166 



POPULAR SCIENCE N"EW8. 



[November, 1889. 



H. Kernald, of the Hatch Experiment Station of the 

 Massachusetts Agricultural College, has always 

 found that any material subject to the attacks of 

 moths may be preserved from them if packed away 

 with sprigs of cedar between the folds. The odor of 

 cedar is so disagreeable to them that they will not 

 deposit their eggs where this odor is at all strong. 

 Chests of cedar, or closets finished in the same 

 wood, will protect clothing from moths as long as 

 the odor is strong; but this is lost with age, and 

 then they are no protection. It must be remem- 

 bered that the odor of cedar, camphor, etc., only 

 prevents the moth from laying her eggs on the 

 fabrics ; but if the eggs are laid before the garments 

 are packed away with cedar, etc., the odor will not 

 prevent the hatching of the eggs nor the destructive 

 work of the larvje afterwards. Clothing may also 

 be protected from moths by packing it in bags made 

 of either stout paper or cotton cloth, if made per- 

 fectly tight, but this must be done before the moths 

 appear on the wing in the spring. — Science. 



GLEANINGS. 



Don't Spread Out — It does not pay to borrow 

 money in order to purchase more land. It is an old 

 truth that "an acre of land has no limit to ifs pro- 

 ductive capacity." The true farmer prefers a small 

 farm well tilled. The manure that is spread on 

 two acres will give better results if applied to one 

 acre, while the cost of tillage will be less. No 

 farmer can afford to buy more land until he has 

 brought up that already in his possession to the 

 highest degree of fertility. 



Hardness op Woods. — The relative hardness of 

 woods is calculated by the hickory, which is the 

 toughest. Estimating this at loo, we get for pignut 

 hickory, 96; white oak, 84; white ash, 77; dogwood, 

 75; scrub oak, 73; white liazel, 72; apple tree, 70; 

 red oak, 69; white beech, 65; black walnut, 65; 

 black birch, 62; yellow and black oak, 60; hard 

 maple, 56; white elm, 58; red cedar, 56; cherry, 

 55; yellow pine, 54; chestnut, 52; yellow poplar, 

 51 ; butternut and white birch, 43, and white pine, 35. 



Where Cauliflowers are Grown. — It is not 

 generally known that nearly eight-tenths of all the 

 cauliflowers which come to the New York market are 

 grown within a belt of 30 miles on Long Island. 

 From Southold to Riverhead almost every farm 

 is devoted to their culture, the climate and soil 

 being particularly adapted to their development. 

 This year the product was much more than sufficient 

 to supply the demands of the cities; so little houses 

 were erected near the railway stations, and scores of 

 chore boys were set to work cutting up the flowers 

 and pickling them. A somewhat singular incident 

 in the growing of this plant is that in no other 

 locality on Long Island, or, for that matter, in the 

 New England or Middle States, have the farmers 

 met with any success in its perfect production. The 

 result is that Suffolk county has a monopoly of 

 cauliflower, which gives an income of nearly $200,- 

 000 a year. 



Vegetable Refuse. — There can be no doubt but 

 that the accumulation of vegetable and other refuse 

 from the garden is of the utmost benefit to all soils, 

 and for this purpose every particle of useful refuse 

 should be saved by everyone who owns a garden. 

 Throughout the whole of the summer months vege- 

 table stumps, leaves, etc., are accumulating, and, as 

 they are collected, they are thrown together in a 

 heap in a remote part of the garden. In this posi- 

 tion they decay, and form at the end of the autumn 

 a \ery desirable manure for light, sandy soil. Were 

 it not for that, we should not be able to grow our 

 vegetables as good as we do. Even upon heavy 

 soils it has been found of great value, and if admin- 

 istered in a comparatively dry — at the same time 



decayed — state, will be the means of making it 

 lighter. This, together with a fair proportion of 

 lime, will, in the course of two years, bring heavy 

 land under a proper state of cultivation. Decayed 

 vegetable refuse is used in many gardens mixed 

 with manure, more especially where the latter is 

 scarce. It need hardly be stated that such gardens 

 are more profitable than many in which the soil is 

 literally poisoned with stable manure. 



Clear Potash as a Fruit Manure. — A corres- 

 pondent of the Canadian Horticulturist says: "I 

 have used within the last few years a good deal of 

 potash in connection with the trees in my orchard, 

 usually buying it by the cask for this purpose. I 

 simply break the potash into small pieces, not 

 larger than egg size, using about eight pounds to an 

 average sized tree, scattering it upon the ground 

 about the tree in a circle extending half-way from 

 the trunk to the extremity of the branches. When 

 this is done in the autumn or early spring, the rains 

 and snow dissolve the potash, which will be 

 absorbed and spread through the soil, thus bringing 

 the fertilizing properties directly to the small roots 

 of the trees without the slightest injury to the vege- 

 tation. The future crops will show remarkable 

 results, both in quantity and quality of fruit. In 

 18S5 my trees bore, as did everybody's that year, a 

 heavy crop of apples ; and again last year I have 

 had, what few others had, a crop nearly as large as 

 the previous year, which proved of a remarkably 

 fine quality both in appearance and freedom from 

 decay. This I attribute to the free use of potash on 

 the soil about the trees, proving clearly that potash 

 is a fertilizer essential to the growth of fruit. One 

 pear tree, which for a long time had small and im- 

 perfect fruit, the spring following the application of 

 potash produced pears of extraordinary size and 

 singularly free from blemish. I esteem potash as 

 admirably adapted to all kinds of fruits, large and 

 small." Eight pounds of potash would seem to be 

 a pretty large dose for one tree, but the results noted 

 above do not indicate an injurious efTect. 



CULINARY RECIPES. 



Mayonnaise a la Tomato. — Mix the pulp of 

 two raw, ripe tomatoes with a tablespoonful of thick 

 mayonnaise sauce, half a gill of liquid aspic jelly, a 

 tablespoonful of whipped cream, and a few drops of 

 liquid carmine. 



Sportsman's Drink. — Boil half an ounce of hops 

 and half an ounce of bruised ginger in one and a half 

 gallons of water for twenty-five minutes. Add one 

 pound of best brown sugar, and boil ten minutes 

 more ; then strain and bottle while hot. It will be 

 ready for drinking when cold. This should be kept 

 in a cool place. 



Sage and Onion Fritters. (To eat with roast 

 pork.) — Take six ounces of onions, the same of 

 bread-crumbs, one teaspoonful of chopped sage 

 (previously boiled a little), half a teaspoonful of 

 chopped parslej', one and a half eggs, and one 

 tablespoonful of cream. Chop the onions, fry them 

 with the sage till nicely brown, mix eight ounces of 

 them with bread-crumbs, add the parsley, season 

 with pepper and salt, beat the eggs, adding the 

 cream ; mix all together, and fry in fritters over a 

 clear fire. 



Fillets of Soles with Mushrooms. — Roll 

 round each fillet and arrange them in a pie-dish, 

 with plenty of butter. Sprinkle with pepper and 

 salt to taste, and place a' buttered paper on the top. 

 Take the trimmings of the sole, one carrot, two 

 eschalots, parsley, sweet herbs ; put them all into 

 a saucepan with three pints of thin stock, and let 

 boil for an hour; then strain oflF the liquor and 

 thicken with butter and flour, and add one dozen 



button mushrooms. Let all boil, then stir in off 

 the fire the yolk of an egg beaten up with a little 

 milk, and having in the meantime put the pie-dish 

 with the fillets into the oven till cooked (taking 

 about twenty minutes.) Arrange them on a dish; 

 place the mushrooms, some in centre, and all round. 



Oyster Curry. — Open fifty oysters, carefully 

 preserving every drop of their liquor. Put a lump 

 of fresh butter into a large basin, and when it boils 

 add an onion cut into thin slices, and let frv till a 

 rich brown color. Add a piece more of butter and 

 one and a half tablespoonfuls of curry power. Mix 

 these well over the fire with a wooden spoon, then 

 add the oyster liquor made hot, and cover the pot 

 and let all boil up. Grate half a small cocoanut 

 and put into the stewpan. When cooked add a cup- 

 ful of good brown thickening, and let all boil up for 

 five minutes. Put in a couple of tomatoes, then 

 place in the oysters and the milk of the cocoanut, 

 and stir in all well together. Let the curry stew 

 gently for a few minutes, then stir in the strained 

 juice of a quarter of a lemon. Stir the curry from 

 time to time, and when the oysters are done serve 

 up, with rice in a separate dish. 



HORTICULTURAL HINTS. 



To Preserve Flowers. — Ladies who surround 

 the stems of their corsage bouquets with moistened 

 powdered willow charcoal, which may in turn be 

 wrapped in moss or cotton, will find their flowers 

 remaining fresh long after the departure of all 

 beauty from those of their less thoughtful neighbors. 

 The same substance placed in the bottom of the 

 vase in which flowers are kept, will be very useful, 

 provided the stems are cut oft" with a sharp knife 

 once or twice a day. 



To Protect Plants from Frost. — A successful 

 amateur in New Hampshire, says she don't allow frost 

 bites to her plants so long as she has a two-gallon 

 jug in the house and can get up hot water. She 

 first coats the jug with layer after layer of paper 

 to keep in the heat and also to modify it. Then, in 

 severe nights, she places this jug on her centre 

 table, and all around it the tender plants, and over 

 all a sheet or water-proof cloak, supported by 

 some sticks thrust into the pots. This method 

 carries the plants safely through any kind of a 

 cold night. 



Cut Flowers. — Water lilies may be kept for 

 three or four days in perfect beauty, by adopting the 

 following plan: Fill a very large flat dish with 

 water, to the depth of at least four inches. Reduce 

 the stems of both flowers and leaves to two inches, 

 and place the leaves (the smaller the better) floating 

 on the surface of the water, and the flowers and buds 

 resting on the leaves. If the dish is placed in the 

 sunlight, the flowers will open and remain expanded 

 all day, closing at night, although even then a very 

 bright light will make them reopen. The buds will 

 also expand if gathered when half blown. Flat 

 dishes are suitable for a variety of flowers, particu- 

 larly such as have little, if any, stem — balsams, 

 hollyhocks, and similar flowers. Even the pansy 

 looks well set in a bed of sand in flat dishes. Re- 

 member, a flower's own foliage always arranges well 

 with the flowers. It one has got only a few cuttings, 

 a large tumbler or any glass article will answer. A 

 bottomless starch-box, with a pane of glass set into 

 the groove where the lid fits, answers famously, and 

 will hold a dozen or two of cuttings. When well 

 rooted, the young plants should be taken up, potted 

 into small pots, shifted afterwards into four-inch 

 pots, and one has the best of all sizes for window 

 plants. The plants are young and thrifty, and will, 

 of most kinds, flower in winter. 



