USEFUL RECIPES— FRAUDS IN MANURES. 



241 



vegetable organism burned iu animal bo.lies. They 

 ai-e the ashes of plants — the essential food of plants. 

 Hence their value as manures." 



AVe might multiply such quotations from our ag- 

 ricultural literature of the past decade ad libitum, 

 but the above are sufficient to show that Lawes and 

 Wolff are not alone in ascribing the " pure mineral 

 theory to Liebig. 



CULTURE OF CABBAGE. 



Method of Keepini^ Cabbage Plants from the 

 Fly. — As soon as the frost has left the ground in the 

 spring, sow your seed, having first manured the soil 

 with hog-pen, cow-shed, or other cool, short manure; 

 a damp and shady spot should be chosen if possible; 

 when the plants make their appearace, take some 

 ashes from the stove and mi.x it with some fine ground 

 pungent black pepper, half and half, sprinkle some of 

 this over the plants early in the morning, before the 

 sun is up, and while the dew is on them. If it should 

 commence to rain, or should the mixture be washed 

 off by the heavy dews, the application should be 

 repeated, and continued until the plants mike the 

 rough leaf pretty large. It is also adrisable to sow 

 a small portion of lettuce seed with the cabbage. I 

 never knew the fly to touch lettuce plants. Should 

 it prove to be a dry season, frequent watering should 

 be resorted to, for some little pains must necessarily 

 be taken to raise superior vegetables in hot dry cli- 

 mates. 



Hints on Transplanting. — Care being taken to 

 select a moist, cloudy day for transplanting, it will be 

 found very beneficial to follow these instructions in 

 setting out cabbage aud other plants. Take a pint 

 and half fill it with water, put in a little fresh cow- 

 dung, and mix it together pretty thick. Then dip 

 the roots of cabbage or other plants into it for trans- 

 planting. It is a cool, moist manure, which excites 

 and encourages all kinds of plants to take root. 

 Shade your plants with shingles, or other convenient 

 things from the sun, until they have commenced grow- 

 ing vigorously. 



To Destroy the Worm in Cabbage Plants. — It 

 not unfrequently happens that when the cabltage is 

 half grown, a little white worm or maggot takes pos- 

 session of the stalk and destroys the plant. To kill 

 them, shake the stalk carefully, but not so as to dis- 

 turb the roots; then strew a little dry ashes from the 

 stove around the stalk, which will destroy them. 



To Prevent the Ravages of the Black or Gray 



Grub. — The black or grey grub commit their depre- 

 dations on the young cabbage plants during the night, 

 and hide themselves beneath the soil in the day. Of 

 various efforts to keep them off the only effectual 

 means which I could ever discover, was to take sul- 

 phur, brimstone, and shake a little of it on the ground 

 for a few iuches around the stalk. , 



To Destroy the Green Insect on Cabbage Plants., 

 — When about two-thirds grown, cabbages are fre- 

 quently beset by small green insects, or lice, which 

 rob the plants of their vigor. To destroy them, put 

 half a pound of salt to two gallons of water; sprin- 

 kle this mixture over the cabbages, and the insects 

 will fall to the ground, while the salt water will nour- 

 ish the plants. 



To Prevent Cabbages from Growing to " Long 

 Shanks." — To secure true, solid heads of cabbage on 

 those stalks which manifest a disposition to grow to 

 what are commonly known as " long shanks," take a 

 pen-knife and slab it through the stalk about the mid- 

 dle; insert a small piece of wood to keep the incision 

 open, which will check the growth. By doing this, 

 good heads of cabbage may be secured on every 

 stalk. 



FRAITDS IN GUANO AND OTHEK MANUEES. 



A DISCUSSION has been going on in the Agricul- 

 tural press for some time in regard to the value ' of 

 certain manufactured manures. These manures have 

 been much lauded by those interested in their manu- 

 facture and sale, who have published many certifi- 

 cates of then- value, much after the fashion of ven- 

 ders of patent medicine. We have "very little faith 

 in these certificates ; they are so easily obtained — 

 men are so apt to jump at conclusions. It is much 

 easier than giving an article a full, fair, and patient 

 trial. We would engage to get_/i;-si rate certificates 

 as to the value of clean washed sand as a manure, if 

 we could only conceal its real character, and have it 

 properly distributed — that is, placed in the hands of 

 the right kind of persons. Then it is so easy for the 

 manufacturer in search of certificates to distribute a 

 few parcels superior to the article as generally man- 

 ufactured and sold. We fear the manufacturers of 

 manures have a great many sins of this character to 

 answer for. 



But the greatest fraud of the time is the prepara- 

 tion of a compound which the manufacturers have 

 named CliiliaH Guano — although the greater part 

 of the compound was never nearer Chili than New 

 York or Boston. This bold attempt to cheat the 

 hard-working producing class by a shameless fraud. 



