THE CURRANT WORM, 
birds to feed upon the insect tribes, the latter 
would become so numerous and destructive as 
to render ft famine in the land inevitable; hence 
man should protect the birds, not destroy them 
even when caught in the act of vindicating their 
cherries or their grain. 
The following quotation may not be out of 
place here: 
“The beaks of all species of birds ditrer from 
each other, but the beak of each is formed ex¬ 
actly for taking the insects its instinct teaches it 
to choose as its food. Many of the birds live 
exclusively on insects—as the Warblers, Blue¬ 
birds and Creepers. Some, again, that are 
classed as insectivorous, will occasionally take 
berries, cherries or grapes—as the Orioles, 
Mocking-birds, Catbirds and Thrushes. Some 
Beem omnivorous, and eat almost anything, as 
Uobins and Cedar birds, and are gross feeders. 
A large class, as the Bob-o’Liuks, Biack birds, 
Finches and some of the Sparrows, will live on 
insects in Summer and seeds in Winter, or mix 
them when they can find both. Others again 
have a still wider range, as Jays, Crows and 
Butcher birds.” 
A Subscriber from Erie, Pa. writes thns:— 
“ For a season or two past we have been troubled 
in this section with a green worm about an inch 
in length on our currant hnshes, which strips 
them of every Icr.f and does not allow the fruit 
to mature, '’’bey are again making their ap¬ 
pearance, and some information through the 
Rural would greatly oblige ns,” 
WHY ORCHARDS DETERIORATE 
KEEP COOL 
Fruit trees, like every thing else whose sus¬ 
tenance Is derived from the earth, are subject to 
decay, but by improper management they are 
Tjften killed before their natural productive 
power is half exhausted. This is not the fault of 
the variety planted, the locality, nor of the 
severity of the weather, except iu rare instances, 
hot of those who have the care and culture of 
them. The trouble generally arises from the 
want of thought or the cupidity of the owner. 
ITe plants au orchard, the trees perhaps twenty 
feet apart In a few years, if they grow well, 
their branches will cover a large portion of the 
intervening space. But some ground is still 
unshaded, and the orchardist thinks it a pity 
that this should lie waste. The plow is intro¬ 
duced, and what is the result? Simply this: 
•hundreds and hundreds of the small fibres, reach¬ 
ing out from the main roots in search of suste¬ 
nance for the trunk, are severed ; their absorbing 
and condnctiDg power is destroyed and the tree 
and branches, sustained by their active functions, 
withera; ceases to yield its wonted burden of 
fruit, and, alter a few years of languid life, pre¬ 
maturely dies. The truth is, the farmer asks too 
much of his soil; wants it to impart vigor and 
fruitfulness to from fifty to eighty trees to the 
acre, besides giving him a crop of corn or pota¬ 
toes annually. To secure the last he cuts the 
thousands of fibers of bis trees with the plow, 
and then wonders why his orchard decays and 
dies prematurely! This is bad policy and poor 
practice. Do not ask too much from the soil, 
(live it a chance to nourish and sustain one pro¬ 
duct to a full development rather than, by a 
multiplication of them, to secure stinted sam¬ 
ples of Iramatnro ones. The earth, properly 
manured and tilled, is munificent in its gifts to 
man, but when overtaxed by a multiplicy of 
exactions its response to his labors will be fable 
and unsatisfactory. 
heads of lumlliea. A compliance with the in¬ 
junction to “keep cool ” does not imply apathy 
in tho management of a household, On til© 
contrary, it Imports un Intelligent supervision, 
ot the several departments of family economy, 
to tho end that errors may bo detected and a 
corrective, when necessary, upplied. 
These reliectiona spring from a very simple 
circumstance—one too common lu the affairs of 
every-day life. A neighbor had mudo an addi¬ 
tion to her family in the person of a young and 
rather green girl or help. In her auxlety to b© 
“smart,” this help broko a rather cherished ur 
tide pertaining to tho dinner service. The 
crash excited the ire of the mistress; the dcliu 
quent wub frightened, and apprehending per¬ 
sonal chastisement, made a hasty effort at u 
retreat, In doing this she fell, carrying with her 
the tablo and all Us content". The crush of 
crockery was general —the ruin complete. 
Now all this loss and annoyance was the result 
of a hasty yielding to passion. The first break¬ 
ing was annoying, no doubt, but being acci¬ 
dental it should have served as a caution for the 
future, rather than as a pretext for the indul¬ 
gence of passionate reproaches against th© 
offender. 
It is pleasurable to state that, in her cooler 
moments, the party referred to admitted the ab¬ 
surdity and impolicy of the passion in which 
she had indulged, and declared that tho lesson- 
taught would, in the end, perhaps, prove to have- 
been cheaply purchased eveu at. the expense of 
her cherished store of China. 
In tiie management of a household the guid¬ 
ing head will find frequent occasions for the ex¬ 
ercise of all the patience and self-control at her 
command; and, happy will she be if, In the midst 
of family cares and perplexities, she shall be able 
so to govern her own passions as to render her 
a fitting exumpler to those whom Providence 
has entrusted to her cure and guidance. 
nests on all of them ; most of them are upon tho 
sweet trees. Whether this scarcity of caterpil¬ 
lars la owing to the scraping and wasblDg, I can¬ 
not say, but l believe the thorough cure taken 
of the trees, by trimming, mulching, especially 
the scraping and washing, are the reasons why 
the trees are so vigorous and healthy, and not 
iuicsted by worms in their old age. And if tho 
absence ot caterpillars only Is owing, as l be¬ 
lieve it is, to the scraping and washing, it will 
pay-to scrape and wash. 
I know of treC'B and orchards iu sight of where 
I am now titling, that have had no care have 
not been trimmed or scraped—the limbs so thick 
and matted, and many of them dead, that a 
monkey couUluotgetthrough them ; thecrotch- 
es filled with rough bark, tilth and dirt, where 
worms “can lay their eggs and die,” that arc 
now literally covered with caterpillars’ nests; 
and the wiry animals, so large aud numerous 
that they oppear to danes a polka as they lmrry 
up aud down the branches after the foliage, strip¬ 
ping it almost entirely from the trees. My trees 
are not so. And why not? That’s tlic ques¬ 
tion. They were grafted “ long time ago.” But 
I was cheated, as many other were, by the graft¬ 
ers. Nearly all hud to bo grafted ft secondtime, 
after we found out the cheat. Notwithstand¬ 
ing all this cutting, the trees are healthy and 
vigorous. I do not pretend to be a writer or an 
instructor; but I hold that a thing well done 
will generally pay well; poorly done may m well 
not be done at all A. S. Stevens. 
Attica, N. Y., May, I860. 
WORMS - WORMS - WORMS! 
Would that all creation could lake a “ ver¬ 
mifuge” that would expel and utterly annihilate 
these rascals. They are bound to be the death 
of our fruit trees, unities wo are the death of 
them. Can a tree live without leaves ? Can it 
bear fruit when nearly stripped of its foliage ? I 
have spent a lull monllt iu trying to get the cat¬ 
erpillars out of my apple orchard, and they are 
there yet, as much ut case as a squatter on his 
Western claim. My neighbors arc troubled in 
the same way. We have shot at them with 
deadly weapons; white-washed, soap-6udB’d aucl 
lye’d them—put lye on them. You could'ut lie 
about them if you Bhonld try, for the half 
would'ut be told when you hud stretched it as 
much as you could. We have roasted them with 
burning torches; thrown them down and starnp- 
e 1 upon them—furiously, and poured out upon 
them all the vials of wrath found In modern 
apothecary shops—still they come. 
I write for information. Please tell us their 
mode of propagation and dissemination. If we 
should kill nil withiu five miles of us; we are mad 
enough to do that, if it don’t take too long— 
will they come sailing back with tho wiuga of 
a butterfiy aud lay the eggs for a more bountiful 
crop ? If they cau only get about by crawling , 
If we know our own hearts, 1 think we are re¬ 
solved to “head than or die!" 
Not very far off there are miLlions and billions 
aud trillions, more or less, upon miserable cherry 
trees and sprouts that are suffered to infest the 
feuco corners just to breed these pestiferous ver¬ 
min. Is the Rural a lawyer, and can the owners 
or the trees be “abated” as nuisances? 
Lastly, would it be proper to ask the Presi¬ 
dent to interpose his veto, or shall wc first 
speak to Mr. Stevens about it? u. t. b. 
That green worm is an old acquaintance of 
ours, and the constant readers of this paper arc 
also well acquainted with it, from description 
and illustration at least, but mindful of new 
subscribers we republish seasonable information 
concerning its origin and habits. It is, doubt¬ 
less the ’Gooseberry Saw Fly of Europe, and Is 
supposed to have been imported into this 
country in the stocks of nurserymen. The flies 
emerge from tho ground as soon as spring fairly 
sets in, generally in the beginning of May, and 
soon utter the female deposits her eggs on the 
under side of the newly expanded leaves. The 
larva is hatched in about a week, and immedi¬ 
ately commences feeding on the tender leaf, in¬ 
creasing its size until it is about three quarters 
of an inch long. The broods of caterpillars ap¬ 
pear in succession until October, but iu greatest 
numbers In June,—for after attaining tbeir 
growth, the grubs descend to the earth, and in 
two or three weeks, come out again os perfect 
insects, ready to lay another quantity of eggs. 
Thus there is a perfect succession kept up us 
long as there are leaves to supply them with 
food. 
It would bo easy euough to destroy a single 
crop of worms, but to contend with successive 
Bwarms all summer is almost impossible. Thus 
far the best remedies discovered are hand-pick¬ 
ing ; removing the Boil, and with it the grubs of 
the insects, early in tho season, fromuuder the 
bushes; and the application of Hellebore in the 
form of a powder dusted on the bushes. The 
latter remedy may be procured at the drug 
stores. It should be lightly dusted on worms 
and leaves as often as the vermin re-appear. 
This is, perhaps, the best remedy yet discovered 
to prevent the ravages of the currant worm. 
SALSIFY, OR OYSTER-PLANT 
Tub aalslfy is a hardy biennial plant, und is 
principally cultivated for its roots, the tlavor of 
which resembles that of the oyster; whenee the 
popular name. 
The Oyster plant succeeds beet in a light, well 
enriched, mellow soil; which, previous to Bow¬ 
ing the seeds, should he stirred to the depth of 
twelve or fifteen inches. The seed should be 
sown annually, in the same manner ami at the 
same time as the seeds of tho carrot aud pars¬ 
nip. Make the drills fourteen inches apart; 
cover the seeds an inch and a half in depth; and 
thin while tho plants are young, to four or five 
Inches asunder. 
The roots are prepared in various forms; but 
when simply boiled in the manner of beets and 
carrots, the flavor Is sweet and delicate. The 
young flower stalks, If cut in the spring of the 
second year and dressed like asparagus, resemble 
it in taste, and make an excellent dish. 
The roots arc sometimes thinly sliced, and, 
with the addition of vinegar, salt, and pepper, 
served as a salad. They are also recommended 
as being remedial or alleviailog in cases of con¬ 
sumptive tendency. 
'there Is but one species or variety now cul¬ 
tivated. 
WILL FRUIT GROWING PAY! 
VARIOUS ORIGINAL RECIPES 
Recife for Brown Bread.— For two loaves 
—three pints of warm water; one teacup of In¬ 
dian meal; one of wheat flour; three large 
spoonsful of molasses, or two-thirds of a teacup 
of brown sugar; one teuspoon of salt; one of 
salcratus dissolved In warm water; one teacup 
of yeast. Mix the above and stir in enough un¬ 
bolted (lour to make as atiff Os can he conven¬ 
iently worked with a spoon ; let it rise. Bake 
about one hour. 
Cookies.—O ne cup white sugar; one half cup 
blitter; two eggs: one teaspoon salcratus; nut¬ 
meg. 
Pork Cake. —Two cups of chopped pork: 
two cups boiling water; two cups sugar; one 
cup molasses; oue-imlf pound of currauts; one 
half pound of raisins; three teaspoonsful aale- 
ratua; cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to the 
taste.—A Farmer’s Wife, N. T, 
FLOWER SEEDS-WHY MINE DID’NT 
GROW. 
Eds. Rural New Yorker 
I wish to make 
known to the readers of the Rural the follow¬ 
ing facts, which I discovered last spring while 
planting flower seeds. These facts, if generally 
understood, I think will exonerate many of our 
seedsmen from the blame often charged upon 
them of selling poor seeds. 
I planted a lew seeds of the Bashir lion in a 
box, and after waiting a sufficient length of time, 
as I thought, for them to come up, and as they 
did not show themselves I dug them up. They 
looked all right and one was sprouted, so I 
planted them agaiu and soon the sprouted one 
came up, but no others. After waiting until I 
began to think they never would come, I dug 
them up agaiu. As they Bbowed no signs of 
sprouting I broke them open, and 1 found In¬ 
side of the seed from one to six little Bkippers, 
which looked precisely like the cheese skipper 
in size, color and shape. About the same time 
I took gome seeds of the Columbian , that I 
bought the year previous of Mr. James Viok, 
of Rochester, N. Y., and tied them up in a piece 
of thick factory cloth and buried them in the 
grouud iu my garden, iu order to sprout them 
for future planting. I also planted iu the sumo 
way some seed of the Phlox iJrmumondii that I 
raised in my own garden the year previous, and 
after they had laid long enough to sprout I took 
from the grouud and on opening I found them 
sprouted and among them quite a number of 
tbe same kind of skipper that were iu the Nas- 
turlion seeds. After tukiug out the worms I 
planted them. A few of the Phlox seeds came 
up but uone of the Columbine . I think they eat 
Oil’the sprouts. Can anyone tell how the worms 
came there? Mbs. E. 0. Paull. 
Mlddleville, Burry Co., MktL 
INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS, 
Recently, Dr. Trimble gave a conversational 
lecture before the Sportsmens’ Association of 
Essex county, Mass., on the usefulness of bird6 
as insect killers. 
The Baltimore Oriole, on its first arrival in 
this latitude, feeds on the caterpillars infesting 
fruit and shade trees. Then it eats drop worms 
in their season, and also the curculio. This is a 
beautiful as well as a useful bird. 
To the Downy Woodpecker, a winter bird, 
was awarded high praise as a searcher after and 
destroyer of the apple worm, for which it bores 
and labors assiduously. The little but unquiet 
Chick-a-dee feeds upon this worm also, though 
It docs not bore for it like the woodpecker. 
The Cedar Bird was mentioned as having a bad 
reputation because of its penchant for cherries, 
Its sins, in this respect, are deemed of small 
consequence considering Its great usefulness as 
a gross feeder upon canker and span worms, and 
other injurious inseets. The Yellow Bird, a 
near relative of tho Cedar, is also commended 
for its destruction of worms and insects—the 
especial enemies of the fruit and wheat crops, 
The Catbird, the Whippoorwill, tbe Swallow, 
Bob o link, Blackbird, Yellow Billed Cuckoo, 
the Wren, and Sparrow, the Quail, and many 
others of our common birds, were commended 
for their usefulness, as shown by examinations 
of the contents of the stomachs of hundreds of 
them. Birds and Inseets have, alike, their uses 
according to the Doctor’s theory of a chain of 
being —are each and all Instrumentalities by 
which the earth is made a home suited to man 
to whom the dominion of it is given. But this 
power or autherity requires discretion iu its 
exercise on the part of man. 
“If,” says the Doctor, “he crushes Insects 
Indiscriminately, he will probably destroy more 
friends than enemies. If he shoots a Cedar bird 
because It takes his cherries, he shoots a friend 
that has been proved to eat tlilrty-six canker 
worms at a single meal, and wants several meals 
a day. The canker worms are the substantial 
food for a month—the cherry is a desert that 
soon eloys. The canker worm ia destroying 
year after year the leuves on thousands of or¬ 
chards, aud is rapidly extending over the coun¬ 
try. It is here—and except as checked by this 
June that melons and and some other birds, would soon destroy not 
nguish for the want of only our orchards, but the shade trees of our 
lOuld get, but it should streets and parks.” 
them with cold, hard The amount of the matter Beems to be, 
m manure, well soaked according to the views of the lecturer, that 
will make a strong and beasts, birds and insects are but links in a 
3 vines, its application common, chain of beiug, or, as another phrases 
the evening or during it, “parts of one stupendous whole,” made to 
eat and be eaten. But for the propensity of 
Unbolted Flour Bread.— O. V. R., asks a 
recipe for unbolted flour bread. Here is mine,, 
and an excellent one it is : One quart of butter¬ 
milk or sour milk, salcratus enough to make it 
foam; a pinch of salt; half a teacup molasses. 
Stir it as thick as any stirred sweet cake. Bake 
in a deep tin one hour with a steady hot flre_ 
Add an egg If in a hurry for your bread, as it 
will bake sooner for it. 
Will some of your readers tell mo what Asm 
mea iB, and where?— Sawyer. 
Fruit Growing in Ancient Times.— Fruit 
growing appears to have engaged the attention 
of mankind in ancient days. Solomon, the wise 
king, said he made gardens and orchards, and 
planted lu them all munuer of fruits. Subse¬ 
quent to him, Homer describes the garden of 
Alcinous, which was simply a fruit orchard of 
four acres In extent. 
“ Four acres was the allotted space of ground, 
Fenced with ft grecu enclosure all around ; 
'rail, thriving treoB confess'd tho fruiifui mold, 
Tho red’ning apple ripens Into gold. 
Here the bluo tig with luscious juice o’crtlows, 
With deeper red tho full pomegranate glows; 
The branch here bonds beneath the weighty pear, 
And verdantollves nourish’round the year." 
HEAD THE WEEDS AND THISTLES. 
Corn Starch Cake.—O ne cup ol’cora starch ~ 
one cup of butter; two cups of flour; one cup 
of sweet milk; two cups of pulverized sugar; 
whites of six cggB; one teaspoon of cream tar¬ 
tar ; one half teaspoon of soda.—A melia, Onei¬ 
da Co., N. y. 
'Those who have gardens planted Bhould 
remember that as the plants emerge from the 
ground and begin to grow, their enemies, the 
weeds, wiH do the same. These should be met 
at once aud all the time, as they check tbe devel¬ 
opment of useful vegetation by robbing it of 
the invigorating properties of the soil. These 
noxious plants arc ravenous eaters and if al¬ 
lowed free course will despoil the useful of that 
nourishment which is essential to their perfec¬ 
tion. The prompt removal of these enemies 
with the hoe serves the double purpose of kill¬ 
ing an enemy and invigorating the growth of a 
friend. If, therefore, you would have a good 
garden, one pleasing to look upon and produc¬ 
tive of nutritive commodities, hoe early and hoe 
often. The result will prove a satisfactory re¬ 
muneration for the labor bestowed. 
If the season so far has been unpropltlous to 
the growth of garden products It has not been 
backward in the production of weeds, Canada 
thistles and grass. These are sufficiently devel¬ 
oped to challenge to the attention of horticul¬ 
turists wherever the soil will permit a profitable 
use of the cultivator and hoe. It ia the opinion 
of many who note the “signs und seasons,” 
that a fruitful summer ia before us, backward as 
the spring has proved. But to realize the results 
promised more than common care in cultivation 
will be necessary. The enemies of profitable 
vegetation have got an uncommonly good start 
and nothing but prompt and persistent efforts 
can deprive them of the advantage already 
gained. Hoe, then, every one who has the Im¬ 
plement and the ground on which to use It. 
filorticiiitiira! Notes and Queries, 
Cranberry Plants.—A correspondent from Mich¬ 
igan asks us If we ean inform him where the culti¬ 
vated cranberry plants tuuy he procured. Ho stateB 
he bus an appropriate spot for cranberries, and that 
tho native plants grow near him. We cannot inform 
ns to where cultivated plants muy be procured, but 
If native vines are near at hand, that produce fine 
fruit, why not plant them ? Wc should not plant any 
cranberry vines without first seeing or knowing the 
quality of fruit they produce, and If wild ones yield us 
fine fruit ub any, are they not as good 1 
TIMELY RECIPES - SELECTED 
Strawberry Short-Cake.— Into three pints 
of flour, rub dry, two teaspoons heaping full of 
cream tartar; add half a tea cup of butter, a lit¬ 
tle salt, one teaspoonful of soda dissolved In a 
pint of milk or water. Mix quickly and thor¬ 
oughly, roll to au inch lu thickness, and bake 
twenty minutes In a quick oven. Take a quart 
of strawberries und add cream, and sugar- to 
make a sauce. For this purpose small-sized, 
rather acid berries with Bprightly flavor are pre¬ 
ferable. When the short-cake Is done, divide it 
in three layers, butter them, and spread the 
strawberries between. Eat while warm 
Strawberry Dumfling. — Make crust same- 
as directed for short-cake; roll half an inch 
thick; put about a gill of strawberries lor each 
dumpling. Bake, steam, or boil half an hour. 
Strawberry Pres, —Line your pie dish with 
crust made in tho usual manner; fill the dhh 
with good ripe strawberries of medium size; 
sprinkle on a little flour, and sugar In proportion 
to the acidity of the berries. Cover with a 
thin crust. 
Strawberry Jam.—F or every pound of straw- • 
berries take three quarters of a pound of sugar. 
The berries should be mashed in a preserving 
kettle, and the sugaV thoroughly mixed with/ 
them. Boil from twenty minutes to half an 
hour, stirring constantly. 
Strawberry J elly.— Take strawberries when 
fully ripe, strain, and to each pint of juice add, 
a pound of the best refined sugar. Boil briskly, 
skimming when necessary for ten or fifteen min¬ 
utes, or until it will jelly, which may be known 
by dropping in a little cold water. If done, it. 
will fall to the bottom in a mass. 
Soft Soap for Ajti.b Turks. A correspondent 
writes us that an experience id' fifteen years has 
proved the Tact that soft-soup applied to the bark of 
trees with a gtiff brush will remove all kinds of in¬ 
sects, the bark will become smooth and healthy, and 
tho trees will bear abundantly every year; also, old 
trees that are partly decayed can be made healthy by 
removing tho dead branches and applying the soap 
freely as above stated.” 
SCRAPING ROUGH BARK FROM TREES, 
Ens. Rural New-Youker: — -I noticed in 
your last issue that R. T. H. of Ballston Bpa, 
asks lor “ the opinions o! those who have prac¬ 
ticed the operation extensively.” My experi¬ 
ence is, that It is beneikial to scrape the rough 
bark off fruit trees, and to wash them. Forty- 
five years ago this month, I purchased land in 
this village, on which I now reside, four acres 
of which were cleared and fenced, and over ‘JOO 
apples trees set out thereon, then about eight 
years from the seed, i have taken up for build¬ 
ing, garden, railroad purposes, <&c., over 100, so 
that I have now only about ninety trees left. 
They have generally been well taken care of, 
trimmed, scraped, and washed. During the last 
three years they have been thoroughly scraped 
twice, and washed three times; scraped once up 
to the smooth bark, and filth and dirt removed 
out of the crotches. The wa3h is a composition 
of soft soap, lime, sulphur, ashes and day, rub¬ 
bed on with an old broom. 
Soaj’SUDs fob Rohe Bushes.—C. P. b wishes to in¬ 
quire through our columns whether soapsuds is 
valuable for rose bushes, or detrimental. “I have 
been advised Iwritcs our correspondent] to throw it 
on mine, nnd another Bays you will kill your roses. 
If any body knows the truth of the matter, I would 
Uko to be correctly informed," 
Fruit GitowKRrt’ Society of Western New York, 
—The summer meeting of this Society will be held 
at the Court House in tho city of Rochester, on 
Wednesday, the 27th day of June. Session to com¬ 
mence at 11 o'clock in the forenoon. There will be 
an exhibition of Fruit on tho occasion, to which all 
are invited to contribute. 
What Wax Destroy Thbk?—W hat process shall 
I take to destroy ante which collect on the peony 
buda and eat them ? Also the largo black ants which 
have assembled en masse in a cupboard where I keep 
clothing ? What has brought them there 1 cannot 
imagine.— Kate. 
