THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



287 



the raisin districts. The one great ad- 

 vantage of the business is that to pro- 

 duce a crop worth $500,000, not more 

 than 1,200 to 1,500 acres of land is re- 

 quired. In some favored localities, as 

 at the Riverside, as high as $700 to 

 $800 per acre has been realized. To 

 produce the aggregate value of $500,- 

 000 in wheat at $1 per bushel, with 

 the high average of 20 bushels per acre, 

 25,000 acres of first-class land must be 

 planted and well cultivated. — San 

 Francisco Chronicle. 



ENGLISH SPARROWS. 

 At the Michigan horticultural meeting 

 several fruit growers told us that the 

 English sparrows were rapidly bringing 

 grief to the farmers and fruit growers. 

 It was the old story of destructiveness 

 and fighting propensities. And now we 

 notice in an exchange that at Mt. Vernon, 

 111., a gentleman had twenty acres in 

 wheat, from which he expected a fourth 

 of a crop, the heads having every appear- 

 ance of promising such a yield. He 

 resolved to cut it for seed, and sent some 

 persons to gather it. They returned soon 

 after and said that there was not a grain 

 of wheat in the field, the sparrows having 

 eaten the entire crop. — Prairie Farmer. 



The Hardiest Black Cap Raspberry. 

 — The black raspberry known as the 

 Seneca Black-cap, we have found, from 

 years of experience, to be the hardiest — 

 able to withstand the most cold — of any 

 of the named varieties we have seen in 

 cultivation. Its fruit is of medium size 

 and of excellent flavor, and the plant is 

 very productive and adapted to a great 

 range of soils. — Prairie Fai-mer. 



Lyonnaise Potatoes. — One qaurt of 

 cold boiled potatoes cut into dice, three 

 tablespoonfuls of butter, one of chopped 

 onion, one of chopped parsley, salt, pep- 

 per. Season the potatoes with the salt 

 and pepper. Fry the onions in the but- 

 ter, and when they turn yellow add the 

 potatoes. Stir with a fork, being careful 

 not to break them. When hot, add the 

 parsley, and cook two minutes longer. 

 Serve immediately on a hot dish. 



The Peach Borer. — The perfect insect 

 of the Algeria Exitiosa or peach borer, 

 somewhat resembling the wasp, lays its 

 eggs in June at the base of the tree, which 

 in a few days hatch, and the grub enters 

 the bark and lives on it till September or 

 later, and then enters on its chrysalis 

 state, preparatory to appearing again the 

 next spring. If your trees are already 

 infested, dig the pests out — make thor- 

 ough work. If you are not quite sure 

 that you have captured them all, pour 

 boiling water around the roots. If in 

 May of each year you make a mound of 

 earth round each tree, and in October 

 remove it, you will be no longer troubled 

 with the insect. — Rural New Yorker. 



Wilder. — Another grape that is gain- 

 ing space in vineyards and in our markets 

 is the Wilder (Rogers No. 4). Mr. Mc- 

 Lean, a produce dealer of this city, is 

 receiving considerable quantities of this, 

 as well as of other varieties, from Mr. De 

 Los Tenney, of North Parma, who finds 

 it quite a profitable variety to grow. It 

 is the largest black grape grown in the 

 open air, and makes a fine show in mar- 

 ket. It has a thick skin, a soft pulp, 

 considerable aroma, but is a little deficient 

 in sugar. Still the public taste would be 

 very well satisfied with it, and we have 

 no doubt that it will pay to grow it in 

 most localities. Among its other merits 

 it is a long keeper. — Rural Home. 



Raspberry Profits. — Mr. Parry, who 

 has long been a very successful grower of 

 the raspberry, gave the New Jersey Hor- 

 ticultural Society a statement of some of 

 the large profits obtained when the fruit 

 sold at high prices. He said the best 

 American varieties, with fair treatment, 

 will yield as many bushels per acre as 

 corn, and generally bring five times as 

 much in market, and, when once planted, 

 remain for several years. A neighbor of 

 his sent to market a one-horse waggon 

 load of red raspberries, and received $220 

 for the lot. A lady living near him rented 

 out her farm, reserving a portion for a 

 raspberry and blackberry plantation, from 

 which she sold one yeai' 43,000 quarts of 

 berries, worth, at 8 cents a quart, $3,440, 

 which was more than the tenant made 

 from all the other crops on the farm. — 

 Country Gentleman. 



