DEC 45 
is entitled to the entire credit of the disap¬ 
pearance of the worms. Market gardeners 
here tell me they have little fear of him if 
they only manure and plow the land late in 
the fall and put out cabbages in such large 
masses that there will be more cabbages than 
worms to prey upon them. And, by the way, 
may I be allowed here to relate the results of 
an experiment with a potash and phosphate 
fertilizer on a small patch of cabbages. A 
neighbor had given up because of the worms. 
They were taken in hand about the middle of 
August, and a handful of fertilizer given each 
plant twice a week. In a fortnight the but¬ 
terflies had disappeared. The plants were 
then hoed and the old earth taken away from 
the stems and replaced by new, and the ferti¬ 
lizers continued. The drought being quite 
severe, they were given one good watering. 
This treatment started a fresh growth, and 
by the first of Novtmber ot the entire 25, 23 
had made good average heads. 
I do not share the common hatred and dis¬ 
like of the English sparrow nor wish to dis¬ 
credit him or his work, the aim of this para¬ 
graph being to show, if it shows anything, 
how much may be done in a small way to get 
the better of insect depredatiou by the liberal 
use of fertilizers, assisted by irrigation, in the 
way of a little watering. 
The marks on the sacks containing the ferti¬ 
lizer, of which I have made use of two tons the 
present year are, total phosphoric acid, 11 to 
13 per cent.; available phosphoric acid, 9 to 
11 per cent.; insoluble phosphoric acid, 2 to 3 
per cent.; potash as sulphate, 0 to 8 per cent. 
A FARMER’S FARM NOTES. 
H. A. WHITTEMORE. 
Potato Fertilizer. —In many localities, 
and upon various kinds of soil, the special 
potato fertilizers have proved a great benefit 
with me. Ou one acre where this fertilizer 
was used at the rate of 300 pounds to the acre, 
and on another where 400 pounds were used, 
little difference could be seen in the yields. 
Through the piece on which 400 pounds were 
used four rows were left, two of w hich received 
no fertilizer and two that received a pint of 
unleached hardwood ashes to each hill. A 
marked difference was discernible in the 
growth of the vines, and in the product there 
was a vast difference both as to size and ap¬ 
pearance. The ashes produced about two- 
th'rds as many as the fertilizer, while the rows 
without any fertilizer yielded only one-half as 
much as on the rows where the fertilizer was 
applied. The treatment in every other respect 
was the same. Tnis was loamy, gravelly 
soil, in clover the year before. 
Save the Wastes. —I have known a man 
to buy and haul manure five miles that was so 
fire-fauged or burned that it was little better 
than straw. While he was doing this work 
there were about his barn and yard, fertili¬ 
zers of three times the value of the manure he 
hauled going to waste. The leaching from the 
yard was allowed to run into the road, the 
slops, soap suds, etc., followed suit, while 
every chance was in his favor to produce 
abundant fertilizers of the first quality, with 
half the expense. Upon his farm he had 
abundance of muck that would only cost the 
hauling. This, with the liquid wastes applied, 
would give a most gratifying result and be a 
lasting benefit. 
Wood. —The farmer who neglects the 
year’s supply of good, dry, wood, makes a 
great mistake. Be sure to have a year’s 
supply always on hand, and under cover. 
It is better than money at 10 per cent, in¬ 
terest. It saves in more ways than one. 
The gratification of a good fire is beyond 
estimate. The cheerful and happy wife as 
she sings the song of contentment, repays a 
hundredfold for the hard blows it requires to 
prepare the wood pile. Did you know it 
saved more than the extra work in the saving 
of the stove? It is the oxidation caused by 
the steam from green wood that corrodes and 
eats up your stoves. How annoying to be 
called fro or your work to prepare wood to 
cook the dinner with! Look to the wood-pile 
as soon as fall work is completed. 
Value of hen Manure.— Having a quan¬ 
tity of hen manure on hand in the spring of 
1888, i concluded to experiment a little. De¬ 
siring to test it side by side with other fertili¬ 
zers, I selected two acres of heavy clover sod 
(gravelly loam) and manured with stable 
manure at the rate of 20 two-horse loads to 
the acre, spread as drawn. When the clover 
was about 10 inches high, I plowed eight 
inches deep, put it in fine tilth with a wheel 
spring-tooth harrow and marked it in rows 
3x3)4 feet. I took my hen manure and mixed 
the most of it with land plaster at the rate of 
five parts of plaster to one of manure. Into 
each hill I put about a pint of this compound, 
ppveriug with dirt and planting to potatoes, 
On another set of rows I used the hen manure 
clear, on another I used ashes and plaster, 
on another ashes, and on another plaster. 
The result was so marked that those who ran 
might read. As I sold my farm before the 
crop was harvested I have no way of estima¬ 
ting the definite result, but I am sure it was as 
marked in the harvest as in the growth both 
in potatoes and corn. 
The hen manure and plaster ranked first 
while the plaster gave the least satisfaction 
though the yield there was better than in the 
rows where no fertilizers were used. 
Raspberries.— I have for a few years 
devoted a little land to the cultivation of the 
Gregg raspberry and the result has pleased 
me. Having a fine grove of Sugar maple 
trees near my house I secured several loads of 
leaves and very carefully mulched my rasp¬ 
berries as far as the leaves would go. The 
result was very perceptible, and those who 
picked the berries remarked improvement in 
both size and quality. In the spring I re¬ 
move and burn all last year’s wood. I plow 
or cultivate shallow each week between the 
rows until the bushes show the blossom, 
then cease all work until picking time. When 
new growth reaches the hight of 3)4 feet, 
pinch back and leave the vines until the time 
to mulch before the ground freezes. This 
treatment will generally result satisfactorily 
and will pay in heavily laden canes with 
large and delicious fruit. Be sure and mulch 
every year. 
Currants. —Coal ashes are among the best 
as a mulch for the currant bushes. To insure 
the best results from this delicious and appetiz¬ 
ing fruit, declare war to the knife upon all 
weeds, grass or any foreign matter. Before 
winter, a liberal supply of well-rotted manure 
should be applied about the bushes. Don’t 
allow the hills to become too large. Cut out 
all old or affected canes, and immediately 
burn them. At the first appearance of the 
worm use white hellebore, and usually one 
dusting will suffice, 
Erie Co., Pa. 
Postscripts. 
“I will not again let my grass stand so long 
before I commence mowing; not that I am 
an advocate of cutting grass green, but with 
a large crop in the field, and a small force to 
save it, we should take time by the forelock 
and commence as soon as the grass will do, 
beginning on the creeks and branches that are 
subject to over-flow, or where the grass is 
likely to lodge.” G. P, L., Bufordville, Va. 
-“The Thousandfold rye is a great 
success here and is in great demand, and it 
has not had a fair chance on a large scale yet. 
A neighbor of mine has sown about 40 acres 
of it this fall.” C. J. K., Alturas, California. 
-“The Flea-beetle is here. Some kinds of 
potatoes it injured very much; others it 
seemed not to relish so well. I have a num¬ 
ber of chance seedlings from the Pink-eye, 
which seeds tremendously, having nearly as 
big a crop of balls as of tubers. The chip¬ 
munks carried the balls off, and all around 
the edge of the clearing, the volunteer seed¬ 
lings came up. I have saved some of the most 
promising. Most of them are white, 
but some are just like the parent.” 
H. I. B., Port Oxford, Oregon.- 
“My neighbor that plowed in some 15 acres 
of corn, had as good corn as any in the valley. 
I expected that some of the many Professors 
would take me up on plowing in grass seed, 
wheat, and corn, but I have seen nothing from 
any of them.” G. W. G , Mandan, Dakota. 
-1 see that there have been some inquiries 
as to how to put up horse-radish roots. I 
find that the best and safest way is to get the 
roots dry, and then they can be ground or 
pounded in a mortar. I have kept the dry 
roots exposed in the air in my log cabin for 
two years, and they were as sharp as when 
first dug. When dry, pulverize and bottle for 
market. Give me the Rural before all 
other farm papers. J. S., Ashley, Utah- 
“Last spring I plowed a strip of fairly rich 
land and planted about two-thirds of it to 
early cabbages and the remainder to beans. 
Cut-worms destroyed the cabbages after they 
had made quite a good growth, so I decided to 
keep the land for celery. As weeds sprang 
up I ran a harrow over it a few times, des_ 
troy ing them and keeping the ground perfectly 
bare until the middle of July, when I re¬ 
moved the beans and planted the whole patch 
with corn, in drills, for fall feed. It came up 
evenly and appeared healthy and strong; but 
that planted where the beans had grown was 
a darker green than the other. I cut it on 
September 25th. That on the bean patch 
was about five feet high and growing 
vigorously, while that on the bare patch was 
a sickly yellow and only J4 inches high. 
Something had escaped fj-ppi the soij while it 
was exposed to the sun 1” Fred Grundy, 
Christian Co., Ills.-This section lies close 
to the foot of the Big Horn Mountains and 
contains some of the richest agricultural land 
in the world. Our staple crops are wheat and 
oats, while all kinds of small grains and all 
vegetables give an enormous yield. This is as 
fine a country for potatoes as could be de¬ 
sired. Manure at the present time is at a 
discount. We have no use for it only to kill 
the alkali in the old buffalo wallows that we 
may strike in plowing. The soil close to the 
mountains is a rich black loam loose and 
sandy, grading off as one leaves the hills into 
gray and finally red; but all is rich. We de¬ 
pend on irrigation almost entirely though 
fair crops can be raised without it. This is a 
great cattle country although the granger 
is steadily encroaching on the great 
ranges and driving the stock-men closer 
to the “bad lands” every year. B. 
H. Banner, Wyoming Territory.- 
“I want to say an approving word for 
the Rural’s cartoons. The same space if 
filled with type could not more forcibly de¬ 
pict the evils to which they refer. The evil 
shown up at Fig 303, page 723, in particular 
strikes at an outrage so national and so op¬ 
pressive upon the people of the whole country, 
that if our Congress fails to suppress these 
trusts, the people should very soon select a 
Congress that will. It can no longer be 
said that competition is the life of 
trade.” C. C. W., Grand Bay, Ala. 
Wflnum’s XDork. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUISE TAPLIN. 
CHAT BY THE WAY. 
A Handy towel rack for a room where 
space is limited is made as follows: Take 
two small wooden hoops; such as are used for 
embroidery frames will do nicely. They 
should be about five inches across, gild or 
stain them, and fasten a yard of pretty rib- - 
bon to each. Tie them together with a good 
bow, so that the ribbons are an uneven length, 
making the hoops hang one above the other. 
Fasten to the wall by a loop at the back of the 
bow, and slip a towel tnrougn each hoop—a 
pretty trifle in a room, and less in the way 
than a standing rack, where there is little 
space to spare. 
* * * 
It is quite certain that tea or coffee cannot 
be really well flavored if the pot is not always 
thoroughly cleaned. In many cases it merely 
has the leaves or grounds emptied out, and is 
then lightly rinsed and put away. Properly, 
it should be well-rubbed and dried; every two 
or three days it should be well scrubbed with 
hot water in which a little soda is dissolved. 
This is especially necessary with the coffee pot; 
it soon becomes coated inside with a greasy, 
black deposit. As for making tea or coffee, 
every woman feels that her way is the best— 
each one to her taste. But we know a great 
many women who are guflty of boiling both. 
It is bad enough to boil coffee, but it is a posi¬ 
tive crime to so misuse tea. It is best to make 
this after the English fashion; pour just 
enough freshly-boiling water over the leaves 
to scald them, and let it stand about ten 
minutes; then fill up the pot with boiling 
water. As for coffee, if it is carefully made in 
one of the so-called French coffee-pots, or in 
an ordinary vessel provided with a bag, there 
will be no necessity^ for eggs or any other sub¬ 
stance as a clarifier. 
* * * 
Cocoa and chocolate are both delicious and 
nourishing driuks wffiich the average house¬ 
keeper rarely makes well. The trouble in 
many cases is that there is not enough of the 
material used, and it simply makes the milk 
taste sickly. Chocolate requires more care 
in making, and is rather more expensive than 
cocoa. It is really no trouble to make the 
latter, as put up by a well-known English 
firm, and it is an excellent thing for the chil¬ 
dren’s breakfast during the winter. It must 
also be most highly recommended to nursing 
mothers, providing additional nutriment for 
the extra strain on the system. And, im¬ 
portant to lean and angular girls, it is a great 
thing for rounding out curves and giving a 
generous covering of flesh. 
* * * 
W hen we are both tired and shivery, these 
chilly days, our favorite reviver is a cup of 
hot milk. It is just brought to the scalding 
point, and drank as hot as possible. The doc¬ 
tors declare that It is a most efficacious stim¬ 
ulant, and it certainly is most comforting. 
Many people do not care for boijed milk, yet 
it is often found more digestible than in t}ie 
uucooked state. In the hot weather all our 
i»ijk for fttduly pse is spalde*} before being 
put away, because this keeps it sweet much 
longer than otherwise. Milk which has stood 
long enough for the cream to rise is scalded 
for the purpose of giving clotted cream, much 
relished on fruit. To make this iu Devonshire 
style, each pan should stand in another con¬ 
taining water, to prevent any danger of 
burning. The milk is not allowed to boil; it 
is removed as soon as the cream looks set, and 
begins to wrinkle on top. 
* * * 
Can any one tell us whether it is more diffi¬ 
cult than usual to churn cream which has 
been slightly frozen ? We have had this mis¬ 
fortune once or twice, and always felt doubt¬ 
ful about churning this cream. 
h= * * 
It is a noticeable fact that economy and 
neatness go hand in hand. This may be 
especially noted in clearing away the dishes 
after a meal. A woman who is both neat 
and careful does not leave remnants on the 
dishes; she puts the meat in a clean plate, 
scrapes all the gravy from the platter and 
puts that away, with any left on the gravy 
dish, with an eye to future hash or soup. 
She puts by bits of broken bread, or scraps of 
cake, everything in its own place. Economy 
without order and neatness is impossble, nor 
is it necessary to write economy and spell stin¬ 
giness. 
A BIT ABOUT BAZARS. 
Every year something new is demanded 
in the line of bazars; it is very hard to keep 
up interest—and coax out dollars—without 
great tax on the inventive faculties. A very 
handsome bazar of the year recently seen 
gave some ideas in decoration, but this is 
quite an elaborate undertaking, requiring the 
expenditure of both time and money. A 
separate booth is taken to represent each 
month in the year, and is laden with articles 
supposed to correspond, while the costumes 
harmonize with the idea. For example, Sep¬ 
tember being the harvest month, the booth 
represented a corner in a field; a post and 
rail fence around it, and it was decorated with 
corn, pumpkins, and sunflowers. The stock 
for sale consisted of fruit. October was the 
out-door month, and here the saleswomen 
wore gay temis suits, draped with nets, and 
decorated with racquets. They sold all sorts 
of out-door toys and equipments. The booths 
in many cases had a large sign above, repre¬ 
senting the zodiacal emblem of the month. 
Of course this was a very large affair, with 
its 12 large stalls; a less ambitious and still 
pretty fair can be made of a bazar of seasons. 
Four booths should be taken, representing 
spring, summer, autumn and winter. 
The spring booth might be circular, covered 
with a large Japanese umbrella, as a sugges¬ 
tion of spring showers. The upright supports 
may be covered with loose cotton batting, 
sprinkled with “diamond dust,” and orna¬ 
mented by paper flowers—a suggestion of the 
changeable season. All sorts of fancy 
articles may be sold here, and the attendants 
might wear simple costumes after the style of 
European peasants. Summer should be the 
flower booth, and the attendants should dress 
in colors to represent various flowers. 
Autumn should be devoted to out-door sports, 
and here the costumes might be tennis suits 
or nright hired riding habits,with fancy jockey 
caps. The booth might be covered with an 
awning, and draped with tennis nets, caught 
up by racquets and whips. Winter should be 
adorned with snow (cotton batting), and a 
liberal allowance of evergreens. All sorts of 
toys may be sold, and the costumes are either 
fur-trimmed fancy dresses, after the Russian 
style, or e se blanket toboggan suits. A little 
taste and ingenuity will vary both booths and 
costumes, and a very pleasing result is ob 
tained, which usually succeeds in a financial 
sense. patty garton. 
NETTIE’S NEST AND HOW SHE LINED 
IT. 
ALICE CHITTENDEN. 
For the benefit of young people just start¬ 
ing in life, who long for a pretty, cosy home, 
and having the taste to enjoy beautiful things, 
have very little money wherewith to gratify 
that taste, lam going to tell how a couple of 
dear young friends of mine furnished their 
When Baby was sick, we gave her Castoria, 
When she was a Child, she cried for Castoria, 
When she became Miss, she clung to Castoria, 
When she had Children, she gave them Castori^ 
