1863. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



353 



PLUMS AND CUBCUIilO. 



It has been often published, on what authority 

 we do not know, that plum trees whose limbs 

 hang over water are unmolested by the curculio- 

 It has been suggested that the little creature 

 knew by instinct that such a situation would prove 

 fatal to its oflFspring. Perhaps the following fact, 

 stated by a correspondent of the Albany Culti- 

 vator, may be explained on the same principle : 



A few miles above Indianapolis, lud., is an is- 

 land in White river, covered with a growth of 

 wild plums, which I am informed have never failed 

 to yield, and do not seem to be subject to the at- 

 tacks of the burculio. The island is but a few 

 yards from the shore, and in a neighborhood where 

 the plum is always attacked. The island is over- 

 flowed yearly — during the spring months, as well 

 as fall and winter, and the last of April or first of 

 May neaily always finds it under water. 



DOMESTIC RECEIPTS. 



Nice and Nameless Cake. — Two cupfuls of 



sugar, a small lump of butter, half a pint of milk, 



four eggs, one cocoa nut, grated, one teaspoon- 



ful of soda, two tea-spoonfuls of cream of tartar. 



The Queen of Piddixgs.— One i)intofnice 

 bread crumbs to one quart of milk, one cup of 

 sugar, the yolk of four eggs beaten, the grated 

 rind of a lemon, a piece of butter the size of an 

 egg. Bake until done, but not watery. Whip 

 the white of the eggs stiff, and beat in a tea- 

 cupful of sugar in which has been stirred the juice 

 of the lemon. Spread over the pudding a layer 

 of jelly or any sweetmeats you prefer. Pour the 

 whites of the eggs over this and replace in the 

 oven and bake lightly. To be eaten with cold 

 cream. It is second to ice cream, and for some 

 seasons better. 



To Protect Dried Fruit from Worms. 

 It is said that dried fruit ])ut away with a little 

 sassafras bark (say a large handful to a bushel,) 

 will keep for years, unmolested by these trouble- 

 some liiile insects which so often destroy hun- 

 dreds of bushels in a season. The remedy is 

 cheap and simple. 



How to Cure a Felon. — A lady writes as 

 follows : — Allow me a few lines in your columns, 

 to give the public the benefit of the experience of 

 a score of my friends, in arresting the ])rogress 

 of that painful disease called a felon. When one 

 of these painful torments ajijiears on the hand, 

 applv a piece of rennet soaked in nilk to the af- 

 fected part, and renew the ai)plication at brief in- 

 tervals until relief is found. The rennet may be 

 obtained of any butcher. This article was first 

 recommended to me by a skillful physician, now- 

 deceased. It has been tried in many cases under 

 my observation, and has never yet failed to afi'ord 

 relief. 



Buttkr that is made m September and Octo- 

 ber is best for winter use. Lard should be hard 

 and white, and that which is taken from a hog 

 not over a year old is best. 



C^ A certain gentleman in Southbridfic who was 

 curious to know liow much a pumpkin grew in 

 twenty-four hours, found by actual measuring that 

 t enlarged just 3 3-4 inches in that time. 



ROAKINa HORSES. 

 Among the thousand ills to which the horse is 

 liable, and which arc mainly brought on by really 

 bad, or injudicious usage, is one called roaring. 

 There are two kinds of it — acute and chronic. 

 The acute is merely a symptom of disease, and in- 

 dicates that something presses too heavily upon 

 the windpipe. The chronic roaring w hich may be 

 heard when a horse that is sul)ject to it is driven 

 hard, results from the abuse to which the ani- 

 mal is subject. For an illustration we have se- 

 lected from Mayhew's work on the Horse, two 

 engravings. 



The first represents a horse undergoing the tor- 

 ture of the bearing rein. 



The second exhibits the horse carrying its head 

 as it would were it free to exercise a choice. 



"Which of the foregoing," — says Mayhew — 

 "looks most at ease ? Does not the fashionable 

 horse appear to be suffering constraint and tor- 

 ture? The face is disguised and concealed by the 

 harness ; but enough is left visible to suggest the 

 agony compulsion inflicts. 'Pride,' says the prov- 

 erb, 'has no feeling.' " 



.There are those who assert that roaring is no 

 injury to the powers of a horse, — but that which 

 impedes the free passage of air to the lungs must 

 be a rather serious detriment to exertion. 



City teamsters usually "check up" their horses' 

 heads to make them "look gay," as they say; but 

 such checking greatly abridges tlieir power of 

 draft, as the horse cannot throw the weight of his 

 body down on a line with the load. Such persons 

 should wheel a loaded barrow up hill, with their 

 head "checked up" so that they cannot stoop at 

 all. After a few such exertions, they might have 

 ' some compassion on the poor horse. 



