388 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 27, 1892. 
the demand for fruits—preserved and green—can be almost inde¬ 
finitely increased. It is precisely in this that there are such vast 
possibilities. A growing popular demand whi'e pointing to a 
low price also indicates vast quantities. With the growth of a 
knowledge of the laws of health the true value of fruit and 
vegetables as really nourishing food will be grasped, and both— 
but especially fruit—will be required in such quantities and of 
such excellence that fruiterers’ shops will be as numerous as 
butchers’. They are so practically now ; grocers already give 
much prominence to imported preserved fruits as well as to 
American Apples in barrels. Of home produce there are jams 
and bottled fruits, both excellent, but the jam has to be pur¬ 
chased with caution, much adulterated stuff hiving been pushed 
into the market even by firms of high standing who ought t > see 
that only a pure article passes through their hands. It is 
possible that they, as well as consumers, are ignorant of what is 
really pure, yet the difference is plain enough if pure and impure 
jam is tasted. 
Fruit-canning after the American fashion is not among our 
home industries yet. Like fruit evaporation it is coming ; mean¬ 
while we pay others for doing it, and go on grumbling about 
hard times and asking for State aid and rent reductions. 
According to Mr. Shelter, <l The process of canning is a simple 
one, being merely to drive out the germs of fermentation by 
heating the fruit and excluding the air. Success depends not on 
the amount of sugar used, but on the entire exclusion of air. To 
accomplish this there are two methods in use. The first and 
most perfect method—that employed by the canning factories— 
is to pack the fruit, neatly prepared, as closely as possible into 
the glass jars. Fill the jars with a syrup made by boiling water 
and sugar together in the proportion of about one cup of sugar 
to one quart of water. This will make syrup enough for two 
quart jars. Place the jar in a tank or boiler of tepid water on a 
rack, so as to allow the water to come within an inch of the top 
of the jar, screw on the cover loosely without the rubber, cover 
the tank or boiler, and bo 1 till the fruit is done. Ten, or at 
most twelve, minutes are enough for berries, Currants, or Pears 
and Apples. Have some syrup ready for filling up the jars. 
When done remove the jar from the water, fill to the top with 
hot syrup, wipe off the neck, put on the rubber, and screw down 
the cover tightly.” 
The second method is one most used by the housewife in 
America. It is simply to boil the fruit in sugared water in a 
porcelain lined stewpan or kettle until it is sufficiently cooked, 
and pour it boiling Lot into the jars, stirring it a’'.out with a 
spoon to let the air bubbles escape ; fill up with hot juice or 
syrup, wipe the neck with a moist towel, put on the rubber, 
screw down the cover tightly, and tighten again when cold. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
The nights grow cold, heavy rains fall frequently ; leaves, too, fall 
fast, and shelter for cows and store cattle is now indispensable. See, 
therefore, that nothing is wanting to afford them perfect shelter and 
protection from exposure to high wind and cold showers. One serious 
fault in many yards is the accumulation of sodden litter to such a 
depth that cows turned out upon it literally stand in water. Let yard 
drains be kept open, and remove foul, decaying litter from them suffi¬ 
ciently often to avoid, so far as is possible, any considerable amount of 
wasting of the manure. Some wasting is unavoidable, and the best 
plan is to get it away into heaps as soon as it becomes foul and unfit 
for the cows to stand about on. Many a yard have we seen where the 
manure is allowed to accumulate from autumn till spring, when it is 
a seething mass of sodden, decaying vegetable matter 2 or 3 feet thick. 
The whole thing is a costly blunder, wasteful of manure, and hurtful to 
the cattle. 
Keep all hovels and cowhouses thoroughly clean ; use plenty of fresh, 
clean, dry litter daily, keep feeding troughs and mangers clean too. Soe 
that the drinking water is pure, do not use roots to excess, but always 
m moderate quantities. Keep the best sweet meadow hay for the dairy 
cows, and as they come altogether off grass give them a Cabbage or two 
f'P le 9 e dail y* Some Carrots should also now be given to them onwards 
till the end of the year. Remember that when cows and cattle are kept 
from. exposure to cold and wet the food given them nourishes and 
sustains condition with a fairly full yield of milk. When they are 
exposed the food goes to sustain vital heat, ieally to keep them alive- 
and they invariably fall off in condition ; some die, others suffer so 
severely that by spring they are in such low condition as to require 
months of good grazing to set them up again, which of course means 
just so much loss to the owner. 
Keep small or delicate animals apart from others ; an extra division 
or two in yards is easily contrived, and is quite worth while to keep 
them from being worried and driven from the food by the stronger ones. 
To understand the importance of this it is necessary to be frequently 
among them at all times of the day. It is quite possible to pass a cow- 
yard daily and yet see nothing of any fighting, yet it invariably occurs 
if cattle are placed together without careful selection. 
NOTICES OF BOOKS. 
Agricultural Entomology.* 
In the preface this edition of her useful work, Miss Ormerod tells 
how the first edition, published in 1884, appeared likely to remain, 
nearly useless till last year, when attention was drawn to it under the 
technical education scheme of the County Councils ; it then sold off so 
rapidly as to necessitate the preparation of a second edition. In this 
new issue its scope has been extended, from being a mere guide to 
methods of insect life to the means of prevention of insect ravage. 
Prevention or remedies for the harm done'by such pests are given, and 
the book abounds with useful hints, both for the student and practitioner. 
To give an example we may take the thick fleshy caterpillars of various 
kinds, which are so frequently injurious to the Cabbage and Turnip 
crops, of which we are told that the fact of their usually passing the 
winter under ground puts them very much in our power. We are also 
reminded that— 
“ Before the caterpillar turns to the chrysalis it makes a cell in the 
earth, in which it is protected from wet and sudden changes of tempera¬ 
ture. So long as the caterpillars are thus protected no amount of cold 
to which they are exposed will, as far as we know, do them the least 
harm ; but if they are thrown out of these shelters to the influence of 
drying winds or hot sunshine, or to lie soddering helplessly on the 
surface in moist or muddy ground, or to being frozen in these states, 
then their constitutions will not bear it. This is one of the great 
principles of prevention :—Turn out the insect pest from its natural 
shelter when it is in such a condition that it cannot regain it or make a 
new one.” 
In this and in every page of the book bearing upon plant life the 
importance of thorough cultivation and frequent stirring of the soil is- 
shown. It is in rubbish heaps and untilled soil that the insect finds 
shelter to increase and multiply. Get rid of the one, break up the 
other, says the talented authoress, and you will destroy it. 
Animal pests are also dealt with, and the fixed laws of insect life 
fully explained ; the book is well illustrated, many new figures being 
given, and as its full value is realised its circulation will extend. That 
this will be so is certain, for the technical teacher is constantly being 
asked for text-books, among which Miss Ormerod’s must take a leading 
place as one of the most useful, and as the best introductory work upon 
the subject it so clearly expounds. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Oamden Square, London. 
Lat. 51° 32' 40" N.; Long. 0° 8' 0" W .; Altitude, 111 feet. 
Date. 
9 A.M. 
In the Day. 
1892. 
October. 
g T3 -4 
£ a £ 
efi > 
Ho'j 
o ^ 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion of 
Temp, 
of soil 
at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
Rain. 
is” <* 
A -j oj 
OS cs 01 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Wind. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun. 
On 
Grass. 
Sunday .. 16 
Inchs. 
29-709 
deg. 
47-4 
deg. 
46-3 
N.E. 
deg. 
48-3 
deg. 
52-1 
deg. 
42-9 
deg. 
69-9 
deg. 
38-4 
Inchs. 
0-010 
Monday .. 17 
29-946 
44-2 
41-0 
N.E. 
47-7 
51-5 
37-3 
92-1 
32-6 
0-041 
Tuesday .. 18 
30-237 
38-7 
37-3 
E. 
46-2 
50-5 
34-7 
85-6 
28-0 
Wednesday 19 
30-318 
41-9 
38-0 
N.E. 
45-1 
50-0 
34-6 
86-9 
07 Cl 
_ 
1 hursday.. 20 
30-122 
39-7 
38-6 
S.W. 
44-9 
49-1 
34-8 
69-3 
28-7 
_ 
Friday .. 21 
29-719 
450 
43-2 
w. 
44-9 
51-2 
39-9 
76-2 
33-0 
0-039 
Saturday .. 22 
29-603 
41-1 
38-1 
N.W. 
44-9 
47-4 
37-2 
83-2 
32-9 
29-951, 
42-6 
40 4 
46-0 
50-3 
373 
80-5 
31-6 
0-090 
REMARKS. 
16th.—Generally overcast, with occasional drizzly showers ; a little sun about 10 A.M- 
17th—Unbroken sunshine till 1 P.M.; cloudy at times after. Heavy showers of conical 
hail at 2.50 p..u.; rain from 2.30 P.M. to 4 p.m.; generally cloudy after ; bright 
night. 
18th.—Generallyfine and sunny, but occasional spots of rain; bright night. 
19th.—Bright and sunny throughout. 
20th.—Fine, with sunshine at times. 
21st—Overcast early; generally sunny from 10 A m. to noon. Frequent rain in after¬ 
noon. 
22nd.—Bright sunshine throughout; bright night. 
A fine cold week.—G. J. SYMONS. 
* A Text Book of Agricultural Entomology, by Eleanor A. Ormerod, F.R.Met. Soc., &c- 
Simpkin, Marshall, & Co., London. 
