418 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIEY. 



half in two, and our two little girls, aged seven and nine, would spread 

 the fruit on the trays and I would slide them into the dryer. In this 

 way we usually filled the dryer in sixty or seventy minutes. We en- 

 deavored to have the temperature 150°, and about 120° after the fruit 

 was partly dry. We had a ventilator, 6x27 inches, near the top, which 

 could be opened or closed as desired, but should always be kept open 

 while in use. 



At bed-time we filled the stove with large wood, closed it tight, 

 and in warm, dry weather our apples would be nicely evaporated in the 

 morning. Out of this little, cheap dryer we have taken over seven bar- 

 rels of nice evaporated apples, well pressed down, over two barrels of 

 peaches, besides currants, corn, etc. I should have said that this 

 dryer being one inch longer from back to front than the trays, it admits 

 a space of one inch at the back of the first tray, and also at the front 

 of the second, and so on alternately. I have found this better than a 

 half inch space in back and front of each tray. 



YOU CA^'T AFFORD IT. 



You cannot afford to throw away or waste wood ashes ; to expose 

 manure to the action of the sun and rain ; grow weeds ; raise inferior 

 plants ; keep poor, unremunerative stock ; use poor seed ; let boards, 

 nails, glass or tools get out of place or broken ; let your neighbors 

 grow better flowers and plants than yourself; neglect your mental 

 culture ; think that you are smarter than your neighbors ; not to keep 

 a set of books; be ignorant of the topics of the day; let insects eat 

 your plants and flowers without making a prompt practical protest; 

 neglect thorough cultivation; have a dirty house or shed; expect to 

 gather figs from thistles; to let others think for you; or to keep foul- 

 in outhed, bad-principled men about the place. — American Florist. 



FERTILIZERS FOR FRUIT TREES. 



The science of agricultural chemistry leaves us yet in the dark 

 about many important points concerning the rational and economical 

 feeding of our crops. It has failed, thus far, to furnish us definite, ab- 

 solutely reliable data upon which we might base our calculations, or 

 map out a certain line of action with any kind of assurance that we are 

 right. 



