82 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[June 



The book, although only a few days out, 

 has already received much praise, and is 

 being strongly recommended by many of tlie 

 leading entomologists and fruit growers of 

 the United States. It is a credit to Canada, 

 and to our own city in particuliar, that so 

 valuable a work, one wliicli will at once take 

 its iilace as a standard liook of reference for 

 the use of fruit growers throughout the 

 American continent, should have been written 

 by one of our own citizens. The work is un- 

 ique, has no competitor in its own field, will 

 be indispensable toevery intelligent fruit grow- 

 er, and must meet with a large demand. 



We clip the above from the editorial col- 

 umns of the Free Press, published at London, 

 Ontario, Dominion of Canada ; and, we do 

 not hesitate a moment in recording our excep- 

 tion — not, however, to the book, for that we 

 have not yet seen, but to the notice itself, in 

 that it makes no mention of the^rice, a very 

 important matter to all patrons of any kind 

 of literature, but most especially to those who 

 possess just so much, and desire it to go just so 

 far. 



We fc?ioio Mr. W. Saunders— /lare known him 

 for quite a immber of years— although we do 

 not remember that we ever saw him ; our 

 knowledge of him being mainly based upon 

 the reputation he has achieved as a practical 

 observer and writer in the fields of fruits, 

 flowers, insects and their corelatives in nature; 

 and we donot hesitate (again) in assuring the 

 fruitgrowers and gardeners among our patrons, 

 that the book under consideration is likely to 

 be the very thing they need, or may need, in 

 their horticultural experiences. We wish we 

 could inform them exactly what it will cost 

 them, and where it will be conveniently and 

 certainly kept for sale, for we do not think it 

 follows as a matter of course that the pub- 

 lisher is the salesman of a book. Notwith- 

 standing this work occupies part — and a very 

 large part— of the ground we had intended to 

 occupy in a similar publication, we are grati- 

 fied that it has been published ; first, because, 

 under all the circumstances we think it is 

 done better than loe could have done it ; and, 

 secondly, because it now seems probable that 

 we shall never be able to command the time 

 and means to publish such a work as we de- 

 signed. Without pecuniary aid from the 

 State, or elsewhere, we shall never attempt it. 

 Even under strong proliabilities of ultimate 

 success, situated as we now are, and have 

 been for the past three years, we do not feel like 

 risking " a certainty for an uncertainty." To 

 illustrate such a work, as we think it ought to 

 be illustrated, in order to make it really 

 practical, and yet to offer it to the public at 

 a moderate price, would require outside 

 pecuniary assistance, either from the State or 

 some other source, and this would require 

 more energetic force than we are now able to 

 apply to the subject. To our patrons, there- 

 fore, we commend the work of Mr. Saunders, 

 just issued from the press. 



EXCERPTS. 



Wet lands should not be jjloughed deep 

 until they have been thoroughly drained. 



Water in which a bit of soda has been dis- 

 solved is the best solution with which to clean 

 painted plastered walls. 



1)R. Sturtevant says that potash, whetli- 

 er in the shape of wood ashes or in the form 

 of sulphate or muriate, is a special fertilizer 

 for melons. 



Charcoal should be fed hogs and poultry. 

 Experiment has demonstrated that the same 

 amount of feed will produce a fiir greater 

 amount of flesh and fat when fed witli plenty 

 of charcoal. — Cincinnati Times. 



None of the tuberous-rooted grasses, like 

 timothy, are suitable to permanent pastures. 

 They cannot stand close cropping nor constant 

 tramping. Pasture grasses must be fibrous 

 and deep-rooted varieties. — Chicago Journal. 



Oat Meal Gejis:— One beaten egg, one 

 cup of sweet milk, one cup of cold oat-meal 

 pudding, beat all together, add half a tea- 

 spoonful of soda, and one and one-half cups 

 of flower. This quantity will fill the gem 

 pan. Does not hurt son^e dyspeptics. — Tlie 

 Household. 



A pretty tidy is made be embroidering a 

 spray of flowers or a bird on a small square of 

 satin ; then put a band of satin around this ; 

 have ii of a contrasting color ; then another 

 band outside of this, and finish with fringe. 

 If the satin is of a bright color and of good 

 quality, it needs no other decoration. — N. T. 

 Post. 



Top dressing, tniless with very fine manure, 

 is of doubtiul advantage with the clover plant. 

 The clover is easily smothered by anything 

 covering its leaves. It may, however, pay if 

 the clover is to be turned under early for a 

 corn or potatoe crop this season. The best 

 time to manure is before the seed is sown. A 

 very light top-dressing then will secure a 

 heavy growth. 



The value of wood ashes as a fertilizer is 

 too little appreciated. They contain in vary- 

 ing proportions the valuable mineral proper- 

 ties needed by plants. They are especially 

 valuable for orchards in bearing, having an 

 as yet unexplained effect in perfecting the 

 fruit. It is better to give a light dressing of 

 any potash manure every year tlian to give 

 large doses at any one time. — JV. T. Times. 



The brilliancy of gold can be imparled to 

 brass ornaments by just washing them with 

 strong lye ra;ide of nx'k alum, one ounce of 

 alum to a pint of water ; when dry, rub with 

 leather and fine tripoli. 



Paste for Wall Paper.— Take sifted 

 flour, add sufficient cold water to wet it, mix- 

 ing well. To each quart, add a teaspoon ful 

 of salt, and the same of powdered alum, then 

 pour on boiling water, stirring all the time 

 until the mixing thickens. Pour on boiling 

 water slowly and stir briskly. 



As a material for fire-proof stage curtains 

 the New York fire commissioners have exper- 

 imented with asbestus and found it satisfac- 

 tory. It is claimed that curtains prepared 

 with this material will resist heat, .vithout 

 burning, long enough to allow any theatre 

 audience to leave the house before the fire 

 could break out beyond the stage. 



Save the Children's Stockings.— How 

 many mother's know they can knit up as well 

 as down ? When children have reached the 

 age when they wear out the knees of their 

 stockings, and the heels and toes also, the 

 ingenuity of woman must be excercised. In 

 the most hopeless looking stocking there is 

 usually a strij) at least an eighth of a yard 

 long which is too good to throw away, and 

 yet is too much worn to pay to ravel out and 



knit over ; from this then cut off the ragged 

 top and bottom, and knit up as well as down. 

 If you cannot match the color use another 

 shade, or to a brown strip knit a scarlet or 

 grayish brown top. 



Your Own Blacking.— An English re- 

 ceipt recommends the following : Put into a 

 large basin oue pound of ivory black, one 

 pound of treacle, and a quarter pound of sweet 

 oil. Stir these ingredients up with a'stick, 

 and let it stand for twenty-four hours, then 

 add a quarter-pound oil of vitroil, mix with 

 three times its weight of cold water. Stir 

 well and let it again stand for a few hours, 

 then add a quart of sour beer water. Pour it 

 Into a stone jar, which keep in a dry place. 

 Before pouring some into the small bottle for 

 daily use thoroughly shake the contents of 

 the large jar for several minutes. Some 

 of the cheap " blackings " sold are very inju- 

 rious to shoe leather, as they crack and 

 burn it. 



If you dip your broom in clean, hot suds 

 once a week, then shake it and hang it up, it 

 will last twice as long as it would without this 

 operation. 



A si.Mi'LE and easy way to ornament a 

 common pillow-case for the baby's pillow is to 

 feather-stitch it all around with scarlet mark- 

 ing cotton. Choose the cotton which is war- 

 ranted not to fade. 



There is danger, as many people have 

 found' to their sorrow, of a gossamer water- 

 proof cracking when stiffened by cold ; so, 

 before putting it on in severe weather, warm 

 it before the fire, both outside and in, and 

 this danger is averted. 



The skill of the Chinese in dwarfing plants 

 as well as ladies' pedal extremities is well- 

 known. It is stated in a recent work on 

 China that the ladies ot the " upper ten " in 

 the Celestial empire wear in their bosoms 

 little fir trees, which, by a carefully adjusted 

 system of starvation, have been reduced to 

 the size of button-hole flowers. These remain 

 fresh and evergreen in their dwarf state for a 

 number of years, and are regarded as symbols 

 of the perpetuity of love, to express which 

 they are used by ladies of the highest rank. 



An excellent lubricant for wagons is palm- 

 oil, which is thick and adhesive. It may be 

 improved by adding to it an equal weight of 

 black lead and thoroughly mixing it. A 

 very small quantity need be used. For road 

 wagons and buggies castor-oil is an excellent 

 lubricant. 



There is nothing better for butter dairy 

 cows in the shape of grain feed than a mix- 

 ture of 200 pounds of corn-meal, 200 pounds 

 of fine middlings, and 100 pounds of cotton- 

 seed meal. Of this five pounds a day nmy be 

 wiven with benefit, and will return a good 

 profit in butter or milk. 



Sheep are very subject to catarrh of the 

 nasal membranes ; their woolly coat some- 

 times overheats them and they take cold, 

 especially on the back, where they are tender. 

 Some warm gruel, a dram of salt-petre, a diy, 

 warm lodging for a few days, and a little 

 pine tar rubbed on the nose generally cures 

 the trouble. 



Too much confiuement is injurious to a 

 colt, and will lend to produce weakness of 



