Warn, 
sprinkling would not reach nil the insects. 
The same proceeding is observed with 
orange trees, only with the moderation that 
a syringe has to be used whore the trees are 
too high, and a solution of potush, one-quar¬ 
ter pound to five gallons of water, where the 
trees are very thick in branches and leaves, 
and the soap-suds would not peuetratc to 
the interior of the crown of the tree. 
few weeks since the geese were missing, and 
all efforts to find them proved fruitless ; but 
one day thi3 week, the gander of the flock 
returned to the front gate of the premises of 
its owner, and immediately set up a loud 
scream, and would not be quieted, nor come 
into the yard. Finally the owner came out, 
and followed it for a number of blocks, until 
it entered a yard, at the rear of which was 
an old barn. On opening it the balance of 
tho flock were found, and were taken posses¬ 
sion of by the owner. It appeared that the 
gander had made its escape through a hole in 
the floor of the barn, and then started for 
home to give the alarm.—Syracuse Standard. 
A distinctive FEATURE BETWEEN 
brahmas and other fowls. 
Thebe is a feature in the Brahma Pootra 
fowl which appears to me > distirguisb it 
from all other kinds that nave noticed— 
viz., that, the comb is placed entirely in ad¬ 
vance of tho eye. A perpendicular drawn 
through the inner corner the eye will 
define the posterior extremity of the comb 
of the Brahma, whereas a perpendicular 
between the center and the posterior corner 
would defluo that of the Cochin, Dorking, 
Game, &c., they have the comb runniug over 
the eye. The French breeds of fowl I do not 
include, as their combs are of quite another 
distinctive character. 
The position of the Brahma’s comb to my 
mind militates strongly against the idea of 
the Brahma fowl being a cross between any 
of these breeds, and I am in the habit of 
judging the degree of purity of a strain of 
Brahmas in a great measure by this charac¬ 
ter, other things a per established standard 
being normal. Further, I believe i may say 
we do not find this anterior position in any 
degree in any cross-breeds without there 
having been an infusion of Brahma blood- 
royal at some time. 
Not having seen this character noticed in 
print, and it being an observation solely of 
my own, perhaps you will oblige by publish¬ 
ing it, that I may see what can be said for or 
against it.— J. R. Choker, Malvern Link. 
[We thank you much for your interesting 
query. It had never struck us before ; but 
on reading the above, we immediately caught 
up two good specimens, one Brahma, one 
Cochin, and submitted them to a close exam¬ 
ination. We found, as you observe, a line 
drawn touching the inner corner of the eye 
all but cleared the comb and touched only 
the bare extremity of the point. We may 
mention the bird was a large and good speci¬ 
men, with a fully developed comb. On sub- 
THE GRADE CROP 
between layers. Those raisins, better than 
any other sort, retain the freshness and 
bloom of the fruit, and acquire loss of tho 
saccharine deposits that are found upon most 
of the other varieties. 
This practice has been followed by some 
successfully in our own State, and it is rec¬ 
ommended by considerations of economy and 
the perfection of the process. The grapo 
should bo thoroughly ripe before being dis¬ 
turbed, and tho first crop hero ua there will 
prove the best for raisin making. Other 
raisins are made by drying the ripe grapes 
after they arc picked, either in the sun or by 
artificial heat. To induce the sugar to come 
to the surface, as we frequently see it in 
some kinds of raisins, they arc, while drying, 
sprinkled with lye two or three times. 
The Valencia raisins are picked when fully 
ripe, and hung by the stems on line** in tho 
sun. As tlroy begin to shrivel they are taken 
from the line and clipped in lye ouoo or twioe, 
and hung up again to complete the drying, 
in tills State some parties have practiced 
picking tho raisins and laying the bunches 
upon the naked soil until dried. This will 
do well on dark adobe soil. This character 
of soil absorbs the heat of the sun during the 
daytime, and retains the heat during the 
night, and thus keeps up the drying process. 
in hot weather, scorch and 
The Sacramento Reoord says The grape 
crop of California is now fast approaching 
maturity, and it becomes an important 
New Asparagus Gatherer. 
How to Clip a. Fowl's Wing.—A corres¬ 
pondent of tho Poultry World gives the fol¬ 
lowing mode of clipping a fowl’s wing (w ith 
illustration) in Poultry World :-My way is 
not to cut the quid or shatf of the feather at 
all only trim the feather partly off with a 
pair of scissors, except about one inch at the 
end (see cut). It shows but little when the 
wing is closed, and does not disfigure the 
fowl, but lets the wind through, so as to 
prevent any flying. 
What Kind of Cochins are Best? — Will 
some of the readers of the Rural New- 
Yorker inform me, through its columns, 
which of the Cochin varieties of fowls are 
considered the best, regarding beauty and 
flue looks, as well as other good qualities ? 
—V. W. B. 
Packing Eggs .—What is the best method 
of packing eggs for winter’s use ? Will the 
eggs keep better if the cocks are not allowed 
to run with the hens ?— A Constant Reader. 
A sandy soil will, 
ruin the grape. 
VINEYARD NOTES, 
Layering Grape Vines —After giving a 
correspondent directions for layering vines, 
the Farmer and Gardener says, we would, 
however, caution our readers as to the dan¬ 
ger of layering too much of the wood of a 
vine. Nothing exhausts tho latter more rap¬ 
idly than layering. It will reduoo tho crop 
of fruit for the ensuing year, and weaken the 
vine for years. From our layering vines wo 
expect no fruit, nor uiora^ban three or four 
years of life. Never layer a bearing vine if 
LICE ON GRAPE VINES, 
Our Home Journal says :—In visiting the 
vineyard of a friend of ours we noticed the 
total absence of insects on his vines. On in¬ 
quiry he informed us of his remedy for lice 
as well as ants. Let us here state the fact, 
that ants are the effect or consequence of 
lice. The lice secrete a sweet fluid, and as 
soon as they have taken possession of a vine 
the ants instantly will no aware of it and 
follow them. In thus keeping the vine clear 
of lice there will be no danger of ants. But 
■where the vineyard has not been closely 
watched, and these pests have installed 
themselves, it becomes a necessity to destroy 
them, a rather difficult undertaking. 
Whenever the lice make then appearance 
l ake a quantity of soft-soap and pour twice 
as much hailing water on the soap, continu¬ 
ing to beat this mass until it becomes stringy, 
ASPARAGUS GATHERER 
An English paper gives the following en¬ 
graving of an implement by which it says the 
labor of gathering asparagus in the usuul way 
is very much diminished.—Tho entire length 
of the. Wol is 1 foot. T n tho center is a wooden 
handle about 5 inches long, in one end of 
which is inserted a roundish steel fork 2 
inches across, the prongs of which are slightly 
bent sideways in opposite directions. .Ac the 
other end of the handle is a stout knife, some¬ 
what like a pruning knife in shape, but iur- 
nished with small teetb like those of a sickle. 
The implement is used as follows ;—Willi the 
forked end the soil is loosened and removed 
to a proper depth from about the Asparagus 
shoot, which is then caughL between the 
prongs of the fork, aud by simply twisting 
CHICKEN CHOLERA REMEDY 
The Rural New-Yorker gives us so much 
valuable information relating to poultry that 
I feel bound to contribute my mite. I have 
been troubled with chicken cholera in my 
flock of birds, and have found Wright’s 
Remedy effectual in almost every case—that 
is, to give every three hours, five grains of 
rhubarb, two grains of Cayenne pepper, and 
ten drops of laudanum. I give, midway 
between every two doses of the above, a 
teuspoonful of brandy in about the same (or 
less) amount of water, with five drops of 
McDougal’a Fluid Carbolate in each dose. I’ve 
saved the bulk of my chickens attacked, 
since I began to use this remedy. If your 
readers have as sure and ^ simpler remedy, 
I should be glad to know what it is. 
A Young Amateur. 
Gyisy Queen. 
benefit of their success or failure. In the 
meantime they will have to adopt some of 
the plans adopted in the raisin ma k in g coun¬ 
tries. The best raisins known to commerce 
are those known as the Malaga or Muscatel. 
These are the product of a px-ovince of Spain, 
in Andalusia. In this province they raise 
three crops of grapes a year. The first ripens 
in June, and is almost exclusively made into 
raisins. The subsequent crops arc made into 
wine. As near as we can learn tho Malaga 
and White Muscat grapes are those princi¬ 
pally raised in Malaga, from which the Ma¬ 
laga and Muscatel raisins aud wine are made. 
Enchantress. 
that is, until the mixture will hang down in 
strings from your fingers when you immerse 
your hand in it. Thus prepared, take a 
broom, dip in the mixture and splash it 
downward and upwards on the leaves. In 
two or three days after proceed in the same 
way with water, to clean off the mixture, if 
it has not been done by dew or rain. Again, 
in two or three days repeat the soap-suds 
splashing, and so on until the lice are killed. 
The manner in which this soap-suds acta is, 
it covers the insects, excludes the air from 
them, prevents them from moving, and thus 
kills them. - The repetition is necessary, one 
New Idea in Rollers—A roller exhibited 
and tested at the Royal Society’s Show just 
held, oonsists of three sections, the novelty 
being that the central section, Instead of 
being on a line with the other two, is placed 
in front, so that it answers as a steering 
wheel. In the axle between tho two rear 
sections there is a double joint, so us to admit 
of Liieir adapting themselves, as they move, 
to irregularities of surface. The sections are 
made of iron, with solid sides, so that they 
can be tilled with water if it is desired to 
increase their weight. 
POULTRY NOTES, 
Not Such a Silly Goose .i After All .—We 
heard of an amusing incident which occurred 
in the second ward of this city, which we 
think worth relating. A family residing at 
the comer of Townsend and Catawba Streets, 
like the rest of their neighbors, are in the 
habit of keeping a number of domestic fowls, 
and a small flock of geese included. Some 
i 
