^trborkultef 
reduces the extremity of beat in warm From these advantages, and many others 
weather. that may be suggested to the minds of the 
Some may say that if it can be proven that, readers, we may be enabled to see the great 
it reduces the temperature of cold weather, and numerous advantages to be derived from 
it would be so trifling as to be of no conse- the planting of trees and the proper distribu- 
quence; but they would be mistaken. That tion of forests. And, although we may even 
little durm^onr severe cold weather amounts invite the “Woodman” to make clearings 
to much in results from the reduction of where the forests are at all extensive, yet we 
temperature alone, and of greater results in must stop him at the right time. We must 
the protection from the steady and unbroken be there to say, 
sweep of a cold wind, which by its penetra- “Oh! woodman, spare that tree.” 
tion, and effectual evaporation of all moist- And where they are scarce, we should 
lire, may cause more suffering to man and plant. Plant on our prairies and far western 
beast, and greater destruction to trees and plains, in order to secure the regularity of 
ARNATTO OR ANNATTO. 
(Bixa Orcllann.) 
Coloring cheese with arnatto is a very 
old practice among Euglish as well as our 
own dairymen. The addition of some for¬ 
eign substance to cheese or butter, for the 
sole purpose of producing a particular colbr, 
may be objectionable, but not ball' so much 
so as the want of it, without the application. 
The looks of a thing has much to do with its 
popularity, as well as affecting the taste of 
the consumer, although no one will pretend 
to say there is any flavor in mere color. It 
is true that arnatto possesses a flavor, but 
scarcely strong enough to be perceptible 
when used in such small quantities as it is in 
coloring cheese. 
The appearance of a dish certainly has 
something to do in creating, or preserving, a 
relish therefor, and we thing no one should 
find fault with its attractive color, provided 
no injurious sulistance has been introduced 
to produce it. Of course, we prefer good 
yellow cheese and butter without the addition 
of foreign substances, provided we can always 
get it.. And, while we are not advocating 
the use or disuse of coloring material, we 
believe that if they are to be, the least ob¬ 
jectionable should he selected for the pur¬ 
pose. Pure arnatto, is without doubt, tin 1 
most harmless of all that have been tried, ! 
although we must admit that adulteration I 
of this article is extensively practiced. This { 
most serious objection to its use is about be¬ 
ing removed, as certain parties, among 
which Mr. G. Dk Cordova id' New York 
eily is probably the most prominent, are im¬ 
porting the Bixa seed and preparing arnatto 
directly therefrom. 
What in A vnnito ? 
The Bixa Orellana is a small, evergreen 
iree growing ten to fifteen feet high, it is a 
native of the West Indies and other parts of 
tropical America. The leaves are heart- 
shaped, smooth and shining. Flowers in u 
tapering panicle, pale pink. Capsule two 
valved, prickly on the outside, seeds small, 
angular, covered with an orange waxen pulp 
or pellicle. The latter is the substance to 
which the name of animtto or arnatto lias 
been given. The arnatto is separated from 
the seed by different processes, such as wash¬ 
ing, steaming, fermentation, etc., etc. A 
cluster of the seed pods (capsule*) and seed is 
shown of natural size in the accompanying 
illustration. 
POMOLOGIOAL GOSSIP. 
APPLE AND PEACH BORER. 
Iii*nniR«’ White Strawberry. 
A whiter in the March Horticulturist 
says:—“ If there be a Seckel or a Delaware 
among strawberries, this is it. I have seen 
it often compared with a dozen of the lead¬ 
ing varieties, but never heard but one opin¬ 
ion, viz,, ‘This, for exquisite flavor, is un¬ 
surpassed.’ It is a moderate sized berry, 
not remarkably even in growth, nor a very 
productive hearer. Ii is, however, not a 
poor hearer,nor by an}- means small in size. 
Its color is a delicate blushed white, a sort 
of fleshy pink on the sunny side. The plant 
needs careful culture, hut is a rampant, grow¬ 
er, spreading as rapidly as any of the red 
varieties. The roots are strong, do not sun¬ 
burn, nor easily winter kill. There is a de¬ 
cided tendency to perpetual bearing. You 
can be very sure of finding a few berries at 
any time from June’s first crop until the 
snow falls.” 
The Pyle Apple. 
A correspondent of the Gardener’s 
Monthly says:—“I send you some speci¬ 
mens of apples from a seedling tree in Thorn- 
bury, Delaware Co., Pa, 
It may be called 
the Pyle Apple, as it grows on the farm of 
Walter Pyle. For many years it has 
never failed to bear fruit regularly every 
year. It does not ripen perfectly till in the 
winter, but it is a most valuable apple for 
cooking, long before it becomes suitable for 
eating otherwise. It keeps quite sound 
through the winter and spring.” The editor 
remarks: — “These were very handsome 
apples, with yellow fleshed pulp; not of the 
highest flavor, but with a sort of * try me 
again’ air, which left a suspicion that under 
some circumstances, it would hold its own 
with the best.” 
Floridn Pruelies. 
A correspondent at Sanderson, Fla., 
writes the Rural New-Yorker, under 
date of April 9 :—“ I have three peach trees, 
ANNATTO. - 
plants than would result from an increase of 
cold if protected from the wind. It is but 
necessary to draw the attention of readers 
to this fact, and their experience, if they 
have encountered the rigors of our northern 
winters will convince them. If we observe 
two localities, one only sufficiently farther 
south than the other to make it a few de¬ 
grees warmer, and note the effects of winter 
in ilie different localities, and the adaptation 
to a different class of growth, we shall be 
convinced that by a few degrees we obtain 
a great change. 
Still farther in regard to great effects from 
small causes :—We have one—and it is inter¬ 
esting and important both to individuals and 
the nation,—in the increased amount of rain¬ 
fall in dry regions, where trees have been 
planftd, or even annuals cultivated. Know¬ 
ing this fact, we are not obliged to reason 
that such would he the effect produced by 
the planting of trees. But wc have the ef¬ 
fect, and arc called upon to search out the 
causes, two of which are suggested to my 
mind at preseut. 
First, That the trees act as a pump in 
taking up the moisture from the depths of 
the earth, and passing it into the air. The 
increased amount of rain-fall will, of course, 
depend upon the number and size of the 
pumps, but a very small extent may be the 
means of occasional rain-falls, in follow¬ 
ing manner:—If the air passing over the 
(Bixa Orellana.) 
climate and moisture which they so much 
need, which cannot be expected from any 
other source, and the value of which might 
some day be more than could at present be 
conjectured. Plant for the comforts, pleas¬ 
ures, delights, enjoyments and increased 
healtlifulness to be derived from their pres¬ 
ence. Plant for the adornment of our parks, 
our highways, and the homes of the Rural 
Family. 
FORESTS AS A PROTECTION. 
MORE ABOUT GRAFTING. 
If not too late in the season, I would like 
to say a word about grafting, in addition to 
what has appeared in the Rural New- 
Yorker of recent date. The knife to be 
used in splitting the stock, should be a little 
concave, and the edge crescent shape, thus: 
ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTES, 
The Colorado Potato Him Ready for Action. 
While grubbing out an old fence row, 
adjoining a last year’s potato patch, I dis¬ 
covered countless numbers of (his insect in 
bodies of from five or six to thirty or forty— 
in one case sixty-nine were counted in one 
cavity—about six inches below the surface ; 
being generally assembled in cavities near 
the roots of the bushes. As none could be 
found in the ground composing the potato 
patch, nor beneath the sod adjoining the 
fence row, it would he natural to suppose 
that they had used the roots as a highway 
to winter quarters; whether as an easier 
mode of getting into the ground, or for some 
other reason, I am at present unable to say. 
The bugs were of full size, and to all appear¬ 
ances ready for operation at the earliest op¬ 
portunity. As soon as they were unearthed 
they commenced their droning march, and 
did not seem inclined again to take their 
position underground. 
There will be but few potatoes planted in 
this vicinity this season, and those will be of 
the earliest varieties. Some there are, who 
will plant none at all, and, indeed, I think 
they will be the gainers; at least, they will 
not be the losers.— Scholium, Batemlle , 0. 
pea ranee given while yet young; and when 
old would transraiL a charm of beauty and 
recollections which cannot be had by costly 
architecture or mushroom axiom incuts. 
1 know that it is asserted that wind has no 
effect on a thermometer; but I know from 
actual experiment thal H lias, although it is 
hut, slight; yet if there is a cold,strong wind 
blowing, there will be some efl'ect. i think 
it will not be denied that trees form a protec¬ 
tion from the wind, and it would appear 
evidently, that at. least in their immediate 
vicinity, there would be a slight modifica¬ 
tion of the temperature. As ft) the distance 
the influence would extend, that would be 
rather uncertain; also whether an extensive 
forest would retard the velocity of the wind, 
and consequently reduce the temperature 
•more than a narrow belt, or a single 
row, closely interwoven, I consider doubt¬ 
ful, as the storm-power is constantly being 
supplied from a higher region, and would re¬ 
quire a higher olyect to present much of a 
barrier to its general severity. As to the 
vast regions of pine, fir and mountain for¬ 
ests to which reference is made, their locali¬ 
ty and certain established laws of nature is a 
sufficient reason for their extreme cold; and 
it “ Woodman” were to have his “plateau ” 
transferred from Kentucky to those regions, 
or even to the extensive plains of llieNortli- 
west, he would he likely to find the ther¬ 
mometer sink even below five or twenty de¬ 
grees below zero. 
Again, as to the thermometer ranging 
higher on his “ plateau” than in the adjoin¬ 
ing timber land, 1 think if the observations 
were confined to cold weather, that there 
was some local influence to account for 
it, such as a valley open to the north, ex¬ 
posed to the winds from a river, the pres¬ 
ence of ice, or somethin 
arbrttrr 
GARDEN NOTES. 
With such a knife the stock will he split 
more smoothly, and the edges of the hark 
left more even than when a convex, or even 
a straight-edged knife is used. In preparing 
the cion, the outer edge should be left a little 
thicker than the inner edge—thus: 
How to raise Tomnto Plains. 
Make a hot-bed in the customary way 
about. 3x6 feet. On about three square feet 
at one end, sow your seed 1-10 of an inch 
thick; cover with % inch of rich, sifted soil. 
When the plants are three inches high, make 
a trench across the lied leaving one side at 
an angle of 5*2 degrees. Wet the plants so 
they enn he taken up without injuring the 
roots. Place them in the trench two inches 
apart. Cover them up to the last leaves by 
making another trench so near that the rows 
of plants shall be three iuches apart. When 
they are four to six inches high transplant 
into the garden, taking care not to injure the 
roots. Plants raised as above directed will 
be very stocky, will not wilt when transplant¬ 
ed and will ripen their fruit before frost 
comes. Try it.—G. L. Arnold, Kane Co ., 
Ill , 1871. _ 
Sonkinsr Beet Seed, 
Whenever beet seeds are sown late in the 
season, their germination may be hastened 
by soaking them a few hours in warm water. 
If a seed drill is used, rolling in dry plaster, 
ashes or some similar substance, will he nec¬ 
essary to absorb the moisture ou the surface 
and allow them to readily separate. 
Train or Fisli Oil oil Vegetables. 
An Alabama correspondent of our Home 
Journal has been experimenting with train 
or fish oil as a pi*eventive of the ravages of 
insects, and found it destroyed every plant 
it touched, and did not harm the worms. 
Water Cress. 
Those who have shallow, running streams, 
fed bv springs, should plant in the edge there¬ 
of water cress. It is a most palatable salad. 
The barks of the stock and cion must come 
in contact to insure growth, and by leaving 
the outer edge of the cion a little thicker 
than the inner, this is effected. In setting 
the cion, place it so the outer barks will be 
even at the top, then incline the lower end 
of the cion so it shall be inside the bark of 
the stock. 
This makes it certain that the inner bark 
of both will be at some point in actual con¬ 
tact; and it is at that point that the quick¬ 
ening process occurs. If the outer barks of 
both coincide all the way, the inner barks 
may not be in contact, fur the bark of the 
stock is always thicker than the bark of the 
cion. Considerable experience in the busi¬ 
ness enables me to say that this is the most 
successful mode of grafting.—O. H. P. Kin¬ 
ney, Waverhj. N. T. 
The other day, at the Farmers’ Club, Mr. 
J. C. Thompson exhibited a substitute for 
grafting wax which he pronounced, aud 
seems, excellent. He heats equal parts of 
beeswax, resin and tallow, and dips cheap 
Insect* ou Oleanders. 
Mrs. J. B. sends us insects found on her 
oleanders, and desires a name. The inquiry 
came safely, but the insects were so badly 
smashed that no one coukl tell what they 
were. There is no use sending insects to us 
loose in a letter; they should always be in¬ 
closed in a quill or small wooden or tin box. 
We shall he pleased to receive insects from 
any of our readers who desire information 
in regard to the same, but must insist Hint 
they are packed in such a way that a safe 
transit will be insured. 
Saif to Prevent Borers. 
J. C. N., Duncan’s Falls, O., says lie 
sprinkles a handful of salt about the trunks 
othis peach and apple trees from the first of 
June till the middle of July, and it prevents 
the borers working and benefits the trees 
otherwise. 
g of the kind. Or 
it the observations were made in spring or 
summer, they prove nothing, since it is a 
well known fact that the presence of trees 
