February i, 1889.J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
533 
I eay " at the rate " because it is not necessary to boil 
all the water, but only a sufficient amount to dis- 
solve the acid. All the remainder of Ihe water may 
be added oold. This solution is to be poured over 
the eggs in whatever vessel they are packed, and the 
vossel kept covered with blotting paper saturated 
with glycerine. This solution is harmless and one of 
the most pleasant and etfoctive disinfectants known. 
DRY EARTH HHOCF8S. 
A correspondent in Illinois, says: "Last summer 
I was induced to try packing down eggs for winter 
use. I had tried liming them, but a limed egg is 
not altogether to my taste. Last summer I took clean, 
BWert kegs, set them in a cool, dry place with a 
barrel of powdered dry earth close at hand. Iu the 
kegs I placed a layer of this earth, then a layer of eggs, 
small end doivD, and 80 on until the kegs wero filled. 
These eggs wert quite good si\ months after packing. 
I advise turning the boxes containing dry packed eggs 
frequently, to keep the yolka from settling to the 
shells. The object in packing eggs with small en la 
down is to obviate this and perhaps it effectually 
does so. 
There are many other methods of preserving eggs. 
Anything which excludes the air will preserve them, 
if they are kept in a cool place. Some grease the eggs 
with lard, but. I should think that they would get 
rancid if kept long, and they are also tedious to clean 
if wanted for sale and always show that they have 
been greased. A very nice process, but tedious, is 
to take one part of white wax to two of spermaceti 
and melt them together. Rub each egg with fine 
rice starch — perhaps pulverized corn starch would do 
— then wrap it in strong tissue paper, putting the 
small end down, and twisting the paper at the end 
like you see lemons wrsppnd sometimes, lciving an 
inch or so of the paper to lift the egg by. Dip each 
egg thus wrapped into the melted wax, and when 
cool pack them in sand or sawdust. Jt will pay the 
farmer's wife who lives near a good market to pack 
eggs in this way, because the starch prevents the 
wax from touching the shell, and she can sell the eggs 
at th.' highest market price, because they would not 
show that they had been packed, and she could sell 
them in quantities small enough to disarm the suspi- 
cion that thoy had been packed, and there would be 
no cheat about it if all the eggs were good. 
This method took the second prize at a show at 
Birmingham, England, for eggs that had been kept 
six m uths, and the eggs had to he sent to the secre- 
tary in time, so there oould be no cheating. They 
were adjudged to be rm.rl) as good a< tbOSfl thai 
took Brat prize, and the first prize eggs had been 
parked in salt. 
In parking eggs in anything but liquid, never allow 
the eggs to toueh one another, and when using acid 
do not use a metallic vo»se|. 
In using the wax process I should think it belter to 
dip the eggs in water before putting them in the 
starch us this would causo the starch to stick better 
while wrapping the paper around them. 
— Kurtu Catifiritiaa. 
♦ 
Tea a Cuoi) UnitDiAi..— Over 150 years ago Th'ini'i* 
Short, M. D. , gave to the world a dissertation up>>n 
tea, explaining its nature and properties. Among the 
many virtues accorded the famous leaf he declares tea 
to be n gn id cordial. " \s Ti'n cleanses and streng- 
thens the Veswls.r stores the natural Consutenoeol their 
contained PI e '-, in 1 preserve* or restores a due(!ircu'a- 
tion, wherein ail the Fluids are made to pass their respec- 
tive Strainers, it is therefore a good Cordial, cheers the 
Heart, revives mil iucrease* the Spirits, intkes the 
Body light and lively, dispels those Clouds and that 
Drowsiness which hang overs lax Fibre, • languid 
circulation, an i levied Ve«s. Is 01 the Hrii", whereby 
the animal Spirits, being either not separate', "T "hut 
up in their (Jell, and not propelled In ihel velv i'ulsa- 
■ion< of the Arteries upon the small Nerves, the M isoles 
flag an I fall beak, »r« lazy and inactive." — American 
Grootr. 
A Desthuctive Scale Insect, its Ravages and its 
PAEASITE, are these noticed in the Queen.ila.nder : — 
By the last mail arrived iu South Australia Mr. 
Albert, Kccbele, Assistant-Entomologist to the United 
j States Department of Agriculture, deputed by that 
, body to visit Australia and inquire into toe history 
and habits of the Icerya Purchasii and its parasites, 
as woll as to pick up information generally concern- 
ing all kinds of coccida; and other pests affecting 
the industrial products of the colonists. The Icerya 
Purchasii, it may be remembered, was supposed to 
have been introduced at the Oape of Good Hope 
some few years back, and within a very short, time 
it increased so enormously that the insects utterly 
destroyed all the orange-trees in that colony, from 
which trees previously the colonists had derived a 
very considerable n venue. Not only did it attack 
the orange-trees, but many other plants also, and 
nothing could be done to resist its ravages. Since 
the ruin of the orange orchards of the Cape of Good 
Hope the Icerya Purchasii has appeared in the South, 
em States of California, and at Santa Clara, where 
it first appeared, the trees are in a dreadful state. 
Tbey are so loaded with the insects as to appear a white 
mass, visible at a long distance, and all over the 
States the Icerya is spreading so alarmingly that it 
is only a question of a very short time when the 
trees will be all dead unless the natural enemy of 
the insect caD be introduced. It is due to Mr. Frazer 
S. Crawford of this Colony (says the Adelaide 
Observer) that the discovery was made of this enemy, 
which proved to be a minute two-winged fly, which 
deposits its eggs within the body of the Icerya. 
The eggs produce maggots which live upon the juices 
of their host, ultimately change into chrysalides, and 
finally emerge as flies which again attach fresh 
coccids. Mr. Kcobele has been successful in obtain- 
ing chrysalides of the fly, and is making arrange- 
ments for forwarding a succession of consignments 
to California. — Queens! under. 
A French Agricultural Chemist, and a practical 
one as well, claims to have found out a new 
artificial manure in lluate of lime. For three years 
he experimented with it on wheat, maize, potatoes 
clover, etc., comparing the results with similar treat- 
ment on the same plants with phosphates and 
potash. He is decidedly of opinion that fluorine is 
necessary to organic health. It is certain that 
fluorine is always found associated with the higher 
organic life, perhaps it 19 even important to healthy 
organic life. If so, have we not neglected to take 
this into consideration. If either an animal or 
plant is well fed on certain necessary food, and 
starved for want of only one. it is very likely that 
illness or decay supervene. It is absolutely certain 
that fluatos are necessary to higher animal organ- 
isms. They are all-important in the formation of 
good natural teeth — to begin with. And everybody 
will agree that good teeth are desirable — natural, 
of course, in preference. Without them the masti- 
cation is deficient, and the overworked stomach 
gives way to dyspepsia. Therefore, any natural 
chemical substance which constructs good teeth 
should be partaken of. But we cannot eat fluito of 
lime. We must allow plants first to partake of it 
and then partake of the plants. That is the only 
and legitimate way of getting it into the human 
system, and eventually of concentrating it into the 
human teeth and hair. Perhaps the reason mxst of 
our young mt n ure getting prematurely bald is 
because of the absence of fluates in their diet (it 
cannot be because of etuly). It is a shocking 
thought. Moreov r, baldness re acts on their good 
manners. Itnubtless one reason why on vouog luon 
keep their hats on in a public me< ting or ut a 
lecture (even when ladies are present) is because 
thoy aro bald-headel. Treated Willi phosphate, 
and potash salts, the rosulu aro certain!) very 
remarkable — Dr. Taylor iu Aiutrala*ian. 
