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THE ILLIlSrOIS F^VRMER. 



47 



tree is a native of Asia, or the East, as they 

 say in Europe. The prophet Joel, enumera- 

 ting the trees of Syria, says, "the vine is 

 dried up, and the lig tree languish eth; the 

 pomegranate tree; the palm tree, also, and 

 the apple tree, even all the trees of the field 

 are withered." In Madeira, the Golden Pip- 

 pin trees grow on the mountain, three thou- 

 sand feet above the sea, regularly producing 

 an abundance of fruit, notwithstanding the 

 trunks and branches are covered with white 



moss. 



-••»- 



First Bartlett Pears in Buffalo, 



In September, 1851, Lewis F. Allen, 

 first took Bartlett Pears to Buffalo mar- 

 ket, and he thus describes the manner in 

 ■which he disposed of them: " I had a few 

 Bartlett Pears, beyond what were want- 

 ed in the house, and as I had never seen 

 any in the Buffalo fruit shops, I conclud- 

 ed to take them into town, and try them. 

 I went to one ol: the first dealers, and 

 asked him what he would pay for Bartlett 

 Pears. "Bartlett PearsI" he exclaimed, 

 ♦'what are they?" 



" Why, the very best pears of the sea- 

 son," I replied ;— "look at them." 



*'Well, they do look good," he contin- 

 ued, "but they won't MEASURE any more 

 to the bushel than smaller ones? I buy 

 plenty of good pears from the country 

 for six shillings to a dollar a bushel." 



"Now, my fine fellow, I want you to 

 take these, and sell them for turee cents 

 apiece, and for the largest do you get 

 FOUR, or keep them till I call for them." 



There had never been a Bartlett Pear 

 in market. "I'll try it," he replied, 

 "but I never could get more than one 

 cent for a pear, and I guess you'll have 

 to take them away again." This was 

 about ten o'clock in the morning. The 

 side-walk was full of people, passing 

 along, and I retreated out of the way, to 

 see the trial of my Bartletts, which stood 

 near the door, the basket in which they 

 were, partially turned up on its side to 

 show them temptingly. 

 ■ "What pears are those?" asks one who 

 Stops to look at them. 



"Mr. Allen calls them Bartletts, but I 

 never saw them before. lie says they 

 are first r\te." 



"Well, I'll try one. What's the price?" 



"Three cents a piece, and nothing 

 snoRTBu! So he told me." 



"Well, that's loudI bul I'll try one 



any way." 



"He tasted it. "That is apoar! I'll 

 take half a dozen. That is the only pear 

 1 ever tasted in Buffalo." 



"What are these?" asked another. — 

 "Bartlett pears." "Ah well, my wife 

 has told me a dozen times how good Bart- 

 lett pears were. Lend me a basket and 

 I'll take home a dozen. What's the 



price?" • 



"Three cents a apiece." " Confound- 

 ed dear! but they will please my wife and 

 children." 



I saw the customers thicken, and left, 

 thinking the experiment would do. — 

 Next day I called again. "Have you any 

 more Bartlett Pears?" inquired the shop 

 keeper. "No, are they all gone?" "Gone 

 yes: and I could have sold out 20 bushels 

 by the half dozen; if I only had them." 



I was stopped a dozen times that morn- 

 ing, by the dealers, to know if I had any 

 more Bartlett Pears; and could have sold 

 five hundred bushels while they were in 

 season, at three to four dollars per bush- 

 el, if I only had them." 



®he f 0ttlttjj IJavtl 



Poultry. 



James L. Child, of Augusta, Maine, gives in 

 the Maine Farmer an imercsting account of his 

 mode of managing hens. lie .says : 



My hens laid nearly as well during tho winter 

 as iu the warm weather. Their habitatinu was 

 warm, and so constructed as to bring them to 

 the ground, where they found at all limes a good 

 supply of old plastering, ashes, pulverized oj-s- 

 ter shells, charcoal, fresh water: once or twice a 

 week, beef liver, or some other kind of meat, or 

 grease instead. I feed chietty upon baked or 

 boiled potatoes, giving them warm in the morn- 

 ing and at night; occasionally deali'.ig to them a 

 little corn or oats, and giving them all the crumbs, 

 and skins, and fragments of the cooked vegeta- 

 bles. 



To prevent their being infested with lice, 

 about once a fortnight I mixed in dough, so as 

 to dissolve it, a quantity of ilour of lirimstone, 

 a good remedy, and may safely be given in 

 small quantities to young chiekeiis, for the same 

 purpose. Itwillbe'seen from my mode of keep- 

 ing my hens — which averaged about 25 and 3 

 roosters— through the winter, that I eannotgive 

 the precise cost of keeping, but I am satisfied 

 that potatoes may be given as the general food, 

 and fowls kept cheaper in this mode than in any 

 other, and will always be ready for the cook, il 

 not stinted in quantity. I find my fowls fat at 

 all seasons. 



I estimate that my hens afford me from tluir 

 eggs, without regard to tlicir meat, a clear pru- 

 iit of 50 per cent. I confine them to their yard, 

 hen house, and barn cellar, during gardening. 

 and to their hjuse and cellar during winter, and 

 think with that degree of coniineajcni they lay 

 better than when allowed to wander at large. 



lien houses and roosts should be kept neat, 

 and often white-washed, and their nests should 

 always have half an inch or more of ashes or 

 lime on the bottom, under the hay. Broken oi- 

 rotten eggs should never be allowed to remain 

 in their nests. Dirty wa!er should not i^e given 

 them. To do well they require pure wat(.-r. and 

 all their food fresh and uninjured from taiut or 

 fermentation. 



I estimate that during the year (deducting 

 the time of their moltiug and inclination to sc; ) 

 1 have got daily oue-half as nniiiy eggs as 1 

 have had laying'hens. Kvery family can, with 

 a very little' troul^le, with their il-ck of u dozen 

 hens, have fresh Q^pi in plenty during tho whole 

 year, say iu all 2,OU6, and 100 full grown ehiek- 

 ens; and of all the animals domesticated for 

 the use of man, (if such be the fact,) the hen 

 iscapaole of yielding the greatest possible profit 

 to the owner. 



I have stated that I gave my fowls meat or 

 grease ; this is indispensable, if they are not 



allowed to go at large. If corn is fed out, it 



should be soaked, and 15 bushels is a fair year- 

 ly allowance for \1 hens and a rooster. IJut 

 they should always have food by them, and after 

 they have become habituated to find enough at 

 all times in the trough, they take but a few 

 kernels at a time, except just before retiring to 



rest, when they will take nearly a spoonful into 

 their crops ; but if they arc scantily or irregu- 

 larlv fe 1, they Avill greoiiiiy snatch up a whole 

 crop full at a time, and stop laying, and not 

 unfrequently such irregular and over feeding 

 will engender some fatal disease. 



®he Savdcnct\ 



Choice Vegetables. 



There arc many choice vegetables which are 

 rarely seen growing in our gardens. The culti- 

 vation is simple, and they can be made to add 

 to our variety of excellent vegetables. 



The Sai.siVy and Seorzonera resembles each 

 other very much. The skin of the last is dark, 

 and the root is larger tlian that of the Salsify. 

 The seed is sown iu the spring, in the same 

 manner as caiTot or ])arsnip seed. The roots 

 in shape arc not unlike those of i-mall parsnips. 

 They can remain in the ground through the 

 winter, and he dug up and used iu open weather. 

 Boiled and dressed iu the manner of A sparague, 

 they arc delicious. 



Corn t?ALLAU. — This is an excellent sallad. 

 The seed should be sown in drills in the fall and 

 in the winter when the ground is open, and in 

 the spring thinned to three inches apart — the 

 plant to be cut and used when four inches high. 



The Enpise is another sallad plant. When 

 eight or ten inches hlji;h, the leaves should be 

 boimd tofjether to Idanch. This can be done 

 also by drawing the leaves together and bring- 

 iitg up the earth about them. Unless blanched, 

 the leaves are t^oo bitter for use. 



Tjie A'rtichoke. — The flower buds of these 

 are only used. They make a favorite dish in 

 the Soiith. They are boiled and dressed as 

 Asparagus. Sow tho seed early in the spring, 

 four inches apart, in rows one foot ajjart. The 

 next spring transplant to permanent beds, three 

 plants in a hill, the hills three feet apart each 

 way. This Artichoke requires a deep rich 

 loam, and should bo protected in winter, by 

 hoeing earth around the hills ox l>y covering 

 with litter. 



Gakdev Sokrell — This is a large variety, 

 cultivated in iravdens, a jterenuial, has arrow- 

 headed !~haped leaves, comes early, and is tine 

 forsallads and used in sauces. 



Valuable Recipes. 



For TiiUMrs ix Swine. — When you 

 feed out your corn to hogs, dip the ears 

 of corn in tar. This will prevent at- 

 tacks, avid cure when attacked. 



For Gaiu;e"t in Cows. — The follow- 

 ing prescription will be efi'cctual if rub- 

 bed on the bag a number of days: — 1 

 part aqua amn^.onia, 1 part sweet oil. 



To Destkoy Olrculio. — Make a 

 poultry yard to inclo.sc your plum trees, 

 and keep your fowls there. Another 

 plan i?, when \o\x have a choice plum 

 tree, dig up the soil under it, and then 

 cover the sroun*! under the tree and as 

 far out as the limb;; extend, with plank. 

 Good crops have been obtained by this 

 latter process. 



To PREVENT RABBITS FROM BARKING 



TREES. — Take the liver of a hog and 

 rub the tree from the ground two or 

 three feet high. The rabbits will not 

 bite the trees while the scent of the liver 

 remains. 



JJ^'Lancet, on a rejent race at IIartford> 

 Conn., trotted a mile under the baddle in 2.23, 

 said to be the shortest time on record. 



