9 
r 
RECIPES FROM A RUSTIC PLACE. 
DISSEMINATING NEW FRUITS. - PEABODY 
STRAWBERRY. 
Eds. Rural:— I will inform your correspondent, 
M. Taggart, that the’ “Domestic Department” is 
not quite hidden yet, for I, too, will add my mite 
to swell the columns in which I take so much in¬ 
terest. Here are my recipes that I hare selected 
for the New-Yorker."; These I have tested, and 
find them all they are recommended to be. 
Bread Cake.— Three cups of very light dough; 
3 do. of sugar; 1 of butter, and 3 eggs. Beat all 
thoroughly together, and grate in a nutmeg. Use 
as many raisins as you wish. Dissolve one tea¬ 
spoon of saleratus in a little warm water. After 
putting it in the basins, let it stand a little while 
to rise, as it will make the cake lighter. This cake 
is excellent for raising cake. 
Soda Sponge. —One cup of sugar; Y%. of flour; 
3 tablespoons of sweet cream; 3 eggs; 1% tea¬ 
spoon of saleratus, and as much cream tartar. 
Boiled Indian Pudding. —Two cups of butter¬ 
milk ; 2 of milk; 1 egg; 1 teaspoon saleratus; a 
little salt. f Stir in one-quarter of flour and the 
rest meal until quite thick, put it in a wet pudding 
bag pretty tight, yet leaving room to rise, place it 
in the pot with the meat and potatoes when you 
boil dinner, and boil it constantlyjor three hours. 
Serve with cream and maple sugar. 
Grove Hill, N. Y., 1S59. Mollie Flagg. 
Some of our friends thought we were rather se¬ 
vere when commenting upon the manner in which 
the Peabody Strawberry was introduced and sold. 
Jlr. Peabody would not dispose of a plant, so that 
good judges could test it, until he had received 
orders for one thousand dozen, at $5 per dozen, 
thus securing to himself five thousand dollars, 
whether his strawberry proved valuable or not; 
quite too large a sum to take from the cultivators 
of the country without a valuable return. In an¬ 
swer to a correspondent who asked our opinion 
about investing $5 in this lottery, we said:—“ If we 
believed one-half the good things that are said of 
this strawberry, we would advise our correspon¬ 
dent and all others to purchase it at once. Unfor¬ 
tunately, we do not believe one-quarter that is told 
to be true. We are decidedly opposed to the man¬ 
ner in which it is disseminated. The whole thing 
looks to us very much like a humbug, and we there¬ 
fore refuse to countenance it in any way. 
“ We caution all persons against purchasing any 
new varieties of fruit sent out with a flourish of 
trumpets, at high prices, as by doing so, they will 
most assuredly get cheated. 
Whenever a new 
claimant for the public favor appears, its merits 
should be canvassed thoroughly and carefully by 
disinterested and competent persons, and when¬ 
ever practicable, it should be presented to some 
Horticultural Society, and if deemed of sufficient 
importance, a committee should be appointed to 
examine the fruit, the habit, growth and produc¬ 
tiveness of the plant or tr^g, the nature of the soil, 
manner of cultivation, and. such other things as 
they may deem important. This committee should 
publish their report for the benefit of the public. 
If, after full investigation, they should deem it an 
important acquisition, planters would buy with 
confidence; if they considered it unworthy of 
general cultivation, it would prevent the reading 
public from being cheated. If they should think 
another trial ’necessary, it would be for the true 
interest of both buyer and seller to have this trial 
made before the plant or tree was offered for sale. 
We protest most decidedly against the patent med¬ 
icine system of puffing a new fruit or flower.” 
For advising this, the only true course, we w r ere 
rather severely handled, but had the satisfaction of 
knowing that wo were saving our friends from im¬ 
position. Now, this strawberry is known, and 
what is its character ? At the last meeting of the 
Fruit Growers' of Western New York, when a vote 
was taken for the lest six varieties for market, and 
I the lest six for amateurs' cultivation, the Peabody 
! did not receive a single vote for either. 
Again, then, we repeat our caution. 
half have died, and half of the remainder are worth¬ 
less from being unsuitable for the positions in 
which they are placed. It is not uncommon to see 
a large Abele growing in a small lawn, and ruiniDg 
it by its shade and its multitude of suckers. Its 
rapid growth has caused it to be planted where it 
is a nuisance instead of a benefit. It is full time 
for a reform in this matter. Let us seek the best 
and most suitable trees, and not reject a fine tree 
for a poor one, because it must be planted when 
small, or makes but a slow growth. 
Our engraving shows a small branch, with flower, 
draw r n from a specimen, as taken from the tree a 
week or so since. The leaf is too large to be shown 
to advantage. 
orange, its broad, bright green leaves, its uniform, 
straight trunk, its genera! beautiful and stately 
appearance, make it one of the most magnificent 
productions of the temperate zones. 
The principal cause of its neglect is the fact that 
it is difficult to transplant whenlarge, andthosewho 
go to the woods and obtain large trees, as they do 
maples, seldom succeed in saving them. The proper 
way to procure these trees is to obtain them quite 
small from the nurseries, plant in a good soil where 
they will not be troubled with stagnant water and 
then take care of them. Our hurry has been the 
cause of our slow progress in horticulture. We 
have planted the largest and fastest growing trees 
that could be obtained, and the consequence is one- 
CAKES, COOKIES, AND TARTS. 
Eds. Rural: —Having been much benefited by 
your domestic recipes, I am inclined to add a few 
of my own, hoping they will prove useful: 
Striped Cake. —Take the whites of four eggs 
beaten to a stiff froth; one cup of white sugar 
and half cup butter, rubbed together to a cream; 
half cup milk; one ,teaspoonful of cream of tar¬ 
tar; half as much soda—put all together with one 
cup flour and a little lemon extract—stir well. 
Trifles, or Tarts. — Take one egg and two 
tablespoonfuls of white sugar, mix hard with flour, 
roll very thin, and cut out round, with notched 
edges, the size you wish, then boil in lard. Lay 
jelly or jam on the centre. 
Cheap Sponge Cake. — Take 1 egg; 1 cup of 
sugar; 1 cup of water or milk; 2 cups flour; 2 
teaspoons cream of tartar and 1 of soda. 
Economy Cookies. —One cup sugar; 1 cup thick 
sour cream; 1 teaspoonful soda—season to taste. 
Mix stiff, roll thin, bake quick, and eat lohen you 
please. R. e. p. 
Locust Hill, N. Y., 1S59. 
ers, were badly eaten, and the orchard above re¬ 
ferred to was scarcely touched, and the following 
year I had a bountiful crop of first-rate apples, 
while other orchards around bore no apples. 
The query in my mind was, what is the cause 
of this ? It cannot be the direct interposition of 
Providence, favoring me above my neighbors, for 
my other orchards are affected like theirs. It 
cannot be because any particular crop was raised 
on it different from others. It cannot be because 
this was plowed and the others not plowed, for 
some of the others were plowed. The only satis¬ 
factory cause to me was that this orchard was 
ploioed the last of June and first part of July, (it 
being then grass land,) about the time the worm's 
were stringing down from the trees, and that the 
plowing at that time probably destroyed them. I 
know of no other cause that could affect this or¬ 
chard more than my other orchards. 
We are not yet troubled with the canker worm, 
here in Wisconsin, but if your readers where these 
worms are making havoc with orchards, can de¬ 
rive any benefit from this communication of my 
experience and conclusions, I shall be well pleased. 
Bristol, Wis., June, 1859. Ciias. M. Fowler. 
Remarks. —Enclosed in the above communication 
we found a piece of an apple shoot literally covered 
with Apple Bark Lice. We have several times be¬ 
fore spoken of this insect, and the best methods 
known for its extermination, and we again put the 
facts on record, as we well know that thousands of 
trees, in the West particularly, are being destroyed 
by this insect. The engraving shows a small piece 
of the bark with the insects, as they ap- 
pear upon it. The Apple Bark-louse is 
Jjijj’jLg about one-eighth of an inch long, of an 
|U irregular ovoid form, often bent in its 
||L <3 middle, and more or less curved at its 
HI /p smaller end, which is pointed, the oppo- 
1| J site end being rounded. It is of abrown 
jjiSgs color, of much the same tint with the 
M bark, its smaller end being paler and 
yellow. It closely resembles a minute 
oyster-shell pressed against the bark—a similitude 
so striking as to be readily perceived by every one, 
and is frequently designated in common conversa¬ 
tion under the name of the Oyster-shaped Bark- 
louse. The shells or scales are situated irregularly, 
though the most of them are placed lengthwise of 
the limb or twig, with the smaller end upwards. 
These scales are the relics of the bodies of the 
gravid females, covering and protecting their eggs. 
During the winter and spring these eggs may be 
found on elevating the scales. The number of eggs 
under each scale is very variable, ranging from 
about a dozen to one hundred. In a late number 
of the Michigan Fanner, A. G. Hanford gives a 
very favorable account of the effects of tar and lin¬ 
seed oil, beat together and applied warm with a 
paint brush thoroughly, before the buds begin to 
expand in the spring. This, when dry, cracks and 
peels oft’, bringing off the dead scales with it.— 
Trees which were thus treated grew from two to 
two and a half feet last summer, which had ad¬ 
vanced only a few inches in previous years. An¬ 
other remedy is as follows:—Boil tobacco in strong 
lye till it is reduced to an impalpable pulp, which 
it will be in a short time, and mix with it soft soap, 
(which has been made cold; not the jelly-like soft 
soap,) to make the mass about the consistence of 
thin paint, the object being to obtain a preparation 
that will not be entirely washed from the tree by 
the first rains which occur, as lye, tobacco water, 
and most other washes are sure to be. The fibres 
of the tobacco diffused through this preparation, 
cause a portion of its strength to remain where\«er 
it is applied longer than any application which is 
wholly soluble in rain water can be. First trim 
the trees well, so that every twig can be reached 
with the paint brush, and apply this preparation, 
before the buds have much swelled in the spring, 
to every part of the tree. This will effectually re¬ 
move the scales. 
are larger, but few on a hill, and it will not pay 
for cultivation. 
My plan of putting out strawberries is in rows, 
two feet apart, and 16 to 18 inches apart in the 
row. Pull off all runners until they have done 
fruiting. Set in the fall, after early peas and corn, 
keep well hoed and free from weeds until the next 
bearing time, and I will warrant a good crop of 
strawberries. Some people think it too much 
trouble to cultivate strawberries, unless they will 
grow among grass and weeds. I wonder if farm¬ 
ers would expect a good crop of corn in this way. 
The strawberry likes a uood soil, but not too rich, 
or they will grow too vines and not fruit. 
D. II. Bennett. 
Brancbport, Yates Co., N. Y., July, 1S59. 
prepare the ground by spading or deep plowing 
about the 1st of August, or as soon as the young 
plants are well rooted, and give it a light dressing 
of leached ashes. Something else may be as good, 
possibly better. I then set young plants from 
prolific vines, and keep the ground clear till win¬ 
ter, pulling off what runners appear, which with 
me is not half a dozen to the square rod. 
In spring I hoe them twice, and after the last 
hoeing, mulch the ground with new-mown grass, 
to keep the fruit clean. I do not disturb the run¬ 
ners in spring. I do not stir the ground again 
until the next spring, when I spade under all be¬ 
tween the rows, hoe and mulch as before. After 
fruiting the second year, I spade again between 
the rows and dress with ashes as before, and let 
the runners spread over it. The next spring I 
turn under the old plants and leave rows of the 
young ones for fruiting, and after this renew the 
plants the same way every year. 
As to varieties, I have tried some of the celebra¬ 
ted ones, but have settled on Burr's New Bine as 
being far the most profitable for family use. It is 
too soft for a market berry. With me it has pro¬ 
duced this year from plants set at the same time, 
and side by side, full twice as much as Wilson's 
Albany, three times as much as Early Scarlet, or 
Longworth’s Prolific, and more than four times as 
much as Hovey's Seedling, McAvoy's Superior, or 
Peabody's Seedling. It has been uniformly as 
prolific with me since I have had it. It is a good 
flavored berry, and large, being nearly three inches 
in circumference,—on plants not too crowded the 
largest are three and three-fourths inches; but 
Longworth's Prolific and Hovey's Seedling produce 
single berries slightly larger. Plants of this kind 
set in August, 1857, produced in 1858 at the rate 
of 107 bushels to the acre, actual measurement. 
The same plants this year are producing more 
than twice as much, and I don’t know but when I 
get them all picked, I shall have to say nearly 
three times as much. 
My ground is not rich—it would not yield more 
than a medium crop of corn. It is a gravelly 
loam, with porous subsoil, and the surface not 
more than three to five feet above the sandstone 
rock, and slightly springy in places. It does not 
follow that everybody should plant nothing but 
Burr's New Pine. It does follow that it should 
be planted in this locality. Each of the other va¬ 
rieties named may be, and probably is, a better 
kind to plant in some particular locality or soil. 
My advice is, find what is best for your soil and 
climate—then plant that exclusively. I use Early 
Scarlet for a fertilizer, and shall give the Wilson 
further trial; the others I shall discard. 
"Welslifleld, Geauga Co., 0. Geo. "VV. Dean. 
To Make Bread from Grown Wheat. — In 
reading the Rural I find many good recipes for 
cookiDg, but I think I can give you one for making 
bread of grown wheat that is much more whole¬ 
some and cheaper than that which appeared in the 
New-Yorker. My mother has urged me to write 
to you ever since we read yours, for we have tried 
our rule many years, and never knew it to fail. 
When we set our rising we put in one large spoon¬ 
ful of Indian meal, which we set in a quart pitcher. 
The meal will prevent the rising getting thin, and 
when we mix our bread—in what would make a 
loaf in a six quart pan—we put in one teacupful 
of meal. We have never failed having good bread, 
and if the meal is fine, you would not discover it. 
The meal is good to correct flour that becomes 
heated in the mill by grinding.—C. C., Belfast, N. 
Y, 1859. 
Put no faith 
in the descriptions of interested parties in regard 
to new fruits, until they have been fairly and fully 
tested by competent Societies and Committees. 
FRUIT AND INSECTS IN WISCONSIN. 
Dear Rural: — I am'a weekly reader of your 
pages, my son being a subscriber, and through his 
efforts and recommendation many copies are taken 
in this vicinity, read with much pleasure, and I 
trust with much profit. We get much useful in¬ 
formation through your columns, about the best 
mode of managing our farming concerns and mat¬ 
ters of an agricultural nature, which we could not 
do very well without. 
Please indulge me, a plain farmer of sixty-two 
years’ experience, in making some inquiries of 
you, and through you of your readers. I have 
been much interested in reading the reports of the 
Pomological Societies, as published in your col¬ 
umns, giving the opinions of many experienced 
men upon the best kinds of apples, pears, and 
other fruits, recommended to be cultivated, having 
myself had some experience in cultivating fruit, 
especially apples and pears, which I deem the 
most valuable of all fruits in our country. 
And now to my inquiry. After having our 
orchards well filled with the best of trees of the 
choicest kinds of fruit, how shall we defend them 
against, and free them from, the various kinds of 
insects and pests that threaten to destroy them. 
Our trees here in Wisconsin are very much infect¬ 
ed with what is called the bark louse, (I do not 
know whether they are lice, nits, or something 
else, nor how they propagate or get deposited.) 
Many of our largest and best trees are covered 
from the body to the tip of the limbs, so that a 
pin’s head could hardly be got to the bark of the 
tree. The tree is covered with them very rapidly 
after they commence to appear, and I have tried 
to learn from those who have been longest troubled 
with them, what they come from and how they 
propagate, but have not been able to get any satis¬ 
factory information. Some have tried to destroy 
them by oiling the tree over with curriers’ oil: I 
have seen an orchard that was thus served about 
two years ago. The lice are not destroyed, but 
the trees are mostly dead, and I dare not try it. 
Some have washed their trees with ley from wood 
ashes. I have thrown dry wood ashes on the trees 
when they were wet, and it has removed some of 
them. Now will you, or your readers, inform 
through your columns how we can get rid of these 
destructive insects, and save our trees, and in so 
doing, benefit a large community of faamers. 
And now that I have commenced a communica¬ 
tion, I will state to you what I accidentally expe¬ 
rienced in my native State and place, Northford, 
Connecticut. The orchards in our neighborhood 
had been rendered almost leafless by those pestif¬ 
erous worms called the Canker Worm. The fol¬ 
lowing spring I tarred my trees around the body 
to prevent the millers from ascending. In one of 
my orchards, which had suffered with the rest the 
preceding year, I tarred a few times, but caught no 
millers of any account, and discontinued tarring, 
thinking I was too late, and that the millers had 
gone up and done their work. But when the time 
came for the worms to eat, my other orchards, 
where I had tarred and caught abundance of mill- 
GENESEE VALLEY HORT. SOCIETY. 
Rhubarb Pie.— Being fully aware of the anxie¬ 
ties of the modest an inexperienced housekeeper, 
I submit the following for “ Crissie,” although 
quite late in the season for a recipe for Rhubarb 
Pie. I hope everything is not as backward in that 
region. The skins should be stripped from the 
stalks, and the latter cut into small pieces, then 
placed in the crust with a large teacup of sugar 
and a small bit of butter. Dust in a little flour- 
nutmeg or cinnamon for spice. Gooseberries and 
currants may be prepared in the same way for 
pies.— "Wesley, Walworth, Wayne, Co., N. Y. 
Washing White Crape Shawls. — In a late 
number of the Rural I notice a lady wishes to 
know something with regard to the best method 
of washing white crape shawls. My method is 
this:—Make a suds of soft water and a cake of 
refined soap, and after washing the shawl, starch 
it in scalded starch—made quite thin—then stretch 
and pin it on a clean carpet to dry. The fringe 
of the shawl should not be starched.— Mrs. A. 
Ketchum, Victor, N. Y., 1859. 
Cocoa-Nut Pie. —Noticing an inquiry in a late 
Rural as to the mode of making Cocoa-Nut Pie, 
I take the liberty to send you my recipe, which I 
think is very good. Take the white meat of half 
a large cocoa-nut, grate it, and stir it into a pint 
and a half of sweet, fresh cream; two beaten 
eggs; one cup of white sugar; a little salt. Line 
a deep earthen pie-plate with butter crust, and 
bake half an hour. Eat as soon as cold.— Susan 
J. Steuben, Lysander, Onon. Co., N. Y, 1859. 
Messrs. Editors: — I noticed in the Rural of 
June Uth, an article about Strawberry Culture, 
by a correspondent — Mr. I. W. Briggs, of Mace- 
don, N. Y. He said that he had tried for two 
years to renovate a bed of old planted strawber¬ 
ries. This cannot be done effectually, short of 
re-setting. As the plants grow old they become 
small and weak, therefore the berries become 
small and few. My plan is to re-set every two 
years, and then you have a good crop and large 
berries. I have Hovey’s Seedling and Early Scar¬ 
let, and with good care they are as good as any, 
except the celebrated Wilson’s Albany Seedling. 
Mr. Briggs mentions the Wilson and Peabody 
Seedlings. I have had some experience in straw¬ 
berry culture for the last ten years, and I have 
tried different varieties, and find but few wor¬ 
thy of cultivation, from the fact that they soon 
run out. I obtained a few plants of the Wilson, 
which outstrips all others. All the berries are 
large. I have the Hovey, but it is not so uniform 
in size. I have counted on the Wilson from ten 
to one hundred berries, on the last fall settings. 
The Peabody I cannot recommend. The berries 
STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 
Strawberry Cake.— As we are in the height of 
the strawberry season, the Rural would no doubt 
confer a favor on multitudes of its readers, besides 
ourselves, if you would publish the best recipe for 
the famous “Strawberry Short Cake.” May we 
not learn from the pen of some of the peerless 
Marthas of the land the most acceptable mode of 
serving up this king of berries ?— Bachelor, Rut¬ 
land, Jeff. Co., N. Y., 1859. 
Messrs. Editors :—I would like to say a few 
"ords to your readers about Strawberry Culture, 
as it is a kind of hobby of mine. It is surprising 
to me Miat it is not better understood and more 
attention paid to it, when I think what a luxury it 
j s and how easily and surely it can be obtained, 
t does not cost me to exceed one dollar a bushel, 
aside from picking. And first let me say that a 
e 5 once set should not be considered a permanent 
j “jug. Many think if a strawberry plant is well 
ta en care of and the runners kept off, it will bear 
number of years, but my experience is that it 
s «on becomes barren, or if not, the fruit becomes 
, and comparatively worthless. The same 
i ants should not be allowed to bear more than 
""o, or three years at most. My method is to 
To Prevent Melon Vines from Blowing About. 
— Martin Roberts, of Henrietta, sajs the best 
thiDg to prevent melon vines from blowing about 
and becoming injured, is to mulch the ground with 
fresh cut grass or weeds. The tendrils will attach 
themselves to the mulching and keep the vines in 
place. Melon growers will try it. 
