A HOME-MADE EVAPORATOR. 115 



not the planting of these wild and uncultivated plants is what 

 has augmented the evil in our midst. With plenty of wild 

 cherry trees about the orchard, the trees in the orchard will 

 suffer almost none at all from the tent caterpillars in a few wild 

 cherry trees, than when they are scattered wide through a whole 

 orchard. I have reason to believe that the same is true of the 

 apple tree borers, and the apple maggot. If we have the wild 

 haw and wild crab in goodly numbers near by, the apple trees 

 and their fruit will suffer less; often none at all. I believe, then, 

 that reasoning from the insect side of the question, we may 

 better plant than to up-root or cut down these wild plants and 

 trees. 



VALUABLE HINTS AND EXPERIENCE. 



A HOME-MADE EVAPORATOR. I secured a box two feet long, 

 18 inches deep and two feet high. The cover was missing, so i 

 inverted it, making the bottom answer for a top. I removed one 

 side, cleating the pieces together near each end, and put leather 

 hinges on, fastening it to the former bottom, but now the top of 

 the concern. At the loose corners, I nailed in an inch-square 

 strip to hold them firm. Inside, on each of the ends, I nailed 

 half-inch strips, two inches apart, as slides for the trays to run 

 upon. The trays were made of strips of half-inch stuff, one 

 inch wide, halved in at the corners and braced by diagonal wires. 

 They are covered with white mosquito-netting. At the top and 

 side furthest from the door hinges, I removed a piece of the 

 top two inches wide. I then made a chimney two inches wide, 

 two feet long and a foot high, which I placed over the opening 

 and nailed fast. After supper, when the evenings are long, we all 

 set to work at the apples, and putting a few pieces of wood in 

 the stove, begin filling the trays, the lowest first. As the second 

 tray is prepared, the tirst one is moved up and the new one put 

 in next to the fire, until the evaporator is full. The evaporator 

 is placed on four pieces of brick, stood edge-wise on the stove at 

 the corners of the machine. The apples dry off the first evening 

 to some extent, and when the work is done up the following day 

 the evaporator may be lifted on again, and by evening the fruit 

 is ready to put away. My method of cutting apples is to peel, 

 and take off two slices from each end, then core, and slice the 



