1 
OORE’S RURAL WEW-YORS<ER 
giarn of a pluralist. 
DAILY RURAL LIFE. 
I _ 
Prom the Diary of a Gentleman near New 
York City. 
CULTIVATING HUCKltBlRBIES. 
Aug. SI.—The huckleberry is one of our 
valuable small fruits the cultivation of which 
has been almost unusually neglected. Few 
or no attempts have been made to raise new 
and improved varieties, and many persons 
think that it cannot be made to produce 
fruit under cultivation. But there are really 
no serious difficulties in the way of improv¬ 
ing this fruit or its cultivation—all that is 
necessiry is to find the man who will take 
hold of it in earnest, as lias been done with 
our native grapes nnd other fruits. AU the 
species will succeed well under cultivation, 
even those from the swamps, as I have 
proved by experience. I have plants at this 
time full of fruit which were dug up from a 
swamp five years ago and planted in a dry, 
sandy soil. 
There are not only many native species, 
but occasionally very curious wild varieties 
are found, and among the latter the white 
huckleberry is probably the most rare. A 
neighbor brought mo a handful of the latter 
t>da.y, which he found while gathering the 
, ordinary kinds. These while berries wore 
very sweet and of a delicious flavor, and I 
can see no good reason why they should not 
become a stock from which many choice 
varieties of the same color might be pro¬ 
duced. Where is the young man who will 
make the improvement of the huckleberry a 
“hobby,” and show what may be done with 
this valuable and almost universally favorite 
berry f Here is a chance for some one to 
gain fame find perhaps some reasonable re¬ 
turn for the time and labor spent in experi¬ 
ments, and even should no great results 
crown his efforts, the knowledge obtained in 
the cultivation of this fruit may be profitably 
applied to others. I say make the cult iva¬ 
tion and improvement of the huckleberry a 
“hobby,” because what is any roan or wo¬ 
man wor lb to the world without having one 
or more hobbles, for great results come only 
from groat exertions and special application 
of one’s energies and talents. The develop¬ 
ment of tins huckleberry may be considered 
by those who have high aspirations to be 
a rather small mark to aim at, but upon in 
veatigatlon It will be found to be a very 
large one, and what is more, there is an al¬ 
most to tally-unexplored field in this direc¬ 
tion, and no one man is likely to go over it 
thoroughly in a lifetime. It is far better to 
do a little work well than to undertake much 
and accomplish nothing. 
THE WHITE FINE WEEVIL. 
Aug. 2.V—la examining ray evergreens to¬ 
day I found the white pine weevil (Pissodes 
strobi— Peck) more abundant than they have 
been for several years. This little snout- 
beetle is of an oblong, oval shape, rather 
Blender, and of a brownish color, thickly 
punctured and variegated with small brown 
or rust-colored scales. There are two white 
dots on the thorax, also a transverse band of 
white behind the middle. The length of this 
insect, exclusive of the snout, is about three- 
tenths of an in dr it does not confine itself 
to the white pine, as its name would seem to 
indicate, but appears to prefer this species if 
it is planted among others. I have found it 
in the Scotch, Austrian and other species of 
pines, as well as in the Norway spruce. As 
thi3 Insect attacks the leadiug shoots of 
either large or small trees, it sadly interferes 
with the production of handsome specimens. 
Its presence In the nursery or among larger 
trees is readily detected by the dead "lead¬ 
er,” and if this is not soon removed and sev¬ 
ered below the point infected, the insects 
continue to work on downward until the 
tree is entirely destroyed. In a small white 
pine not more than five feet high I found 
several dozen of the larvae pupae, and perfect 
beetles, showing conclusively that the entire 
brood does not emerge at one time, but that, 
the beetles will continue to come forth during 
the greater part of the autumn mouths. 
The beetles hibernate in the ground, or un¬ 
der the old bark of logs, chips and in the 
grass of fence corners, from whence they 
again appear early in spring. Those who 
have evergreen trees upon their grounds 
should be on the lookout for this pest, and a 
dead leading shoot is a pretty sure sign of 
its presence. These shoots should be cut off 
as soon as discovered and then burned with 
their contents, aud the earlier in the season 
it is done the more certainty of destroying 
the entire brood. In removing the infested 
shoots, one should always be sure to out be- I 
low all the grubs, which may readily be de¬ 
termined by examining the wood where cut 
through. With many kinds of trees the cut¬ 
ting away of the leading shoots injures the 
symmetrical proportions of the specimen ; 
but the beetles will do this any way, and 
even kill t he tree if let alone ; therefore, it is 
better to save r. part than lose the whole. 
With the various species of the spruce, how¬ 
ever, the loss of a leader does no great 
harm, for a new one is soon supplied, and 
this checking of the upward growth tends 
to the production of a greater development 
of lateral branches. 
THE WHITE PINE SAW-FIT. 
This is another very destructive insect, the 
common name of which indicates that it 
feeds upon the white pine, although, like 
the former, it attacks the various species, 
not confining itself to any one exclusively. 
The mature insect is a four winged fly (fly- 
inmopterq), the female depositing her eggs 
upon the leaves of the pine in spring, where 
they hatch, and the larvm rapidly strip the 
trees of their foliage. The larva), when 
small, are a pale greenish yellow, but when 
nearly mature are about three-quarters of 
an inch long, of a bright yellow color, with 
a row of black dots on each side. I have 
known these insects so numerous as to strip 
dozens of I roes entirely of their leaves in a 
few weeks. For the past five or six years a 
few' have appeared in my grounds every 
season, but by dusting the infested trees 
with freshly slaked lime they huve been 
quickly destroyed. I have seen none this 
year, but presume they are plentiful in 
grounds not fur distant. If the larva of this 
fly is not killed, it descends to the ground 
when mature, bidiug under the leaves, where 
it spins a small, oval, bronze-colored cocoon. 
There are several closely allied species of 
this pine saw-fly (Lophgrm), differing very 
slightly in appearance or habits, and for all 
practical purposes they may be considered 
as one. Sometimes this pest of our ever¬ 
greens will remain feeding until killed by 
severe frosts in autumn, and it is well to be 
on the watch for the larvse all through the 
season. They appear early and remain late. 
(Bit! ont o logical. 
BARK LICE ON APPLE TREES. 
We have a j'oung apple orchard* and on 
some of the trees the bark is all covered with 
a white, scaly substance. I think it is bark 
lice, but I don't know, as I have not hud any 
experience with such pests. The trees are 
about four years old, and the ground lias 
been in grass till this year, when it was put 
in corn. We have washed the tree several 
times with a solution of w'halc oil soap, in 
the proportion of a pound of soap to eight 
gallons of water. It helped some, but not 
very much. We were afraid to make the 
solution stronger for fear of injury to the 
trees. What would you reeommenn ?— Jer¬ 
sey Boy. 
The white scales to which you refer arc 
doubtless the well known Oyster-shell Bark 
louse, or what is usually termed in the East¬ 
ern States “ Harris' Bark Louse.” There are 
two species very similar in appearance, but. 
as both are injurious to trees which they 
infest, and may be destroyed by the same 
means it will make little difference which is 
infesting your trees. 
Jt is rather late In the season to make much 
headway in destroying them. June and July 
are the months in which the young brood 
appears, and at this time they are more read¬ 
ily destroyed than earlier or Jater. In eurly 
spring the trees should be headed in severely; 
then as soon, or a little before the youug 
brood appears {say iu May) wash the trees 
thoroughly with a strong solution of potash 
and w\ater, or with whale oil soap. But a 
pound of soap to eight gallons of water is far 
too weak a solution : twice aa strong would 
answer better, and no injury to the tree is 
likely to follow if applied only to the bark. 
A pound of potash to two gallons of water 
is also a good wash for this purpose. 
A correspondent of Prof. Chab. V. Riley, 
State Entomologist of Missouri, (see his Fifth 
Annual Report, page 75.) has used a paint 
made as follows, with excellent results. One ■ 
quart of soft soap, one quart of fresh-slaked 
lime and one-half pound of tobacco boiled i 
together in a gallon of water. He paints with, i 
this every part of the tree where a louse is < 
seen. Any substance that will stick to the 
scales of the lice and prevent t he young brood < 
from emerging will surely kill them, and as < 
the tree enlarges dining the summer the i 
paint will crack aud fall off, leaving the bark < 
clean. The paint or good whitewash applied ’ 
now, would do no harm and it might do much 1 
good ; but spring is the best time to make a 1 
vigorous attack upon this pest. < 
THE FARMER’S HOME. 
The Hon. Dudley W. Adams, master of 
the National (! range of the Petrous of Hus¬ 
bandry, in closing his Fourth of July oration 
at Ottumwa. Iowa, gave the following as his 
idea of what the farmer’s home should be ; 
Select the handsomest, spot of all, and 
erect a house of neat and tasteful proportions 
and convenient arrangements. The size, 
finish, and expense will of course be governed 
by the means at command. Plant trees, 
both forest and fruit, in such a way us to 
break the sweep of the winter winds. Do¬ 
nate a reasonable patch of ground to small 
fruits and vegetables, sufficient to supply 
your table with abundance of all desirable 
kinds all the year round. Make an acre or 
more of lawn in front and around the dwell¬ 
ing, interspersed here and there with some 
ornamental shade trees, evergreens and 
flowering shrubs. Train an ivy over the 
porch, a honeysuckle on the window. Hide 
the sheds and outbuildings with n clump of 
trees or climbing vine. 
Your wife and daughters will have some 
artistic flower-beds cut, in the lawn, and a 
rose bush by the door, while singing birds 
will build nests in the trees. Make the inside 
of the house attractive- a pleasant place to 
sit, with inducements sufficient to keep your 
sons from saloons and your daughters from 
the streets. Among the absolute necessaries 
of life, I most decidedly and empathically 
place amusements, sport*, fun. A good ring¬ 
ing laugh is worth more to stir the liver and 
promote digestion than a dose of calomel, 
and a deal pleasanter to take. If you ever 
come across a person, old or young, who 
cannot, on proper provocation, give out a 
good ring ng, hearty laugh, watch him ! He 
is either after your pocket-book or the un¬ 
dertaker. Joy, fun, laughter, sterling, good, 
healthy wide-awake happiness, are among 
the most noble and desirable of human at¬ 
tributes. Nothing but men can laugh. Do 
not smother but cultivate this distinctive 
feature of humanity. 
■-*♦♦——— 
THE DESIGN OF THE ORDER. 
It was the intention of those who inau¬ 
gurated the Granges that the farmers should 
educate themselves, and I wish I could re¬ 
peat it a thousand times over in every farm¬ 
er’s ear, educate ! educate ! You must be 
educated to know your tights. 
It is the custom to allow the laboring man 
(farmer or mechanic) just about enough to 
keep soul and body together ; at the same 
time it is admitted by all that the farmer 
ought to be the most independent man in 
the world. Now Jet us all begin to work 
with our brain?. If we can cultivate our 
farms “judgmatically," as an illiterate 
member of the Assembly used to say, so as 
to double our crops, and then economize in 
various ways so as to save a fourth of the 
expenses, we shall have progressed a long 
way on the road to independence. Then let 
us setup cj-operative stores, aud, if possible, 
utterly break up the credit system. Thus 
the farmer und mechanic could work on, 
hand in hand, each benefiting the other. Let 
us buy where we can buy cheapest, pay cash, 
and buy as little as possible at retail, and for 
heavep’s sakf; quit the use of whisky, and 
teach our children to abhor the use of tobac¬ 
co in all its forms as well as coffee aud 
whisky. I could say a great deal, in my 
rough manner, on these subjects, and I wish 
you would give us your ideas on them.—C. 
E. 7., in Arkansan Grange , 
* * ♦ 
INFLUENCE OF THE ORDER. 
Driven by the logic of necessity, the Order 
of the Patrons of Husbandry sprung up iu 
giant proportions, spreading over the laud 
like au immense banyan tree, sinking its 
roots deep Into the soil, sending down its 
cions to the earth, until to-day its ubiquitous 
shade is giving hope and comfort all over 
the land, and lifting up the drooping spirit 
of the farmers. To the Patrons of Husband¬ 
ry we give the palm. To their new system 
of planting, their economy, their diversity of 
crops, their determination no longer to rely 
on their merchants for advances, but to do 
without them ; to the education which their 
Granges furnish ; to their brotherhood in 
everything—in feeling, in sociality, in busi¬ 
ness ; to the policy of first sustaining their 
own institut ions and agencies above all others 
we must attribute the grand changes that 
have come over the farming world in Ala¬ 
bama and the South. Let the Grangers go 
on until their prosperity Is restored and the 
State redeemed. As the sustaining prop of 
all classes, all industries, let them be encour¬ 
aged, perpetuated.— Mobile Register. 
-*♦-*-- 
GRANGE RULING3. 
A past master hus the same right as any 
other member, and no more. Members not 
clear on the books should not be given the 
annual word. Every candidate for initiation 
must be balloted for, whether the committee 
reports pro or con. Rituals are not to be 
distributed among the different members of 
the grange, but to be kept by one officer. 
Admit no more than twenty male and ten 
female members at t he organization of a new 
grange. The precise formula, as laid down 
in the ritual, must be observed in opening, 
closing and init iatory ceremonies. The con- 
stitul ion makes no difference in regard to sex 
of members; therefore ladies are eligible, to 
uuy office in the Grange to which they are 
duly elected. Au appeal from ruling of 
master of subordinate Granges on constitu¬ 
tional quest ions to the members of the Grange 
is improper, Such appeal must be made to 
the worthy master of State Grange. An 
appeal from ruling on points of order to the 
members is right. In organizing new Granges 
admit none as charter members but those 
who are actually engaged in farming, a id 
whose principal means of living are derived 
from that source. The wives and children 
of such, if of proper age, may also be admit¬ 
ted. 
■--- 
WHAT PATRONS WILL BRING ABOUT. 
The New York Times expresses the follow¬ 
ing opinion on this subject: The sudden and 
brilliant fortunes made by Western specula¬ 
tion will cease. Wealth must be won by 
slow and patient Industry, and great caut ion 
aud judgment, Wc doubt if, this year, we 
have t he usual autumn stringency or panic, 
because of the accumulation of capital here 
on account of the dread of the Granger 
movements. In time, of course, this ease of 
the market and accumulation of money here 
will lead to speculation again ; but for many 
years, in our opinion, the Grangers will have 
brought a certain calm to the fevered specu¬ 
lations of our Eastern capitalists. The East 
will now show a more regular and measured 
growth. 
-- 
GRANGE NOTES AND ITEMS. 
This wonderful Order is spread from ocean 
to ocean, and from the northern lakes to ihe 
southern gulf. It carries wherever it goes an 
atmosphere of social refinement, sometimes 
lacking in the rural districts, but which 
should have its superlative growth there, aud 
will have as soon as the Order has fully ac¬ 
complished its mission, and created a refine¬ 
ment not dependent on wealth and fashion, 
but based on mental culture, the best social 
qualities, and a true find pure standard of 
excellence.— Willamette Fanner. 
The Pultons of California demand that 
the salary system of public offices shall be 
equitable throughout the state. The Sheriff 
of San Francisco County, the wealthiest 
county in the state, has a smaller income 
that the sheriffs of Calaveras aud other 
counties, who receive from $10,000 to $40,000 
a year in fees. 
An- Oregon Patron tells the public that he 
took the fourth degree at a certain time and 
place, and adds :—“ I have felt better ever 
since ; my clothes hang better, and look like 
there was some one in them. I would like 
to have fourteen more fourth degrees.” 
Cottleville Grange, Mo., has adopted the 
rule of selecting subjects for discussion a 
sufficient length of time in advance to give 
the debaters ample time for preparation for 
doing justice to themselves and the subject. 
In Min nesota, Wisconsin and Illinois there 
is discussion, not always f riendly in tone, of 
the old question how the Order can violate 
the plain provisions of its constitution and 
take political action. 
An Ioioa Patron thinks “there is too 
much lawyer in our politics,” aud that as a 
nation we have gradually given up to the 
lawyer nearly every position of honor and 
trust. 
The Master of the Kansas State Grange, 
M. E. Hudson, declined a nomination by a 
political Convention, on t he ground that ac¬ 
ceptance would injure the Order. 
Tl.e Oatholie Bishop of Wisconsin has de¬ 
cided that all members of that church be¬ 
longing to the Grangers must withdraw from 
the Order or leave that church. 
A Grange bank will shortly be opened at 
Nebraska City. 
s 
