are benefactors in the American fanner's home.
As a general thing people in* our rural
districts are somewhat deficient in their
knowledge of our country's history nnd its
civil government. Larger familiarity
with these subjects can not help but make
better citizens of us all. McMaster's recent United States History reads like an
interesting novel, so well is it written.
Fishe's "Civil Government" and his "Critical Period in our History," and Strong's
"Our Country" are commendable books in
this line. Spark's "Expansion of the
American People" and Bryce's "American
Commonwealth" are worthy of close acquaintance.
For farmers desiring to know more
about the practical, theoretical and scietMi-
fie phases of their work, and we are glad
to know that this means nearly every one
who tills the soil, the following named
books will be of great service: Bailey's
"Principles of Agriculture;" Henderson's
"Hardening for Profit:" Gurley's "American Dairying;" Jordan's "Feeding of Animals;" Mayo's "Care of Animals:" Win-
ehell'g "Walks and Talks in* Geological
Fields:" Darwin's "Origin of Species;"
Master's "Plant Life on the Farm:" Bob-
ert's "Fertility of the Soil;" Storer's "Agriculture;" and various reports and bulletins issued by the United States Department of Agriculture.
■aphy always has a peculiar attraction for most people and such life
stories as are mentioned below will be
found delightful reading. Tarbell's or
Schurtr.'s "Life of Lincoln:" Abbott's
"Alexander the Great;" Franklin's "Autobiography;" Lodge's Alexander Hamilton;"
Tarbell's "Napoleon" antl lfooscvclt's
"Cromwell."
In the choice of literature for the young
people, care should be exercised and only
that which will create u lu-altliy desire for
good reading should be placed in their
hands.      One  of  the  best  periodicals  for
creating a  taste  for wholesome  literature   side  pressed  ir.t    tobe open
is   the   Youth's   Companion.        It   should   enough   to  hold  the  water  back,    the  ice
receiving  the  pressure  from  above    but
when broken  tin* air rushed in and forced
he will become au interesting and intelligent num. We have a man iu Indiana
who is an authority on birds because be
has made them his study, used his eves in
seeing bimls and learning their secrets and
habits. 1 once hail a watering trough lo
freeze up. I thought I would let the
water out and save the trough from I
ing, anil I pulled the peg at tin* side of
the trough, but the water did not come;
there it wns inside but would not run out,
I broke the ice and nut pouted the water.
1 began to think. "Why did not llie
water run'.'"      I found Ihe air on the out-
hols    strung
be a welcome guest wherever young folks
are  found  in  the  home. As  for  books
A Street in Hillsdale, I ml.
for boys and  girls  we  would  suggest   tbe   the water out.
writings of Miss Alcott; Hale's "Man
without a Country;" Lamb's "Tales from
Shakespeare;" Wood's ".Natural History;"
Seton-Thompson's and John Burroughs
writings on the life and habits of Wild animals. BewaU's "Black Beauty" and
S.iuniler's "Besutlful Joe."
In fiction* will be found a score of good
novels deserving ones attention and perusal. Among these appear "Ivanhoe;"
"David Copperfield;" "Uncle Tom's
Cabin;" "Silas Warner;" "Scarlet Letter;"
"David Hariim;" "The Crisis;" "Romola"
and "Romona," Shakespeare's best plays;
"Merchant of Venice," "Hamlet," "Macbeth," and "Julius Caesar," are always
entertaining -and instructive. The poems
of Tennyson, Bryant. Whittier, Lowell
and Longfellow afford a pleasant variation from prose rending.
For domestic solid reading, with plenty
of mental food included, read Kmeron's
essays, and for those religiously inclined
the works of Drummond furnish a treat.
We have named only what are generally conceded to be representative works in
our modern fields of literature. We hope
that some of our readers will find time
this winter to acquaint themselves with
some of these silent friends whose virtues
we can vouch for.
Seeing   Things.
Kdltors  Intilaua   Fanner
How many of us are going through the
world with poor eyesight: I do .,.._ mean
that we cannot seo well but that we do
not nse our minds with our eyes, and cultivate the habit of close and accurate observation.
A man may not know much of books, but
if he form the habit of close observation and meditates upon what he has seen
It is said tbat the lirst Step toward the
Invention Of the steam engine was taken
by one who noticed the heavy lid of a
tea-kettle rising and falling by the action
of steam. The story is told of Alexander the Great that one day he ordered his
groom to bring from the stable his favorite
horse Bucephalus. The man led him in
s'uli a way that his shadow fell in front
of him causing the horse to scare. Alexander shouted, "Turn his head toward the
sun." That little incident shows the
habit of the great warrior to observe, think
and act quickly.
An old gentlemen who lives in Spencer
says he can tell when he sees a serpent's
trail iu the dust which way it has been going from the minute impressions the scale
of  the snake  make  in   the dust. This
same man is an authority on trees, fish,
wihl animals, the weather, etc, 1 realise
he lias lived much out doors near to Nature's heart and has learned from the
great book whose pages are always open
before  us. I  hope  during  this  coming
year the young people of the Indiana
Farmer family will often turn their eyes
toward the beantlfnl heavens and learn
the names of the planets, prominent stars,
and constellations: linn* they are on
every clear night, magnificent object lessons saying to ns "The heavens declare
the glory of God." They an* the same
grand planet! that looked down upon the
Chaldeans ami the patriarchs and of which
Copernicus, Galileo, Tyeho Brahe. Newton. I.a Place. Proctor, ami other astronomers hnve Studied; do you know one can
get nearer the divine mind in Studying the
wonders  of  astronomy   than   ill   any  other
A. B. M.
Spencer.
Interesting   Letter  From   the   Far Northwest.
Perhaps a !ew words from the Canadian
Northwest will be of interest to your many
When Mark Twain first started for the
"far West" he promised lo return in tliree
months, but was gone seven years. "Ah
well," said he, "That is about as near as I
live np to any of my calculations."
To the careful reader ot Dun's and
ltradstioet's, it would seem that of all who
engage ill mercantile pursuits over '.HI per
cent   end  up  in  the  bankruptcy  courts.
Again, the tact tbat half tbe elderly men
we mi-et bare less than a cent a day to
show for lifetime of effort, would indicate
that Twain's experience is not an exception
don n in the "Stal
In this letter 1 propose to show by extracts from my note book, that Ihe exact
reverse is irue up hero, and that thousands who have conn* up Ion* from the
"States" have Succeeded   far beyond  most
■anguine expectations.
Mr. N. B. Haumunk, of Brasil, Indiana,
was  earning *?1(KI  pea  month  with a coal
company.        At a   OUl llie age of 1(1 he bad
000        1 ■'•■nr years  ago  he
landed near llanlcy, Sask.      Be now owns
■ -   "1   land.        Last   fall,   l'.HI."),     he
••I   1.700 bushel
bushels of oats.    His wheat alone brought
him over 14,000 which would have paid for
the acres that it grew on.       He is today
worth $15,000.
Mr. (ins Mcilicke, of Wimloin, Minn.,
came to Dundnin. Sask. nt about the samo
lime. Last   year  from   1,280  acres  he
threshed and weighed inlo the elevator lli,-
IL'il bnshels of wheat which brought him
$28,780. Iu February, IMS, J. O. Smith
, were weavers in a big cotton mill
in Lancashire, Kngland. Coining lure
they arrived in Wapetla, Sack., with only
.•**l"r>   between   Ihcm. They     were    so
"green" and inexperienced that all (hey
could earn their first summer was .f, par
month, and the first winter they had to
work for their board. The next year.
1906, they took homesteads, and by working for neighbors they got a few acres
broken out, upon which the next year they
raised a few hundred bushels of wheat and
oats. They also bought a team and
broke out about 00 acres more. In 1S06
they threshed 1.700 bushels of wheat from
it nnd 1*800 bushels of oats. Their success being then assured they borrowed
some money, built a good house, barn and
Implement shod and bought a cream separator, etc. They now have a dozen good
cows. Some fnll blooded pigs and chickens, good teams, and implements to match,
and are on the high road to prosperity.
Here are three cases selected from my
note book from among scores of others.
One a mine boss, one a farmer and one o
factory operator. With each of them I
took tea and listened to their story, "I
Imped to better my condition." said one.
"I thought ia time I might make a home,"
said another. "I had high expectations,"
said the other, nnd all said that "I never
dreamed it possible to succeed as I liave."
The marvelous thing about these stories
is. that thoy are not exceptional ones, bnt
tho rule.        It is the hard luck stories here
I tbat are the exception.
EveryWhae, on the trains, at the hotels
and in the family I have beon told of suc-
eeases that reminded me more of the stories in Arabian Nights than of this matter
of Tact workaday world. Yields of wheat
of from .'.."* to BS bushels per acre and of
oats of from 00 to 100 bushels, are numer-
I ous in every locality and well authenticat-
Conlinued on page 19.