ABOMINABLE DIRECTIONS TO ORCHARDISTS. 
The above is the heading of an article in a 
recent number of the Massachusetts Ploughman, 
criticising directions which we gave in answer to 
a correspondent, who asked for the best known 
remedy for destroying the Apple Park Louse .— 
“We copy the whole that our readers may see 
what value there is in many of the” criticisms 
given in the agricultural press. 
“On looking into the Rural New-Yorker, we see 
directions given for killing the Apple Park Louse. 
We copy the whole that our readers may see what 
value there is in many of the directions given to 
the cultivators of the soil. 
‘The Apple Bark Louse. — From several friends, 
mostly at the West, we have received pieces of apple 
bark completely covered with the Apple Bark Louse, 
with inquiries for a remedy. The scales are relics of 
the bodies of female insects, covering and protecting 
their eggs. The eggs are so minute that these small 
scales sometimes cover more than a hundred. The 
time of hatching is from the middle of May until the 
first of June. We will give two of the beet remedies 
known. 1st. Prune early in the spring. Mix tar and 
linseed oil together, and apply warm with a paint brush 
to every limb. This, when dry, cracks and peels off, 
bringing away the scales and the eggs with it. Trees 
thus treated wilt show the benetlt received by a rigor¬ 
ous growth. 2d. Boil leaf tobacco in a strong lye until 
it is reduced to an impalpable pulp; mix this with soft 
soap (which has boeh made cold, and not the jelly-like 
boiled soap,) to make the mass about the consistency of 
thin paint. Prune the trees and apply this preparation 
with a brush, to every limb and twig. This will take 
time, but the remedy is effectual. A gentleman in the 
"Western part of this State wrote us last seaeon that ho 
had entirely rid his orchard of this pest, by simply 
throwing unleached ashes over the branches and trunk 
when wet. Care must be used that the ashes do not 
touch the leaves. The best time for this operation 
would be early in the spring, before the buds push.’ 
Tar and linseed oil are to be mixed together and 
applied warm to tbe limbs to kill lice! 
*Tar and oil! Of all the washes that we have 
ever heard of for trees, this is the grossest. Trees 
have been killed outright by a wash of greasy mat¬ 
ter. Some years ago a man in Maine took a fancy 
to wash his trees with fish oil, and he killed them 
all in a short time. 
Tar is well known in New England to be so inju¬ 
rious that those who apply it to head the canker- 
worm take care to coat the tree with canvass before 
the tar is put on. 
Another remedy is, tobacco and strong lye / But 
why have any tobacco in the lye ? Tobacco poisons 
the lye and makes it less efficacious than without 
it. Tobacco is a poisonous herb and should never 
be named to make up a mixture of items as it seems 
to be here. Lye alone moy be made so strong as 
to be injurious to young trees. Why thea put in 
it a poisonous quid ? Is this to dilute or weaken 
the lye? But lye may be made weak as one pleases 
without poisoniog it. 
More absurd advice than this we do not often see 
from those who profess to teach farmers. 
But we obtain a little relief in the third prescrip¬ 
tion, which was tbe relation of a gentleman in the 
western part of New York. Unleached ashes scat¬ 
tered on the limha of a tree, troubled with lice, 
killed them. Wei), what was this, more or less 
than a simple application of lye? The tree must 
be wet when the dry ashes are thrown on. Ashes 
made wet, produce lye. And this wash answered 
without oil, tar, or tobacco. Is not this in sub¬ 
stance what we advocate? 
Lye alone will kill lice and all other vermia on 
trees. It may be made strong or weak to suit tbe 
taste of the one who uses it. We find that lye just 
strong enough to make soap will not injure the 
youngest tree. Lye is the article without mixture 
to kill vermin.” 
We think the writer of the above has had little 
experience with the Apple Park Louse, or he would 
not talk so flippantly of killing it with weak lye, 
or lye of any strength. The Louse is not a live 
kicking insect, easily affected or destroyed, but a 
hard horny scale, firmly glued to the tree, covering 
and protecting from injury from a dozen to over a 
hundred eggs, and these eggs it is the object of the 
cultivator to destroy. We have known trees 
washed with lye a dozen times without any 
effect, and the case which we gave was the only 
one we ever heard of where sprinkling dry ashes 
proved of any avail. Such remedies are only effec¬ 
tual when applied to the young and newly hatched 
lice, about which, as yet, we know but little. 
The remarks against using tobacco because it is 
a “ poisonous herb ” is childish, and to call the di¬ 
rections given “ abominable ” on this account is 
worse than foolish. To destroy the green fly on 
our plants we have to fill houses with the poison¬ 
ous fumes of tobacco, and to kill the red spider 
with the still more poisonous fumes of sulphur.— 
It is “ abominable,” perhaps to cut off a man’s leg 
or arm, or to feed him with calomel, and strychnine 
and a score of other poisonous things in both the 
vegetable and mineral world, but this, it is gener¬ 
ally conceded, is sometimes necessary. 
Thousands of trees, indeed whole orchards have 
been destroyed at the West by this insect, and all 
the remedies, such as weak lye, recommended by 
the Ploughman, as well as soapsuds, tobacco-water, 
&c., have been tried in vain. Those who have no 
experience with this insect—those who have not 
learned how hard it is to rid an orchard when once 
infested—may recommend them,and talk very wise, 
but we have seen trees to which these remedies 
had been applied a score of times, so thickly cov¬ 
ered with the scales that it was almost impossible 
to find a space where a pin’s head could be placed 
without touching them. 
Dr. Fitch, the entomologist, has given some at¬ 
tention to this inesot, and closes his paper on the 
subject, with the following paragraph, giving the 
experience of Western men, and what he saw of 
the effects of their practice : 
“ A^G. Hanford gives a very favorable account 
of tbe effects of tar and linseed 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 off, bringing off' 
the dead scales with it. Trees which were thus 
i treated grew from two to two and a half feet last 
summer, which had advanced only a few inches in 
previous years. The remedy to which Esq. Kim 
ball, of Kenosha, resorts, is probably one of the 
most efficacious, and as convenient as any; he boils 
leaf tobacco in strong lye till it is reduced to an 
impalpable pulp, which it will be in a short time, 
r an ^ mixes with it soft soap, (which has been made 
\ cold; not the jelly-like boiled soap,) to make the 
mass abo«t 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 wherever it is applied, 
longer than any application which is wholly solu¬ 
ble in rain water can do. He first trims the trees 
well, so that every twig can be reached with the 
paint brush, and applies this preparation before 
the buds have much swelled in the spring. Two 
men, strictly charged to take their time, and be 
sure that they painted the whole of the bark to the 
end of every twig, were occupied a fortnight last 
spring in going over his hundred and fifty young 
trees. When I saw his trees, the latter part of 
September, this composition was still plainly to 
be seen upon the rough bark of their trunks and 
upon the under side of their limbs, resembling a 
whitish mouldiness of the bark. The trees had 
grown very thriftily, and yielded well, whilst only 
a single scale could here and there be found upon 
the twigs of the present year’s growth, all the 
other parts being entirely free from them. Altho : 
trees perishing with lice were standing in the 
adjacent yards and gardens, it seemed these insects 
preferred starvation at home rather than being 
poisoned by invading these trees, hence it appears 
that one thorough application of this preparation 
is sufficient to destroy ali the insects upon the 
trees, and to protect them from invasion from 
neighboring trees for a period of two years; for 
free as the trees were from these insects in Sep¬ 
tember, there can be no call for a renewal of this 
composition upon them the coming spring.” 
We would not recommend the use of any com¬ 
position, under ordinary circumstances that would 
form a coating on the bark and stop the pores, but 
desperate diseases require desperate remedies, and 
when a tree is literally covered with scales of the 
Bark Louse firmly glued to its surface, the compo 
sition recommended we are satisfied will do no 
injury, and the evidence is clear that it does good, 
removing the evil which causes>the tree to lan 
guish and die, and inducing a new, vigorous and 
healthy growth. 
FLOWERS AND FRUITS IN SEASON. 
STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 
A few weeks since we urged our friends to visit 
all good gardens in their vicinity for the purpose 
of gaining information, and invited all who could 
make it convenient to pay Rochester a visit, to 
look at our large and neatly kept nurseries, and 
our fine specimen trees, laden with fruit. We then 
stated that early in September was as late as any 
should make this visit, as after that time our nur¬ 
serymen will be so busy with their fall work as to 
be able to give visitors but little time and atten¬ 
tion. The work of taking up and shipping trees 
is confined to a few months in the fall and spring, 
and during these months the labor is very severe, 
taxing both body and mind to the utmost. 
In our rambles to-day (August 29th,) we have 
taken notes of a few things worthy of remem¬ 
brance. The Bedding Plants, such as Petunias, 
Verbenas, &c., are now in perfection, covering the 
beds, and making them one folaze of brilliant col¬ 
ors. The Annuals, and many of them are truly 
fine, could never be seen to better advantage.— 
The Peony Asters are superb. We never saw bet¬ 
ter. One new variety with a white center, and the 
outer row of petals, dark purple, is beautiful and 
unique. The Japan Lilies are in flower, and we 
think all who see them will order a few of the bulbs 
of this, the finest of all hardy lilies, for fall plant¬ 
ing. The Gladiolus, too, occupies a very promi¬ 
nent position among the fwrest, of the fall flowers. 
The Dahlias are beginning to flower, and we ob¬ 
served some fine specimens, but in a week or so 
they will be better. 
The Fruit, is abundant and unusually fine. For 
many years past we have not had as good a crop 
of Plums. Every tree, almost, is loaded, and many 
neglected ones we notice bearing a fine crop. The 
curculio seems to have stayed in its ravages.— 
Among those that are now ripe we notice the fol¬ 
lowing as the best: 
Messrs. Editors :— I see by a letter in the Rural 
of Aug. 13th, by I. W. Briggs, that he recommends 
that Strawberry plants should be set in August, if 
the grower expects to get any berries from them 
the following season. I am a Strawberry grower 
myself, and that for market, and my experience is 
a little different from bis. I will give you the 
result of my planting. Many persons would infer 
by reading his letter that Strawberry plants 
should not be set later than August, and if that is 
his meaning I think his letter will do more harm 
than good. I plant from one-half to one acre 
every fall, and intend to setfiom the 10th to the 
20th of September, so as to get the benefit of the 
equinoctial rain, and likewise have the benefit of 
obtaining strong rooted plants from this year’s 
runners, (old plants being of no value,) which 
commence to grow immediately, and I have inva¬ 
riably had them bear the next season, even to the 
number of from 50 to 100 berries, and those of the 
largest size, measuring from two to four inches in 
circumference, and those of the Wilson's Albany 
Seedling. The last season being very dry here, I 
was not able to grow my plants of sufficient size 
set until the 10th day of October, and of 
000 set at that time I did not lose 50 out of the 
whole, and they all bore as many berries the next 
season, according to the number of roots, as my 
plants did that were a year older, and berries of a 
larger size. Lee Wells. 
Cedar Lawn, near Chittenango, N. Y., 1859. 
GREEN CORN FOR WINTER, PICKLES, &C.1 
BEST PLUMS FOR LONG ISLAND. 
Eds. Rural :—I deem it of great importance to 
communicate through you to the public a list of 
such varieties of plum trees, grown on this Island, 
as are here free from the depredations, unless in 
some solitary instance of that pernicious insect 
which makes its attack on the branches by per¬ 
forating and stinging the wood, thus poisoning 
the sap, and producing as a result the excrescences 
which are so numerous on the Late Purple Damson 
and on some other varieties: 
Bleecker’s Gage, 
Blue lmperatrice, 
Brevoort’s Purple, 
Bradshaw, 
Cherry or Myrobalan Ited, 
Yellow, 
Imperial Violet, 
Italian Damask, 
Italian Prune, 
Jefferson, 
Magnum Bonum "White, 
Yellow, 
all 
Uhicasaw F.arly Bed, ’ , Nectarine, 
“ Late Red, \ Orange, 
“ Yellow, Orange Egg, 
Coe’s Golden Drop, Peach, 
Coe’s Late Ited, Prince’s Yellow Gage, 
Duane’s Purple, Prunus Americana, 
Elfrey, varieties, 
English Yellow Gage, Prunus Mariiima, 
IJurling’s 8uperb, Prunus Publescens, 
Imperial Gage, Tomlinson’s Charlotte, 
Imperial Ottoman, Washington. 
The following varieties are the least affected by 
attacks of the Curculio on the fruit, yet they fre¬ 
quently suffer partial loss: 
Guthrie’s Apricot, Imperial Gage, 
Italian Prune, Small Drap (l’or. 
Flushing, Long Island, 1859. Wa. E. Prince. 
Packing Fruits. —A correspondent of the Eng 
lish Cottage Gardener, who says he has had twenty 
year’s experience in the packing of various fruits, 
seDt to distances varying from fifty to five hundred 
miles, describes the course pursued by him, as the 
best with which he is acquainted. It is thus:—A 
box is chosen, in size according to the quantity to 
be sent. A layer of bran is put on the bottom; 
then each bunch of grapes is held by the hand over 
a sheet of soft paper; the four corners of the paper 
are brought up to the stalk and nicely secured, 
then laid on its side in the box, and so on until the 
first layer is finished. Then fill the whole over 
with bran, and give the box a gentle shake occa 
sionally. Begin the second layer as the first, and 
so on until the box is completed. Thus, he re¬ 
marks, with neat hands, the bloom is preserved, 
and the fruit may be sent to any distance with 
safety, provided as much care be used in taking 
them out of the box, as in packing and unpacking 
there is very great liability to injury. Sixty to 
eighty bunches of grapes and fifty to sixty dozen 
of peaches or apricots are invariably, in his prac¬ 
tice, packed in a box. 
RED m VTjVl . Mp £ BU . 
Diapree Rouge, or Rt- ; LWper, a large and hand¬ 
some reddish purple plum,^vhichwe consider first 
rate in all respects. ( TreJ grows rather slow 
branches smooth. The size and form of the fruit 
is shown in the engraving. Skin of a reddish 
purple, with a few golden specks, and a light blue 
bloom easily rubbed off. Stalk three-fourths of an 
inch long, slender, hairy, slightly inserted. Flesh 
pale-green, juicy, very meltiDg, rich, and delicious 
separating from the stone, which is quite small 
Nelson's Victory is a beautiful, rich, juicy plum 
of medium size. Skin yellowish russett, with 
light bloom. 
Crystallizing Grasses.— Will you please inform the 
inquirer through the columns of the Rural of the best 
process of crystallizing grasses ?— M. M. IL 
Dissolve eighteen ounces of alum in a quart of 
soft water, (observing this proportion for a greater 
or less quantity,) boiling it over a slow fire in a 
close tin vessel, stirring it occasionally with a 
stick until it is dissolved. When it is nearly cold 
suspend the subject to be crystallized by a thread 
from a small stick laid horizontally across the 
aperture of a deep glass or earthern jar, into 
which the solution must be poured. The articles 
should remain in the solution twenty-four hours, 
and then be taken out and suspended in the shade 
to dry. If the subjects to be crystallized are put 
into the solution when it is quite cold, the crystals 
are apt to be formed large, and the warmer the 
solution the smaller will be the crystals. Its 
strength may be tested by putting a drop on a 
blade of grass, and observing it crystallize as it 
cools. Almost any flower or vegetable substance 
may be operated upon. Fancy baskets may be 
made in this way, by first making a wire frame of 
any desired shape, twisting woolen yarn around 
the wires, and immersing it as directed for grasses. 
Early Black Grape. —We had the pleasure of 
receiving on the 27th ult., from Mr. L. B. King of 
this city, some bunches of a small grape, fully ripe. 
The berries are round, the skin thick, color black 
with a bluish bloom. The bunches vary, some be¬ 
ing loose and some very compact. It is somewhat 
foxy in flavor, but very early and productive. 
Messrs. Editors: —The season of the Straw¬ 
berry is past, and as it is the proper time to set 
out new beds, I thought that some whose expe¬ 
rience and observations would show and indicate 
the successful manner in its cultivation, should 
communicate to the world through your valuable 
paper the means and the results of such practical 
experience. And as an inducement to hear from 
others, and an earnest desire to add my mite for 
the good of all, I will relate my own. 
Two years ago this month (August,) I had a bed 
in my garden, principally clay soil, spaded and 
pulverized two and a half feet deep, and intermix¬ 
ed with some six two-horse loads of stable manure 
and three like loads of loam sand, making a bed 
of fifteen feet by twenty-six feet, at an expense of 
about ten dollars for labor and materials. In this 
bed I planted Strawberries, tbe same month, in 
rows sixteen inches apart, the Scarlet Pine, 
Hooker, Hovey, Black Prince and others inter¬ 
mixed, cultivated them well last year, allowing 
them to run together but not too thick, upon the 
principle that shade was essential to the growth 
and perfection of the fruit. 
On the fifth of June last I commenced picking 
Strawberries, and continued doing so daily until 
July tenth, and with the exception of a few at the 
first and last of the season, and what the birds 
took daily, I kept an accurate account by measure 
ment of the amount each day gathered during the 
time above mentioned. On th» eleventh day of 
July I found the amount gathered from the bed to 
be two bushels and a half. Others who have kept 
a like record may have done better, and that fact 
and the causes, given to the public, would con 
tribute to benefit mankind. S. N. Holmes 
Syracuse, August, 1859. 
Eds. Rural: —Your lady readers will find the 
following recipes good. Please try them: 
Green Corn for Winter Use. —Take the ears 
of corn, remove the husk, all but the last one; get 
a tight cask, put in a layer of corn and a layer of 
salt, another of corn, and another of salt, and so on 
until the cask is full; pour in a little cold water, 
and cover tight. When you wish to cook it, take 
it out of the brine, remove the husk, cut it off from 
the cob, and soak till fresh. This is better than 
drying, and not as much trouble. Green corn will 
not keep in glass jars or tin cans. This is our ex¬ 
perience ; perhaps some one has been more suc¬ 
cessful. 
Roast Beef Pie. —Cut the cold roast beef left 
from a previous meal into thin slices; lay some of 
the slices into a deep dish which you have lined on 
the sides with a good puff paste; sprinkle over 
this layer a little pepper and salt, put in a few 
slices of tomatoes; another layer of beef, another 
©f seasoning, until the dish is filled; cover the 
whole with paste, and bake half an hour. 
Citron Pickles. —Take the rind of ripe citron, 
pare it and cut into slices; take half a pound of 
sugar to one of fruit and boil it till soft; add cin¬ 
namon and cloves to taste; put in one pint of vine¬ 
gar to six pounds of fruit. Scald the whole 
together. 
Green Apple Pie — Imitation. —One and one- 
half cups bread rubbed fine; 3 cups of warm water; 
2 cups of sugar; IK cups of vinegar; 1 table¬ 
spoonful of butter,—spice to your taste. 
Washington Cake. —One pound of sugar; %ths 
of a pound of butter; 4 egg3; IX pound of flour; 
1 teacup of milk or cream ; 1 teaspoonful soda; 1 
pound of raisins. 
Clay Cake. —One pound of flour; 1 pound of 
sugar; X pound of butter; 1 pint of sour cream; 
6 eggs; 1 teaspoonful of soda; the rind and juice 
of one lemon. 
Soda Crackers. —One pint water; X kut- 
ter; 1 teaspoon soda, 2 teaspoons cream tartar,— 
bake in a hot oven. 
Soft Gingerbread.— One cup of molasses; 1 
cup of sugar; 1 cup of butter: 3 eggs ; 4 cups of 
flonr; 1 cup of buttermilk; 1 spoonful of ginger; 
1 teaspoonful of soda. p * 
Indiana, Aug., 1859. 
ECONOMICAL RECIPES. 
Planting Locust Seed, &c.— I have a prairie farm 
and being destitute of shade, have decided to plant 
locust and other trees upon it. Will you, in your valu¬ 
able paper, Inform mo how and when Black Locust 
should be planted, and whether adapted to the prairie 
or not? Also, when and how to plant Horse Chest¬ 
nuts ? Also, is it advisable to sever the tips and shoots 
of winter squash, that the fruit may reap the benefit 
after having set ?—'W. W., St. Paul, Minn., 1859. 
Locust Seeds may be sown either in the autumn 
or spring. Before sowing they require soaking to 
soften the horny covering, without which few will 
germinate. Pour over them water a little below 
the boiling point, and allow this to stand for twenty- 
four hours; then sow in drills, the seeds an inch 
or two apart each way. Cover about half an inch 
deep.’ After one season’s growth, the young trees 
may he placed in nursery rows, or be planted 
where they are to remain. They will grow well 
on the prairies. Horse Chestnut seed should be 
planted in the fall, or kept in earth during the 
winter. The Horse Chestnut, we have been in¬ 
formed, does not succeed on the prairie. All the 
specimens we saw on our last trip around Chicago 
seemed sickly. Stopping the ends of the squash 
and melon vines after sufficient have “set” hastens 
the ripening and improves the size. 
nectarine plum. 
Nectarine is a fine, showy fruit and of fair quali 
ty. Some would call it first rate. Our engraving 
shows the form and size. Skin purple, with a blue 
bloom. Flesh, greenish yellow, tinged with red, 
with a rich, lively flavor. A first rate bearer. 
Goliath, larger than the preceding, which it re¬ 
sembles, but distinguished from it by its gray, 
downy shoots. It is also a fevy days later in 
ripening. 
Of Pears we notice quite a number ripe, but of 
these we will defer remarks until next week, when 
we will give drawings and descriptions of a few of 
the best sorts ripe; 
Judging of Grapes by tub Leaves. — I wish to 
inquire whether there is a marked and plain distinction 
in the form of the leaf of the different varieties of 
grapes? Can the different varieties be told by the 
leaf? Bissell & Salter, of your city, have given 
some drawings of leaves in their last catalogue. But 
they are not distinct. If there is a clear difference in 
the leaves of the different varieties, can you not give 
us some illustrations and drawings in your paper? 
The subject of grapes has become one of great interest 
generally, especially among those who read agricultural 
papers, and the inexperienced are liable to deception 
and imposition.—O. Thurston, Athens, Pa., 1S59. 
There is a difference in the leaves apparent to 
the practiced eye, quite marked in some varieties, 
but much less so in others. We could give no 
drawings that would assist our correspondent in 
distinguishing varieties by the leaf—nothing but 
close observation and experience will do this. 
The color and veining of the leaf is as marked as 
the form, which could not be shown without 
colored drawings. 
Mistakes in Gardening. —In so far as instruc¬ 
tion is concerned, I esteem my mistakes to be more 
valuable than my successful efforts. They excite 
to attention and investigation with great emphasis. 
One mistake, which I record once for all, as it will 
probable occur every year, has been the attempting 
of more than I could do well. The ardor of spring, 
in spite of experience, lays out a larger garden 
than can be well tended all summer. 
In selecting the largest Lima beans for seed, I 
obtained most luxurious vines, but fewer pods. If 
the seasons were longer, these vines would be ulti¬ 
mately most profitable; but their vigor gives a 
growth too rampant for our latitude. If planted 
for a screen, however, the rankest growers are tbe 
best. 
Of three successive plantings of corn, for table 
use, the first was the best, then the second, and the 
third very poor. I hoed and thinned the first 
planting myself, and thoroughly; the second, I 
left to a Dutchman, directing him how to do it; 
the third, I left to him without directions .—Henry 
Ward Peecher . 
Thinking pies indispensable at any time of the 
year I concluded to send some recipes for every-day 
use, as many of those in the Rural, though good, 
might be too expensive for some. 
As the pumpkin pie is the cheapest of all pies, 
and the season for them approaching, I give a mode 
of making an excellent pie of grated raw pumpkin, 
for a change, as it does not taste like a stewed pie, 
which all know how to make. About a teacupful 
of grated pumpkin; 1 pint of good milk; 1 egg; a 
little salt; 2 large spoons sugar; cinnamon, spice 
or nutmeg. Line the tin and bake until done. 
The remainder of the pumpkin can be cleaned out 
and kept in a cool pantry for several days, and new 
pies baked each day if you wish, with a little 
trouble. 
All who have pumpkins in the fall ought to dry 
some for the next summer’s use, and the best 
method I know of i3 to stew pumpkin down very 
dry, then spread it on plates or tins, if not old and 
rusty, to dry. It can be dried in an oven, or in the 
sun—just which is most convenient. While dry¬ 
ing, cut it as you would a pie and turn it daily 
until dried enough. It should be spread about an 
inch thick, and when dried, tied up in a clean bag 
and hung up so that moth or miller cannot get in 
to injure it. When wanted, soak over night in 
warm milk and sift. 
A cheap pie can be made of rice. Every one 
ought to keep rice on hand all the time, as it is a 
cheap and healthful food. One cupful, when boiled 
in water with a teaspoonful of salt until tender, 
will make 3 cups of rice; this, with sufficient milk, 
a teacup of sugar, 2 eggs, and a little seasoning, 
will make 3 pies in large tins, which are good 
enough for those who have a good appetite. 
A cheap way to make apple pies, where there are 
no apples or pie-plant, (which all should raise who 
have a few feet of land.) For a common pie, take 
half a teaspoonful of tartaric acid and dissolve it 
in 2 cups warm water, crumb up 1 cupful of light 
bread and soak in the water, half cup of sugar, a 
little salt; season as you like, and bake with two 
crusts. If jou wish a better pie, put in twice as 
much sugar and acid and a little butter. Tartaric 
acid is not expensive, and is very handy to keep 
in the house. It makes a good and cooling drink 
in summer. Sweeten a pitcher of water, put a few 
drops of extract or essence of lemon, then add 
acid until it is agreeable. A Farmer’s Wife. 
Ionia, Mich., Aug., 1859. 
Gardeners’ Society.— The practical gardeners 
of this city are about taking measures for the 
establishment of a Society, with a library, reading- 
room, and other means of improvement. A meet¬ 
ing will be held next week, for the purpose of 
effecting an organization. Perhaps there is no 
city in the Union where there are so many men em¬ 
ployed in the cultivation of fruits and flowers as in 
this, and we are glad to see this movement. They 
have our very best wishes for their success. The 
meeting for organizing will be held at the Court 
Couse on Thursday evening, Sept. 6th. 
To Destroy Cockroaches. — The following is 
said to be effectual:—These vermin are easily de¬ 
stroyed, simply by cuttiDg up green cucumbers by 
night, and placing them about where roaches com¬ 
mit depredations. What is cut from the cucum¬ 
bers in preparing them for the table answers the 
purpose well, and three applications will destroy 
all the roaches in the house. Remove the peelings 
in the morning, and renew them at night. 
Pine-Apple Cheese. —Will some of the Rural 
friends give us directions for making Pine-Apple 
Cheese ? We have heard it spoken highly of, but 
have never seen any. —Mrs. G. R. Crandall, East 
Pierpont, N. Y., 1859. 
Count your clothes-pins, knives and forks, tow¬ 
els, handkerchiefs, &c., at least once a week. 
Wash your tea-trays with cold suds, polish with 
a little flour, and rub dry with a cloth. 
