JULY 30 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Of 
course and the trotting match have undoubt¬ 
edly done much to foster the enterprise of 
horse breeding, and to cultivate the demand 
for good horses. This is a gain to agriculture 
and to stock interests, and seems to me to be 
worthy of encouragement. 
But, unfortunately, the gambler and pool 
dealer have forced themselves into the ring 
and have contaminated the otherwise Inno¬ 
cent amusement. How to eliminate this evil 
has been a difficult task with some agricultu¬ 
ral associations whose members have been de¬ 
sirous to encourage the exhibition of horses. 
It can be done, no doubt easily done. There 
is a way to permit tests of speed in a legiti¬ 
mate manner at agricultural fairs and to give 
the horse the benefit of all the advantage that 
may result from it, 
By-and-by the programmes for agricultural 
fairs will be made up and it might here be 
made an occasion to urge earnestly upon the 
managers of these affairs to sturdily cast out 
these nuisances and to give the noble horse 
his due share ot place and room at the fairs in 
every legitimate and harmless manner, by en¬ 
tirely separating the trials of Bpeed from every 
approach to betting or gambling. Horse rac¬ 
ing is very popular, and the pecuniary advan¬ 
tage that may accrue from this popularity may 
be gained without any drawback or inj ury to 
the public morals. 
UtisailiuifOtts. 
A wkiteb in the Mark Lane Express says 
that for roaming on the prairies of America 
and over the great runs of Australia and New 
Zealand, the hardy and docile Merino has not 
yet been beaten. It is a curious fact that their 
domestic sheep, tame enough at home, become 
quite wild when let loose in large "mobs” in 
the great sheep-producing colonies, while the 
Merinos, used to almost uncontrolled free¬ 
dom, know how to use it. 
Skilled Labor on the Farsi.— The Editor 
of the New England Farmer heard a large 
farmer say recently, that if he could hire a 
man to work for him that could fill his own 
place on the farm, so that he could be relieved 
from some of the responsibility of manage¬ 
ment, he would pay him as much wages as he 
was then paying three of his ordinary men, 
and he was not paying low wages by any 
means. As mere brute force in workmen is 
growing less and less in demand, from year to 
year, as steam and horse-power machinery 
takes the place of hand labor, so the demand 
for really skilled labor*mast increase, and this 
is quite as true of the farm as of the shop and 
factory. Young men who aspire to any posi¬ 
tion in society now, whatever occupation or 
calling they adopt, must understand that it is 
good workmen that are wanted. While igno¬ 
rant, inefficient laborers are always in full 
supply in every department of Industry, it is 
one of the rarest things to find a first-class 
workman unemployed. Good workmen are 
not only needed, they are really indispensable. 
Says Dr. Hoskins in the Vermont Watch¬ 
man : " Are we not compelled to believe that 
the stinginess of the people is a chief cause of 
the inferiority of our schools ? It is a waste¬ 
ful, a fatal stinginess. A good many besides 
the editors are not awake as they ought to be 
to their true "pecuniary interest.” The five 
cent piece is so near their eyes that it hides 
the dollar in the distance." 
Day’s Early Sunrise Pea.— On June 15 
we (the Gardeners’ Chronicle of England) re. 
ceived a liberal sample of this pea from the 
raiser, Mr. John Day, Jun., Ash, near Sand¬ 
wich, and found the quality excellent, supe¬ 
rior indeed to any other early pea we have 
eaten this season. Mr. Day informs us that 
they were grown in an exposed field, without 
a hedge round it, the 6eeds being sown in No¬ 
vember last, and the peas picked on June 13. 
In the same field and under the same condi¬ 
tions the best strain of Gangster's No. 1 was 
sown three days earlier, and each was ready 
for picking at the same time. Early Sunrise, 
however, made one-third more per bushel in 
the market than the others, being so much 
finer and superior in quality. [Gangster’s No. 
1, Ib known here as Daniel O'Rourke.— Eds.] 
Losses of Bees Last Winter.— The Ameri¬ 
can Bee Journal publishes some valuable sta¬ 
tistics on the losses of bees last Winter from 
which we make a few extracts. The tables 
are compiled from reports on 521,230 colonies 
or about one-sixth of the whole number of col¬ 
onies of bees in America, la the following 
table the first column of figures denotes the 
number of colonies in the Fall; the second the 
number that died; the third, per cent of loss. 
In bee houses. 
3,209 
29,734 
€7.338 
.21 
-32 
Proteeted. 
.46 
Total. 
Upproteeted. 
. 268.313 
100,271 
229.741 
,39 
.86 
Grand total. 
. 621.230 
330,012 
.63 
All that were left on the Summer stands, but 
which were well packed with chaff, leaves, 
sawdust, straw, or otherwise, are included 
under the heading "Colonies Protected;” 
while those left on the the Summer stands with 
chaff cushion or other Blight protection (or none 
at all), are classed as “ Colonies Unprotected.” 
No bees in box hives were wintered in a bee 
house; 10.656 colonies in box hives were put 
into cellars, where the losses amounted to 
4,398, or 41 per cent. Only 4,704 were protect¬ 
ed. and of these 2,016 perished (43 per cent.), 
while 13 times as many were left on summer 
standB unprotected, and 93 out of every 100 
unprotected colonies perished. Another valu¬ 
able lesson is taught by the following com¬ 
parison : Colonies of bees protected by being 
placed in cellars or bee houses, or by being 
packed on the summer stands, number 353.017: 
of these, 100,271 died—30 per cent.; 268,313 
colonies were wholly unprotected, but the Joss 
was 229,741—85 per cent.—or nearly thirty 
thousand more than double the number that 
died, out of a like number protected! As to 
kinds of hives used the following table is in¬ 
structive : 
Box hives... 
.211,732 
187,705 
.89 
All frame hives. 
142,307 
.46 
Lhuks troth. 
83.965 
.42 
Other frames....,. 
58,348 
.51 
Grand total. 
330,012 
lfi3 
It will be readily seen that while the average 
percentage of loss in box hives is 89, in all 
the frame hives it is but 46—an unanswer¬ 
able argument in favor of frame hives. 
Selling Milk in Bottles.—H. Stewart, of 
Bergen Co., N. J., tells, in the Country Gentle¬ 
man, how he persisted for a year in endeavor¬ 
ing to establish a custom for milk put up with 
every care in Warren milk bottleB, Bealed up 
and carried under ice to the customers, and 
how and why the laudable enterpiise proved a 
failure. As to the " why," he attributes it to 
the indifference and neglect of customers, who 
often failed to return the bottles, sometimes 
returned them broken or minus the rubber 
rings, and very generally unrinsed, with soured 
milk dried on the inside, making them very 
troublesome to clean. Many refused the bot¬ 
tles, not wishing to have the trouble of pre¬ 
serving and returning them, Mr. 8. tells the 
story simply and with seeming fairness. He 
says that he would prefer the bottles, as the 
milk is then already measured and packed, 
convenient for prompt and clean delivery, like 
the general stock of a modern grocery. But 
the general experience, he says, coincides with 
his, and proves that the losses are too great, 
and that, in short, it doesn’t pay. 
Rosa rugosa and its Varieties (see Fig. 
353),—" I must say these plants are too little 
known, otherwise they would be moie largely 
grown; and, possessing three very distinct 
characteristic qualities, viz., beauty in flower, 
in foliage, and in fruit, they should be recom¬ 
mended to all true lovers of gardening. They 
also make good single specimens on the lawn, 
on the tops of mounds and like places. The 
fruit when ripe Is delicious, and I believe 
largely used as a preserve In its native haoitat." 
So says a writer in the London Garden. 
Preserving Eggs. — Mr. Henry Stewart 
giveB the New York Times an instructive ar¬ 
ticle upon the subject of keeping eggs from the 
time they are cheap and plentiful until they 
are scarce and dear. The man in any business 
who makes the most profit la the oue who les¬ 
sens most the cost of his product. Aud the 
poultryman who will get rich next Winter and 
make the least boast of it is he whose hens are 
now laying each four or five eggs a week ; aud 
these are carefully packed away while per¬ 
fectly fresh so as to come out next Winter 
equal in all respects to the new laid, and selling 
at nearly the prices of fresh. Perhaps some 
persons may consider this a questionable busi¬ 
ness. But is it? Eggs sell on their merits; 
and if, by preserving them so that in six 
months they are in every respect equal to new- 
laid eggs, in what respect does this differ from 
preserving Summer pears or grapes in ice-cold 
store-rooms for sale six months afterward ; or 
canning honey for future Bale ; or other simi¬ 
lar methods of holding over surplus products 
for future periods of scarcity ?—always ex¬ 
cepting, however, any attempt to deceive the 
purchaser by untruthful representations, aud 
always disposing of the eggs as preserved 
ones and not as fresh. There are several 
methods by which eggs may be perfectly well 
preserved for six months, and this is the sea¬ 
son for putting these into practice. To re¬ 
lieve the market of its surplus now, aud also to 
relieve it of its scarcity in the Winter, would 
tend to equalize prices, to raise them now 
and to moderate them then. But, as the pre¬ 
serving requires both care and regular atten¬ 
tion in the Summer time and some little neat¬ 
ness and ekill, and the majority of persons are 
averse to taking the requisite trouble, there will 
probably never be a sufficient quantity of eggs 
kept over to have an effect upon prices in the 
directions referred to. 
The common methods of preservation all de¬ 
pend for their effect upon closing the pores of 
the shell and excluding air from the perishable 
interior. It is also especially requisite that 
the eggs be treated while they are perfectly 
fresh, for if decay has begun it cannot be ar¬ 
rested by any known process, The most pop¬ 
ular preservative is lime, used in the following 
manner: A tight barrel is half filled with 
water, into which are Btirred slaked lime and 
salt, at the rate of half a pound of each for 
each pailful of water. Some dealers add four 
ounces of saltpeter to the half barrel of pickle. 
The eggs, perfectly fresh and gathered twice a 
day. are placed in a shallow dish and carefully 
let down into the pickle, in which they settle 
to the bottom, always with the small end 
downward. The barrel will be filled when it 
is half full of eggs, the equal proportion of 
pickle making up the difference. A cool place 
for storage is required to keep the eggs. The 
pickle has a certain corrosive action upon the 
sheila after two or three months, but to avoid 
this the eggs mav be smeared with lard before 
they are pui in the pickle. 
Another method used for domestic purposes 
is as follows: The eggs are placed in a con¬ 
venient willow basket or net, and are im¬ 
mersed for five seconds In a boiling solution of 
five pounds of common sugar to a gallon of 
water. The heat sets the albumen in a film 
on the inBide of the shell and the sugar closes 
the pores. The eggs are then packed,small ends 
down, in a mixture of two parts of dry brau 
and one part of finely powdered charcoal. 
The French, who produce and keep enor¬ 
mous quantities of poultry, have several 
methods of keeping the eggs. All of them, 
however, are alike in respect to the materials 
employed. These are oils and wax. One of 
the best of these processes is as follows: Four 
ounces of bees-wax are melted with eight ounces 
of olive oil. When the mixture has cooled to 
a safe temperature each egg is dipped into it 
and wiped with a soft cloth to remove the ex¬ 
cess. The eggs are then packed in boxes in 
powdered charcoal, freshly burned, and have 
been thus kept perfectly fresh for two years. 
Fresh charcoal ia desirable because of its ex¬ 
cessive affinity for oxygen, which it absorbs 
and occludes within its pores, thus keeping the 
eggs free from contact with the only agent of 
decay that is to be feared. 
Paraffine Is odorlesB, tasteless, colorless, 
harmless and cheap j it is a mineral wax or 
fat, and may be used instead of bees-wax or oil 
with equally good effect. As it melts and be¬ 
comes liquid at a little over 100°, it is easily 
applied and easily removed when the eggs are 
boiled for use. Fresh charcoal finely powdered 
is at least four times as effective a preservative 
as the lime pickle. Dry salt has been re¬ 
recommended for keeping eggs, but it is totally 
useless where the air is at all damp, as it is in 
a cold cellar. Water glass—soluble silicate of 
soda—has been used by the Germans for keep¬ 
ing eggs. This is a clear liquid, of the consist¬ 
ence of simp, and, when smeared over the 
shell, soon dries into a thin, hard, glassy coat¬ 
ing, entirely Impermeable to the air. Eggs 
are to be packed with the small ends down¬ 
ward, because in that position the yelk is sus¬ 
pended exactly in the center of the egg and 
does not touch the shell. When it touches the 
shell and air reaches it, decay instantly begins. 
One stale or broken egg will spoil a whole 
barrelful. The packing should be so placed 
between the eggs that no two shells come into 
contact. An even and cool temperature is 
necessary. A changing temperature causes 
disturbance of the air among the packing, and 
starts a molecular action in the egg, which is 
favorable to, if not productive of, decompo¬ 
sition. 
A man is known by the company he keeps 
out of.—Independent. ...... "How much 
butter do you suppose I have sold this year ?” 
" All you made,” was the reply of the neighbor 
who knew hia miserly habits.It is a 
mistake to assume that a rose by any other 
name would smell as wheat.—Yonkers Gazette. 
.. . Every lie, says Owen, must be 
thatched with another, or it will soon rain 
through.A Georgia editor says:— 
" Gold is found is thirty-3ix counties in this 
State, silver in three, copper in thirteen, iron 
in forty-three, diamonds in Lwenty-six, whisky 
in all of them, and the last gets away with all 
the rest.” It is so, more or less, with all the 
States of the Union. ...... Mr. J. S. Wood¬ 
ward says, in the last Report of the Michigan 
Pom. Society, that in selecting a location for 
grapes on the farm of course there is a choice. 
The grape, to show the best results, should 
have a soil with more or less clay; but they 
do fairly well on almost any soil, if it is dry. 
Remember the grape is nearly as sensitive as 
the peach to having wet feet. Unless your soil 
is naturally dry, see to it that it is made so by 
a few deep-surface ditches, or, what is better, 
under-drains, put deep.Mr. Wood¬ 
ward also said that he did not wish to say any¬ 
thing against quality in the grapes, but that 
quality is not everything. "What is the good 
of quality without grapes ? ” he asked. 
For farmers’ use we want certainty . 
The first thing to be looked to in selecting a 
vine is its leaves. These are more important 
than all else combined. We want the leaf 
healthy and able to withstand the attacks of 
both insects and diseases. Next, see that the 
vine is a strong grower. But if it have large, 
thick and persistent leaves, it can hardly fail 
in this respect. 
(gntorao logical. 
A HANDY “ BOG-CATCHER.” 
With the pan I use for catching Colorado 
beetles any one can do as much work as three 
or four people collecting the pests according 
to the ordinary method of hand-picking. The 
pan Fig. 358, is made of tin, and any tin-man 
can fashion it. It ia a box or pan, two feet long, 
one foot wide and six inches deep. The bot¬ 
tom should t>e round, or cylindrical, so that 
the rim of the pan can be got close to the 
ground when the vines are small. Stiffen the 
edge with wire. On the inside, at the top, 
solder a rim or flange about three-quarters of 
an inch wide. This should slant downward 
somewhat, as its object ia to prevent the 
“bugs” from crawling out when once they 
have got in. On one side of the pan solder or 
rivet a handle such as those on common tin 
milk pails. On the same side as the handle 
solder a shield of tin IS inches high and of the 
same length as the pan, slanting backward a 
little. The edges should be stiffened with wire. 
About four inches from the top of the shield, 
and in the center, solder a loop or ring large 
enough to admit the arm to the shoulder. In 
using, insert the left arm through the loop and 
grasp the lower handle with the hand, then, 
holding the pan close up to the vines and near 
the ground, with a crooked stick, like the one 
represented, gather the vines over the pan, 
giving them a smart shake against the shield 
and over the pan. A good, active man, with 
this contrivance can “ bug” an acre of pota¬ 
toes effectively in two hours. G. w. 
[In the above description, unaccompanied 
by any drawing, we infer that the two handles 
are to be placed on the Inside of the tin shield, 
but could they not be on the outside just as 
well, yet occupying the same relative position ? 
We would suggest that braces from the upper 
corners of the shield to. the ends of the box 
would add greatly to the strength of the " bug- 
catcher.” Eda.] 
