We returned eighteen hundred miles south by different fjords and making other stops. You may judge after four weeks on the water we looked forward with delight to starting on nearly a week's drive, on government roads, diagonally across Norway with ponies and stolkjarres, the native cart for two passengers, the driver sitting behind driving, generally with small rope lines. Rope and string form a large part of some of the harnesses. A typical Norway pony is between a cream and sorrel in color, the mane is cut short; in the center it is about five inches long tapering to one and one-half inches at the head and body making a crescent brush, also it makes the arch to the neck seem higher; they have kind faces; are gentle and sure footed; they are treated kindly, not even a harsh word spoken to them. In going up grades the drivers walked. To stop the ponies the driver makes a noise that sounds something like bur-r-r-r-r.

The houses are mostly of hewn logs, with mitered corners, the cracks filled with mud and moss, roofs are, first, birch bark, then turf from five to seven inches thick, from which grow daisies, johnny-jump-ups, clover, grass and sometimes a tree. There was almost always water dripping between the turf and bark.

We ascended over three thousand feet one forenoon and in the mountains saw another feature in haying. Small plateaus well up on the mountains would have grass growing on them. To get the hay down the rough mountain side they had trollies, as they are called, to their barns in the valley. They bundle the hay from these plateaus and attach the bundles to a pulley on the wire, or trolley, and it goes down to the barns. It was a common sight to see these bundles going through the air from different heights to different barns. Another set of trollies from the storing barns down to the warehouses on the wharves deliver the hay ready to ship. This was the system used in all the mountains. I did not see a large meadow in Norway, only here a patch and there a patch.

Just at the edge of the perpetual snows, grows a small plant called "multiberry"; the leaves are between our strawberries and raspberries; the flowers are white, not in clusters. Our driver picked some berries for us, and we found them something like a white raspberry with larger seeds. When in Christiana I had them quite often with sweet cream. All through Norway, yes, and into Russia, berries were served in large soup plates with thick sweet cream from large pitchers, like water pitchers.

The flora of these regions is beautiful and contrasted prettily with the snow; violets are a much darker blue, and forget-me-nots larger than with us. Through the snowy section at each side of the way, were poles much higher than our telephone poles, to mark the way when the heavy winter snows come. After we passed over the top of the mountain the descent was full of interest. The road followed the Otto river from its head; the changes are very marked; there are trees all knotted and twisted by the heavy winds, some trees with no limbs at all on the windside. High in the hills and mountains are many "satero" (pastures) where stock are sent for the summer. The cows in Norway are small but can climb the mountain side as well as goats. The vegetation here is so good that they prefer to feed even at the risk of losing some of the stock by rolling stones or avalanches overtaking them. Cattle, sheep, goats and pigs all graze together on the mountain sides. The pigs have long tails curling along their backs and their ears look like large curled wigs.

We often came to places by the stream where there were from seventyfive to one hundred milk cans, such as are used here in shipping milk, also many pails, sometimes a cream house, and sometimes the cans would be by

the rocks in the running water; it was all very clean and the tin shone in the sunlight, but never a person about, only sometimes someone watching the herds.

On the east side of the mountains there is less rain and the farms have to be irrigated. Wooden troughs were laid in the fields, the head water coming from the melting snows or a spring. They have a wooden spade, we will call it, the spade part about six inches wide and from eighteen to twenty-four inches long, and with a scoop and swinging motion they take the water from the trough and throw it, first on one side of the trough and then on the other. The strip covered was about thirty feet, the troughs being moved on until all the field is given a shower. The same places are used for the troughs each time. The families for generations have their buildings all together, the oldest son staying with the father, other houses are added from time to time till the farm houses and buildings look like villages.

Fences are made of limbs or small trees, not over five inches in diameter. Some are made from smaller limbs from two to three inches in diameter, woven together with still smaller limbs. We found the inhabitants very hospitable and civil, with good education and large experiences which were interesting to hear.

Norway has twenty-five thousand seven hundred and fifty English square miles of forests, chiefly pines. The wood is valuable, owing to the closeness of the rings which marks the annual growth. Next to the pine are the oak, birch, elm and beech. Other trees occur but not in forests. Apple, plum and cherries, currants, gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries and bilberries grow in Norway. Wheat, rye, barley and oats are the grains. The cultivated land in Norway occupies only ten hundred and seventy-four English square miles. A kind of sorrel is largely cultivated as a substitute for corn; it is kept in a frozen condition in winter and boiled down to a pulp for use, being frequently mixed with flour and made into "flat brod." In the southern part of the country the "flat brod" is usually made of wheat or barley flour mixed with mashed potatoes.

Soon after entering Sweden we went through a fine valley. The farms and country looked very different from any we had seen. My first impression was that the stock was highly educated, as the fields of grain, clover, etc., were not separated from the pastures. There were no fences. The cows were lying down, all the same distance apart and just the same distance from the grain field. A man had entered the field with horses and a tank wagon with a trough across the back end; he drove along and stopped by the first cow; as he drove on the second cow arose and was ready for her morning drink as soon as the wagon reached her, and so on, no time being lost. A few days later, by nearer observation I learned that all stock was staked with ropes or chains and could go no further, then I comprehended that the stock had not been so highly educated, but whatever education they had was a case of compulsory education.

From the canal we could see many beautiful farms. Every farm and small place has its peat field. We saw it in a few blocks, in large piles, and in ship loads being put into the drying house to be made ready for fuel, for large shops building machinery and engines.

For rest, pleasure and interest I would suggest the Gotha canal trip across Sweden to Stockholm.

From Stockohlm we went across the Baltic Sea, up the Gulf of Finland to St. Petersburg, in Russia.

Soon after we were located in St. Petersburg, three of us (all women) went out alone to see what we could find of interest. The first to attract attention was the cab, or drosky, a kind of diminutive victoria, hung very

low, by far the easiest to ride in of any vehicle we found on the trip. The shafts are held together by a heavy wooden arch passing over the horse's head. The driver wears a sort of dark blue dressing gown with a bright belt; his hat recalls the old-fashioned beaver. The cab horses are usually sturdy little creatures of the Finnish breed, while horses driven in private carriages are Bessarabian, large magnificent animals. It is a fine sight to see them racing along with their dashing gait, their long tails floating in the wind. The cabmen drive without whips, using the ends of the reins instead, which are finished with a tassel of ribbons. In driving single or double they have two reins to each horse.

The variety of costumes seen on the street surpassed anything we had seen in coloring and number. The women are very small. We went to Nevski Prospect, one of the finest streets in the world, where the street life of the city is better seen than anywhere else. It is very wide and extends in a straight line for three miles. We were impressed with the number of men and boys on the street among the pedestrians. Girls are seldom seen on the streets and women never, unless they have something to do.

We were busy watching the driving, looking in shop windows, etc. We ventured shopping to the extent of a few postal cards, some Russian candy and some strawberries. We crossed the Nevski, which we deemed quite a feat. The government looks out for and protects the driver, but pedestrians must look out for themselves and if hurt or even killed they are fined heavily. The horses are driven violently and they turn to the left instead of to the right in meeting which made it all the more confusing for us.

We went into a park, enjoyed the berries and the sight of the people, crossed the street again and back to the hotel safely.

All houses here are built with double windows. Some houses are large, you may imagine, as one hundred and twenty servants are not thought superfluous. From St. Petersburg we went by the express train to Moscow. The country was different and was merged in a vast prairie ere we reached Moscow. Moscow is the city of interest. Our time was well used here. The driving was not as pleasant, for many of the streets were cobble stones, making it rough and noisy. I will only tell of one building in this vast city of interest, that is the riding school of Moscow. It is celebrated as being the "largest room in the world whose roof is unsupported by pillars or props." It is said that "two regiments of cavalry can go through their drills, maneuvers and evolutions at the same time in this room." All we saw of the war was at Cronstadt. The Baltic fleet lay in the harbor manned and ready to start for the seat of war at any moment, troops were mobilizing in St. Petersburg and leaving every midnight.

From Moscow to Warsaw was nearly nine hundred miles through an agricultural country, with villages built to lodge the farm laborers, and with forests that cover more land than is contained in the cultivated area. We had not seen such vast fields of grain and stubble (it was late in the harvest season). The Holland windmill is used to aid in irrigation. We passed through the best part of agricultural Poland and saw peasants at work in the field. The number of women at work seemed large. While the peasants' houses are as small as those in Russia, here there is more cheerfulness, the gay colors and variety of the Polish peasant women's costumes adds to this. Coming direct from Russia we were impressed by the fine looking Polish people. Warsaw is the great industrial heart of Poland. By reason of their greater intelligence the Polish factory workers can outstrip those of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Poland is one of the fairest provinces of the empire, and in

wealth, culture and enterprise far surpasses Russia proper. Rye is the largest cereal crop, being the chief breadstuff of the country.

In good seasons Russia exports about one hundred million bushels of wheat, supplying three-fourths of the export crop to Europe. The other important agricultural products are flax and hemp, tobacco, potatoes and beet root. The beet industry supplies the entire sugar demand of the empire and furnishes enormous amounts for exports to all countries bordering on the Black Sea. Under a minister of instruction much attention is being given to public schools. The present aim is to provide the country with a sufficient number of rural schools for all. No compulsory laws are needed to force the children to attend school.

On our way home we visited Austria, Bohemia, Germany, Holland and England. Each country, like the others mentioned, has its own peculiarities, in climate, beauties, customs, advantages, and disadvantages. Where do we find everything perfect or all the best surroundings to carry on agricultural pursuits? Considering all things, I think our own country, our own state, our own section, has more advantages and less to contend with than any other country of which I know.

DO WE APPRECIATE THE AGE IN WHICH WE LIVE?

BY MISS DAISY MOREY, PERKINS, OHIO.

[Read at the Farmers' Institute held at Castalia, Erie County, January 16 and 17, 1905.]

In the early days of our country's history, when the persecuted and down-trodden from every nation and every clime came rushing to the unsettled shores of our now glorious union, so long ago as when the sound of the Indians' war whoop and the howling of the wolves were heard at every cabin door from the rocky coasts of Maine to the fertile valleys of California, yes, even then the word America stood for opportunity. Every hope, every ambition, every cherished thought that had swayed the minds and hearts of men for centuries was to be realized in the one word, America.

Little did the early settlers think three hundred years ago when they were laying in blood the foundation of a country destined by Almighty God to be the mightiest one on earth that in the genrations to come opportunity would still be the watchword that should lead millions to its shores.

When Columbus braved the dangers of an unknown sea he did far more than discover a new world; he paved the way to freedom; he left the world a heritage as enduring as the ocean that he crossed. For years and years the Puritans longed for a home where they might have religious freedom; the same longing fired the enthusiasm of the Pennsylvania Quakers, and of the Maryland Catholics; a desire for riches brought over the settlers of Virginia; a desire to find a land where the poor are not persecuted for their debts brought to Georgia the followers of Oglethorpe. Some came to find a home where they might worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience; some came to get rich; others came merely for the love of adventure, but all came to realize their ambitions, to broaden their lives, to found homes for themselves and their posterity in a land destined to become a leader among the nations, the fairest of countries under God's blue dome.

As we look about us and think of the wonderful inventions made during modern times and as we marvel at the rapid march of civilization, we cannot

help but take a backward look to compare the present with the past, to contrast as it were, the lives we lead today surrounded by all the blessings of man's ingenuity and skill with the lives of our ancestors a half century ago.

Very truthfully has it been written by a recent writer that "nothing in this world worth having is won for the asking; and the best is fought for, and bled for, and died for."

Now the question to which I would call your attention today is: Do we appreciate these blessings of life and liberty for which our ancestors fought, and bled, and died? Or do we simply take it for granted that this age is the grandest in the world's history without stopping to realize how much of sacrifice and privation these blessings cost? Are we utilizing our advantages and opportunities to self-improvement and are we being benefited by them to the best of our ability?

One of the poets has beautifully said:

"Heaven is not reached by a single bound,

But we build the ladder by which we rise
From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies,
Mounting its summit round by round."

The founders of this nation did not build it in a day, nor in a year, nor in many years; the pilgrim fathers, the quakers, the cavaliers, and the thousands of earnest, conscientious pioneers who followed did not by the privations and sacrifices of a few generations give to the world America. Slowly, but surely, step by step. has civilization been marching on until the twentieth century has been brought to behold with admiration the crowning events which are transforming this world.

And now let us compare for a while the present age, the one in which we live, with the age just passed, and then let us decide if we really appreciate our wonderful advantages. It has been the rare good fortune of the majority of those in this audience to have been born and raised in the country. It is here in the country, perhaps, more than any other place, where some of the best opportunities are afforded us to study progression in many different lines. So allow me for a few moments to draw you two pictures. The first is the farm home of an early pioneer, the second, that of his grandchild in the year 1905.

The pioneer's home is undoubtedly a house of logs. By much hard labor on the part of father and sons it has been made warm enough to live in. On entering its door the first thing that attracts our attention is the famous old fireplace which is used not only as a means of heating the house, but in it most of the cooking is accomplished. Would it not seem strange if the housewife of today were compelled to do her cooking in a fireplace and her baking in a brick oven instead of having the elegant steel range to be seen in nearly every farmer's home?

As we go through the house from room to room how few things of comfort we find. In fact comfort to the pioneer is a secondary consideration, for there is always so much work to be done. Work, work, everywhere-no time for idle hands in that household. In the corner opposite the window stands the spinning wheel and from early dawn till set of sun can its music be heard. And then there is the knitting. Is it possible for us to picture that old-time grandmother in her easy chair without her having her knitting work near by?

In that home so long ago we find few kinds of machinery to lighten labor; everything accomplished by hand. No sewing machines to help the mother in making the clothes for the entire family. How few ornaments we find in those 43-O. S. B. of A.