tie TEE FARM. 



Mr. Satterthwait reported favorably of the Kieffer pear, about which opin- 

 ions are so variable. With him it has proven not only wonderfully produc- 

 tive, but handsome in appearance and gaining high prices in market. He 

 beheves the quality of this much-disputed pear depends largely on properly 

 ripening the fruit. His plan consists in packing the pears in wooden boxes, 

 containing about one bushel each, and placing them in a cool, dry cellar, one 

 on top of the other. In this connection it may be well to state that C. M. 

 Hovey, of Boston, is credited with saying that the Kieffer is the least satis- 

 factory of all his eight hundred varieties of the pear — another indication that 

 the Kieffer gives different results in different localities under varying circum- 

 stances. 



Tomato lieaves a Remedy for tlie Curciilio. — " I planted a peach or- 

 chard," writes M. Story, of the Society of Horticulture of France, " and the 

 trees grew well and strongly. They just commenced to bud when they were 

 invaded by the curcuUo (pulyon), which insects were followed, as frequently 

 happens, by ants. Having cut some tomatoes, the idea occurred to me that, 

 by jDlacing some of the leaves around the trunk and branches of the peach 

 trees, I might preserve them from the rays of the sun, which are very power- 

 ful. My surprise was great, upon the follo^ving day, to find the trees entire- 

 ly free from their enemies, not one remaining, except here and there where 

 a curled leaf prevented the tomato from exercising its influence. These 

 leaves I carefully unrolled, placing upon them fresh ones from the tomato 

 vine, with the result of banishing the last insect and enabling the trees to 

 grow with luxuriance. Wishing to carry still further my experiment, I 

 »teeped in water some leaves of the tomato, and sprinkled \nXh. this infusion 

 Dther plants, roses, and oranges. In two days these were also free from the 

 Innumerable insects which covered them, and I felt sure that, had I used 

 the same means with my melon patch, I should have met with the same re- 

 sult. I therefore deem it a duty I owe to the Society of Horticulture to make 

 known this singular and useful property of the tomato leaves, which I dis- 

 covered by the merest accident." 



The Codling Motli and Otlier Enemies of tlie Apple. — This old 

 enemy of the farmer is now getting in his work upon the growing apples. 

 Where an orchard is infested with them, we know of no reliable method of | 

 getting rid of them and saving the crop. The curculio, which is so destruc- ] 

 tive to the plum crop, is of late quite as damaging to the apples, in some i 

 sections doing much more harm than the foi-mer; and there is still another) 

 pest which is Avorking a terrible harm to the crop — the apple maggot ( Trip- j 

 peta PomoneUa). This burrows in the apple, often several maggots being 

 found in the same apple. The eggs are laid by a small fly, somewhat rcsern- ' 

 bling the common house-fly, but much smaller, through a small opening in 

 the skin, made with its ovipositor. 



The best guard against these pests is for every farmer who has an orchard 

 to keep sheep or swine running in it all the season through. These will eat i 

 up every infected apple and thus desti'oy the larva, which, if left unmo- 

 lested, will bring forth a crop of pests for next year's crop. If every on« 

 would do this, it is safe to assume that the ravages of these pests would be 

 materially decreased. 



Diseased Cherry Trees. — Many of our neighbors' cherry trees arc be- 

 coming knotty, and dying, writes a correspondent of The liariil Kew Ynrker. 

 A lady narrated in our hearing, a few evenings since, her experience with * 



