344 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



A n;cntleinan well qualified to ju(l<r;e, estimates 

 that one county of Georgia alone will yield 100,- 

 000 bushels oi wheat, and there is every prospect 

 that the loading provision staples in that great 

 grain region Avill at no very distant day settle at 

 the old prices." 



A letter from Knoxville, dated the Gth inst., 

 says : "We have recently had copious rains, and 

 our crops in East Tennessee, except oats and hay, 

 will be very abundant. Wheat is very promis 

 ing indeed, and will be gathered in two or three 

 •weeks. Crop will be two or three times larger 

 than ever before." 



The Charkslon (Va.) Free Press of the 14th, 

 says : — "The improvement in the growing crop 

 of wheat, for the last two weeks, has astonished 

 every one. Barring any further injury, we think 

 the yield this year will be fully equal to that of 

 last year. Some of the farmers in the vicinity of 

 Fredericksburg commenced harvesting their wheat 

 last Tuesday." 



A gentleman who travelled over 600 miles in 

 Elinuis within a few days, returned to Chicago 

 and reported on the 11th that the wheat fields, 

 without exception, ai-e promising unequalled 

 crops ; the corn is also luxuriant, in some places 

 almost in tassel ; and the fruit crop is tremend- 

 ous, being the greatest abundance of apples, 

 peaches, cherries, &c., wherever there was a tree 

 planted. The wheat crop will probably be 25 per 

 cent, greater than ever before grown in Illinois ; 

 and about half the freight cars are laden with pa- 

 tent grain reapers, threshing machines, and other 

 agricultural implements. 



The generally favorable tone of these reports is 

 slightly molified by accounts from certain quar- 

 ters, of the appearance of the bug or the fly among 

 the grain fields. It is generally reported, too, 

 that the coolness of the spring has kept back corn. 

 Oats, also, in some localities are not a promising 

 crop. 



For the New England Farmer. 



GOOSEBERRY CATERPILLAR. 



^Ir. Editor : — Can you, or any of your corres- 

 pondents, infoi'm me of any method of destroying 

 the gooseberry caterpillar? For a few years past, 

 all our gooseberries liave been destroyed by this 

 destructive insect ; they have just commenced 

 their work of destruction, for this year, and are 

 now about one-fourth of an inch in length, and 

 of a whitish-green color, and when full grown, 

 they are about one-half an inch in length, and of 

 a pale green color, and oftentimes of a gi-eeuish 

 brown. George G. Cheney. 



Weston, June 5, 1855. 



LADIES' DEPARTMENT. 



Remarks. — Cole, in his Fruit Book, says that 

 spent tan strewed under and around tlie bushes, 

 will sometimes prevent the ravages of the goose- 

 berry caterpillar. We have experienced no diffi- 

 culty in this way, and know of no certain rem- 

 edy. 



J^ Flour is offered in the New York market, 

 for delivery in July and August, at less than $9 

 a barrel, without finding a purchaser. 



DOMESTIC RECEIPTS. 



To Keep Silk. — Silk articles should not be 

 kept folded in white paper, as the chloride of 

 lime used in bleaching tiie paper will probably 

 im^iair the color of the silk. Brown or blue pa- 

 per is better; the yellowish, smooth Indian pa- 

 per is best of all. Silk intended for dress should 

 not be kept long in the house befoi'e it is made 

 up, as lying in the folds will have a tendency to 

 impair its durability by causing it to cut split, 

 particularly if the silk has been thickened by 

 gum. 



Thread lace veils are very easily cut ; satin and 

 velvet being soft are not easily cut, but dresses of 

 velvet should not be laid by with any weight 

 above them. If the nap of thin velvet is laid 

 down, it is not possible to raise it up again. 

 Hard silk should never be wrinkled, because the 

 thread is easily broken in the crease, and it never 

 can be rectified. The way to take the wrinkles 

 out of silk scarfs or handkerchiefs, is to moisten 

 the surface evenly with a sponge and some weak 

 glue, and then pin the silk with some toilet pins 

 around the shelves on a mattrass or feather bed, 

 taking pains to draw out the silk as tight as 

 possible. When dry the wrinkles will have dis- 

 appeared. The reason of this is obvious to every 

 person. It is a nice job to dress light colored 

 silk, and few should try it. Some silk articles 

 should be moistened with weak glue or gum-wa- 

 ter, and the wrinkles ironed out by a hot flat- 

 iron on the wrong side. — Scientific Aincrican. 



Sponge Cake, No. 1. — Three-quarters of a 

 pound of flour, twelve eggs, one pound of sugar, 

 a table-spoonful of rose-water. Beat the yolks 

 and sugar together until they are very light. 

 Whisk the Avhites till tliey are perfectly dry, add 

 the Irose- water, then the whites and flour alter- 

 nately, but do not beat it after the whites are in. 

 Butter your pans, or if you wish to bake it in 

 one large cake, grease a mound, pour in the 

 mixture and bake it. The small cakes should 

 have sugar sifted over them before they are set 

 in the oven, and the oven should be hot. 



Sponge Cake, No. 2. — One pound of sugar, 

 three-quarters of a pound of flour, ten eggs. 

 Dissolve the sugar in one gill of water, then put 

 it over the lire and let it boil. Beat the eggs a 

 few minutes, till the yolks and whites are thor- 

 oughly mixed together, then stir in very gradu- 

 ally the boiling sugar ; beat the eggs hard all the 

 time 3^ou are pouring the sugar on. Beat the 

 mixture for three-quarters of an hour ; it will get 

 very light. Stir in the tlour very gently, and add 

 the grated rind of a lemon. Butter your pan and 

 set it on the oven immediately. 



Sponge Cake, No. 3. — Five eggs, half a pound 

 of loaf sugar, the grated rind and juice of one 

 lemon, a quarter of a pound of flour. Separate 

 the yolks from the whites. Beat the yolks and 

 sugar together until they are very light, then 

 add the whites after they have been whisked to a 

 dry froth, alternately with the flour. Stir in 

 the lemon, put the mixture in small jians, sift 

 sugar over them, and bake them. — National Cook 

 Book. 



