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1864. 



THE ILLmOIS FAKMEE. 



293 



dozen plants, than to the fruit grower. To those 

 desiring a late crop, this and the 



OHIO EVERBEARING 



are the most valuable. 



But few if any of the English or red raspberries 

 can compete in the market with the American cap 

 berries. The whole tribe of these sucker so badly 

 that they are difficult to cultivate, and besides 

 most of them need protection in winter. 



THE ALLEN RASPBERRY. 



After six years' trial with tliis it is set aside as 

 worthless. 



There is no more danger of over doing the rasp- 

 berry than the strawberry, for thus far the demand 

 is in ndvance of the supply. When the market be- 

 gan to be supplied with the strawberry the price 

 was from four to eight cents a quart ; now that it 

 is grown by the thousand acres, the price rules 

 from eight to ten dollars a bushel. Raspberries 

 that used to go begging in the tin pails of country 

 boys and girls at six cents a qtiart, now that they 

 are grown by the hundred acres readily sell at eight 

 dollars a bushel at wholesale. 



It might be curious to count up the daily supply 

 for Chicago alone. Suppose its 160,000 inhabi- 

 tants to be divided into families of six each ; this 

 would make about 27,000. Each family will easi- 

 ly consume four quarts a day, or a daily aggregate 

 of 3,375 bushels, or the product of 67^ acres pro- 

 ducing SO bushels each. Now add to this a bush- 

 el to each family for jam and canning, and we need 

 the product of 550 acres. Multiply the daily con- 

 sumption by fifteen, the raspberry season, and we 

 have a total of 1,550 acres required for this fruit 

 alone. There is little danger of an over supply, 

 and farmers and market gardeners may govern 

 themselves accordingly. Rural. 



Peach Trees and Tanzy. — D. M. Fisher, Arch 

 Spring, Blair Co., Pa., disputes the position of 

 Mr. Kohler, of Missouri, about tanzy being a pre- 

 ventive of borers and curl-leaf in peach trees. Mr. 

 F. says : 



"I would say that I have tried ihe remedy 

 thoroughly, and in no case has it proved to be a 

 preventive of either, 1 have peach trees standing 

 among the tanzy dead and dry. I examine my 

 trees annually, and somi-^times oftener, and have al- 

 ways found the borers as plenty where the trees 

 were surrounded by tanzy as anywhere else, and 

 the curled leaf is just found the same as else- 

 where " 



This gives both sides of the question. Mr. K. 

 thinks tanzy useful. Dr. Trimble thought the idea 

 ridiculou.s, and Mr. Fisher says that he has fully 

 satisfied himself by actual trial. — N. Y. Tribune. 



Lice on Cattle. — The cheapest , best and easi- 

 est method to kill lice on cattle as follows : Take 

 half 11 wood pail of potatoes, boil them thoroughly 

 in water for about three hours, strain out the po- 

 tatoes, and wash the animal thouroughly with the 

 liquor. One application is generally sufficient to 

 send every louse on the beast "over Jordon." I 

 have tried it and know it to be effectual, aiid that 

 nothing dangerous to the animal can follow the 

 application.— D. R. P. in Rural American., . 



Birds and Insects. 



There are various insects that always threaten 

 the destruction of fruit and fruit trees ; and they 

 seem to be increasing. They already render very 

 uncertain many kinds of fruit. Bow shall they be 

 kept at bay ? We will answer. Their natural en- 

 emy is birds. Insects are food of birds. They are 

 on every tree, shrub, plant, in every pool, swamp 

 and soil. Everywhere they come into being in 

 teeming millions. Many of them attack the fruit 

 for food, or for nests, for their larvoe. The means 

 to prevent their doing evil is the birds. We should 

 therefore encourage them to grow and multiply in 

 all our fields and orchards. We should not alarm 

 or destroy them. We should consider them the 

 naturally commi?sioned sentinels of our fruit trees. 

 We should regard them as natural ornaments and 

 conservators of our orchards and gardens. We 

 should feel that birds are a standing army — on 

 picket duty — self-marshaled and trained to meet 

 and overpower the invading army of the insect 

 world. The wanton or intentional destruction of 

 a bird should be considered a public loss — a mis- 

 demeanor — and should be held an outrage on Di- 

 vine order and human instinct. God provides a 

 balance between insects and the feathered tribe ; 

 but man, in his cruelty and impiety destroys the 

 balance ; and the insects creep upon hjs fruit to 

 pay him for it. It is only after civilization has 

 destroyed the birds of a country that insects over- 

 run it. The birds live upon insects All agricul- 

 turists, gardeners, fruit-growers, philanthropists, — 

 all good people should discountenance the destruc- 

 tion of birds and encourage their multiplication by 

 the very kindest treatment. It should become 

 the settled conviction of every community, that 

 birds, by holding in check the insect scourges, are 

 public benefactors. So greatly has the stock of 

 birds been reduced, that cultivators are beginning 

 to be alarmed, and in some of the States have al- 

 ready secured legislative protection, ours among 

 the number. 



There is reason to believe, that, although most 

 birds live on a variety of food, yet each particular 

 species of birds has a greater partiality or fond- 

 ness for some particular kind of insects or reptiles. 



Many species of birds follow civilization. The 

 same may be said of several species of insects ; or, 

 at least, they multiply under its influence Hence 

 the necessity of birds following, in order to reduce 

 the number of insects. No man can study "Na- 

 ture's works Hnd ways" without becoming a wiser 

 and a better man. Let us then study and observe. 



Incredible, is it not, that the birds should need 

 an advocate, that these bright and ^beautiful deni- 

 zens of our gardens, our lawns, and our groves 

 should fear harm at the hand of man — that his eye 

 and ear should be so dull as to find no charms in 

 their untaught melodies, in their forms of perfect 

 grace ? Yet not more strange than sadly true is 

 it, that boys, and "children of a larger growth," 

 can delight in the destruction of these harmless' 

 creatures. One conld not believe it, did not eve- 

 ry day witness these noble bipeds sallying forth, 

 armed with deadly weapons, and on "murderous 

 thoughts intent." And at night returning with a 

 dozen robins, a few sparrows, and a blue-jay or 

 king-fisher — proud trophies of a well spent day ! 

 "Well, and why not ? it is such sport I" says a lad 

 near by. I will tell you, my boy: These little 



