(Continued f rom page 251.) 
interested in blueberry culture, which is 
extensively practiced in this section. I grow 
three or four hundred bushels each year, and 
here is the result of many years’ experience 
and personal observations for the benefit of 
Rural readers:— 
In spite of any assertions to the contrary, 
blueberries will not grow in cultivated 
ground, neither can they be grown from root- 
cuttings, nor can their tips be layered. The 
only possible way to transplant them is to 
cut a sod from a matted berry patch and 
transplant it into sod ground. An old, woru- 
out pasture makes the best berry land. A 
transplanted sod will spread, rapidly killing 
out all grass and ■weeds, but the vines surely 
stop spreading on reaching broken ground. 
When the berry pasture is once established, 
all the care it needs is to keep out trees and 
bushes, and burn the lot over every four or 
five years to get rid of the dead wood. Of 
course, that year’s crop is lost; but a double 
one is produced the next year to pay for the 
loss. A good pasture will yield from 25 to 50 
bushels per acre. Cattle will eat the blossoms 
from the vines, if they get a chance, but will 
not meddle with them otherwise. A few 
years ago berries were shipped in bulk in old 
boxes, butter firkins, etc., and, of course, 
brought very unsatisfactory prices. They are 
now sent In round quart boxes packed in 
open bushel crates. Nine-tenths of them are 
picked up by dealers from farmers who ship 
them to market, and after taking out their 
expense and profit, divide what is left among 
their customers, according to the number of 
quarts received from them, irrespective of 
the quality of their berries. The remaining 
tenth of the growers own their own boxes and 
ship their own berries, and as they are inter¬ 
ested in having their berries honestly picked, 
get more satisfactory prices. Pickers are 
hired on shares and during the season they 
flock to the pastures from city and town, 
from factories and from colleges, all eager for 
money and a good time. Boarding in farm 
houses, camping out in tents or shanties, they 
lead a healthy, hard-working, jolly, out-door 
life. A good picker will pick from one to 
two bushels a day. Although tiresome, it is 
fascinating work, and many of the same 
pickers will return year after year, I do not 
know where the New York market gets its 
blueberries; but Boston is supplied principally 
from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine 
and Nova Scotia. The season lasts from the 
first of July till into September, s. A. H. 
New Boston, N. H. 
AN IMPROVED GARDEN LINE. 
It is a common cotton cord about one-eightli 
of an inch in diameter, with knots 28 inches 
apart. It should be long enough for the rows 
intended to be planted, and can be sighted by 
the eye, when in use, till perfectly straight. 
By keeping the end knot in range with two 
I>oles at one end of the plot and always setting 
the plauts on the same side of the line close to 
it, they will be nicely planted for working 
both ways, and if varieties of free-running 
habit are chosen, full beds can be grown in 
this way. In my own case, I set two runners 
from each plant in the row, keeping all others 
off, and secured splendid rows for next year’s 
fruiting. Some Crescents measured 28 inches 
across the plants. 
With such a line knotted at proper inter¬ 
vals, cabbage, tomato or corn, and perhaps 
many other seeds, can be planted with satis¬ 
faction, The advantages claimed for this 
method are, that no horse is needed to mark 
out the lines; that the lines will be much 
straighter aud the soil will be left in a better 
coudition.for after cultivation. When 1 first 
used such a line I marked it with ink; but 
this soon become colored with the soil, so that 
it couldn’t be seen. ‘ ,p - ” 
CODLING! WORM HABITS AND RAV¬ 
AGES. 
The moth harmless; its progeny hurtful; 
habits and havoc of the larvas; migration 
of the pests; mistakes of “scientists;” dif¬ 
ferences in habits of curly and later 
broods; remedies. 
The codling moth (Carpocapsa pomonella) 
is powerless to puncture fruit as the plum 
weevil and some other insects do. Hence no 
blemish or injury is ever occasioned by it. 
The mouth parts of Tortrices or leaf-rollers, to 
which it belongs, are very rudimentary, aud 
the insect takes but little, if auy, food from 
flower or fruit during its wiuged life. It is 
the moth’s progeny that work all the mischief 
charged against this most formidable of 
orchard pests, which infest apples, pears, 
quinces and even plums aud peaches. The feed- 
jkt uta» 
acre. This would allow one-half gill to a 
plant and place the plants in rows 20 inches 
apart and 12 inches in the row. From an acre 
of sunflowers we believe the birds would seed 
the whole township. 
A French Method op Keeping Potatoes, 
practiced by country people with the stock 
forborne use and also by hotel and restaurant 
owners, is described by La Journal d'Agricul¬ 
ture. A large vessel of water is placed over 
the fire and its contents raised to the boiling 
point. Washed potatoes are placed in a 
basket or net. and quickly dropped into the 
water, where they are kept for four seconds. 
Before a fresh lot of potatoes is immersed, the 
water must be allowed to rise to the boiling 
point again. Each lot of tubers, as soon as 
lifted out, is spread on the floor in a well aired 
place to dry. When all have been treated in 
this way, they are stored away in a (by, cool 
place. There is no tendency whatever to ger¬ 
minate, aud the potatoes will remain sound 
and well flavored all through Winter, Spring 
and Summer until the next crop comes in. 
for the orifice is very often situated above 
the internal galleries. There is very little 
refuse or dirt to be disposed of. The worm 
resorts to the outer surface of the apple quite 
frequently by day if the opening is hidden 
by a leaf; otherwise it comes out during the 
ing of the worm in the calyx causes a fluted 
growth of the surrounding surface, aud pro¬ 
duces au apple of a flattened shape, changing a 
conical apple into a very oblate one, (Fig. 161). 
N** R.N-Y. 
Fig. 16L 
The injuiy induces premature ripening as 
well as the falling and decay of the fruit. 
As a rule, in case of the early part of the 
first brood, the burrows of the larvae are from 
the calyx to the core. IV ith sul&equent 
hatches, there is a decided difference of habit, 
as seen in fruit which attains full growth and 
conies to the pickers 1 notice. The young 
worm eats out a little cavity under the calyx 
towards the core. Very seldom does it pass 
to the core from the calyx. Harris relates 
that the larva burrows gradually from the 
eye to the core and through the apple in 
various directions, and to get rid of the refuse 
fragments, “it gnaws a round hole through 
the side of the apple, and thrusts them out of 
the opening.” He represented the insect as 
remaining its whole larval life in the same 
apple and burrow, whereas exact observation 
shows that emigration is a very constant 
habit. This emigration theory was first ad¬ 
vanced by the late S. B. Peck, of Michigan, 
who claimed to have made the discovery of 
this peculiarity in 1872, and he sturdily pro¬ 
claimed it in several publications and at fruit 
meetings and in the Rural of 1882, page 689, 
where it is shown that several experts accept 
his views. In a letter to me early in 1883, he 
asserts their natural disposition to wander, 
whether on tree or in fruit house. He notices 
that a worm may back out of a burrow before 
fairly in, and then gnaw a new passage into 
another apple. Heclaims,further, tliataworin, 
after gaining half its growth at most, never 
remains over 48 hours iu the same apple. 
Thus he reckoned that often a single worm 
visits a dozen apples. Emigration is a fact. 
The worms feed only a short time under the 
calyx where the egg batched. They wander 
by night to the cheek of the same apple or to 
others, cutting grooves and passages into the 
fruit. They also gnaw many incipient bur¬ 
rows or shallow pits which I have found on 
July mornings freshly cut. This sort of in¬ 
jury partially heals up, though the bordering 
peel remains discolored; but the apple is not 
hastened iu ripening by it. Finally, the wonu 
cuts from the shelter of a leaf or even openly 
ou the cheek a round passage inwards to the 
core, not as Harris says outwards from the 
core. The connecting thread-like passage be¬ 
tween the slight excavations at the calyx aud 
the large ones at the core, us shown at b, I ig. 
102, cannot often be found iu nature. 
Slag Wool. —The production and indus¬ 
trial application of this article are*largely in¬ 
creasing in Europe. By the action of strong 
jets of steam the slag from iron works is 
transformed into a fibrous, whitish, silicate, 
cotton, which, being mineral, is incombus¬ 
tible, like asbestos. It is advantageously and 
extensively used in England, we are told by 
the Builder, in the construction of new houses, 
especially those with Mansard roofs, the space 
between the interior panneling and the ex¬ 
terior covering of zinc, slate or tin, being 
filled with slag wool, the effect being to afford 
protection from the rigor of frost iu Winter, 
aud from intense heat iu Bummer. It also 
prevents the freezing and bursting of taps, 
spouts and water-pipes covered by it, in severe 
weather. We have not seen any account of 
its use in this country, but if the claims 
made for it ore true, it will doubtless be in¬ 
troduced here also. 
occurs. There the eggs are lam on appu * 
which very soon become ripe, fall, and 
decay before the worm gets its growth. I 
find that many harvest apples falling from 
ripeness, contain each a worm not half grown. 
These do not attain their growth in that 
year, but sustain a meager existence in the 
decayed apples, migrating from one to an¬ 
other. The decayed apples are reduced to 
mere scraps by last of the following May, 
and still the worms are feodiug in them, 
sometimes three in a remnant, eating up 
the last particle, and often some of the pests 
are devoured by those which survive. These 
get on the wing very late, and form an in¬ 
termediate brood, and thus extern! the over¬ 
lapping of the early brood. The last of the 
eggs laid from this retarded summer brood, 
bringiug, the following year, summer moths, 
attain oidy one brood a year, aud some of 
the regular first brood are also restricted to 
one, while it is quite certain some reach 
three. The last brood is found at October, 
picking, in a young stage of growth, in the 
calyx, or else iu under a leaf resting ou the 
fruit, or at the conjuncture of two apples, 
where the moth sometimes lays the egg. 
This brood disfigures larger quantities of 
fruit until then perfect. 
Where sheep and swine are given the prop¬ 
er run of an orchard, marked benefits are 
always observed. Nearly all of the first 
brood fall to the ground iu the fruit, aud 
are devoured. The use of arsenical com¬ 
pounds has proved of great advantage. With 
the excellent spraying machine nowin use, a 
flue mist of Paris-green water can be dis¬ 
tributed to every apple and leaf, so it can 
be counted an effective remedy. At first It 
was thought to deter the moth from egg 
laying on fruit thus treated. Now, it is 
kuowu egg laying continues as usual, but 
the minute worm is poisoned with its first 
morsel of apple peel, filmed as it is with 
Paris-green. This remedy was used in 1876, 
and, first announced to the public by Mr. 
J. S. Woodward, at a meeting of the West¬ 
ern New York Horticultural Society, at 
Rochester, N. Y. The moth’s eyes resemble 
the butterfly’s, and are exteriorly different 
from those of light-attracted moths, and it 
cannot be attracted even by an electric 
lie-bt. w. l. dkvereacx. 
The Utilization of Feathers of various 
kinds until lately considered worthless has 
become a valuable industry in France, as we 
learn from the Journal d'Agricult are. Those 
obtained from ducks, chickens, turkeys aud 
wild fowl or any birds killed as game, are 
trimmed from the stems, which may be thrown 
away. The plumes are then used to make 
feather cloth or blankets wlncli are exceeding¬ 
ly light and very warm. When separates! 
from the stems, the plumes are put in a bag 
which is tightly closed, and then they are‘Sub¬ 
jected to rubbing between the bauds, as in 
washing clothes. By this means the fibers 
ore, in a few minutes, separated from each 
other, and form a perfectly homogeneous and 
very light down, which by a simple operation 
cau tw made into quite a variety of coverings 
aud other household objects at a trilling cost. 
BY THE SHORT WAY. 
Care and Management ok Farm Stock. 
—Warren Brown recently spoke to the farm¬ 
ers of New England, who meet every week iu 
Boston,upon the subject of the care aud man¬ 
agement of farm stoek. The Massachusetts 
Ploughman gives short-hand reports of the 
proceedings,from which wo guthcr many val- 
uble items. Mr. Browu asks : How often 
shall stock be fed { In his boyhood it was the 
custom with some fanners to go early to the 
barn, say at four or five o’clock, aud give 
their stock a small foddering of hay. This 
practice was followed throughout the day, 
and up to 10 or 11 o’clock at night, and the 
cattle were constantly kept eating. He thinks 
the best farmers feed but twice a day, and by 
this he means that they can be two or three 
hours eating, so that' the cattle arc filled twice 
a day. He likes to have it all eaten up. His 
practice 1ms been to give bis animals all they 
could cat. It has not been the question bow 
little to make them eat, but how much. He 
believes that if cattle are fed plenty of 
food aud then allowed to lie down and rest, it 
is more for the interest of t he farmers than to 
keep them eating nil the time. It. is as import 
ant to have time to digest as to have time to 
eat. If they areullowed to lie down all night , 
they will be more comfortable and will have 
a better appetite for eating iu the morning. 
But if they are half starved and are constant¬ 
ly expecting something, they are never easy, 
anil in that there is a great loss, Feeding 
twice a day is a great deal more profitable 
way of feeding farm stoek. 
Then the cattle should be kept clean. They 
should stand upon a raised platform so as to 
be away from the droppings, and should be 
bedded with sand or sawdust or cut straw or 
something of that kind in order to keep thorn 
clean aud give them a comfortable bed to lie 
upon... 
Care should be exercised that the animals 
do not become covered with vermin. 'I here 
is no irain where the cattle are thus covered. 
Mr. Newman, of England, was the firet 
writer who represented the worm us remain¬ 
ing all the time in the apple, eating towards 
the core but not touching it till after it had 
cut a passage to the outer air. Aud he says, 
“it must be so constructed as to allow the 
power of gravity to assist in keeping it clear.” 
Miss E. A. Onnerod, a foremost entomologist 
of Euglaud, has made a drawing of an apple, 
which, as it were, illustrates this error (Fig. 
163) where au apple is shown as growing in this 
position ou the tree—calyx up. She says as 
the worm grows, “it continues its gullery to¬ 
wards the stem or lower side of the apple, 
where it makes an opening through the riud, 
and thus is able to throw out the pellets of 
dirt which could not be got rid of by forcing 
them upwards through its small en¬ 
trance burrow.” The forming of the large 
burrow as described, aud the position in which 
the apple hangs, seem to be faulty. Besides, 
there is no need of using gravity, aud the 
burrows do not conform to a use of this power, 
Sunflower Seed for Stock.— Prof. L. vv. 
Stewart says that sunflower seed is a 4 valuable 
food for stock if fed properly. The best way 
to feed to calves is to remove the hulls iu a 
hulling muchine and then boil the meats to a 
jelly. It is, in this condition, u good addition 
to skimmed milk. Sunflower seed contains 
23.6 per cent, of oil, while flax seed contains 
37 per cent. The oil is u mild laxative and 
will keep the coat glossy. Fifty bushels of 
seed could be raised from 25,000 plants on au 
i 
