ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 493 



until all the beans drop out. Then scrape 

 away the husks, gather the beans, and go 

 into the field for a new supply, as they 

 will continue to bear and mature until 

 frost. Do not allow the beans, when dry- 

 ing, to get wet. Hence an open shed is 

 best. It you have no shed, when the 

 weather is threatening, rake into a heap, 

 and cover with a tarpaulin or boards. 

 They should be well fanned and win- 

 nowed of chaff before being sacked for 

 market. From 15 to 25 bushels per acre 

 is the average yield. 



BLACKBERRY. — For the cultivated 

 blackberry the soil should be rich, dry 

 and mellow. Barn-yard manure and 

 bone-dust are its best fertilizers ; it is a 

 good plan to mix them with half-rotten 

 straw, or some such thing. They should 

 be planted three feet apart in the rows, 

 and the rows should be six feet asunder. 



BLIGHT IN FRUIT TREES, to Cure. 

 —A smothering straw fire should be made 

 early in October, in calm weather, under 

 each tree, and kept up during an hour or 

 more. This done, scrape the moss and 

 other impurities from the trunk, and from 

 every obscure hole and corner; set your 

 ladders to the branches, carefully cleaning 

 them in the same way, taking from the 

 remaining leaves every web or nidus of 

 insects. If need be, wash the trunk and 

 all the larger wood, with a solution of 

 lime and dung. Last of all, it is neces- 

 sary to destroy the insects and eggs 

 which may be dropped upon the ground, 

 and it may be useful to loosen the soil in 

 the circumference. In the spring or early 

 blighting season, apply your ladders, make 

 a careful survey of every branch, and act 

 accordingly ; repeat this monthly, picking 

 off all blights by hand, and using the 

 water-engine, where ablution may be ne- 

 cessary. To those who have fruit, or the 

 market profit thereof, every orchard or 

 garden, little or great, will repay such 

 trouble and expense. 



BUTTER, Hints on Making.— A lady 

 who thinks that much that is written about 

 butter-making is by " men," and not by 

 experienced butter - makers, gives a few 

 hints. For the improvement of winter 

 butter, she very sensibly begins with the 

 cow, and advises feeding on Indian meal. 

 She says : " My rule in winter is to let the 

 milk stand on a table in a cellar for 24 



hours ; set it on the stove until the cream 

 wrinkles (do not let it get too hot), then 

 let it stand another 24 hours, and skim. 

 Use a skimming-ladle with holes, in order 

 to have as little milk as possible with the 

 cream. Stir the cream every day ; and 

 the day before churning put the pot near 

 the stove, to allow the cream to warm and 

 get sour. Some have the mistaken idea 

 that cream should not get sour, but it 

 makes butter, better and more of it. Stir 

 the cream well, as much depends upon 

 that. If a clear, yellow skin forms on the- 

 cream it will make the butter strong ; it is 

 as bad as mold, or worse. In summer 

 throw a handful of salt into your cream-pot 

 when you first set it ; it will keep the 

 cream sweet longer. Be sure to ventilate 

 the cellar or milk-room. It is a mistake 

 to churn sweet and sour cream together, 

 as it makes the butter streaked. Do not 

 work the butter too long ; it will become - 

 oily; but have a fine cloth, squeezed out 

 of cold water, to take up the buttermilk 

 with." 



CABBAGE PLAITCS, Caterpillar in.— 

 A butterfly has lately made its appearance 

 in the neighborhood of New York and 

 Long Island which is new to the gardens, 

 there, the caterpillar of which has already 

 done very great damage. As a remedy, 

 salt has been found more effectual than 

 either tobacco, cresylic acid, soap or 

 guano; and that by laying pieces of 

 board between the rows of cabbages, 

 supporting them about two inches above 

 the surface of the ground, the worms: 

 will resort to them to undergo their 

 transformations and can then be easily 

 destroyed. The saponaceous compounds 

 of cresylic acid are also recommended; 

 but Mr. P. T. Quinn, of New Jersey, 

 gives the following as his experience in 

 combating this insect. On his return 

 from California last summer he found his 

 cabbages infested with worms, which 

 threatened total destruction. After try- 

 ing various remedies, he found this re- 

 cipe to be the best: 20 parts of super- 

 phosphate made with slush acid, 1 part 

 of carbolic powder, and three parts of 

 air-slacked lime, mixed well together, and 

 thoroughly dusted into each head four 

 times at intervals of four days. The re- 

 sult was the saving of seventy-five thou- 

 sand cabbages and a loss of only five per 

 cent. 



