HOME STUDY.

A thorough and practical Business Education in Book-keeping, Short-hand, etc., given by Mail at student's home. Low rates. Cat. free. Trial lesson 10c. Write to

BRYANT & STRATTON, 85 College Bldg., Buffalo, N.Y.

Big Grape and Apple Harvests.

I live in the centre of the great grape belt of the south shore of Lake Erie. Some years ago one saw nothing but wheat and barley in this region, with corn and grass on the hills to the south, but within ten years all has been changed. Now the whole country, hill-side and all, is one vast vineyard. Few raise anything else in their fields. I know one vineyard, twenty miles west of here, containing 300 acres. The vines stretch away almost as far as one can see.

At this season grape-pickers come here in vast crowds. They are from the cities, and are a picturesque lot of folk. They dress in every fashion, and represent almost every nationality. They board themselves and live cheaply. Our fields are just now full of these pickers—thousands of men, women, boys, girls—and our streets are full of wagons carting the grapes to the railway stations for shipment. Although your maps show us bordering on Lake Erie, water transportation is impracticable from here. The banks of the lake here are high and rocky, and speed on water is too slow for perishable fruit. Besides, one could go only to Buffalo or Cleveland by lake, and the great grape markets are Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago.

This year there is so much fruit other than grapes that the latter bring very low prices, and growers are despondent. Apples—"New York apples" are famous, you know—are so plentiful that people are not picking them at all. The trees are breaking with the load of them. They rot on the ground. One cannot even give them away. Thousands of bushels are useless, and every one says: "Oh, if some people in the cities only had them! We would rather see them do somebody good." Do you who live in the cities have to pay anything for apples now? If you do, it seems strange to us, for we can get nothing for them. They do not fetch enough to pay railway freights, not to mention picking and packing. The same is true of grapes almost. Activity reigns, but so do "the blues." I think almost any business is better than grape-growing.

Ernest Spencer. Brocton, N. Y.

Mounting Bird-feather Collections.

In your issue of September 22 last Sir Knight Jay F. Hammond asked how to mount his bird-feather collections. I send a copy of the way Mrs. Brightwen describes her method, taken from her "More About Wild Nature."

Raymond A. Beardslee, R.T.K. Hartford, Conn.

"The feathers should be mounted in a blank album of about fifty pages, eleven inches wide by sixteen, so as to make an upright page which will take in long tail feathers. Cartridge-paper of various pale tints is best, as one can choose the ground that will best set off the colors of the feathers. Every other page may be white, and about three black sheets will be useful for swan, albatross, and other white-plumaged birds.

"The only working-tools required are sharp scissors and a razor, some very thick strong gum arabic, a little water, and a duster in case of fingers becoming sticky.

"Each page is to receive the feathers of only one bird. A common wood-pigeon is an easy bird to begin with, and readily obtained at any poulterers. Draw out the tail feathers and place them quite flat in some paper until required; do the same with the right wing and the left, keeping each separate, and putting a mark on each that you may know which they contain; the back, the breast, the fluffy feathers beneath—all should be neatly folded in paper and marked, and this can be done in the evening or at odd times; but placing the feathers on the pages ought to be daylight work, that the colors may be studied. Now open the tail-feather packet, and with the razor carefully pare away the quill at the back of each feather, leaving only the soft web, which will be perfectly flat when gummed upon the page. When all the packets are thus prepared (it is only the quill feathers that require the razor), then we may begin.

"I will describe a specimen page. Towards the top of the page place a thin streak of gum, lay upon it a tail feather (the quill end downwards), and put one on each side. The best feathers of one wing may be put down, one after the other, till one has sufficiently covered the page, then the other wing feathers may be placed down the other side; the centre may be filled in with the fluffy feathers, and the bottom can be finished off with some breast feathers neatly placed so as to cover all quill ends."

Kinks.

No. 46.—Charade.

My first has been a friend of man

Forever since the world began;

It rules by day, and well it might,

And is not lost in depths of night.

My second is a bank of sand—

'Tis got from birds of sea and land.

My last a pronoun has been made.

When letter H has been mislaid.

My whole the squatter's heart doth tease,

And doth his pocket often squeeze.

Whole comes by day and stays by night,

In spite of many a scornful slight.

No. 47.—For Mathematicians.

A merchant receives $3 of every $5 owing him on book debts amounting to $15,000 (which debts are five per cent. more than his liabilities), and $3.75 of every $5 on $6000 of running debts his due. Find his liabilities if he pays dollar for dollar.

No. 48.—Word Square.

1.

Three musketeers of art, and this is one.

You'll spot him if you've seen "Trilby" done.

2.

If you are this, how many ills you'll shun

If you in youth your ways have well begun.

3.

If wounded in this by bite or shot of gun,

There is no hope, and now your course is run.

4.

The fourth is here, the Christian name of son

Which indicates a free or candid one.

5.

I'm lost now for a terminal "un,"

And hampered thus is certainly no fun.

So take this as it is, dear "Kink"y folks,

A synonym you'll find for yellow yolks.

No. 49.—Easy Riddle in Prose.

We lived in a brook, and were five in number. We were taken out, once on a time, and we never got back again. Four of us were lost—hopelessly lost—and nobody knows what became of us. But the fifth took a rapid journey in the midst of much excitement, brought up at the end of the journey in the queerest place any of our family has ever been before or since, I think, and if I were able to come to you now I would be worth thousands and thousands of dollars. What am I, who were my brothers, and why can't I realize some of these thousands?

Answers to Kinks.

No. 41.—A Prose Charade.

A potato gun, made from a goose-quill, a wooden piston, and had "wads" of sliced potato.

No. 42.—Political Questions.

1. Isle of Man. 2. Captain John Smith. 3. Secretary Thompson. 4. Edward Everett.

No. 43.—A Star.

Caul. Clap. Balm. Pulp. Mall.

No. 44.—Single Acrostic.

Assay. Nerve. Death. Reply. Ensue. Worth. Japan. Acute. Caper. Knack. Slave. Order. Niche.—Andrew Jackson.

No. 45.—Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Questions and answers.

"H. E."—For want of space we cannot publish stamp-exchange notices. "J. H. K." writes: "Will you please inform me how to obtain autographs, and give me hints in the art of collecting autographs from such people as Governors?" Autograph-collecting is not an "art." The ways to get autographs are three: Ask the people whose autographs you want for them; trade with other collectors; buy them. Many persons are fond of cataloguing autograph-collectors as "fiends," but they do not mean all they say. Nine out of every ten famous persons are rather gratified at receiving requests for autographs. Write a brief note, say frankly what you want, enclose a self-addressed and stamped envelope, and two cards—the stamps because it is your business, and you should pay the cost of it; and the cards in order that your collection may be uniform. But mere signatures are not highly regarded. Manuscripts and letters are much more to be prized. Do not, however, make requests that put persons whom you do not know to any considerable trouble, or that require them, in order to grant your favor, to give up for nothing anything that has real money value.

"History" asks: "What was it about Queen Victoria that was just celebrated?" It was this; King George III. had reigned, on the day of his death, 59 years and 95 days. The day came recently when Queen Victoria had reigned 59 years and 96 days. That 96th day, when she began on the longest reign in English history, if not in any history, was celebrated. The next oldest living sovereign, in point of length of reign, is Francis Joseph of Austria—1848. Other long English reigns, after George III., were those of Ethelred II., 37 years; Henry I., 35 years; Henry III., 56 years; Edward I., 35 years; Edward III., 50 years; Henry VI., 39 years; Henry VIII., 38 years; and Elizabeth, 44 years. Victoria has not reached the age attained by George III., who died in his 83d year. She is nearly of the age reached by George II., who died in his 77th year. The houses of Normandy, Plantagenet, Lancaster, York, Tudor, and the Stuarts were not very long-lived. The House of Hanover, to which Queen Victoria belongs has given to Britain the most venerable sovereigns in the persons of George II., George III., William IV., and Victoria. Elizabeth, the most venerable scion of the House of Tudor, died in her 71st year. She died in 1603, and from that year back to Alfred, over 700 years, no English king or queen reached 70 years. One of the notable events in the life of Queen Victoria was the celebration of her "jubilee," in 1887, marking the completion of fifty years' reign. Only three English monarchs lived to celebrate a jubilee year—Henry III., Edward III., and George III.

Anna W. Auspach, 3326 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa., is interested in pressed flowers and monograms, and wants to hear from you, and Thomas C. Gurnee, 443 Hancock Street, Brooklyn, N. Y., wants to receive sample copies of amateur papers. Harry W. Jones: The button which you describe—red, white, and blue, with a very small centre, a raised edge, and the ribbon lying in close folds, the whole being smaller than a silver dime—is that of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion. Why "never seen in the button-hole of any save men well advanced in years" is explained by the fact that it is an order of the officers and ex-officers of the army, navy, and marine corps of the United States during the civil war of now thirty years and more ago. There are twenty commanderies in as many States. The order numbers about 8500 members.

"Cedar Rapids."—A cyclopædia that is a recognized authority, issued in 1895, says the true source of the Yukon River has not yet been ascertained. It gives the river's length at about 2000 miles. The Mississippi is 2800 miles long, and the Mississippi and Missouri, which, as this cyclopædia says, should be considered as one river, and not the division as made, 4200 miles long—the longest river in the world. "H. P. B." writes to us: "Will you be so kind as to give me some information about the stage, what salaries are paid to actors, and what is the work that has to be done by them? How can one become an actor, and to whom should one apply?" Write to the Empire School of Acting, Empire Theatre, New York. Charles Field: Address Jerome K. Jerome, care The Idler, London, England; Bret Harte, care A. P. Watt, Hastings House, Norfolk Street, London, England; and Gen. John B. Gordon, Atlanta, Ga.

This Department is conducted in the interest of stamp and coin collectors, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question on these subjects so far as possible. Correspondents should address Editor Stamp Department.

United States revenue stamps are advancing in price by leaps and bounds. The following is the list of new prices for 1897. Where no price is given, the old prices remain:

First Issue.Unperf.Perf.

1c.Playing-cards$15.00$2.50

1c.Proprietary10.00

1c.Telegraph10.00

2c.Playing-cards7.50

2c.Proprietary6.00

3c.Playing-cards35.008.00

4c.Playing-cards8.00

6c.Proprietary50.00

10c.Power of Attorney15.00

25c.Bond5.00

25c.Warehouse Receipt2.001.00

40c.Inland Exchange7.50

50c.Surety Bond6.00

$1.00Passage Ticket8.007.00

$1.30Foreign Exchange35.001.25

$1.60Foreign Exchange10.002.50

$1.90Foreign Exchange50.001.50

$2.00Probate of Will15.001.50

$2.50Inland Exchange25.00

$3.50Inland Exchange40.00

$5.00Probate of Will12.501.00

$15.00Mortgage25.007.50

$20.00Probate of Will60.0035.00

$25.00Mortgage25.005.00

$50.00Internal Revenue10.004.00

$200.00Internal Revenue30.0020.00

Second Issue.

$1.30$7.00

$1.6017.50

$1.905.00

$20.0015.00

$25.0017.50

$50.0015.00

$200.00110.00

$500.00(not priced.)

Third Issue.

$20.00$17.50

Sixth Issue—Proprietary.

Violet P.Green P.

10c.$10$2.50

50c.2025.00

$1100150.00

$5 (not priced.)

1878 Issue.Silk P.Wmk.Roul'td

5c.$4$3$50

10c.15

On October 1, the Washington Post-office had the following Columbian stamps on sale:

$2 Columbians, 3002

$4 Columbians, 3437

$5 Columbians, 4581

As the same stamps have been offered by dealers and brokers in New York at various discounts (up to twenty-five per cent.) from face value, it is hardly possible that these values will command a premium for many years to come.

A new issue of Tonga stamps will be ready early in November. The set consists of values from 1/2d. to 5s.

The larger post-offices have received vast quantities of the letter-sheets (now discontinued), Columbian 1c., 2c., and 5c. envelopes, 2c. 1890 adhesives, and a lot of odds and ends.

Argentine, Sweden, and South American stamps will probably show large advances in the 1897 catalogues.

Philatus.

The best is not always low in price, but the housekeeper can have the best soap without extravagance.

Ivory Soap costs little, but experienced persons know that no other can do the same work and do it as well.

The Procter & Gamble Co., Cin'ti.