THE GENESEE FARMER. 



283 



BLANcnrNG Celery tvith Sawdust. — A corres- 

 pondent of the London Gardeners' Chronicle rec- 

 ommends the use of sawdust for blanching celery, 

 as he tinds it to answer the purpose better than any 

 other material, and is especially valuable for the 

 late crops to be kept duiing the winter. He says: 

 "Ilavinj; had some trouble in tlie winter of 1857 

 in keeping late celery from rotting in a new kitchen 

 garden, wiiei'e the soil was very retentive and 

 damp, and the plants earthed up in the usual man- 

 ner, I have since used sawdust for the purpose, and 

 • find that it answers perfectly. Last winter all the 

 late celery was earthed up with sawdust, and it 

 kept quite sound till April, and no slugs Or insects 

 attacked it undergronnd, the heads being very solid, 

 clear and crisp, and well flavored. 1 had some 

 doubts tliLit the sawdust from resinous trees might 

 give the celery a disagreeable flavor, but on trial I 

 found this not to be the case, and the sawdust is 

 now taken indiscriminately from the sawpits, where 

 dilferent kinds of trees are sawn up. Before the 

 late sevei-e frost occurred in October I had just fin- 

 ished the earthing up of all the late celery with 

 sawdust, and I find it is now wonderfully fresh, the 

 frost not having penetrated far through the surface 

 to the hearts." 

 » Another correspondent recommends charred earth 

 in preference to sawdust, " as it will not only an- 

 swer tlie purpose as well, but will allow tlie rain 

 water to percolate more freely to the roots of the 

 plants, and be of iutinite service to a soil of a damp, 

 retentive nature." The sawdust, he thinks, will 

 induce an injurious growth of fungi in the soil. 



Rare Occurrence — Stephaxotis floribunda in 

 Fruit. — A specimen of this fine exotic — the same 

 1 had on exhibition at our June show — having 

 lately produced a handsorae egg-shaped fruit, I 

 should be ghid to obtain through you or your cor- 

 respondents some information in regard to its na- 

 ture — whether eatable or worthless, or whether or 

 not it has been known to fruit in this country be- 

 fore. The single specimen on my plant began to 

 swell about the middle of July last, and is appar- 

 ently still on the increase. It is now about five 

 inches long, and at the thick end — that next the 

 stalk — it measures six inches in circumference. It 

 continues to be of a dark green color, but will 

 probably change to a paler hue on approaching 

 maturity. — James Craib, Gardener to S. Matthews, 

 Esq., Rochester, K T., Aug. 21, 1860. 



Tomatoes from Cuttings. — James Craib, gar- 

 dener to S. Matthews, Esq., informs us tliat his 

 tomatoes raised on cuttings were earlier and finer 

 than those produced on the plants from which the 

 cuttings were taken. 



Dahlias. — A correspondent of the Boston Cul- 

 tivator states that he has two dalilias in his garden 

 which are eight feet and three inches high, and one 

 of them has thirty-two blossoms on it. 



fatiics' ilcpartmriit. 



ORIGINAL DOMESTIC BECEIPTS. 



Peaches. — A correspondent of tlie Ohio Culti- 

 vator asserts that the only way to make sure of a 

 cro[) ot [),'aehes every year, is to graft upon the 

 wild plum stock. 



[Written for the Genesee Farmer by various Correspondents.] 



Baked Egg-plant. — Parboil it until it is soft 

 enough to stick a straw into; theh cut it just in 

 half; scoop out the inside, leaving the hull; chop 

 it up very fine, and season very highly with pep[)er 

 and salt, a good deal of butter, and .crumbs of 

 bread. Mix all well together and return it into the 

 hull; then strew crumbs of bread on tlie top, and 

 bake it for about an hour. 



Calves' Feet Blanc Mange. — Boil four feet in 

 five quarts of water, without any salt. Wlien the 

 liquor is reduced to one quart, strain it and mix 

 with one quart of milk, and add several sticks of 

 cinnamon or a vanilla bean. Boil the wliole ten 

 minutes, and sweeten sit to the taste with white 

 sugar; strain it and fill your moulds with it. 



Pie-Plant Pudding. — To one quart of butter- 

 milk, add one egg, one large teaspoonful of soda, 

 and flour enough to make a thick batter. Have 

 ready half * dozen stalks of pie-plant, cut up fine ; 

 stir it in the batter. Tie it tiglitly in a bag, drop 

 it in a kettle of boiling water, and let it boil an 

 hour. Serve with cream and sugar. 



Celery Sauce foe Boiled Fowls. — Wash the 

 stalks, and cut them into thin slices about two" 

 inches long. Stew ihem till tender in a little weak 

 gravy or water. Season witli powdered mace, pep- 

 per and salt; then add the juice of a lemon, and 

 thicken with a small piece of butter which has 

 been kneaded in flour. 



To Preserve Pumpkin. — Take good, ripe pump- 

 kins, pare, and stew as dry as possible; place in 

 the oven on a sheet, and let it remain until tlior- 

 oughly dried, not baked ; then stow away in a dry 

 place, when it will keep an indefinite length of 

 time — only requiring to be soaked in milk a few 

 hours before using. 



Pie Crust. — Take one pint of buttermilk, one 

 large teacup of lard, one teaspoonful of salt, one tea- 

 spoonful of saleratus, and flour enotigh to torm a 

 dough. Mix the lard and flour by rubbing them 

 together; then add the other ingredients, knead 

 well, and it is ready to roll out. Tender and good. 



For Cleaning Silk — {Correction from iJic July 

 number.) — Take equal quantities of alcoliol— whis- 

 key will do — soft soap made of wood ashe.", and 

 molasses. Mix and rub with a cloth; atterwaid 

 rinse in clear water once or twice, and dry it or 

 wrap in cloth till ready to iron. 



Fried OR Broiled Egg-plant.— Parle il it; cit 

 into slices and season very highly with i epper and 

 salt; fry or broil it (as you do musi n oin-.) in a 

 pan with butter, it nicely done, it is very similar 

 in flavor to tlie mushroom. 



To Preserve Rhubarb. — Cut the stalks into pie- 

 ces an incli or so in length ; siring and dry the same 

 as aiiple, and stow away in a Ury place tor winter 

 and spring use. 



