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/ ^â- "^r!: immMiP'" DIGGING IN BY DAVID CHURCHnj. .». and spinach and a clump of parsley jWltl-l further space must at ooce b* prc^ »!d«d. Tbls In aplte of th« fact that tha new Sun Lire Building; is one of tha flneat aiul mo«t commadioua In Canada, Ut devoted exclusively to tb« TIm sm«U of nHMons of buda, moUt, tMng; ot tha son-warmed earth; the tigting wind, 1m»t]F with the odors of fSTMt and ptain, blowing on my faea <â€" «Bd I was off. Once it was mud pits. This sun-drenched morning it WU a muddy pit I was diggring: with • MSt in every vwing of the grub hoe tfut set ma whistling "Turkey in the Btraw." "Hullo!" NaiKU>or called down. "So Sa'r« digging in, this morning ! Is it ! or is the cow dend?" "I am making a hotbed," I explain- •d, showing off my swing. "A hotbed, is it? Why not borrow tha scoop and more and excavate her?" "I like the exercise," I answered, with another splendid swing. Neighbor lit his pipe and sat on his |m»L "There is nothing I enjoy morVn to aee another man sweat," be eaid. "Go on down to China for ati of me." "What's wrong with itâ€" am I too deep?" I asked him. "Depends. If you are raising early com under glass for fodder " "Corn nothing! I intend to eat fresh vegetables for Easter." "Do I undersrtand you to say fresh â-¼â€¢getables for Easpter? In that ho^e? Planted in the dark of the moon? My dear Dnvil, the Chinks will get 'em â€" ^Uiey'II grow down ! Not up " "Bosh, you and your moon," I re- turned, but I stopped digging. "What ia the ntatter â€" am I too deep?" "By a good foot. What is the siM of your frame?" "Haven't made it. yet, but I aimed to copy the one in the encyclopedia, which is six by twelve." "Pretty wide reach for any but a professional g;ardener. Have to take off the sash to get at the back rows or else step in the bed. And if Mary wants a bit of greens it'll be hard for her to reach any but the front rows." He stood up and looked around. "It's beak here in the wind. Why don't you put it agamst the south wall of the bam, where it will be sheltered and get aJl the reflected heat?" >-- -"And fill this up? You do like to tee me workl" "Coma on," he said, "I need to bend my back, too â€" get this itch out of my feet. I came over for an excuse. Too early to start my greenhouse â€" Just made fire to-day." "I ordered my lumber, but it hasn't come," I told him. DOING THE JOB WITH CEMENT. "Use anything," be said, "boxes, thosa o'.d roofers. Hot manure rots them soon anyhow. Save your good lumber for''a cold frame, which lasts longer. Or better still, have you any cement? Lasts forever." We compromised on cement, which Nelg'hbor brought froifl his dry store- house. I n<?ver had used it and was aoon as excited at mixing my own as 1 used to be over those same mud pies. Neighbor threw a mixing "boat" to- gether in no time. He said we could use the iron wheel-barrow, but he felt certain I would want to play with it •gain and I might as well have a regu- lar box to mix in. Wo dug a narrow trench a foot and a half deep, being careful to keep the sides hard and neat. It ran about eight inches wide, and made an in- elosure three by twelve feet with two «omp€irtments six feet each. Then he built up a form of the old roofers, si.x inches above the ground at tlie back. The partition and the ends sloped from that to nothing in the front. In a word, the whole thing, except the slope, was below the level of the ground. Not only that, but the only form below that level was the grround itself on each side of the trench. Sand I had and we mixed our cem- ment with it one to five. We mixed It dry for a long time before putting In the water, and the consistency was •boui like warm putty when we put It in. We kept dropping in stones and tamping them down. When it was all i filled to the front level and the back form begun, he laid a board over the lower part of the sloping ends to keep i the cement from running out as vre fed it in at tho higher level; this he drew up and nailed down when nearly fall. I Then, when we filled the back form â€"six inches â€" wo pushed tho cement around the corners till the end forms were filled tp the brim. Four days -later, when we removed the forms and dug out the dirt which had Rcted as the inner form below f round level, wo both held our brc:iths. or the weather had turned the day' after we mixed the cement. And in •pite of rush mats and horse blankets, it had froien inside and outside of our' v,-aU. I But the sun waa hot again â€" the' sound and smell of running «(ater wss all about us. We even covered the, walls again so they would not dry too faat. Neighbor made a frame of 1x2- : inch roof lath, which fitted around the outside of the upper edge of the ce- , xatnt walls. Upon this he fitted a flat frame, made from the same. To thia| be hinged some sashes I had been sav- ; lag for years, with th« Idea of a hot- j bed some day. | "Now, where you going to g^et your! borse ntanure?" he asked. i I had fot^ntten all about that ' "Obed," eaid Neighbor, "is on hlsj way here with a load," i Nothing he does svrpriMt me anyj more. Ar.d I bftlieve h« gets more fun j out of doing unexpected kindnessMi than the person who receivM thtm. I 1!" said ho had been ttiraing it cvwr fur four <i*>'»-^jMM OJwt T<«ttr»d' to save me tliat much time, Utougb it was not according to Hoyle to heat it anywhere but in the hoibed. We put a foot of it in the bottom of the bed and all around the wall, in a trench we dug, we piled it up to tlte edge. ' "Want to change that in about a ! week," he said. "And when you do, , add some fresh and turn it all over." I "I let it cool down to about ninety- I eight, don't I?" Jt'ST WARM. " 'Fraid I'm not scientific," he ans- wered. "I just let it cool 80 when I stick my hand down in the loam â€" six inches of loam atop the manure â€" it feels Just warm to my hand â€" blood warm. Then in go tbe seeds, just be- low the surface, with a sprinkle of straw or excelsior for shade when the aun ia just a mite too hot." "AJl very just," I said, and Neigh- lx>r turned quick to jostle me for my gihe. If there la anytbing more conr^- pa lionable than such outdoor job*, unhurried, with one reaeonably sidll- fui and the other childishly delighted to learn, I have yet to find It. "The loam at least is ready," I eaid. "I mixed it last fall. There it stands in that covered box." It was still frozen, a solid mass. We broke the box away and knock^ off lumps of it; under tbe sashes they would soon melt. "What is in it besides old manure?" } Neiglilx>r demanded. "It is two cubic yards of dirt," I said, "and I gave it & quart of lime! and two of bone meal. As soon aa I spread it I mean to add some of my^ high-grrade fertilizer â€" 4-8-8 it really is, but the pure stuff without filler." , "Go ahead," said Neighbor, "but be mighty careful you mix it in well and ', let it stand for at least ten days before ' planting." _ \ "I can't do that and still have my vegetables for Easter!" j Ho thought a moment. "Easter is always the first Sunday after the full I moon after the vernal equinox. We 1 are in the last week of February and I the new moon is due to-morrow. Con- ; sequently it will be full before the i vernal equinox, and not full agrain till ^ 1 April is well begun. i "You can wait. Or you might naixj in the fertiizer and spread the loam ; five inches thick. And then over that put a layer of an inch or so which has no fertilizer. Better yet, a thin layer: I of washed sand, as I do in the gxefjn- I house. But be sure you cover tbe seed â-  bed with either that sprinkle of straw i or excelsior or lay newspapers, wet ' j down. By the way, what proportaons of soil, sand and loam did you use?. I What humus?" - j j "The humus is rotted clover sod. It ] is in good garden soil, and the "pro por- tion is one part of ratted sod, one part of year-old cow and horse manure and i i one part of sand that has l>een ] • washed." I I "I get good results with one part of' I good peat loam, one part of sand, not .washed, and one part of old cow ma-1 [ nure," he said. "And I add to each j 'box of a hundred plants a handful of lime and another of 4-8-8 ready-mixed fertilizer, but if I had the time I should like to experiment with other things." "It takes time to be such a good neighbor," I said. "And I have to mix my soil in the fall when the winter stuff is all to be gathered. "UnclaJfeter â€" old Peter Henderson â€" says he has friends who number I nineteen ways of mixing soil, but as I his result is as good as any he sees no I reason for the elaboration. He used I one part of rotted manure, one part : of loam â€" rotted sod â€" and one part of I sand. That was in the fifties." i "Do you use the same for a cold . frame?" I asked him. ' "I do. And my forms are cement. ; But wooden ones are good." "Do you set cold frames down in the ground?" "To get below our frost level, yes. I j ' set them as deep as the hotbed. Butj ' tliere is nothing inside but the loam; mixture, which is leveled about sixl { inches l>eIow the ground level. And I like cloth cover better than glass for , them. Takes less w^atching â€" I can roll down tho cover of a dozen at [ once if frost threatens. You use them for the overflow, you see, after you reset your seedlings, and by then the weather is warm enough so they are uncovered much of the time. Mine is ' ' almost a one-man greenhouse because | ' help worth a tinker's dam doesn't i exist. I have to do things the easiest! way tiiat will work." "And tomatoes?" "Yes â€" eggplant and , peppers and eaoHflowers and cabbage and toma- toes, ot course." "Come over and see some tomato plants that I transplanted fro:n a planting I made in Novemlier. "I spread the last fine tomato be- tween two rotted sods and wintered the little seedlings over in a cool room upstairs. They are sturdier plants than any I ever raised. I am cnrioua to see if they will make such wonder- ful results as the expert who advised it claimed for that method. He said the soft substance like wltite of eggr which surrounds the raw seed in the teimato was necessary to the best de- velopment of the plant and that it gets washed away in the preparation of dry seed." "Neighbor," I said, "for all you say you have no time for t^is and that, you fool with little experiments more than anyone I know." "To be sure, that's half the fun of living in the country. A man can make a fool of himself to the top of his bent and not hear a laugh from the peanut gallery. Don't you find it that way?" There he goes, with tite last word, as usual. « BILUON MARK PASSED BY SUN LIFE BETWEEN-SEASON CLOTHES BY MARY GBA( E UAMEY. â€" of the tampany, and bouses about „ , ...... ^. .., . , eleven hundred of a staff i Between-ssajon clothes, though they Next after b u« comss to»»~hoit da The fiftyflfth annual rep.)rt, which â- ''* "•"•'•y ifiven the least conaidera- loae, as it is railed in Parisâ€"a perfect appears la another column reflecu *'**"â-  *" reslly the most important .hade U> use .kith browns and tans; the enterprtoe which hea marked the clothes of the year. The carefully se- ; followed by graen, bright green and Company's operations, and the com lected coat or the not-too->?xtreme; the yelTow grrei-.s on tha chartreuse prehtnslve way lin which It is expand- 'rock made for early spring wear will tendency for afUfrnoon w^r. [ ater lug, not,^>nly In Canada but through- out the world. It has become not only one of the ouU»taadinK aaandal Insti- tutions of the Dominion, but shares w1t!i rjtp or two of tie b;nk.« and It la seldom that a financial institu- tion !« able to mark the completion of Its year with two such happy announce- ments as those made at the annual meeting of the Sun Life Assurance Comi>any of Canada. At the meeting In question, President M&caular was able to announce that the aseurance In force of the Sun Life Company Is now considerably in excees of one billion dollars â€" a level never before reached by a Canadian company. In the same address he stated that do duty on cool days all summer and ' the warm days of snmrae'' will iinng still serve as a useful fall garment i forth the alluring and flattering pastel ; until the arrival ot cold weather with [ Nhades. its call for furs. | The new frock of cloth or the little When one does not plan to buy many ; afturnoon dress of silk will doubtlass new frocks In the year or wishes to follow tho two-piece suggestion, even solve the clothes problem with little if it is made on one-piece lines. The expenditure of time and effort, it is ' skirts of the models are .leflnitely always well to selwt a frock of the wide, made ao either by plaits and general silhouette of the .season with- godete or cut in circular fashion, but out following the datable details too fullness they must have, evtn If it is closely. Taken as a whole the lines of given by shirred panels th.it accentuate one season are usually good for a year; the flowing lines. The n«;k of the now or two, although the minor details frock may have one of the cunning of the styles are changed more f re- ; little upstandiiig collars or it ma.y be qnently. But a pimT»le tailored frock of the adaptable hiijrh-low variety, a or coat is always good and it may take collar that fastens in the front t<i be on a fresh appearance with the addl- worn either high or turned hack In tion of a new collar, recut sleeves or a less trying style, modish, well-placed belt. xhe dressy frock is iometinies fin- Whatever the material selected for ished with u collar of ribbon fastened Mr. Arthur B. Wood Vlce-Prestdent and Actuary, Sun Life scheme. of Canada. the spring frock, if it be one of the across tha back and flowing in scarf very new silk-and-wool combinations ; fashion ; sometimes the collar ends in similar to eponge or one of the old ! a tie that is merely a continuation of stand-bys in the way of satin or twill, â-  itself. it will have an air of smart simplicity. • Thei-e is a return also to the lingerie . No buttons in -contrasting colors will , idea in lollar.n with cuffs to matro, mar its one-tone effect and its scant and all women should welco:ne tha trimmings and embroideries wi"l bar- flattering use of white at tlie throat. monize with the selected color. j gieeves aiv an important fe:iture of The hat also will carry out the color It may be a close little tur ban, a bit darker in shade than the ~- ' frock, or a small model turned transportation companies the honor , ^h^rply up in the back, even if it Is large it will match tbe frock In gen- eral tone. Unless ail signs fail, the close-fit- the new mode. Early spring will see only the long .sleeve, .vorn either loose and flowing or gracefully gathered into a cuiF at the wrist A wide flar- ing cuff or a putfe-l lower saction to the sleeve is a smart detail of thu drr.^sy frock. On sports and tailored dresses the sleeves are slim and close- of being one of Canada's beat known Inetltutlona abroad. Its ramlfleatlona now extend to forty-four couatrlea and states, and Its branches girdle the ; globe. The assurance In force whjs In- > . • , , ^-t . i >^ â-  ' ' ' '^ â€" ci^ased last vear by J149 460 644 ' than during the past season, espec.a.ly advances, the short sleeve will coma creased last ye«r oy *i«.*''»-'^*' , ^ith the younger woman. These hats , Wq its own airain as this orettv fa- brinKlne the grand total ap to SI, 021,- .. l 7r . , ^t., â-  """" ^ "*" again, as mis preitj la- 097,10L In Seeping with this tii sa^ *«,*>' *?<=^ f^^"""^ colors this season |,hion is quite too comfortable and too sets were increased by nearly »i9,(M)0,- *^''' ** is almost impossible to resist , b^eomine- t» be abandoned altoirelher. ... , . ^v . 4 , . lo/io them, and never was there a better 000, making the total assets now ?303,- â-  , . ; i _3i j ^- ^ ...'., * ^ . ,, ^ ,j _ hat for general ^l-round practical 056,145. Payments to policyholders * *^ and beneficiaries j ting, comfortable little hat of light- 1 fitting, finished at the wrist with a I weight felt will be even more popular; tailored cuff. Later, as the season use. year was nearly $70,000,000. Policy holders will share In another Increaas In profitsâ€" the sixth consecu- tive increase ot this Wnd. « An Ea«y Way With Cake. Mr. T. B. Macaulay President, Sun Life ot Canada. although, owing to the rapid expansion of business, It had been found neces- sary to greaitly extend the head oflfice building accommodation (the formal opening ot wliieh followed the annual meeting Itself), it was evident that By the way, a sleeveless last j'ear's frock of crepe or silk will take on new of $35,441,582, j "°'^' . , » i, _jii i usefulness if long sleeves of georgette i . ,.,,..., . ij ,(„„_ Matrons and women not so slim will _ _ j.. ^ . , Yj j brought the total amount so paid since ... ^v , ... ..â- " ^â- ,, , lor some soft material are added. ; the Company was organized to $219,-!,. i. ^^ ..v ' i ,. j â-  I These can be gathered at the wrist, in 239,710. The total net income for the; '»»«•'« "r^ t^'^J*«tyear^"f '"'approved style, vrith a frill falling some the brim is absent m the back. ,.. , â-  _, , ii. u L 1 t, ' over the hand. Take care, though, when you select' your new hat that it is not too smaH | Never was there such a season for for your face. Sacrifice style if you | make-overs, so it will be we.l before must, but don't neglect the good pro- j deciding upon new purchases to look I portions of your figure. Nothing could . o^«r the wardrobe possil)ilities, for I be worse than a tiny hat perched on a '"any times an attractive new dress • L . â-  i largo head or a huge brim meeting: "'a.^ be fashioned from two old ones. A housewife who wishes to keep ^.j^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ shoulders i The smartest of the two-piece frocks fresh cake on hand may do it with one^ „ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^ ^^^.^^ ^^ ^^^,^ on' *liown in the shops are more often or two bakings a week. i ^j^^ ^^.^^ [twill be quite the thin? to ^ than not of two materials. -A. p.aid I Make a sufficient quantity of batter I ^^^^ ^ ^^^ ^^ ^ boutonniere on skirt is used ^vith a becoming little for several layers Put the extra lay- ! ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ Some of the hats ; Jumper blouse of velveteen, and to ers away without icing m a tightly ^ ^^ accompanied by such a flower, ^ show that it is a complete, costume a covered jar 'WTien ready for them, ^^^^^^ ^^^^ g^^^^ ^^ . ^^^ „.^ring; bit of the pOaid is used on the collar, cover with fresh icing, which steams ^^^ hatching flowers on the hat and , cu.Ts and pockets of the blouse. The ; and rreanens tne caKe. ^j^^ frock i combination may be reversed and the By using different icings or even j ^^ for' colors, we are going to see b'-o^se of plaid may, top the skirt of 'different flavorings in the icings, one', , . u j • ».i.- ' ni-iin mMt-«>vii4l , _ j;„._ ,. ._,.., * ! blue m every shade again this spring, ' P'"^'" mateuai. from the favorite navy for the practi-' b.\LBRIGGA.v a.nd velvet. , cal woman to a deep rich royal shade i _ ., . ,. , ... Ten thousand of the threads spun I â€"a bit trying perhaps to those who ' ^'^ l>^'&iran, that aght-weight jer- by p. full-grown spider would not be|do not possess a perfect complexion- ^''^â- '^'^ ^^'"""^ frosted with threads of equal in substance to one hair in a j and also the shade of the Alice-blue 'â- '"'^^'^ '"" "Contrasting color, is most man's head. | gown in the song. adaptable; it is combined with vrfvet or with almost any material, and tho greater tlie contrast the smarter the can have a different cake, ^ Alaska The New Playground A NEW TOMATO STUNT. "Just one point more," I said. "I've seen frames on top of the ground that you move along a rew â€" say of straw- berries." "Yes, wooden frames. There are ever so many kinds of things, like bell glass and boxes from six inches up, with a movable pane of glass. On big estates, where results and not co°t are the only consideration, they may be practical. -And I mean to try out some of these boxes with glass, especially on tomatoes. Got a catalogue in the hou^e now. But it .would take a man's whole time to keep watch ot ray 5,000 tomato plants â€" like tending 5,000 lit- ii» scattered greenhouses! I can't do it and make my bread and bhtter off' tham, I'm afraid, not to mention honey to sprsad on the same. What are ywi plantlac in yonr new frame?" "Ivttuc* and rkdiah and onion sets AL.ASKA ia an Indian word meaning ' "The Great Country," an inter-; pretation so adequately descrip- 1 ttve^^f its charms that it receives the I unanimous approval of ail tourists who visit Alaska though they may substitute | an accentuated "Some" for "TheCreat." ' The oil â€" burning steamships of the! Canadian National Railways plying] up and down the Inside i'as?agre off the British Columbia coast have brought , Alaska very close to Vancouver and ! Prince Rupert and therefore within ; the means and time of the army of I tourUts and holiday makers who visit! the Pacific slope of Canada in the sum- 1 mer time, i t is the new playground j of tha Pacific ' Once Alaska was identified with tl>« gold seeker. Today it is as closely linked with tourist traffic, for men h ;ve found that there is more sheer g^UI in one Alaskan sunset than ever came out of its rock-bound mines. It is a land of strange contradictions and of never- ending surprises. Mowers bloom at the heel or glaciers as large aa some European principalities. The primitive totem pole of tlie Indian stsnds next door to a building which is a monument to modem architecture. The pack trail of yesterday is tha motor road of today. On the left of tho photograph is seen' one of Alaska's famous totem poles. It is that of ths Raven, the creator of man and the hat which surmounts ths totam is that which the Raven i saw in the creator'] houb;^. The bottom { figure is lii-yi-shen-a-gu. the Indian I Atlas wl»o hulds up the e.-irth. Thou- I sands of totems us curious and as in- I terestinc are to be seen in Alaska. I The log cabin at the top is claimed . to be that which was occupied by the i famous .Sam McGee. immortalited by i Robert W. Service. Beside it is a pan â-  of gold 'vashed from the creeks of the Yukon which borders on Aiaslm. The . gold in the pan was said tu be worth $10,000. { Thelargapictureiss view of S'i.agway. tha home port in Alasks of the Canadian ' National steamships and the gateway , to the famous Wf»ite I lorse Pass of the ' Yukon as well as to many beauty spot,? that are without a rival on the continent frock. One of the newest of the tailored models just arrived from Paris is a Scotch plaided taffeta skirt, cut cir- cular with a plain navy-blue crepe- satin blouse; the cellar and cuffs are of tho plaid. Even the little girl is we:ij-ing tho frock of two-color com- binations worked out in cotton. Tho • jumper effect is simulated by a wide tuck at the low waistline. Nowadaj^s no one wears a house dress; it's a daytime frock one dons I in tile morning before breakfast, but I it is so neatly made and so prettily made and so prettily designed one can I feel well dressed in it all day. The jdayi^ime frocks is usually made of 1 gingham or chambray or printed pon- igeo cloth, and it foillows the same easy- ; to-slip-into lines of the old house I dreps, taking on such up-to-date touch- I es as the fuller skirt .ind colLir on modish lines. 1 For comfort, tho sleeves are three- quarter length, though they may be ' made to the wrist if one uesires. .\ bit of embroidery and a string Ijelt : that ties in the baok give it a dress- ; up nppeiirance. I If ono is slim and youthful the I bungalo\v apron takes on the lines of : a smock, big and full, to he slipped on j o\'er a frock or worn with a separate skirt. The smock, by the way, is use<I I by .*choolg:ir!s and young business v»o- I men to protect tlleir pretty dresses. j THE NEW ACCESSORIES. Tiny daughter .rho still wears j bloomers with her frocks will be ador- i able in a s-imple little smocksd or shir- I red dre,«s. Embroidery on the collar ! and cuffs makes a dress-up frock of a . design thai is -'ot t^x) elaborate for play. j As for tlie KtUe accessorfeB that (to 1 toward inaking a complete arttl smart I ensemble, .ipring will see hosiery in i subdued toy.i«, for gradually are ws ! creeping away from the more con- ! spicuous .stockings. Gun metaJ is new, j and when selected In slieer hose of silk ' and worn with black pumps the effect I is charming. Atmosphere, almost a I flesh tint, and shell pink are worn for 1 evening affairs and with very ligh^ I frocks. I French gray 's good also^ not only I for hose but for acoessoriee of aH j varieties, ami when they are in thif ; pleasant neutral tone they will ha; imonize w«U with any froc^ or wra.