THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
JULY 28 
56 
briefly, tbe methods by which, with more or less 
hhccchb. Hemlock and other evergreens may be 
transplanted from the woods, we come finally to 
the best course to be pursued under all ordinary 
circumstances. Go to any well-managed nurs¬ 
ery, and you will thero find Hemlocks grown exact¬ 
ly for the uses to which you desire to put. them. 
The body and roots, grown in such manner as 
will most thoroughly expand and perfect them, 
caunot fail (O more than repay the increased first 
cost by subsequent rapid growth and beauty, es¬ 
pecially as plants from the woods, though suc¬ 
cessfully transplanted, must long remain some¬ 
what, stunted and imperfect. Any size between 
two and four feet will be satisfactory for the 
nursery Hemlocks you wish to move. 
During the months of May and September, the 
best conditions for transplanting all evergreens 
usually occur. Tbe operation of planting is sim¬ 
ple, requiring only, in dry limes, that the roots 
be well nmdded with puddled soil, and j'laced in 
a natural, spread-out condition, exactly at the 
same depth as that to which the tree originally 
grew. Perhaps the most important point of all, 
however, is to carefully protect the roots while 
out of ground, from all exposure to sun and 
wind. No watering need ho necessary, If the 
above rules ho adhered to, and certainly no 
watering will save life, if wind and sun he allowed 
to have their own free will. A thorough mnlch- 
ing, or protection of the soil just about the tree, 
will bo found beneficial during hot, dry summers. 
It is very encouraging to recognize any new 
evidence of a growing desire to learn the most 
approved methods of transplanting, for on the 
dissemination of such information must rest in 
part the development of arboricultnral tastes. 
darimt. 
THE ACRE’S SEQUEL. 
BY ANNIE L. JACK. 
It was a warm day. The July sun beat down 
upon the fruit field with fierce rays that gave a 
tinge of red to the gooseberries, before so green, 
and ripeued into sweetness the bright bunches 
of the currant. We w'ere settled for an after¬ 
noon’s work, picking, when, looking towards the 
river, I saw the by no means rare advent of vis¬ 
itors within our gates. The smart, neat turnout 
was quite as unkuown to me as its occupants 
seemed, and I wailed quietly until they reached 
the front entrance before making any attempt 
at recognition. 
Figuratively speaking, it was Brother J ONATHAN 
with his wife and baby, who had taken a drive 
from York State to investigate. Didn’t I remem¬ 
ber him ? I looked into his eyeB and recollection 
came, but with it the changes of many years. 
He had left romance for reality now, and settled 
down to a prosperous farm life. Here it fell to 
Mrs. Jonathan’s lot to explain: They read the 
Ritual, had read also, with much mistrust, 
the “Woman’s Acre,” and thought they would 
come down and see for themselves. Was it true ? 
Did I really and truly do as those pages said ? 
When there was no longer any doubt of the truth 
of the narrative, and the “guidmou” had fully 
endorsed my statement, they wont forth to re¬ 
connoitre, and explored the length and breadth 
of that acre thoroughly. But the weeds were 
holding high carnival; purslane aud red-weed 
with a few buddiug thistles, had been allowed a 
week’s growth, while all hands were busy with 
fruit picking, and the faces of my guests wore a 
look of disappointment, as they returned. 
“ So yon do have weeds ?" remarked Mrs. 
Jonathan. “Of course,” I replied, “ and of 
strong growth, too; persistent as evil, indige¬ 
nous as original sin. If you read the Rural 
aright you would not have expected otherwise, 
for that I have always confessed; and the battle 
is renewed every year although, by growing a 
second crop of corn, or celery, or turnips, we 
strive to keep the land clean.” 
“It seemed to me,” said Mrs. J., musingly, 
“ that yon always had success : everything grew 
and was profitable, and I thought I would see for 
myself before sending to the paper an opposition 
article recounting my failures.” I smiled to my¬ 
self, for, from previous conversation, I knew 
that my squashes could not compare with those 
this year grow n by my critic, and that many 
other things fell far short of her standard of 
perfection. 
The acre now forms but a small plot of our 
fruit garden, and reoeives but little attention, 
being chiefiy devoted to nursery stock and seed 
growing. Hut, lest others should, from my ac¬ 
count, expect a perfectly kept garden, I may as 
well state that a part of our plau is that we should 
not worry over small, smooth plots of vegetables, 
hut employ horse labor as much as possible, which 
leaves our hillside continually in the rough, as 
stones turn up, but saves that drain on the purse 
that hand-hoeing entails. 
While glad to welcome any of my co-workers, 
and hoping earnestly that my “ Acre" may lead 
many women to a knowledge that there ir, money 
in the light and pleasant labor of gardening, I 
am anxious that my pictures, which are true and 
honest, may not seem too bright, and that my 
readers may know that “ pusley ’’ and red-weed, 
twitch grasH and other evils, crop up within nur 
garden limits, and that blight and cut-worm, 
aphis aud canker-worm sometimes destroy our 
hopes and our crop. But we average the light 
and dark sidos, and our verdict is ever in favor 
of the brightness that shines through every 
cloud in our “ Woman’s Acre." 
[We should be pleased to hoar from Mrs. 
Jack’s visitor, an account of her failnres or suc¬ 
cesses ; for it happens not unfrequontly that 
lessons nearly as valuable may be learned from 
the story of mishaps in horticulture as from rec¬ 
ords of good fortune.— Eds ] 
DRAWBACKS OF THE CRANBERRY. 
In a late number of the N. Y. Tribune, Mr. E. 
W. Chase takes a gloomy view'of the present and 
future of Cranberry culture. Numerous reasons 
are given by him for the depression of this in¬ 
terest, but we have space here only for a brief 
condensation of a few of them. 
He says truly that, as in mist other pursuits, 
the successes of Cranberry culture were more 
widely published than the failures. To this 
fact can bo traced the “ Cranberry fever,” 
which prevailed until not only the “hard times,” 
but an array of stubborn facts iu the shape of 
continued reverses, compelled those interested 
to stop and investigate. 
Willi regard to the methods of culture, six 
years' experience has only convinced him that 
comparatively little is, as yet, positively known, 
and that much is yet to be learned, because not 
only theories hut results vary to such a marked 
degree. 
To consider intelligently the present state of 
this branch of horticulture, and the difficulties 
encountered, it is necessary to look back a few 
years. The success of tho first cultivators was 
encouraged and liberally rewarded by a demand 
which they were unable fully to supply. This 
demand was greatly increased during tlio late 
war, by the call for the fruit on account of its 
anti-scorbutic propensities, which made it inval¬ 
uable for army, navy, and hospital uses. Prices 
advanced uutil tho enormous figures of $40 to 
$45 per barrel were at one time reached, and 
with hut a limited quantity to he had at those 
rates. Such unnatural prices, aud the almost 
fabulous stories of success in cultivation, to¬ 
gether with the efforts of speculators, brought 
the subject prominently before the public. As a 
consequence, men of large as well as small 
means, and from various callings and profes¬ 
sions, were attracted to the Cranberry districts, 
particularly of New Jersey. Lively times were 
soon experienced in these hitherto dull and un¬ 
promising sections. This activity continued uu¬ 
til not only the demand failed to keep pace with 
the largely increased supply, but until unex¬ 
pected difficulties arose, and, iu connection with 
the general depression of the times, effectually 
checked the furtbor improvement of these waste 
lands. 
Among the difficulties which abridge success, 
he enumerates the fruit-worm, tho vine or 
fire-worm, the span-worm, the tip-worm, the 
grasshopper, and tho cricket, which are disposed 
to attack the vino or fruit, while frosts, both 
early and late, scald, aud even other blights 
often seriously damage, and sometimes destroy, 
the growing crop. The vine-worm is very de¬ 
structive. It feeds on the tender shoots and 
leaves in early summer, drawing them together 
with its web, aud eating from its place of con¬ 
cealment within. Thus the shoots and leaves 
are destroyed, and the tender vines’ growths 
killed, giving the plantation the appearance of 
having been Lurned over. The best., and, in 
fact, the only remedy yet discovered, is water: 
it is for this reason, principally, that plantations 
are flooded, where possible, from December until 
May. On many plantations flooding iB impossi¬ 
ble, and although they sometimes hear good 
crops, they more frequently fail. No one at all 
familiar with the business would now tbink of 
preparing such lands, if all other conditions 
were known to he favorable. 
The losses from this cause have been large, 
but not to be compared with those from scald, 
which is really the most perplexing aud most 
disastrous blight to which this fruit is subjeot, 
and for which patient investigation, as yet, has 
provided no reliable remedy. This disease seems 
to have been almost unknown until the last four 
or five years. It haB developed itself io an 
alarming extent, aud, without other causes, 
would have been nearly sufiicient to prevent the 
further setting of new lauds. It is a rotting of 
the berries just before aud at the ripening sea¬ 
son. Whole crops, which previously had given 
the richest promise of frnit, have frequently 
been destroyed by it. Those who have seen 
plantations with thousands of barrels ruined, by 
this curse, caunot wonder that the scald has ef¬ 
fectually prevented the further investment of 
capital and driven away latter-day enthusiasts 
from the field. Many conflicting theories and 
cases have been thoroughly studied, and, un¬ 
questionably, much has been learned as to the 
causes of the scald, but it must be confessed 
that very little has yet been ascertained as to 
any plain and practical cure—which has been the 
object most sought. 
|a‘ouiui tjit 
FROM GEORGIA. 
Atlanta, Ga., July 10. 
In this State a considerably larger area has 
been planted in corn tais year than heretofore. 
Hitherto, throughout the cotton bolt, too much 
attention has been devoted to that staple, to the 
neglect of corn and other products needed in 
the home market, After running the nnmerons 
risks inseparable from the cultivation of cotton, 
when the crop bus at. length been sold, generally 
for a moderate figure only, a good deal of its 
price has been sent, North and West in payment 
for corn and other farm produce that might be 
easily raised at home, if people were not so in¬ 
fatuated about the culture of cotton. This 
practice is good for the farmers of othor States, 
good for the railroads, hut disastrous for our¬ 
selves. What adds to its evils is, that corn iH 
much more extensively us d for human food in 
the Southern States than iu any other part of 
the country, aud a scarcity of it is, therefore, 
much more injuriously felt here than elsewhere. 
With regard to cotton, the crop this year, it is 
reported, will hardly reach an average. The 
weather in the early portion of tho season was 
too cool, aud although this was followed by a 
dry May, proverbially favorable to cotton, yet as 
an early stand had not been secured, tho usual 
beneficial effects of the dry month were not 
fully realized. Cut-worms and lico have boon 
unusually active among the cotton plants this 
year, and four per cent, of tho land prepared 
for cotton planting on May 1st, has been planted 
with corn. It is always considered good policy, 
however, to under-estimate the cotton crop, in 
order to keep up prices. 
The pooch crop is unusually good this year, 
and many will take advantage of ncwly-iuvented 
appliances for drying and dessicating both 
fruits and vegetables. Apples also promise a 
heavy crop.. 
The importance of the oat crop in this State is 
yearly increasing, and it will soon be the leading 
food crop for working animals. The labor of 
sowing is small, little cultivation is needed, 
while the returns are usnally large. Many get 
large crops by sowing In cotton lands iu Septem¬ 
ber and October, immediately after the cotton- 
pickers have finished their labors. The ground 
is at once plowed and harrowed, and tho uats 
straightway secure the benefit of the manure 
not appropriated by the cotton. Fall sowing of 
this crop is, therefore, urgently advisable. The 
variety to he preferred is that known as “ Rust¬ 
proof.” on account of the quality from which its 
name is derived. 
The wheat crop is by far the most bountiful iu 
many years, and the prospieets are, in every way, 
encouraging for the farmers aud planters of the 
Empire State of the South. t. j. f. 
Srimfific anil (Useful. 
SCIENTIFIC AND USEFUL NOTES. 
The sea holds 60,000,000,000,000 tons of salt. 
Should the sea be dried up, there would be a 
deposit of salt over the entiro bottom of the 
ocean 450 feet deep, aud if tho salt were taken 
and spread on the land it would cover it to a 
depth of 900 feet. 
Tuf. Journal of Chemistry RayB that hot alum- 
water is the best insect destroyer known. Put 
the alum into hot water and let it boil till all the 
alum is dissolved; then apply it hot with a 
finish to all cracks, closets, bedsteads and other 
places, where any insects are found. Ants, bed¬ 
bugs, cockroaches and creeping things are killed 
by it; while there is uo danger of poisoning the 
family or injuring property. 
The Electric Light.—A new invention, has 
of late been successfully applied in several 
places in Germany and France. The Bysteui 
consists of electric candles, or sticks of charcoal, 
surrounded by isolating matter, which gradually 
consumes, leaving the charcoal free like a wick, 
which slowly melts away rnider the brilliant glow 
of electricity. With two such candles a light 
equal to that of 100 gas jets may be thrown on a 
street. The cost is about half that of gas, aud 
the light is of the brightest and purest kind. 
There is in Paris a vast establishment—the 
most extensive of its kind iu the world—where 
the imitation of pearls, diamonds, aud precious 
stones generally is carried on with all the skill 
which modern ingenuity renders possible. The 
nand, upon which the whole art.depends, is found 
in the forests of Fontainebleau. False pearls 
are lined with wax and scales of the roacli and 
dace, which have to he stripped from the fish 
while living, in order to retain the peculiar glis¬ 
tening hue. The setting iB always of real gold, 
and the fashion of the newest kind. 
Some curious specimens of artificial pearls, the 
joint work of the Chinamen and the. oyster, have 
jnst arrived at Paris. These pearls are well 
known at Ning-po, but their entirely artificial 
character has only recently been discovered. 
The mode of manufacture does credit to the in¬ 
telligence and ingenuity of the “ heathen Chi¬ 
nee." He ini roduces into the shell of the oys¬ 
ter little pieces of wood or earth, which keep the 
unhappy moUusk in a state of irritation and 
cause a pearly secretion which ultimately covers 
the fragments. Often a piece of metal, shaped 
to resemble the figure of Buddha, is introduced 
into the shell, and this by a similar prooess is 
converted into a pearl possessing all the condi¬ 
tions of a presentable relic that finds a ready 
sale, and for which there is, it seems, a large and 
growing demand. 
The following statistics show a remarkable 
increase in the supply of certain favorite reme¬ 
dies since 1855. In that year the central phar¬ 
maceutical establishment of tho Parisian Hospital 
furnished 282 pounds of chloroform; in 1875 
tho quantity had risen to G10 pounds. Tho in¬ 
crease of chloral from 1869 to 1875 was from 10 
pounds to 720 pounds. Bromide of potassium, 6 
pounds in 1855, was 1,600 pounds in 1875 ; mor¬ 
phine, 1 pound 6 ounces in 1855, was 20 pounds 
in 1875. The progress of alcohol, considered as 
a therapeutical agent, is especially worthy of 
notice. Between 1865 and 1875 the consumption 
of alcohol in the hospitals increased from 1,270 
to 40,000 quarts. Brandy does not appear on 
the list nntil 1802, when four quarts were sup¬ 
plied. In 1875 tho quantity had risen to 4,108 
quarts. 
According to the Almanack de Gotha , the 
number of towns in tho world which contain 
100,000 inhabitants or more, amounts to 196. 
Of those, 48 are iu the British Empire, 15 iu 
Germany. 9 in France, 7 in Russia and 15 in tho 
United States. The cities containing a million 
inhabitants or more, are reckoned at nine in 
number, London, of course, leading the way, 
Paris coming second, and New York plus Brook¬ 
lyn, third. Berlin is fourth and Viomia fifth on 
the list, each of those capitals having rather 
more than a million of inhabitants. Four 
Chinese cities—Canton, SiaDglun (Hounan), 
Siangfou (Chcnsi) and Toliautebeotlfon (Fouk- 
iau)—complete the list of the millionaire cities, 
if the expression may he permitted. Pekin, by 
tho way, which our fathers credited with a 
population of 1 , 000 , 1 ) 00 , is now understood to 
have about 500,000 inhabitants. 
0bI k Naturalist. 
A CHAPTER ON CATS. 
In the Weekly Sun of the 27th ult., is a long 
chapter under the above heading, giving many 
interesting accounts of the attachments and an¬ 
tipathies of the feline race, the peculiarities of 
the different varieties, with several instances of 
their remarkable tenacity of life, all of which is 
well calculated to afford entertainment to the 
admirers of that pet quadt - u[ied. But the chap¬ 
ter needs, for its completeness, the following ad¬ 
ditional story, which was told me when a boy by 
a respectable old lady, whose veracity was un¬ 
questionable. Neither does the anecdote I am 
about to relate, require 80 groat a strain on one’s 
credulity in order to accept it as true, as do some 
of the cases mentioned iu the chapter alluded to. 
A man was annoyed by a certain cat that took 
tho opportunity, when the door was first opened 
in the morning, to slip in aud make herself at 
home, and so sly had she at last become, that 
she would enter, in spite of all efforts to prevent 
her. At last his patience being exhausted, the 
man seized a club and killed her on tho spot, and 
throwing her over the l'euce into a field, felis-H- 
ated himself on having got through with a disa¬ 
greeable job, aud rid of au intolerable nuisance. 
To his surprise and indignation, however, the 
next morning she was as ready as ever to take 
advantage of the first opening of the door. In¬ 
dignant beyond measure, he caught her by the 
hind legs and pounded her head upon a log, kill¬ 
ing her for certai n ; then threw her again over 
the fence; but to no purpose, for the next morn¬ 
ing she was at her old post, calm as a summer 
morning. Exasperated beyond all control, lie 
laid her upon a log and chopped her head off 
with an ax, aud again threw her over the fence 
with the head after her, feeling satisfied that 
now he had succeeded; but to his utter surprise 
and consternation, he found her standing at the 
door again, the next morning, with her head in 
her mouth! 8. B. Peck. 
