practical purposes, as the slight cream'whick 
in time rises to the surface, or the flakiness 
that often follows is readily dissipated by a 
little shaking. Soap emulsions are, however, 
less satisfactory and efficient than those made 
with milk. Emulsions with milk may be 
made of varying strength, but one of the 
most satisfactory proportions is two parts of 
refined kerosene to one part of sour milk. 
This must be thoroughly churned (not merely 
shaken) until a butter is formed which is 
thoroughly stable and will keep indefinitely 
in closed vessels, and may be diluted ad 
libit um with water when needed for use. The 
time required to bring the butter varies with 
the temperature, and both soap and milk 
emulsions are facilitated by heating the in¬ 
gredients. Ordinary condensed milk may 
also be used by thoroughly stirring and beat¬ 
ing in an equal or varying quantity of kero¬ 
sene. The diluted emulsion when prepared 
for nse should be finely sprayed on to the in¬ 
sects to be killed, its strength varying for 
different inssets or plants, and its effect 
being enhanced when brought forcibly in 
contact with the insects. 
Of mucilaginous substances, that obtained 
Ssom the root of Zarina integrifolia, a plant 
quite common in parts of Florida and from 
which the Florida arrow-root is obtained, has 
proved useful as an emulsifier. 
These petroleum emulsions have been used 
with success by Dr. J. C. Neal, of Archer, 
Fla., against the cotton worm without injury 
to the plant, but their chief value depends on 
their efficacy against the different scale in¬ 
sects which affect citrus plants. Experience 
so far shows that such plants do not suffer 
from its judicious use, but that it roust be ap¬ 
plied with much more care to most deciduous 
fruit trees in order not to injure them. 
also because it possesses the desirable prop¬ 
erty of standing dust and gas well. It grows 
well in ordinary soil, and is propagated by 
division of the plant, The leaves are from 
six to ten inches in length, and from three to 
five in width, and finely marked with green 
aud white. It is rather a curious plant, as 
far as its flowers are concerned, for in shape 
they resemble a little, round shield, with a 
mushroom-shaped stigma; and, moreover, 
they are produced at or near the surface of 
the earth. When grown in the window gar¬ 
den, sponge the leaves occasionally to remove 
dust, and give a Winter temperature of from 
45 to 50 degrees. C. E. Parnell. 
His cows are substantially thoroughbred, 
having been bred for years to pure-bred sires. 
Here is a gain of 50 per cent, in income with a 
very small outlay in cost. It was a wise fore¬ 
thought which has led to this gratifying result. 
JOTTINGS AT KIRBY HOMESTEAD 
COLONEL F. D. CURTIS, 
How some faimers will hang on to old no¬ 
tional There is not much satisfaction in try¬ 
ing to convince a sulky man. He hates to ao- 
kuowledge tnat there is any batter way than 
his, and 6ome of them wont. One of this 
class said no longer ago than yesterday: “ If 
I do it then people will say you changed 
me,” and so he would not be changed. This 
man will buy carrots to color his butter as 
long as he lives. 
The buyers all want red apples. They say 
they sell the best. This fancy for color has 
given Baldwins a boom, as they are red and 
handle and ship well. There is another ad¬ 
vantage for the fruit—the tree is hardy aud a 
constant bearer. 1 do not like the apple to 
eat, but on account of its market valQe and 
the hardiness of the tree and strong bearing 
propensity, in an orchard of 100 trees I would 
plant 75 Baldwins. Too many varieties of 
fruit are a nuisance. They make au endless 
THE PRENTISS AND SALEM GRAPES 
K. WILLIAMS, 
e no ocner lor ner mince-pies and company 
apple-sauce—this bad to be extra nice, you 
know—but since the country has become so 
open, exposed to the cold winds, the trees 
winter-kill. The Spitzenburgh wants protec¬ 
tion and a virgin soil. The latter requirement 
can be made up in part by the use of ashes, 
and the former by planting wind-breaks of 
evergreens. I treated a stunted Fameuse ap¬ 
ple-tree 30 years ago w ith a wheelbarrow load 
of leached ashes, and that tree shows the ben¬ 
efit of it to this day. Somehow, we all like 
the kinds of apples we used to eat when we 
were young, and so Rhode Island Greenings, 
Gilliflowers and Bellflowers still have a place 
in our hearts and in my orchard. They bring 
to mind the times when neighbors used to 
“come over and spend the evening”—those 
old-fashioned, informal visits, in which apples 
filled an important part of the social cheer. 
They used to keep company with the dough¬ 
nuts when we were young. 
The fattening hogs have not lost a meal be¬ 
cause they have not been over-fed, and every 
day they have had a change from the corn 
diet to sorghum as long as it lasted, which 
was up to tbe first of November; and since 
then to carrot tops, which they would leave 
tho corn to eat. It is queer that mankind,who 
are so fond of a variety of food and all kinds 
of relishes, undertake to confine their pigs to 
one kind and expect that they will eat of this 
nd infinitum. It is not natural. I have 
found out another thing in feeding young 
pigs, viz , if they be allowed the run of a field 
they will eat a great deal more corn and do 
well. Eight pigs, 10 weeks old, were shut up 
in a pen and fed almost exclusively on corn 
for lack of other food. They did not thrive, 
The Prentiss. 
In response to the Rural’s inquiry for my 
experience with the Prentiss Grape, I would 
say that my vine fruited the first time this 
season, producing 35 clusters. The vine was 
planted in the Spring of ’80 and made a growth 
of a single cane about six feet long. This 
was cut down to four feet and but two buds 
were allowed to grow last year, in tbe hope 
that they would give me a little fruit; but 
they failed to do so. These two canes were 
pruned to eight or ten buds each last Fall, and 
the vine was bent down on the ground, no 
other protection being given it. 
This season’s 
result was as stated above. 
The clusters were of medium size, close and 
compact, being in this respect about the same 
as well grown Dianas, not shouldered; ber¬ 
ries perhaps a trifle larger than Dianas gen¬ 
erally. With the exception of about a dozen 
of the best clusters—reserved for exhibition— 
they were mostly sampled by visitors on the 
ground, in comparison with Martha and 
Duchess and generally given the preference. 
The vine is so far sufficiently vigorous and 
healthy, though not so rampant a grower 
as the Duchess. 
We have had one of the most peculiar sea¬ 
sons—very dry daring Summer and up to 
early in September, then continuous and 
abundant rains, the transition from one ex¬ 
treme to the other being so great that the 
grapes could not stand it, so that cracking, 
mildew and rot were abundant. The Pren¬ 
tiss did not wholly escape, though affected 
less than some others. With a more favor¬ 
able season, as the vine gets age, I shall expect 
it to do better. With this limited experience 
I look upon the Prentiss as a valuable ad¬ 
dition to our present limited list of hardy, 
reliable white grapes, and worthy of ex¬ 
tended trial. 
Tbe Salem Grape. 
When first introduced, this grape was 
claimed to be the best and most promising of 
all of Rogers’s Hybrids, a claim that up to this 
time has, 1 think, hardly been established. 
With me it sets too many small and imperfect 
bunches; the best are only of medium size; 
but in perfection they are attractive and 
handsome; color, red or deep pink; berries 
large, sweet and pleasant; skin thick but less 
so than that of the Agawam, otherwise these 
two varieties resemble each other very much. 
The vine is a vigorous grower but very liable 
to mildew of foliage and fruit, and the latter 
sometimes rots badly. If by age of vine, cul¬ 
ture, training or pruning, we could remedy 
the habit of tbe imperfect fertilizing ©f tbe ber¬ 
ries, and secure suoh clusters as we saw during 
NOTES AND COMMENTS 
I obtained a specimen of Abutilon Blood 
Red last Spring, and it has proved to 
be such a grand addition to this flue class 
of plants that I am inclined to offer a few 
remarks concerning it. It is of dwarf habit, 
a very floriferous variety, producing its iarge, 
blood-rod flowers in the greatest profusion. 
They are also marked with dark veins. It 
will, no doubt, prove a very desirable plant 
for the window garden. 
The finest spike of gladiolus that I have 
seen this season, was exhibited by Mr. C. L. 
Allen, of Garden City, L. I., at the October 
meeting of tbe New York Horticultural So¬ 
ciety. It is a new seedling of his, aud blos¬ 
somed for tbe first time this season. It is 
named the John Torrey. It was awarded a 
certificate of merit, which it well deserved. 
The new Abutilon, Fire King, which was 
so highly praised, has proved to be of little 
value. I have one, and that is enough for me, 
for the present. I do not suppose I could give 
the plant away. It will not flower with me, 
although it is described as being a very free- 
flowering variety. 
The Variegated Japan Sweet Flag, or Cal 
amus (Acotub Japonieus variegatus), is an 
excellent plant for the window garden, on 
account of the ease with which it can be cul¬ 
tivated. It is also mucii prized for hanging 
baskets. It is a neat-growing, grass-like 
plant, with nicely-variegated leaves. 
The White Belgian carrots yielded twice ns 
much as the Long Orange. If they are as 
good for feeding they are much more profita¬ 
ble. 1 do not see any reason why they are 
not just as good as the Orange, except the 
color, and as carrots are not required, nor 
annatto, to color the butter at Kirby Home¬ 
stead, I prefer the White carrots. 
Alternanthera paronycoides major au- 
rea, is a very long name for a very beau¬ 
tiful plant. It is of tjwarf, compact habit, 
apd bright goldec-yellow foliage, which is re¬ 
tained throughout the season. It is of special 
value for ribbon lines, and single specimens in 
the mixed borders always attract attention. 
Mr. Allen has been very successful with 
his seedling gladioli this season, and has 
obtained a number of superband distinct vari¬ 
eties. The highest award was given him at 
the September meeting of the New York Hor¬ 
ticultural Society for another superb seed¬ 
ling, Emma Thursby. As there was very 
close competition toe this premium, Mr. Allen 
is to be congratulated upon his success. 
In selecting plants for the window garden, 
be sure to obtain a plant or two of the double 
White Alyasum. It is similar in everyway 
to the well-known Sweet Aiyssum, bat pos¬ 
sesses the desirable quality of having double 
flowers, and thus remaining in blossom for a 
much longer period. Asa plant for the flower- 
border, It is indispensable, and it is valuable 
for cut flowers at all seasons of the year. 
Propagation is effected by cuttings, which 
should be taken from those plants that pro¬ 
duce the most perfect double flowers. 
Aspidistra lurida variegata, is an excel¬ 
lent plant for the window garden, on account 
our Hudson River grape trip, we should feel 
inclined to plant it more largely. The same 
may be said of the Agawam, No. 15, as both 
are grapes that please the eye and palate of 
nearly all my visitors—a good test. 
From experience and observation I conclude 
there is much confusion existing in regard to 
these hybrids of Mr. Rogers, both as to names 
and numbers. This is no doubt largely due 
to the fact that there are so many of them 
that are so nearly alike as hardly to 
be distinguishable by the most expert. 
If two or three at the most, comprising the 
best of each color, had bean selected and put 
upon triul and the rest all destroyed, we should 
have the cream of the whole collection, and 
avoid an immense amount of confusion and 
conflict of opinions. 
My Salmis I suppose to be Rogers’s No. 53, 
which 1 believe is generally accepted as the 
true number; but some designate it as No. 22. 
Now if these two numbers designate two dis¬ 
tinct grapes aud both are sent out as Salems, 
it will readily account for one cause of the 
difference of opinion existing among cultiva¬ 
tors regarding this grape. In conclusion, I 
can only say I like the Salem; and shall not 
discard it yet, though it is not entirely satis¬ 
factory, for the reasons above stated. 
Montclair, N. J. 
Farmers in this vicinity have discovered 
that one Jersey cow in the herd will color 
tbe butter as yellow as carrots. They used to 
grate them fine and churn these gratings with 
the cream when the cows were fed on hay, 
and so get a yellow tinge to the butter. This 
carroty butter will not keep so well with the 
vegetable substance mixed in it, and, more¬ 
over, it is apt to be streaked. The milk from 
the Jersey cow makes a uniform color, and 
does not affect the keeping qualities of the 
butter. It is not necessary to have a pure¬ 
bred Jersey cow to get this benefit. A high 
grade will do as well, and even a half-blood, 
if strongly marked with the Jersey character¬ 
istic, rich yellow milk. The farmers former¬ 
ly came in the Spring to get a few carrots to 
color the early-made butter, but now patron¬ 
ize the Jersey bulls and raise the heifer calves. 
Harrowing W heat in Spring.— Professor 
E. M. Shelton, of the Kansas Agricultural 
College Farm, made experiments with plats 
of Winter wheat, some of which he harrowed 
and others not. The difference in the product 
of the pints is giveu as follows: 
—i , ._ , Grain 
Plat A, Harrowed....17.18 
“ 8, Unbarrowed...ILK! 
“ C, Harrowed.12.40 
" D, Unharrowed.11.SB 
“ K. Harrowed. 10.13 
" K. Unhurrowed..14.53 
Av. .yield of harrowed plats.15.21 
" unharrowed plats..12.77 
Increased yield by harrowing., 2.44 
BOILED DOWN AND SEASONS D 
What a pity it is the world is not so made 
that sitting lazily in the sunshine all day can’t 
be called hard work, with good wages ap¬ 
pended. However, some people would grum¬ 
ble even then. 
One of the misfortunes which afflict many 
of us is that we want to eat the kernel with¬ 
out cracking the nut.. 
Esquire Davidson says he makes twice as 
much butter from the same number of Jersey 
cows as he formerly did from natives, with 
the same kind of feeding and treatment. He 
sells the butter from five to ten cents higher 
than other neighbors who do not keep Jerseys 
I 
