PROCEEDI^^GS OF THE FARMERS* ClUB. 499 



well rotted manure around it in late autumn, and remove it after 

 winter shall be past. An orchard should be plowed each year in the 

 opposite direction from that in which it was plowed the previous 

 year, and the furrows should always be thrown toward the trees. By 

 and by the trees will stand on mounds and from twelve to twenty 

 inches deeper than when planted. They will thrive and bear fruit 

 when trees standing on flat ground will look sickly or die. Train 

 trees moderately low, and plant the ground between rows with pota- 

 toes or other crops that require similar cultivation. Trees require 

 less pruning on an open plain than when well protected by mountains 

 or timber. On the ordinary prairie soils of the west, north of forty- 

 two degrees, the following list of trees will give satisfaction, to wit: 

 Dutchess of Oldenburg, Tetofsky, Sops of Wine, Eed Astrakan, 

 Haas, St. Lawrence, Fameuse, Alexander, Sweet |Pear, English Gol- 

 den Kusset, Perry Russet, Blue Pearmain, Ben. Davis, Tallman's 

 Sweet, and Hislop. 



Pickles akd Vinegar. 



Rev. T. Clarke, Flint, Mich., wants information as to the best 

 mode of making and preserving pickles, when a prime article is 

 wanted. He also asks how to make a substitute for cider vinegar 

 without the use of acetic acid. 



Mr. S. Edwards Todd. — For making pickles, the following recipe 

 is recommended by high authority in matters of this kind : " To 

 each hundred of cucumbers add a pint of fine salt and cover with 

 boiling water, after which let them stand for twenty-four hours. 

 Then take them from the brine and wipe dry and clean, taking care 

 not to break the skin. This being done, they" should be packed in 

 the jars or vessels where they are to be kept, boiling vinegar poured 

 over them, and the vessels closed perfectly ,'air-tight. If flavoring 

 spices are used, they should be boiled in the vinegar before the latter 

 is poured upon the pickles. The pickles when prepared in this man- 

 ner will be ready for use in about a fortnight, and vegetables com- 

 monly used for pickling may be put up in the same way." For 

 making vinegar without cider there is probably no better way than, 

 to use a solution of sugar in water, in about the proportion of a 

 pound of sugar to a gallon of water. This, if allowed to ferment 

 ^ter the manner of cider, is capable of being made into a sharp 

 vinegar, the strength of which will be sufiicient for all ordinary pur- 

 poses. Molasses may be substituted for the sugar when desired. 

 Vinegar cannot be made in any case without acetic acid, because 



