The Amman Valley Chronicle and East Carmarthen News

STRAIGHT TALK TO GERMANY. ■ | I it IT is evident that the German people have ( no means of commanding acquiescence of | ? the military authorities of the Empire in the w ( popular will." 8 popular w i M. -PRESIDENT WILSON, ( I

WAR-TIME GARDEN WORK & ALLOTMENT INTERESTS. A simple way of growing juicy, tender watercress is to plant the roots or sow the .eed in a disused frame in the garden. Arti- ficial heat is not necessary, but a little bottom heat considerably assists growth. Rake over tht soil and plant the roots or seeds. Admit a:r during the day, but keep the lights on. ♦.Mite a day a good watering should be given, and in a short time good strong watercress plants will result. Under these conditions growth is very quick, so that it is much more U'luk-r than the stream-grown plants, and after being picked should be used at once, •or Jt will become limp and unpalatable. ,arlet runner pods saved for seed should now be gathered before they become frosted and rendered useless. In sorting out seed. the large seeds should be retained, for these will more likely give rise to strong, heavy- cropping plants than the seeds from small and more or less imperfect pods. The see(I -liould be spread out on trays in a greenhouse or some other dry place to mature. When an old fruit tree has died it is often a temptation to leave the stump in the ground. Eut this, of course, is waste of space, and the roots may cause considerable trouble later on. The only sensible method is to di up all the roots and deeply trench the whore of the ground, getting up all odd pieces of roots left behind. Then the ground is in a fit condition for young trees to be planted. Another reason why deep trenching should be done is that the soil which has been undisturbed and unfed for so many years badly needs ventila- lion and enriching. In no case should a young tree of the same kind be planted on the same site as the old one which has died. For example, a pear or a plum should follow an apple, because quite a number of diseases and insect pests are peculiar to one kind of tree, and you may thus I get rid of something which has caused con- siderable trouble. Another reason is that the old tree may have exhausted the soil of some of its properties, and a new kind will probably not-need or not miss these to any extent. It is not generally known that the small lumps of gum so often found on Victoria plums are the marks of a disease. This disease attacks all kinds of stone fruit on shoots, fruits or branches. In some cases almost every fruit may be affected. At present no definite cure is known for this disease; but all badly diseased shoots and fruits should be burnt, and where there are gummy excretions on branches these should be cut clean out and the wound painted at once with Stockholm tar. Frost quickly spoils the curds of cauli- flowers, so no time should be lost in going over the plants, sorting out those which have just commenced to turn and those which are fit for use. The latter may be pulled up bv the roots, and, if stored in a cool shed, will keep several days. Those just turning should be taken up with a large ball of earth att.ached to the roots, and planted closely to gether in a cold frame. Some may be left in the ground if their heads are carefully pro- tected. This can be done by curling the outer leaves over the heads. In cases where the leaves are stiff and will nob easd!y bend, just break the midrib, and then turn it over just I)reak the ni.'drib and then ttirn I:t onec

A POINT OF VIEW. BY eaPTHlN R. P. W. REES. It's a peacefui place," said 1. It is that," said he. And indeed, as we spoke, our voices and the voice of the noisy little stream were the only sounds. Autumn had come among the trees, was even now busy in the hedgerows. We were standing on sloping ground, with the village on our right, and we had a great deal to say. I had not seen Peter for two years. My last glimpse of him had been in one of those terrible woods of Picardy. W e had a great deal to say, but somehow silence was better, silence tilled with thoughts. After some time he began to talk. He told me how his battalion had been cut off. How they had held on to an advanced post for two days. He made the scene vivid, made it all live for me, until I could see the remnant of men, unshaven and dirty, looking very grimly over their tattered sandbags, now digging, now firing, but never sleeping. He went on to describe the last attack of the Germans their dogged persistence their anger when the desperate little band continued to hold out. And then he spoke of his own wound how it came as a sudden tearing, burning agony in his side; how it was forgotten in the fury of that last hand-to-hand fight; and, finally, how he regained consciousness be- tween cool, white sheets. And here you are back again." Yes," said he, "back again in the old place. And his eyes wandered over the hills, and rested on the cottages huddled together, a grey world in the heart of the countryside. Would you go through it again ? I asked. I would, to come back to this. I've lived here all the thirty-seven years of my life, but I've never known the place till now. I've never had it to come back to like this. I've never begun to feel England before. There's something very personal, after all, in what we're fighting for. We're seeing it through so that old Mother Long can stand there feeding those ducks, so that those noisy children can come dashing out of school and find their tea waiting in the cottages, so that that old sleepy postman can trudge along there day in, day out, so that-Oh, hundreds of things, all the funny details that make up this queer, contented village life." "Think of all that mud and death, he said presently, an,i then look at this. It's an odd world. Why can't everyone be happy like this? You know, some of those pitiful heaps of ruin you come across out there must have been like this not so very long ago—all quiet and happy, until that mad devil got loose. I ouoht not to complain," he said, later. Why ? Well, I've had this peace for a good while now, and the other chaps would give anything for it." Have you been discharged, then ? Lord, no. But I've spent my Ex. Force leave here." Going out again then ? Rather. Day after to-morrow.

I MOPPED UP. on% — L- I VJJL{.I.UL. Batches of German prisonere such as the batch depicted above are constantly being passed through our clearing depots.

ITALIAN ORATORY.  ujjtcK? An Italian General addressing his men before a battle.

NO TRUSTING THE WAR LORDS. I I ffnpHE nations of the world do not and cannot 1 || trust the word of those who have hitherto been the masters of German policy. If it must jw | I deal with the military masters and the monarchical | autocrats of Germany, it must demand not peace jjij | I negotiations but surrender." ? > -PRESIDFNT WILSON, |

KITCHEN RECIPES IN WAR-TIME. Stuffed Tripe and Apple Sauce.-I-NGPF- DIENTS.—1 lb. tripe, } lb. boiled potatoes, 2 t-abiespoonfuls chopped cooked onion, 1 tea- spoonful powdered sage, 1 dried egg, seasoning. 1 pint brown gravy or tomato sauce. METHOD.—Buy the tripe from a tripe-dresser or a good butcher, in order that it may have been nicelv prepared. Put into a saucepan with cold water, bring to boiling point, cook five minutes, then lift it out and throw away the water. Scrape off the salt, greasy matter from the underside of the tripe, and then cut the latter into pieces about two inches long, and three wide, Prepare the egg according to the maker's directions. Mix the potato, onion, sage. and seasoning with sufficient egg to bind the mixture stiffly. Put a little cork-shaped roll of this on each piece of tripe, roll it up neatly, and tie in shape with fine string. Lay the rolls in a casserole or s.tewpan with the gravy, cover the pan. and simmer very gently for about Iwo hours, or till the tripe is so tender that it can be easily pierced with a skewer or fork. Then remove the strings and arrange the rolls in a hot dish, pour over the gravy, and garnish with sippets of toast or mounds of chopped, cooked carrots. Serve hot t pple-sauce with it. Small suet dumplings made from 4 oz. flour, 4 oz. fine oatmeal, 3 oz. chopped suet, and 1 teaspoonful baking-powder, and the same of salt, make a nice and economical addition to this dish. Mix the dry ingredients stiffly with cold water, shape into balls like large marbles, and add to the tripe, &c., to cook with it for the last. three-quarters of an hour. These balls, with gravy, vegetables, and apple sauce, make a quite sufficient dinner for children, so tripe need be provided only for the grown-ups. Cheese and Nut Cutlets. —INGREDIENTS. — 2 oz. rice (raw), 4 oz. grated cheese, 3 oz. ground or chopped nuts, 1 dried or fresh egg, 1 oz. dripping, 1 level teaspoonful of mad. mustard, seasoning, browned crumbs. METHOD.—Wash the rice. put it into a pan, with boiling, pleasantly-salted stock or water to weil cover it. Heat till boiling, stir well, cover closely, and cook, either in the oven or on a slow part of the stove, until the liquid is absorbed, and the rice perfectly soft. Rather over than undercook. Add more boiling liquid if it seems drying up too much, and also stir as desirable. The object is to cook the rice in such a way that it will absorb all the stock, not to use so much that there will be some to drain off. A double saucepan is the nicest utensil to cook it in if one is available. When the rice is cooked and in a stiff mass beat in the nuts, cheese, seasoning, and beaten egg. Mix thoroughly, and turn on to a plate to cool, or till it can be easily handled. Then shape it into lobster cutlet, or any other shapes-juSt flax found cakes if you like, and dip each quieklv first into a little warm dripping, then int;> browned crumbs. Place the cutlets on a baking-tin, and bake for about ten minutes in a sharp oven. Serve on a hot dish, garnished with tufts of watercress or parsley, and accom- panied by a tureen of any nice, slightly- thickened gravy. If you have fat to spare, these can be fried. Heat the fat tiil a faint smoke rises from it, then fry a few at a time. In that case dip the eutdets into a batter of flour-and-water mixed to the thickness of rich cream instead of into dripping before crumbling them.

BELGIUM'S KING AND QUEEN. 'Briiisti isiJiciai. I The Royal couple are seen in the stern of a barge that is quitting a British. Warship,

A BAYONET COMPETITION. 3a connection with the training school aitacbed to the British Forces in Italy, bayonet competitions ace ragtuSarly arranged.