I 
vines with this two or three times a week, 
and the yellow striped bug will do the vines 
uo harm, and by putting a small amount 
around plants and vines on the ground, so 
as not to touch the plants, it will keep the 
cut worm away from the plant,” 
ciroles of a brighter hue; margin smooth, 
at first involute and then becoming expand¬ 
ed ; from three to five inches across. Flesh 
firm, full of orange-red milk, which turns 
nor 
JULY 8 
SW 0 0 B E 5 S BUBAL MEW-YOB HEB. 
id he (Sanleit. 
TO DEVELOP CAULIFLOWERS. 
D. Busy, in Field, says:—“ There are one 
or two simple means of bringing out the 
best qualities of the cauliflower that may be 
worth noting here. It is needless to dwell 
upon the desirability of placing the crop in 
rich, deep, sweet soil. There are few plants 
that take more out of the ground in a given 
time than cauliflower: hence the. obvious 
necessity of storing it well; for a stoppage 
of growth, arising from a scarcity of food 
or any other cause, is simply ruin—that is, 
bitterness, hardness, worthlessness—to this 
most valuable crop. But it is of surface 
help that 1 now write. The first and best 
is a surface layer of fine farmyard manure 
six inches thick over the whole of the 
ground occupied by the cauliflower: or, if 
this is impracticable, then half a barrow¬ 
load to every five plants when the hand j 
lights are lifted or taken off. The effect of 
such dressings is wonderful; oue can al¬ 
most see the plants grow. The leaves seem 
to drink in the volatile ammonia, and the 
roots soon find their way into this new sur¬ 
face larder; the crowns till in and swell out 
with amazing rapidity; and this despatch 
is the great secret of high quality. There 
is another way of aiding and quickening 
growth, especially during dry weather. 
Lay the mulching of dung oil as before, and 
wash it down with house sewage. This last 
is also of great service by itself, and for 
pouring over spent hotbed manure, leaves, 
or other matters that have little strength of 
themselves. These mulchings are useful to 
keep out the drought arid encourage the 
roots upwards. The sewage will feed this 
well, and it seems to lie absorbed and con¬ 
verted with wonderful rapidity by this 
orop. No one who values sweet and crisp 
cauliflowers should waste a drop of sewage; 
it is one of the most powerful and best of 
manures for this crop. If sewage is not 
come-at-able—although with proper ar¬ 
rangements i< is accessible everywhere— 
any kind of liquid manure will answer the 
same purpose. None should bo dropped on 
the leaves, and of course no one would allow 
any sort of manure water to wet the hearts 
of the plants. 
There is oue more feature about this crop 
that deserves a passing notice. As a rule, ns 
soon as cauliflowers are cut the stems are 
pulled up and thrown away. With early, 
highly fed-plants, this is a great and rock- 
less sacrifice of growing force. Plants 
treated as J have recommended have roots 
like trees—huge masses filling the soil in all 
directions. Why should these not be press¬ 
ed into the production of a second crop? 
To this end, simply cut the cauliflower with 
the usual complement of overlapping leaves; 
leave all the other leaves on the stem for a 
week or two. By that time most of the 
stems will have broken into from three to 
six shoots. Go over them, and choose from 
two to four of the best placed and strong¬ 
est ; three to each is a capital average. Re¬ 
move or beud dmvu any leaves that inter¬ 
fere with these advancing growths, and al¬ 
so any decaying or old worn-out leaves; al¬ 
low all others to remain. Give the stems 
several good soakiugs of manure water, and 
another layer of dung if thought desirable ; 
and in an amazingly short period of time 
another crop, perhaps as heavy—or heavier 
in the gross—as the first, may be cut from 
the old stalks. After having done this 
double service, away with them, and see 
that the ground is immediately deep- 
trenched or manured for strawberries, or 
some crop as difl'ereut as may be from cau¬ 
liflowers, of which, notwithstanding all our 
feeding, it will have had enough for a year 
or two.” 
-- 
ORANGE-MILK MUSHROOM. 
Lactarius Dellclosus. 
This mushroom is the only one which has 
orange red milk, and which turns green 
when bruised, which distinguish it from L. 
torminomu , the only oue which in any way 
resembles it. The orange-milk mushroom 
chiefly affects the Scotch fir-tree, and as 
generally found beneath the drip of the 
branches around the tree. It is found in 
hedgerows occasionally, but is most abun¬ 
dant iu plantations of Scotch fir or larch. 
It is thus described: 
Pileus smooth, fleshy, umbilicate, of a dull 
rufous orange, turning pallid from exposure 
liorKf C Vi V.nt nr<-. Knd L.- 
green on exposure to the air, as does any 
part of the. plant when bruised, trills de¬ 
current, narrow, each dividing into two, 
three several times from the stem to the 
edge of the pilous; of a dull yellow by re¬ 
flected light, but being translucent, the red 
milk shines brightly through them. Stem 
from one to three inches high, slightly bent 
and tapering downwards; solid, becoming 
more or less hollow with age; short hairs at 
the base; sometimes pitted (scrobiculate). 
This mushroom is very highly esteemed as 
a delicacy. Its flavor is said to resemble 
tender lambs' kidneys, though it is called 
better by many. One writer says of it :— 
“Very luscious eating, full of rich gravy, 
with a little of the flavor of mussels,” 
The followiug modes of cooking it are 
given: Edwin Lkkb says“ Therich gra vy 
it produces is its chief characteristic, and 
hence it commends itself to make a rich 
gravy sauce, or as an ingredient in soups. 
It requires delicate cooking, for, though 
St* 
am 
ORANGK-M I I.K MUSHROOM. 
fleshy, it becomes tough if kept on the lire 
till the juice is exuded. Baking is, perhaps, 
the best process for this agaric to pass 
through. II should be dressed when fresh 
and pulpy.” 
Mrs. IIi’sskv says:—“The tnvvtletr (or 
pie-dish) method of cooking suits Lactarittx 
ileUeUmtN best, as it is firm and crisp in sub¬ 
stance. Be careful to use only sound speci¬ 
mens. Reduce t hem, by cutting across, to 
one uniform bulk. Place the pieces in a 
pie-dish, with a little pepper and salt, and 
a small piece of butter on each side of every 
slice. Tie a paper over the dish, and bake 
gently for three-quarters of an hour. Serve 
them up in the same hot dish.” 
To make a pie of them the following mode 
is given:—Pepper and salt slices of the 
agaric, and place them in layers with thin 
slices of fresh bacon, until a small pie-dish 
is full; cover with a crust of pastry or 
mashed potatoes, and bake gently for three- 
quarters of an hour. If with potato crust, 
brown nicely before a quick lire. 
For pudding, cut into small pieces; add 
similar pieces of bacon; pepper and salt, and 
a little garlic of spice; surround with crust, 
and boil three-quarters of an hour. 
It is also recommended to fry in slices, 
properly seasoned with butter, or bacon and 
gravy; and serve up hot with sippets of 
toast. A steak in addition is a great im¬ 
provement. 
-- 
GARDENERS’ NOTES. 
How to Re-set an Old Asparagus Bed. 
—In the fall when the seed is ripe, instead 
of burning off the tops of the Asparagus, 
as is the usual practice, 1 cut. them off close 
to the ground and lay them down on the 
bed, cover them with manure and let them 
remain until Spring, when I remove those 
that have not rotted and cover the bed again 
with manure. 1 find that by this process I 
can re-Reed tlio bed without the trouble of 
sowing the seed. The young shoots should 
not be cut until they are from one to three 
years old. The philosophy of it, I suppose, 
is that when the tops, which are full of seed, 
are cut off aud laid down, the placing of the 
manure on them sprouts the seed and in the 
Spring following they came up.—(’. K. T,, 
Burlington , Ky. 
Bugs aud Vines—Preventive.—A cor¬ 
respondent of the Fruit Recorder says: 
“ Having used the following compound for 
bugs on vines, 1 find it very efficient ip keep¬ 
ing them away. It is composed of two ta- 
blespoonfuls of spirits of turpentine, well 
mixed with one quart of plaster. The tur¬ 
pentine and plaster must be well rubbed to¬ 
gether when mixed. Bust the plants or 
ON CROSSING. 
As I have received so many communica¬ 
tions on tliis subject, as to what advantages 
may be obtained by crossing fowls, and 
what fowls cross to the best advantage, 1 
shall state what is ray opinion as the result 
of study, observation and experience. I 
favor crossing only in a few necessary cases. 
The great facilities now offered for obtaining 
fresh bloml and almost, any variety of stock 
that one may desire, iu its perfection, re¬ 
duces the necessity of crossing down to 
only a few instance*. If you desire per¬ 
fection in comb, legs, form and plumage, 
you must select from both sides, the male 
and female, the very best specimens, and 
then breed from the very best specimens 
of this progeny. After obtaining your point 
you then may go back and breed parent to 
daughter or granddaughter, or mother to 
son or grandson; but never brother and 
sister, if you should observe any deterior¬ 
ation in size or constitutional defects, you 
may bring in fresh stock or improve the 
same by judicious crossing. 
It is believed and urged by some breeders 
that size is attained, maturity surely devel¬ 
oped, strength and hardness of constitution 
produced, and laying increased by cross¬ 
breeding. In the main 1 believe this to a 
certain extent is true. But 1 have never 
seen any improvement, ill size or in any of 
the other natural instincts over the thor¬ 
oughbred. The smaller-sized fowl may be 
increased in size by crossing it with a larger; 
but unless a proper selection is made you 
may be liable to diminish the size of either. 
Size may be imparted to a Dorking by 
crossing it with a Cochin, Constitution 
may be obtained by a. cross wit h the Game. 
As Games are generally bred at the present 
day for exhibition purposes, I should prefer 
the Dark Brahma or Partridge Cochin, 
which for giving vitality and constitution 
I know of no bettor. 
Game fowls that have deteriorated in size, 
strength and fierceness by long in-and-in 
breeding, may have all these qualities re¬ 
stored by crossing with the powerful, gigan¬ 
tic and quarrelsome Malay; and his peculi¬ 
arities afterwards bred out. By crossing n 
lion .’an cock with a Hamburg hen you may 
increase the size of her eggs without much, 
if any, diminution of the quantity; aud you 
would also produce larger Hamburg chick¬ 
ens. By crossing the French breeds, (’reve 
Occur, Iloudan and La Fleete, with the 
Dark Brahma, you will gain some in size, 
but very much iu constitutional vigor. A 
Iloudan cock crossed with a Brahma hen, 
says Mr. Ferguson Blair, produces the 
finest possible chickens for market; but 
he observes that he always found the second 
crop worthless. In crossing, cockerels will 
generally resemble t he male, the pullets the 
female. The chickens of Dorking fowls, 
when crossed, often show five toes on one 
foot and only four on the other. This is one 
of the reasons that the Iloudans, if not 
carefully selected from strains that have 
been bred through and through, and are per¬ 
fect, will revert back to the original cross. 
Mr. Douglass, a great authority, states 
it as a strange fact that across of a black 
with a white Game throws birds of both 
breeds of the clearest color. The fact is not 
so strange and mysterious as the law's that 
govern the phenomenon. I can state a fact 
equally remarkable — that by crossing a 
white Guelder cock with a black Guelder 
hen you will throw beautifully plumaged 
cuckoos. How the reverse of this will 
operate I hope to know by the end of the 
breeding season. I have never yet seen a 
cross exceed in size a thoroughbred. You 
may take any two fowls of the large variety 
and cross them, and you will get no larger 
than can be produced by pure blood prop¬ 
erly managed and fed. Mongrels I detest; 
they are morn voracious and consume a 
larger quantity of food without turning it 
to good advantage. Well-bred fowls eat less 
and quickly convert their food into fat, 
flesh and eggs. Isaac Van Winkle. 
Greenville, N. J. 
-♦♦♦- 
POULTRY NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Fowls in Ohio Dying Suddenly.— 
Plowing my Early Rose potatoes about 5 
P. M. the other evening, rny hens followed 
the plow, picking up something—1 did not 
notice what. They were then lively and in 
the ground, until a short time before the}' 
died. Two that were taken the following 
day, in the same way, recovered. In about 
a week two others were "affected in the same 
way aud recovered. This happened before 
the potato beetle made its appearance; 
since its arrival my hens have kept the po¬ 
tato vines clear of them and fatten on them. 
If any Rural reader has had a similar 
experience, and has found cause and cure, 
1 should like to learn through the Rural 
New-Yorker.—J. E. B., Saliva, O. 
Profits of Poultry,—At the Shaker 
Convention, near Cleveland, they do things 
on a system w’hicb enables them to tell 
whether they make or lose by the oper¬ 
ation. 1 asked them to give mo their rec¬ 
ord of poultry keeping, aud those are the 
figures:—Number of hens kept over, 95; 
No, of chickens raised, 150, worth 50 cents 
each, *75. Sales of chickens. $27.47; eggs 
sold, *82; eggs consumed worth *45.44, and 
50 chickens consumed; add the above, say 
$28(1. Amount paid for feed, $5(1; balance 
in favor of keeping, $171. Tlio poultry busi¬ 
ness of the Shakers is managed by the Sis¬ 
ters, who are diligent readers of the Peo¬ 
ple’s Practical Poultry Book, and of the 
Rural Nr, w-Youkku.— s. i>. it. 
Nmv Zealand Ducks.—A writer iu 
Harper’s Weekly says:—“ A duck found in 
the interior of New Zealand is said to differ 
from other ducks iu not exhibiting any so¬ 
licitude for the safety of its young. Capt. 
Hutton, an eminent naturalist, thinks that, 
this supports the .Darwinian theory, as 
the ducks belong to a genus peculiar to 
New Zealand, whore there were no destruc¬ 
tive animals previous to the arrival of man, 
and in which genus, therefore, instinctive 
fear has not been developed; indeed, the 
absence of fear is said to be a peculiar char¬ 
acteristic of the animals of New Zealand.” 
Frank G. Hart’s Poultry Statement. 
—In our dear Rural I notice Frank G. 
Hart’s account of poultry raising. I think 
his mode of treating his hens while sitting 
is of no use. T sat 200 eggs; IfiO came off 
chickens, without all his “ fal-da-ral." The 
less you fuss with a bon, the bett er It is while 
sitting.— Maggie J. Lenhart. 
!te naturalist. 
ABOUT RATS. 
A gentleman, who has passed many years 
of his life at St. Helena, told me several 
stories about rats, so curious that I thought 
them worthy of record. He sakl at one 
time the common brown rat w r as extremely 
common all over the island, in fact, a perfect 
pest; and to avoid its attacks his father 
had constructed a large store, rat proof: 
namely, a rat once in could not get out 
again. A number, however, came In with 
produce and goods from the ships, and bred 
there. Around this store were Venetian 
blinds to the windows, and oue day one of 
his men, when it was raining, watched a rat 
sitting on the Venetian and putting out his 
tail to collect on it the drippings of water 
at the edge; he then withdrew it, and licked 
it. The servant told his master, who imme¬ 
diately understood that the rats could get 
no water inside the store, and therefore di¬ 
rected that a butter firkin should be cut 
down to four or five inches, and iu the top 
a large circular wire rat cage trap should 
be fixed. Several small planks were placed 
for the rats to get. up to the eutrance of the 
cage, which exactly fitted the firkin. No 
food would have induced the rats to enter 
the trap, but water did, and many were 
thus captured. There is oue peculiarity 
with these rats—namely, their very often 
building or making their nests in the trees. 
I have, in India, several times found rats’ 
nests in trees; but they have always been 
stolen nests, such as deserted abodes of the 
squirrel or sparrow; but here my friend, 
who is no naturalist, tells me they const ruct 
them principally of fir spines, on the ends 
of the boughs, some twelve or fifteen feet 
from the ground, in the common fir trees. 
The spots selected are just where the over¬ 
lapping bough nearly meets the lower one. 
He said that all know the rats’ nests, and 
that lie had seen them flred at, when many 
rats were killed aud fell out to the ground, 
lie could tell me uo more, and I think that, 
if original nests, as he held them to be, some 
grass must be woven in their constructions. 
