.^a 
YJ 
MOOEE’S RURAL SFEW-YOEEEE. 
AtfiifttMittal. 
GRAPES in the MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 
"We have before us an interesting report of a 
Special Committee appointed by the Missouri 
Horticultural Society to visit the vineyards in 
Missouri and Illinois, and report all matters of 
interest relative to varieties of grapes, condition 
of vineyards, Ac. M e are indebted to the 
Chairman of this Committee, W. C. Flagg, 
Esq., Moro. III., for it. Twenty-two vineyards 
were visited, in St, Louis county, Hannibal and 
Hermann, Mo., and at. Alton, III. It would 
gratify and interest those of our readers en¬ 
gaged in grape growing to read the whole of 
this report. Cut our space is too limited. We 
must content ourselves with carefully gleaning 
from it the more noticeable features: 
DIFFICULTIES OF GRAPH CULTURE. 
Of the difficulties of grape culture in the 
Mississippi Valley, the Committee says:—“ Va¬ 
riableness of climate is one. Whilst the warmth 
of our summer extends from the northern limit 
of possible grape growing far into the regions 
of the north, the severity of our winters make 
the winter care of a vine a matter of painful 
thought even in this latitude. 
“The humidity of the atmosphere of the 
Mississippi Valley is another formidable check 
upon the success of grape growing with old 
varieties after old methods; and the insect pro¬ 
ductiveness and vegetable disease to which the 
combined warmth and humidity of our sum¬ 
mers contribute, put formidable obstacles in tbe 
path of our first attempts at growing grape* 
here. All these we regard as inherent difficul¬ 
ties, to be met aud overcome by new' treatment, 
and new varieties adapted to our soil and eli- 
mate, and which should ever be kept in view 
by the beginner. It is a very different thing, 
growing grapes in the Mississippi Valley, from 
their culture in the Orient in Italy, or Califor 
nia, where volcanic soils and dry atmospheres 
supply very different conditions.’’* 
ABOUT VARIETIES, 
Wc said 22 vineyards were visited. We shall 
speak of these vineyards by number (from 1 to 
22) instead of name, for brevity's sake, givin. 
the locality, and compending what is interesting 
containing each variety, in a single pavagaph 
Catawba, —No. 1, (.Webster Station, Pacific 
11. R., Mo.,) 44 acres of Catawba.* ; planted in 
18G0; “has done with the Catawba.” Xo. 2, 
(10 miles V . St. Louis); this variety not named 
in report. Xo. 3, (Alton, Ill.); vineyard I acre; 
400 vines, mostly Catawbas; planted 5 by 5 feet 
in 1854; crop in 1862, 4,700 lbs.: sold at 10 cents 
per lb.; crop in 1868, 4,000 lbs.; but little rot, 
and a little leaf blight, Xo. 4, (Alton, Ill.); 
vineyard of 2,000 vines, mostly Catawbas: 
planted in ls.-,o untl I860; no leaf blight if culti¬ 
vation is kept up; product in 1868, 10 lbs. per 
vine; regards this variety the best for locality. 
No. 5, (Eureka, 3Io.l; vineyard planted 1858. 
10 by 10 feet; first bearing year Catawbas 
yielded 4 lbs. to the vino; second veur 10 lbs., 
nearly; leaf blights; would not plant it again.” 
No. tl, (Hermann, Mo.); Catawba not named. 
No. 7, (Hermann, Mo.); 4,000 Catawbas; plant- 
ed in 1850, 5 by G feet; no result given. Xo. 8, 
(Hermann. Mo.); no Catawbas planted. Xo. 0 
(Hermann, Mo.); “tolerably healthy;” crop 
10, (nermann. Mo.); three- 
in 
gal- 
No. 11, (Hermann, Mo.); vineyard 
of 2 acres; mostly Catawbas; planted 5 by 5 
feet; fruit finely ripened; from 2,500 vines ex¬ 
pects 8,000 lbs. grapes. Xo. 12, (Hermann, 
jIo.); vineyard of 3,000 vines; mostly C’ataw- 
lja ' : planted in 1849 or 1*00; product 8,000 to 
9,0001 bs. per year; this variety not healthy in 
foliage; fruit very. fine. Xo. 13, (Hermann. 
2,000 Catawbas; “bearing well; tolera¬ 
bly healthy; some leaf blight,” Xo. 14, (Her- 
mann ’ > vineyard of 2 acres; mostly Ca¬ 
tawba; planted 5 by a feet: vine looks “ tolera- 
f’lywell.” Xo. 15, (Hermann, Mo.); 2 acres 
Mostly Catawba; crop “enormously largo’ 
printed closely;" shriveled berries and fallen 
eaves numerous. Xo. 16, (Hermann, Mo.); Ca- 
towbas healthy; foltago green aud good. Xo. 
L. (Hermann, Mo.); 400 vines; excellent con¬ 
dition ; largest product, 166gallons wine; smaU- 
. Cst \ w No. 18, (Hermann, Mo.); Ca- 
planted 4 by 4 feet; average product 
- gallons wine per acre; vines a little defo- 
‘7f ; Catawba wine said to be at its best 
J 10 months. No. 19, (Hermann, Mo.); 
THE AMERICAN CURRANT MOTH. 
Pig. I, The Male Motb. Fig. 2, Female. Fig. 3, Larva —lateral view. 
Fig. 4, Larva —dorsal viawTE 
moderate. No. 
eighths of five acres in Catawbas; planted in 
1881,5 by 5 feet; 12 lbs. grapes make one gal¬ 
lon wine, 
duced first bearing year 10 lbs. to the vine— 
thirty vines producing more than double the 
amount of the seventy Isabellas and Dianas;’’ 
2d year, about 1, lbs. per vine; 3d year. 10 lbs.; 
would have doue as well as the second but for 
the rot. The cultivator would plant it for 
market, Xo. 7. In good repute: largely plant- 
eel; does not succeed with long cane pruning; 
healthy and productive; berries large and sweet; 
seventy drops of juice squeezed from a single 
berry without exhausting the supply. Xo. 8. 
“400 vines here in the third year of their 
growth have produced. 1st year, 1,300 layers 
worth $143; 2d year, 7,000 layers worth $640; 
3d year, 4,000 layers and 2,000 lbs. grapes, at 
16 cents per lb. net. worth S700. Total prod¬ 
uct for three years, $1,488.” Xo. 9. Culture 
somewhat neglected, but bearing a tolerable 
crop. Xo. 10. Cuttings planted in 1861; ap¬ 
proves of short pruning this variety. A vine 
pruned with long canes produced only lour or 
five bunches of fruit in 1863, while’another, 
pruned after Mr. Husmaxn’s plan, yielded 14 
or 15 lbs. of grapes; 200 vines from cutting* 
put in the ground 2 years and i months before, 
yielded the present year (1863) $180 worth of 
fruit. Xo. 12. Very fine here. No. 18. Xo 
rot here; 10J lbs. to the gallon? called the 
best table grape. Xo. .8. The table grape here; 
tine, bunches heavy. The Committee add;_ 
"Concord has been nearly every where entirely 
successful. Some rot is reported from localities 
in *t. Louis county; otherwise it appears en¬ 
tirely healthy, and very productive of hand¬ 
some fruit of second rate quality." 
Clinton, —Xo. 2. “Looked fine.” Xo. 4. 
“ Inclined to discard it; one ground of objec¬ 
tion is its being troubled with the apple worm, 
Xo. S. “Promises well; foliage bad this year: 
not as good as Norton’s Virginia for wine. 
No. 18. Puts it with the w ine grapes and calls 
it “good. 
Diana, —Xo. 1. Does not succeed with it; its 
foliage is not good. Xo. 5. Planted in 1858, 10 
by 10 feet; 1st bearing year produced 4 lbs. to 
the vine; 2d, 14 lbs.; 3d, very light oi 
rieties of the gooseberry and currant may be 
securely protected by enclosing each bush in a 
netting made of the cheap fabric used for mus- 
quito bars, or some similar material, every 
worm upon these bushes being previously dis¬ 
lodged.” 
— Since writing the above, we find that 
Fiich, in his description of this motb, pub¬ 
lished in the Transactions of X. Y. State Ag. 
Society in 1847, says-—“The exact situation in 
which it deposits its eggs 1 have not yet discov¬ 
ered." So that the vigilance of “A Farmer’s 
IV ile " may be of some importance in determin¬ 
ing an unsettled question—if it is yet unsettled. 
evening, and this morning find the worms are 
nearly all dead. They squirm badly when the 
application is made:—Take 1 oz. carbonate of 
potass; 1 oz. carbonate of ammonia; 1 oz. niter. 
Dissolve in one quart of soft soap; mix the whole 
thoroughly in nine gallons of rain water. Apply 
the slush through the nose of a watering pot to the 
bushes, opening them so that the fluid will pass 
down the forks of tbe plant. Do this in the eve¬ 
ning and the worms will be dead in the morning. 
This mixture will not injure the leaf.” 
We find in the Utica Herald the following 
“ remedy ” from a correspondentTake three 
gallons of soft water, dissolve a half pint of soft 
soap, then put in one gallon of fish or pork brine, 
and mix well. Take care to wet all the leaves.” 
The writer says that when he applied it, ‘'•the 
brine affected some of the tender branches of 
the bushes, and killed the leaves, while the 
fruit seems to thrive and look well.” We could 
scarcely recommend such a remedy. How fruit 
can thrive without the aid of leaves passes our 
comprehension. Another writer furnishes what 
^ e regard a more sensible and practical mode of 
getting rid of the pests. He says:—“I have 
succeeded by taking a large or wide pan, hold¬ 
ing it under a bush at a time, taking a stick, 
giving a sudden strike upon the bush, catching 
them in the pan and burning or crushing them. 
In this way I have destroyed quart after quart 
of them. But this must be done at least twiee 
a day for several days, to reach not only those 
that may have fallen to the ground and crawled 
up again, but also the new families that may 
come forth. They are apt to hang pretty tena¬ 
ciously to the leaf, and it will require repeated 
blows to lose their hold.” 
#f 0 H 08 Jg. 
bouquet making, 
I don’t know as I can exactly describe the 
operation of making bouquets, since experience 
is the very best teacher of the art; but perhaps 
1 1 an give N kllie a few hints that may be use¬ 
ful if she is a beginner. Her question has set 
me to thinking on the subject of floral arranse- 
ments, and wondering why people that love 
flowers do not use- them more in the decoratiou 
of house and table. 
For the outer circle of khe flat bouquet, take 
flowers with long, stiff itjsros, as, Sc-hizanthus, 
Salvia, 8toek, Monk's Ilood, Snap Dragon, Ac. ; 
arrange two or three branches of these for the 
top, and tic them firmly with one end of a long 
cord. I prefer a strip of old cotton cloth about 
an inch wide —then proceed carefully down¬ 
ward, fastening each addition by winding the 
cord around it, and taking especial pains to keep 
all as jUit as possible. Trim the ends to fit the 
vase, and nothing more is needed. For a rounu 
bouquet the process is essentially the same, 
only regard must be had to the different shape 
desired. It might bo well to wind upon 3 
>tick, as that would render the work firmer, 
but after a little experience, it could be dis¬ 
pensed with. The pyramidal is a deservedly 
popular style of bouquet, aud admits the use of 
almost every flower; it Is, perhaps, a little more 
. - - ’fop, be- I difficult to arrange, and needs much oersever- 
cause they overbore the 2 d year; troubled with | anee. 
Inquiries ana Attsiws. 
r^ A , C l N0LIAS '~ WiU y P n banish, by some means, in- 
formatum concerning the Magnolia tree? Is this nan 
oi Canada too severe for it -or will it require firraro 
K u hewi fr , , A friead has sent m» trU from 
Rochester, and I should :*kc verv much To nreserv,* 
‘ Istibni<;i and C ; n:on grape both summer 
and winter here, but I know not how the Ma"nolii> 
winter —VrA W H ' St L V l ' ta w «« Wiled S las 
winter.—G eo. 8. Miller, Oxen Sound, C. IF. 
We have no doubt but that several of the Chinese 
Magnolias will endure your climate; they never suffer 
here. .J^urpurea, conspicua, soulangeana, &c., are of 
the Chinese family. The acuminata, our native north¬ 
ern species, is hardy at the most northern part of 
Canada.— b. 
Aphides on Pear Treks — Enclosed please find leaf 
*5®°, which appears to be much affected bv 
mreub 1 a d r° f A S h19 ' Can 5 0,1 or an - v or >'onr readers 
fuimsh a remedy, as ino-t of the pear trees in thi* 
nUUed With U ~ GE0 - S- Miller, 
The destruction of Aphides on trees in the open 
ground is attended with a good deal of difficulty. In 
green houses, or whe.re^buehes can be easily covered, 
tobacco smoke i=£a never failing remedy. In-. Fitch 
recommends drenching the vegetation mimed with 
soap suds or weak lyc. Also tobacco water, prepared 
by pouring boiling water upon tobacco, in the propor¬ 
tion or a gallon to a quarter of a pound. The latter 
we have used effectually.—;.;. 
CANNING FRUITS. 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker:—I t maybe in- 
inri!l tng r° S ° me ° f y0Uf readers to kr 'Ow that 
be nr T* ° f h ' gh prlces ’ man 7 fruits can 
be proserved m cans and jars with little or no 
and nen Larrm a cherr,ee ’ gooseberries, peache 
and pears, require no sugar to preserve them. 
Raspberry and blackberries do not require 
more than lour ounces of sugar to a quart of 
fiuit; and strawberries but little more. We 
bave now the different kinds of fruit nearly as 
resh and good as when first gathered. Put 
them up the same way as if you used the sugar- 
that is, expel the cold air by heating the fruit 
after putting m the jar, by setting the jars in 
cold water, which heat to boiling. The <dass 
jar that I find the best is Mason’s Self-Sealing, 
with zinc covers, which can be screwed oh be¬ 
fore the jar is removed from the hot water. We 
have never lost a jar of fruit in these jars, as 
they are perfectly air-tight, and can be used in¬ 
definitely. Perhaps the chemical action of the 
zme may have some effect upon the preservation 
°f the lruit.—M. S. D., Canton, Conn,, May, ’64. 
Remarks.— We do not know whether the 
above was intended as a gratuitous advertise¬ 
ment of the above named cans or not: it looks 
like it. If they are good it is all right • but that 
the chemical action of zinc coverts, tends topre- 
*er\ e fruit is all nonsense. Tin cans are pre¬ 
cisely as good as zinc or glass the first time they 
are used. We have seen fruit kept two years in 
them perfectly, without sugar; and we have 
used them a second time without affecting the 
good quality of the fruit. Some people whose 
sense of taste is too exquisite to insure their en¬ 
joyment of much that is good in this life, fancy 
that lruit canned iu tin, tastes of it. We never 
could detect such flavor, where the cans had 
been properly cleansed and stored. 
Substitute for Butter.- The Baltimore 
-' 'PP* r says:—" A lady who is a famous house¬ 
keeper, recommends an economical plan for 
making cake w ithout butter, which mavbe use¬ 
ful to our lady readers. Take a piece of fat salt 
pork, melt it down and strain it through a piece 
of coarse thin muslin. Set it aside until cold. 
It is then white and firm, and may be used like 
butter in any kind of cake. In pound-cake she 
assures us it is delicious. She says that after one 
trial she never used butter, 
leaf blight; would plant it for family use; “it 
hangs well aud keeps till Christmas’." Xo. 7. 
“Healthy, flue; uot well tasted.” Xo. 12. 
“Not liked; a poor bearer.” No. 13. -Much 
liked." No. 18. “Healthy vine, and a load of 
fine fruit. The Committee add:—“The Diaua 
is a grape upon which there is a lack of agree- 
ment, though the testimony is generally favor- 
As a rule, do not put anything full-blown into 
bouquets; in selecting Verbenas, Candytuft, 
Sweet Williams, Phlox, Geraniums, ,te., he 
sure that the central bud* have not opened, if 
you wish your bouquet to last any length of 
lime. Especial regard must be had to the ar¬ 
rangement of colors; the various reds, pink, 
aud w hite, should be the solo dependence for 
How to Organize a Ladies’ Floricultural Soci- 
btt.-A lady correspondunt-we will no*, tell where, 
for we are requested not. to do so-asks how she shall 
go to work to organize such a society. She says 
*’ theru are lota of flowers in our village and ladies who 
know a great deal about them, which they do not tell, 
and which they ought to." A lady of our acquaintance 
once effected such an organization in the following 
manner:—She had a fine show of Verbenas. There 
were other ladies who had splendid beds of the same. 
She startled her Mends by the issue of the following 
invitation: 
■ Mrs. 
■ Compliments. 
0 , " st V,‘ " f ul t,l> happy to see you at her res¬ 
idence Saturday P. M., at 3 o clock. Cut and brim- 
your best sp.xtmms of Verbenas, named Conversa* 
tton will be about these flowers; other subjects tabooed 
A committee will be appointed to examine and report 
upon specimens. Company, fiitv. Dress, such as a 
romp in the garden w ill not Injure." 
Don't you suppose every person invited was there? 
Of course they were. The committee appointed to ex¬ 
amine and report upon specimens, was a committee of 
the whole. A general vote settled who made the finest 
display. All were so delighted 
Recipe for Float. —Take a pint and a half 
new milk; two large spoonfuls of sugar; three 
eggs; beat the whites to a stiff froth. Beat the 
joiks welt iu the milk and sugar: bring to the 
boil stirring all the while. Put the whites in a 
dish and pour the boiling mixture over it. 
Flavor with lemon or nutmeg. Serve either 
cold or hot. This is an excellent dessert for tea. 
— Lizzie F. 
Common* Omelet. —Beat five eggs till quite 
light and thick. Stir gradually into the pan of 
eggs, four tablespooniuls of sifted flour; thin the 
batter with a large tea cup of milk; take a yeast 
powder (from the blue paper,) in a small quan¬ 
tity of luke warm water, and stir it into the 
batter; in another cup melt the tartaric acid 
(from the white paper, stir hard; have in a fry¬ 
ing pan some boiling lard, put in the omelet 
mixture, and fry it well. When one side is 
done, turn it. To flavor, mix graduaUy into it, 
either grated ham or smoked tongue, minced 
with onions, Ac.—A. A. M., Gilead, Ohio. 
To Make Hard Soap from Soft.— Seeing 
an inquiry in the Rural, how to make hard 
soap from soft, I will send my recipe, which I 
kuow to be good. Make your soft soap by boil- 
ln S w usua ^» have it nice. Do not take it from 
J* -i TJ r r \ b ?,i ar r f 1 “ ,o " k8 »»*b 
once a week and exhibit and talk about flowers. A ' ' te % tllea 1)011 U P a £ :un «ld let stand till 
able. Its strong point appears to be its keep- positive hues, but do not ever omit a little vei¬ 
ling properties. As a market grape it is proba- low. if it is nothing but 
bly uot profitable, except for late sales.”—[Con¬ 
cluded next week. 
AMERICAN CURRANT MOTH. 
V, \, V . U 1 )1uiiUh1 4 by 6 lcet; no notes on it. 
m mif ! I;muibal ’ Mo - ); vineyard 2,W0 vines, 
, • thw variety; bearing full; new canes, 
« piowth; old eaues, much defoliated. No. 
I bl’,.• iMa); U?50 ° Vlnes ’ moM y t-dnw- 
- “all in bearing; estimated product \ gal- 
tr No : 22 ’ tHaunibal, Mo.); 600 
tin-N?bx M- Wba VinCS? planted in (cut- 
I w n! y " feet; product in im > 11111 gallons 
flj ine from W 0 vines. Catawba more healthy 
I is JTh “ 1:tn at neruiann * Tho Committee 
■1 lar.r 1S Vanety Catawba, although still 
tb v iHeyanIs ’ - 1^/out of 
rieties ° Ca lties ’ :uul giving place to va- 
»*afruit u? y kept lu hoalth - lts quality 
18 thrusting u bul its liabiJit y to disease 
We io,.all, de ’ cxccpl ,n the favora- 
are furnished by the ^ ton 
We ■' ,h;iUonl -Vgive the 
the Committed in speaking of which 
eratio? A i tb ° vark ‘ ty undor co »*id- 
No I We shal1 110 ‘ repeat locality.] 
-'■wif | l r,r rC ! "' thl * '“liety; crop (ffib 
wSTS*.*?«?'*** .f"* Ume 
puto here Concord iu good re¬ 
tag* of ‘f enc, °rihg bunches in cotton 
ri„VVT, ^ *« kopt oa (lie 
0ct » be '--” Ho. D. « Coueorda pre 
“A Farmer’s Wife” (South Royaltou 
writes us:—“ I began early in the season to 
examine my trees—our currant bushes are all 
trained into nice little trees—and soon after they 
began to put forth, l discovered now and then 
a leaf with forty or fifty little particles, resem¬ 
bling “ tlv blows," on the under side of the leaf. 
They began to show signs of life, and in a few 
days were full-grown worms. They are scarcely 
perceptible when they begin to eat. Will not 
some of your readers investigate further ?’ 
Fitch, (2d vol., p. lot),) where he talks of the 
American (. tirraut Moth, (Abraxas? fiebearia, 
Fitch,) does not tell us where tho eggs of this 
moth are laid, but he describes the worm as fol¬ 
lows . “A cylindrical, teu-footed measure 
worm nearly an inch long, bright yellow varied 
on each side with white, and with numerous 
black spots and large round dots regularly ar¬ 
ranged, each giving out a fine black bristle, 
burying itself slightly and changing to a pupa 
without forming any cocoon. The moth comes 
out about the first of July, 0 f a pale nankin, 
yellow- color, the wings with one or more faint 
dusky spots behind their middle in the male. 
two or three butter¬ 
cups. The best yellow flowers are Haw k’s eye, 
Bartonia, Eseliseholtzia, Coreopsis ami Canary 
Bird flower. Especial care is needed in the 
introduction of blue; it should be contrasted 
with yellow, or better still, w ith pure white. 
Bouquets of yellow, blue and white, are novel, 
and very pleasing. 
One important item in regard to this subject 
the foliage. Take anything that has a good 
color, and use a yreat deal of it—there can 
hardly be too much. C arrot leaves and May¬ 
weed are pretty, but the latter has too unpleas¬ 
ant an odor. Rocket tops, and Chrysanthemum 
sprouts, are very good, with occasionally a 
a bunch of myrtle, or a few sprays of aspara¬ 
gus. 
I might add more in regard to the care and 
disposition of bouquets, but forbear, recollect¬ 
ing that the subject may uot be interesting to 
all the Rural readers. 
I wish Nellie abundant success, and hope 
she will not be discouraged at an occasional 
failure. Dork Hamilton. 
1 • S. Will somebody please name a few 
plants suitable for a small rockery ? d. ii. 
little tact and invention exercised, and the work is done. 
horticultural Stotts. 
A Long Apple Tree Tap root —Mr. D. Graves, of 
Fenfleld, has bronght us the root and crown of an apple 
seedling, scarcely three-fourths of an inch in diameter 
at the crown, which he says was seven feet in length 
and broken off, when he pulled it from a sandy loam 
soil. It evidently went straight down—was certainly 
well anchored. 
Articles on Ornamental Trees.—M r. Barry’s 
articles on Ornamental Trees are just what is wanted. 
I hopo he will hurry them up, and follow them up with 
descriptions of shrubs, &c. A litlly Information on 
one point would be of some use to me, if lo no one 
else; that is the comparative size the trees attain— 
whether the largest, second, or third size—I mean as J 
compared with each other and with each class.— G. S. 
O., Wat Fayette, .V. 17 
up again and let stand tiU 
morning when it is ready to cut in bars. Lay 
on aboard in a dry place, and it will keep good. 
It is nice to wash calico. Try a small quantity 
first, if you are afraid to venture much.— Mrs. 
Libbie Welch, Four Tomis, Mich. 
To Color White Kid Gloves a Light or 
Dark Purple.— Boil four ounces of logwood, 
and two of rock alum in three pints of soft 
water till half wasted. Let it stand until cold, 
alter straining. Then do the gloves over with, 
a brush, aud when dev repeat it. Twice is suf¬ 
ficient, unless wanted very dark. When dry 
rub off the loose dye with a coarse doth. Beat 
up the white oi an egg, and with a sponge rub 
it over them. Wet the hands with vinegar be¬ 
fore they are washed.—J. E. P ..Jeff. Co., X Y. 
THE CURRANT WORM. 
Manifestly, our readers are not looking 
upon the ravages of these gross feeders with 
1 “"' 1,,ai “T= ** *» W* wed) 
thinks the wild gooseberry (Hibes Vynsobati) 
the Z*uT\ h T U \ ° f 1 m 8 inKeCt ’ !md •' ihakln S A. Fast WOOD writes, under date of May 27: 
the bushes aud picking the worms off by hand “The currant worm has made its appearance 
..!5° ying them ’ thoonl - v effectual of earlier than last year and is doing great damage. 
e says: “Choice va- We tried the foUowiug recipe upon them last 
exterminating them. 
Sanitary Horticulture with tre Army — B. F. 
Taylor writes the Chicago Evening Journal, from 
Chattanooga:—•• Where, last November. I saw Hooker 
move up tbe buttle in tho clouds, bis stout aud steady 
legions swinging round upon the mountain disc, like 
an iron index on a mighty dial, and the guns with 
throbs of fire burning throngh the night, now the 
colter cuts tho willing earth for a potato field! Under 
the supervision of M. V. Read. E*g., of Ohio, in 
charge of the interests ef tlia United States Sanitary 
Commission at Chattanooga, ten acres of peas, six 
acres of onions and tomatoes, beside lettuce and rad¬ 
ishes, give tlie sick and wounded soldier rich promise 
of home luxuries for every hospital, and abundauce to 
spare. Sixteen plows have been going, fifty-two horses 
making the sober “boats ’ of the fallow, and one hun¬ 
dred detailed soldiers employed. Four miles further 
on, up the river, the peaceful scouts of the Commis¬ 
sion discovered a rvln-i plantation, containing forty 
acres of Catawba vineyard, in splendid bearing order. 
A guard has been detailed, needrul labor is going on, 
and, in their season, a burden of grapes will blush 
through the rents in the leafy screen." 
DOMESTIC INQUIRIES. 
Straw for Braiding. —Will some one please tell 
me how to prepare straw for braiding?—J. O. G- 
Alum Baskets. —Please inform me through your 
columns how to make alum baskets?—A. A. M., Ohio. 
How to Crystalizk Flowers.— Will some of your 
correspondents toll me how to prepare plants for a 
herbarium, and how to crystalize flowers?— Ethel n., 
iu-icanee. III. 
Grasses and Leaves for Frames.—W ill “Bel 
Howard 1 tell us whether she lets the grasses and 
leaves she uses for frames dry or uses them green? I 
should think they would shrink in time if used green. 
Are they to be varnished when completed, or not?_ 
Mus. A. M. M 
(SDKCtAL NOTICE.) 
No Excuse for Poor Bkkao.— We tell people wher¬ 
ever we go that there is no excuse for poor bread and 
biscuits, if they have good flour. Do Land & Co.’s 
Chemical Saleratus mixed with the flour will produce 
the bread. But mind, reader, that yon always get the 
genuine in red papers. The spurious article is put up 
in green, and who will be so green as to buy it, know- 
iDg what it is ? Good grocers sell the genuine. 
