AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
181 
and by the stimulus of heat and exciting manure, 
are brought into growth before hardening off; 
hence in Spring their strength, already severely 
taxed, is inadequate to resist exposure that other¬ 
wise would not injure them. The check will, how¬ 
ever, be but temporary, and the plants will, if 
properly manured, regain their former healthy 
habit. A manure made by mixing one part of 
night soil with three of charcoal dust, and forked 
in around the surface, is an excellent application 
to strengthen and bring plants forward. 
Chrysanthemums- 
Among English florists, the chrysanthemum is 
rapidly becoming a great favorite, both the large- 
flowering or Indian varieties and the Pompones. 
In some quarters, they have almost superseded 
the regal dahlia. At the exhibitions everywhere 
last Autumn, they formed a principal feature. 
They are so symmetrical in form, so double, so 
varied in color and markings, and withal so easi¬ 
ly raised, we do not wonder at their great popu¬ 
larity. The climate of Great Britain is undoubt¬ 
edly more favorable than ours to their success : 
our Summer, north ofNew-York, is a few weeks 
too short. But some varieties flower as early as 
September, and by propagating from these, others 
rnay be obtained. We hope our florists will give 
their attention to this matter. For varieties to 
bloom in the parlor or green-house during No¬ 
vember and December, we have already every¬ 
thing that can be desired. 
Those of our readers who wish to have good 
plants next Fall, must give them good manage¬ 
ment during the Summer. Our instructions on 
this subject, given in the February No. of the 
Agriculturist, contain what it is of chief impor¬ 
tance for the young florist to know. 
- ■*— - — ■ . - 
Look out for the Insects. 
Owing to the decrease of birds, and perhaps to 
other causes, insects are now alarmingly on the 
increase. Their mischief is usually discovered 
too late to do more than prevent the possibility 
of their multiplying, by picking up and feeding out, 
or cooking the punctured fruit, and thus destroying 
the worm lodged in the heart. This is a tedious 
operation howev.er, and hardly practicable with 
peaches, plums and cherries. 
The parents of all these mischievous worms 
are winged insects, which flutter about among 
the trees, and lay their eggs either upon the 
surface of the tender fruit, or puncture it and de¬ 
posit the eggs beneath the skin. Again, most of 
these winged insects, or millers, are either na¬ 
turally night fliers, or can be brought out by a 
strong light. Now, every one has observed that 
millers are so attracted by light as to fly directly 
into the flame of a candle. It is well to take 
advantage of this weakness, and kindle low fires 
about the orchard and fruit gardens in the eve¬ 
ning, and thus catch the trespassers. The early 
part of June is the proper season to commence 
this war of extermination, which, if vigorously 
entered into by a neighborhood, would destroy 
vast quantities of them in the very act of provid¬ 
ing for their progeny. Remember, too, that with 
every parent moth, from fifty to one hundred lit¬ 
tle white maggots are destroyed. Follow this 
practice up night after night, for two weeks, and 
an immense number of insects will be cut off. 
Tie old rags upon short sticks, and dip them 
first into tar, and then in saw-dust or powdered 
charcoal, until of a large size. These will burn 
with a bright light for a long time, dazzling and 
attracting the unlucky moths or millers from some 
distance around. 
---—— 
Chinese Fire Crackers vs. Black Ants. 
One 'practical use of Fourth of July Fire Crackers 
discovered at last. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist : 
My residence, in West Philadelphia, Pa., is 
built in a grove of some sixty lofty forest trees, 
which give a grateful and pleasant shade, but we 
have been much annoyed by large nests of black 
ants, some of which are four to five feet in 
diameter on the surface of the ground. They de¬ 
stroyed the garden beds and injured the walks. 
We tried oil, hot water, pickle, hot stable litter, 
and in fact every thing we could think of, to drive 
them away. On one bed we poured a gallon of 
oil of vitriol, which of course destroyed all that 
touched it, but the nest still flourished. We had, 
in fact, abandoned all idea of killing or getting rid 
of them, and ceased any further efforts. Last 4th 
of July my boys were amusing themselves dis¬ 
charging fire crackers, and by chance fired off 
several packs on a large ants’nest. Some week 
or ten days after, we discovered that the ants, 
were gone. We have since set off several packs 
of common Chinese fire crackers on other ants' 
nests, and invariably the tenants have left the 
premises. The best anl most effectual mode of 
destroying these insects, is to take a stick and 
plunge it into the nest in many places, to set 
them all in motion, then light a pack of common 
fire crackers, and place it in the center of the 
nest, and if not successful try a second or a third 
pack, which will finish them. 
A Subscriber. 
--— o—-— -- 
About Crockery. 
“Bridget. Here! Who broke this plate!” 
“Sure, ma’am, it’s come apart of itself, ma’am ; 
it’s this long time it’s been cracked, ma’am.” And 
Bridget is nearly right. It was probably cracked, 
very slightly at first, by being improperly subjected 
to heat; the water has subsequently been absorbed 
by the clay of which the inner part of the dish is 
composed, and swelled it until it “ broke itself,” 
or was easily separated. If we examine the 
edge of a broken piece of earthen or china ware, 
we shall see that there is, first: a coarser com¬ 
pound of an apparently porous nature, which forms 
the bulk of the ware; and a thin firm coat, re¬ 
sembling glass, and called the glazing. 
The inner part, composed of a mixture of clay 
(alumina,) and ground flint (silica), is made first— 
the material being mixed with water, molded 
into shape, and baked. In this state the ware 
would be unfit foruse, as it readily absorbs liquids 
of almost all kinds. To prevent this, the biscuit, 
as the ware is called after the first baking, is 
dipped into a composition of clay, litharge (oxide 
of lead,) and ground flint mixed with water, and 
then submitted to a higher degree of heat. By 
this process the materials are melted together on 
the outside of the dish, to which the glazing 
thus formed, adheres in a layer of uniform thick¬ 
ness, and being of the nature of glass, effectual¬ 
ly excludes moisture from the interior, so long 
as it remains unbroken. 
If, now, by careless handling, or too sudden 
change of temperature, the glazing is cracked, 
the dish sustains injury from which it will never 
fully recover ; increasing wrinkles (cracks in the 
glazing,) mark the progress of decay, until it 
“breaks itself, ma’am.” Such dishes also absorb 
oil, and various flavors, or rather odors, from the 
different kinds of food that may be placed upon 
them, and thus become tainted and unfit for use. 
The peculiar taste of pie-crust, baked upon an 
old cracked dish, proceeds from this defect, the 
rancid fat from previous bakings having been ab¬ 
sorbed from the dish by the crust. 
House-keepers generally know' that a frosty 
dish plunged into hot water is liable to break ; 
but the glazing may be cracked by a much less 
sudden or violent change, unless the dish has 
been properly annealed. This is, or should be 
done at the manufactory, by placing it in an oven, 
raising it to a high degree of heat, and then allow¬ 
ing it to cool very gradually. As this process is 
not always properly performed, it is well foi the 
housekeeper to place all new dishes in cold water, 
heat them gradually until boiling,and then let them 
stand on the stove, regulating the heat so that it 
shall require several hours to cool them ; this 
will anneal them, somewhat, at least. 
--»--- 
The “What-Not.” 
This appropriate name is given to an article of 
furniture now found in many parlors and sitting 
rooms, and which may be made highly attractive 
and ornamental with but little expense. It is 
essentially a series of from four to six light 
shelves, one above the other, decreasing in size 
from the bottom upward, supported by neatly 
turned uprights. It is usually made of triangular 
shape to fit a corner, the front of the shelves be¬ 
ing rounded out into a quarter circle; though 
others for the sides of a room are of rectangular 
shape, having upright supports for the shelves. 
A very pretty and cheap what-not is made by 
taking from three to six light, thin, pine boards of 
different lengths and widths, and boring holes 
near the ends, through which four cords are in¬ 
serted, with knots at suitable distances to hold 
them one above another in shelf form. If for the 
side of a room, the lower shelf may be 2^ to 4 feet 
long, and 10 or 12 inches wide; the next shelf' 
above 0 to 10 inches shorter, and 1 to 2 inches 
narrower, and so decreasing to the top piece. If 
for a corner, two sides of the board must be cut 
at right angles to fit the walls ; only three cords 
are needed. The shelves of a wall or corner 
what-not may be rounded, or scolloped in front, as 
fancy or taste may dictate. The shelves may be 
stained, or painted and varnished. They are quite 
pretty when only covered with furniture or com¬ 
mon calico, or merino, or other fabric. A fringe 
along the front edge of the shelves gives a taste¬ 
ful finish. What-nots are sometimes used for 
books, but they are usually intended to receive 
various fancy or ornamental articles, vases, stat¬ 
uettes, curious toys, shells, wax flowers, minia¬ 
ture cabinets of insects, etc., in short, all those 
little knick-knacks, and— what-not, which display 
the ingenuity and taste of the various members 
of the family. We think this preferable to plac¬ 
ing them upon the mantel-piece. 
The “Pantry.” 
Who has not pleasant recollections connected 
with this word 1 In childhood, it was “ the wonder¬ 
ful cave,” where were concealed untold treasures 
of sugar and preserves, sweet spices, and forbid¬ 
den fruits. In girlhood, what rare times we have 
had in the pantry with some very confidential 
friend, munching pickles, dipping into the meat- 
pie, and cackling with mirth. And in later days, 
what planning and executing, what surprises and 
disappointments, triumphs and failures have been 
witnessed there. 
It was a proud, an exciting day, when for the 
first time the writer had a pantry of her own to 
arrange, and the new outfit of dishes and pans, 
