THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
a drop of iodine will turn it blue; if itcoiitains 
coloring matter, like annatto, ammonia water 
will change it te a brownish hue. For the pres¬ 
ence of uuy salt, likesoda or saltpeter, cook dry 
about a spoonful of the milk; add a little 
water to the residue, stir until dissolved, and 
moisten a slip of paper with it; present this 
<v 
is 
DD 
Grass * 
f) v 0 o Ava 
11 Gra» and 
/ M Evergreens. 
\ Pears and.Xx S 
\\ EvergreensJJ'g 
I VCSosep / °- 
Plan ok House Ground. Fig. 173. 
to a Hume; if it produces a yellow tinge, the 
milk contains soda—if the flame is pink, salt¬ 
peter. The flume should be the colorless one 
of an alcohol lamp. 
This custom of adulteration is of vital im¬ 
portance, and to devise some method by which 
it may lie completely suppressed, seems impos¬ 
sible. Medical societies have described its 
dangerous effects, Health Boards have pro¬ 
vided certain restrictions, and State legisla¬ 
tion has enacted laws, but all to little purpose, 
since the habit still exists, and people are, iu 
fact, devising new plans by which the same 
purpose may be furthered. JAS. u. m. 
H\)t Vmnjart). 
HINTS ABOUT GRAPE GROWING. 
J. B. ARMSTRONG. 
In California we practice sulphuring the 
vines to prevent mildew, grape-rot and blight, 
known under the various scientific names 
proper to these diseases. When the newly- 
grown cums are from ten to fifteen inches 
long, putting forth blossoms, men go into the 
vincyauLs with dredges made of tin cans, like 
un overgrown pepper-box, with or without 
handles attached, and rapidly Bprinkle the 
leaven and tendrils with flowers of sulphur. 
This is usually done in the morning when the 
leaves are wet with dew, so that the sulphur 
will stick for several days. Another applica¬ 
tion is often made three or lour weeks later. 
1 hei e are no after effects imparting the taste 
or smell of brimstone to the berries; for, long 
befoie they ripen, the substance is blown away 
by the u nod, or worn off by the rustling leaves, 
it is the only effectual remedy in use here. 
Though we grow more varieties of grapes, 
and many of tenderer kinds, such as are only 
raised under glass in the Atlantic States, the 
conditions Cf grape culture are not so differ 
out, butvthut many valuable hints might be of 
service to the industry there. For instance, 
it is well known to viticulturists that some 
kinds of vines are hard to root, and of slow 
glovvih when started. Here all sorts take root 
readily from the slip: they require iu colder 
climates considerable care. It is Often de¬ 
sirable to fruit new sorts us soon as possible, 
without waiting the slow process of rooliug 
the cuttings. \V e resort to grafting, auil some¬ 
times get a bunch or two the same' season. 
1 have bad good success with the Delaware 
grafted on the Clinton, which was used lie- 
cause it is a strong grower, and for the fur¬ 
ther reason, of interest to us iu California, it 
is phy lloxera-proof. However, grafts do very 
w ell on any other stock. 
About the time this letter will appear is as 
good as any for grafting iu the Northern 
States. Dig the earth away from four to six 
inches below the surface around vour old 
vine. With a sharp saw or knife cut off the 
old viue and slip iu one or two grafts, clelt 
fashion, leaving a hud on each above the 
surface. The graft does not need waxing or 
w rapping, if a tolerable job is done. The soil, 
replaced and pressed down, will protect it so 
that it nearly always grows. During the Sum¬ 
mer look out for suckers and break them off, or 
the growth from the graft willdwindle. Itdoes 
not matter, here, whether the cions have been 
laid away in waitiug. I would just as soon 
cut them from the cuue to be propagated ami 
graft the same day as auy way, even though 
the buds may be swelled a little, unless the 
viue bleeds too freely. In that event defer your 
grafting. 
Professional viticulturists, everywhere, 
know that grafting is very simple and success¬ 
ful. They practice it to get new sorts soon in 
stock. Sulphuring is always resorted to here 
to save the crop, as without it we might, not 
succeed half the time. There is no harm in 
publishing these facts, broadcast, every year 
for general information. They cannot l>e too 
well known. Allow me to state for the en¬ 
couragement. of all interested that, though 
Black Ham burgs, Golden Chaaselas and the 
like, are objects of envy where people cannot 
raise them, if they will take pains to grow the 
Delaware, for example, they will have a hardy 
table grape nearly the equal of any of them. 
There may lie new varieties, perhaps fully as 
good; but the writer is not familiar with them. 
Cloverdale, Cal. 
--*♦«- 
THE POCKLINGTON GRAPE. 
A Rural correspondent complains that the 
Pockiingtou Grape “does not come up to the 
recommendations bestowed upon it by those 
interested in its sale,” and that it makes but 
little growth. I bought one vine last Spring, 
and planted it in soil slightly fertilized with 
leaf mold, and the vine made a most vigorous 
growth, a portion of which I layered, and this 
Spring 1 hud 20 plants, larger and better rooted 
than tlio original; and the branches, which 
were not layered, throe in number, attained 
the length of six feet, with numerous side 
shoots produced by pinching the main shoot. 
Of course, I had no grujs?s; but if it pro¬ 
duces fruit in accordance with its growth of 
vine, it will be the grape for Arkansas. 
Beebe, Ark. s. w. B. 
THE BUFFALO MOTH, 
BEETLE. 
OR CARPET 
The Buffalo Moth, or Carpet Beetle, as it is 
called by some, is one of the most injurious 
members of the Dermestidse, a family of bee¬ 
tles noted for their distinctiveness. The muse¬ 
um pest (Antbrenus musicarum), a near rela¬ 
tive of the Buffalo Moth, belongs to this 
family, aud every one possessing ft collection 
of natural li.story specimens, lias been trou¬ 
bled more or less by its ravages. The Buffalo 
Moth (Anthremis aerophulariaj seems U> con¬ 
fine itself to carpets, rugs, woolens and furs, 
and is one of the greatest enemies the house¬ 
keeper has to contend against. The pests hide 
themselves iu nooks and crannies of the floor, 
under carpets, behind pictures, and in laid- 
away clothing, and are exccdingly difficult to 
destroy. 
The amount of destruction effected by these 
insects is almost incredible. Dr. Packard, in 
speaking of ail iuvasion of a dwelling in Cold 
Springs, N. Y., during the absence of the futn- 
ly for a year, says: “They took complete pos¬ 
session from attic to collar, in every uook aud 
crevice of the floors, under matting and ear 
pets, aud behind pictures, eating everything iu 
their way.” They seem omnivorous; they eat 
everything they come across— carpets, mat¬ 
ting, rugs, woolens, cotton goods, furs, paper, 
aud even leather, although they generally re¬ 
strict themselves to carpets, rugs, woolens and 
furs. This destructive, though to the natural¬ 
ist, interesting beetle, has, like all other in¬ 
sects, three stages of growth. It first emerges 
from the egg a small white worm; a thick 
growth of dark-brown hair next appears, com¬ 
pletely covering the uaked little body. It uow 
looks like a little buffalo, hence one of its 
common names. The change to the pupa or 
second stage, and to the imago or perfect 
form, is carried on withlu the skin. On the 
approach of Winter, the skin splits down the 
back, and t he little lieetle steps forth after dis¬ 
robing itself of all encumbrances. I have of¬ 
ten watched it during this peculiar operation, 
and it is a very curious sight. The beetle is 
dark brown in color, with a bright red stripe 
down the center of the back; the elytra, or 
wing cases, are ornamented yvith dashes of 
red; the legs are dark brown and the eyes a 
brilliant, jetty black. 
It is the larva of the insect which is destruc¬ 
tive, the imago or beetle being harmless. It 
should be destroyed, however, whenever seen 
on account of its oviparous propensities. Few 
persons are familiar with the latter, and there¬ 
fore it often escapes, simply because it is not 
recognized. When disturbed, it rolls itself up 
into a little ball, and resembles a grain of or¬ 
dinary dirt, aud in ibis state it is often swept 
up and thrown out uninjured, only to make 
its w ay again into the house, and prove more 
destructive than ever. 
There are several methods used for the ex¬ 
termination of the pests. If they live in the 
crevices between the boards forming the floor, 
it is a good plan to fill these with some poison¬ 
ous substance. Paris-green and borax have 
been tried w itboutinuch good resulting; salt,or 
cotton saturated with kerosene, has been used 
with t>etter success. Some advocate benzine, 
but as this is so inflammable, and consequent 
ly dangerous, it is not to be thought of An 
excellent plan is to fill the cracks with ace 
ment made by mixing fine sand and oil to 
gether, and addinga little common cement un 
til the mass acquires a pasty consistency. This 
is rubbed into the cracks, and on drying be¬ 
comes as hard as stone, and so imprisons the 
insects, which quickly die. A very effective 
way of killing them is to pour a mixture of 
boiling water, strong potash lye, and washing 
soda into the place where they are s-upposed 
to be; some, however, are so tenacious of life 
that even this does not affect them. 
It is only within the past ten years that the 
Buffalo Moth has appeared in this country, 
and it was not until 187(5 that this beetle was 
examined by entomologists. At at out that 
time, Dr. Lin ter, the well known entomolo¬ 
gist of New York, reared some of them, and 
after watching the different phases of their 
life, sent specimens to the late Dr. Le Conte, 
who pronounced them identical with the Eu- 
ropean species, Authrenus scrophularia. A bout 
the sumo time. Dr. Fuller had specimens sent 
him from Central New York, and on compar¬ 
ing them with the Anthreni in the cabinet of 
Dr. Le Conte, named them A. lepidus. To 
prevent a misunderstanding, Dr. Le Conte ex¬ 
plained that the insects labeled A. lepidus la 
his collection, were sent him from California in 
1850, where they were found on flowers; and 
that they differed from A. scrophularia in 
having the sutural line white instead of red, 
but that they were in all probability but a va¬ 
riety of the former. e. a. congdon. 
Pomfllogkffl 
RAWLE’S JANET AND AMERICAN 
GOLDEN RUSSET. 
a note from charlks.downing. 
Henry Ward Bkkchkk, in his notice of 
the American Golden Russet, appears to have 
been unfortunate in his efforts to obtain the 
true variety, and one reason probably is that 
there are several so-called American Golden 
Russets, but 1 cannot now call to mind a dis¬ 
tinct American Golden Russet, and think my 
late brother, A. J, Downing, made a mistake 
when he changed the name of Bullock Pippin 
to American Golden Russet, for the reason 
that many, supposing it to be new, ordered 
trees of it when they already had it as the 
Bullock Pippin. It is but little known in the 
Eastern States, and not to much extent in 
New York, but it is much better known in 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware aud 
Maryland, aud if Mr. Beecher bad ordered the 
Bullock Pippin or Sheep-nose, he would, no 
doubt, have obtained the variety he desired. 
His best way now is to procure grafts of the 
true kind from some Ih-u ring tree, and insert 
them iu the tops of his trees tliat have not 
proved true to name, and this will give him 
an abundance of fruit in much less tune than 
if he planted young trees. 
William Coxc, in his work on fruits, pub¬ 
lished in 1817, says: “The Bullock Pippin is a 
native of Burlington County, N. Jaud de¬ 
rived its name (Bullock Pippin) from the 
family of Bullock,” which is quite as proper as, 
aud more appropriate than the long name of 
American Golden Russett: it would also have 
prevented the confusion spoken of. 
The apple, as Mr. Beecher says, is of the 
highest quality, and is among apples what the 
Seckel is among pears; the tree is a good 
grower, and an abundaut bearer, but it re¬ 
quires an annual dressiug of composted ma¬ 
nure, ashes, etc..with good cultivation, to pro¬ 
duce fine fruit, which will reward the grower 
for all his care, expense uud labor. This 
apple is but little grown now, on account of 
its small size, aud not being in demand, but 
few nurserymen grow it, and but few have 
it iu their select lists. A large number of pur¬ 
chasers iu the city market prefer a large, 
showy apple that is sour enough almost to 
make a pig squeal, and which is unfit either to 
eat, or for culinary purposes, requiring too 
much sugar to make it palatable, and this 
makes it more indigestible. 
A NOTE FROM PRES. LYON. 
In the notice of the above apples, by Rev. 
Henry Ward Beecher, in the Rural of May 
17, 1 observe certain conclusions which, to my 
apprehension, should be accepted with more 
or less reservation, dependent upon locality. 
Rawle's Genet is a native of Virginia, and, as 
is true of all apples originating in the Valley 
of the Ohio and southward, the tree is even 
more hardy at the extreme North, eastward of 
the Prairie States, than the average native of 
that latitude. The locality spoken of is, doubt- 
, ] esSi on very nearly the northern limit of the 
successful cultivation of this apple. Farther 
north, as the rule, therfruit loses iu both qual¬ 
ity and size: while an increased tendency to 
overbear becomes manifest. 
Mr. Downing only rates it second or third 
in quality, in its native region. In latitude 
43 c , it would hardly rank higher than fourth. 
In the habit of late blooming, it has a rival 
in the Northern Spy, which, at the North, is 
a very much more desirable fruit, in spite of 
certain serious drawbacks. Usability to with¬ 
stand freezing will scarcely be deemed im¬ 
portant to the careful and thorough grower, 
since it is certain to lose iu both flavor and 
keeping if allowed to freeze, and the tho¬ 
roughly careful will rurely venture the ex¬ 
periment. 
I have grown the genuine American Golden 
Russet (Bullock’s Pippin, or Sheep nose) since 
1850, having received it from Eastern New 
York. It cannot be esteemed valuable north 
of the Ohio Valley, since farther north it 
shows a tendency to overbear, aud the fruit 
becomes scabby and inqierfect. It also, ap¬ 
parently, loses something of flavor, although, 
eveu In this latitude (451°). its flavor is excellent. 
Both these varieties afford a good illustra¬ 
tion of the necessity of selecting varieties of 
fruit to be planted, with due reference to the 
localities, not to say latitudes, in which they 
are found to lie most successful. 
With a somewhat extended experience at 
the North with fruits of Southern origin, the 
most promising Southern apple for cultiva¬ 
tion at the North with which I am acquainted, 
is Grimes’s Golden. 
HOW TO TRIM A FRUIT TREE. 
GEN. WM, H. NOBLE, BRIDGEPORT, CONN. 
No man should start out to trim a fruit tree 
on a theory not based on what is wanted from 
its growth. A good many act and talk about 
the business just as if a Truit tree were grown 
for its timber. But lhe thing wanted out of a 
fruit tree is its fruit; this Is down to the hard- 
pan as to the purpose of its culture. 
The way to trim a tree is that which gives 
us the most luscious harvest. It’s the sun that 
helps to this return for our care. The right 
pruning, therefore, Is that which leaves the 
tree spray so that the sun cau tint with its 
pencil, and ripen by the chemistry of its rays, 
every fruit. 
Most men begin the work in the lower 
limbs, and top them until, year by year, the 
tree takes a form as lank as a lean and feath¬ 
er-stripped turkey But the place to begin is 
at the top, unless the maze of criss-cross 
branches puzzles your downward sight and 
work. If so, cut out first those interlacing 
limbs; then, starting from the true top, so 
lop the limbs and sprays as to leave none to 
chafe its fellows, and that each radiating 
branch may stretch from the trunk or main 
limbs out yard into a space open to the sun 
and air all around its fronds and foliage. It 
needs, besides the wit to judge about this 
business, a good deal of couruge to rightly 
prune. Most men are timid about the duty; 
they fear lest the cutting out of so much wood, 
will shorten the crop. Have no such fears; uo 
well-bearing tree does its best unless the fruit 
is thinned. Though the number will be less, 
the itetter size will make the quantity about 
the same, and the quality far superior. Bo, if 
you thin out the branches, you virtually thiu 
the fruit, without the job of picking off the 
little settings, and at the same time open the 
tree to sun aud air. There are fewer men 
who have the courage to thin their fruits, 
than to prune thoroughly. 
As to dwarf trees, it used to be the plan and 
counsel of orchardists to cut in first, before 
much swelling of the buds, about half the last 
year’s growth. I don’t think that counsel 
wise. A dwarf tree (according to the experi 
euee of that veteran nurseryman and pomo- 
logist, C. M. Hovey, aud mine), never fruits 
well till you leave it to shout up as it lists. 
All you need do is to stake it, if the slender 
roots do not stay its •‘wabble” in the wind, 
and to thiu the fruit sets, if too many for a 
perfect crop. 
> ' " 1 — 
; farm (Logics. 
CRUDE PETROLEUM AS A WOOD PRE¬ 
SERVATIVE. 
I believe crude petroleum to be the 
cheapest and best wood preservative ever 
discovered. Fresh, light petroleum, if applied 
warm, will penetrate—if the wood is dry—al¬ 
most as readily ts water, and when wood is 
once thoroughly saturated, “it is there to 
stay”—w ater will not wash it out. I am now, 
and have been for years, a producer of crude 
petroleum, and I have yet to find a board or 
piece of timber connected, or otherwise, w ith 
the works, that had been once saturated, 
which is not sound where the oil had touch 
