1883 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
519 
Woodchuck Oil for Leather. 
From previous reports, and especially from our 
own recent observations and experiments, we have 
come to set a high value upon the oil of the com¬ 
mon woodchuck or “ground-hog” for leather. 
This oil, while having considerable body, seems to 
have some of the non-drying quality of glycerine, 
but, unlike it, is not removed by water. An old 
stiff harness saturated with this oil early in July 
last, after going through the hot weather, still re¬ 
mains soft and pliable. The lines were even too 
greasy to handle well until after a month’s drying. 
An old pair of heavy boots, so stiff as to hurt the 
feet unbearably, received a good coating of this oil 
August 1st, on the bottoms and two inches high all 
around the sides, and they soon became almost as 
soft and easy to the feet as moccasins. By the 
way, oiling the soles of boots and shoes renders 
them more elastic, easier to the feet, and less lia¬ 
ble to break and crack and wear out on rough 
ground and. stones, and therefore more durable; 
and at the same time the oil excludes water and 
dampness. It is highly esteemed by some hunters 
for guns. A carpenter commends it for tools. 
Woodchucks are common in many hilly parts of 
almost the entire country, and it is easy for. farm¬ 
ers to kill a few for their oil, as well as to get rid 
of them, for they are a nuisance. Eight or ten of 
them are said to consume as much clover as a cow. 
.New Hampshire farmers will have a triple reason 
for trapping or shooting them, viz., the bounty, 
their oil, and saving their support. They make se¬ 
vere havoc in apple orchards, among green corn, 
pumpkins, and several field and garden crops, to 
say nothing of their excavations in the fields. We 
knew of a horse severely lamed by stepping into 
one of their holes, and have heard of several others. 
If dealers in harness will keep the oil on sale, it 
will bring a good price whenever its qualities be¬ 
come known ; while the opening of a market for 
the oil would stimulate and hasten the destruction 
of the pests. We have taken fully two quarts of 
oil from a full grown, fat fourteen-pound “ chuck.” 
Late Fall Plowing for Wire-Worms. 
The term Wire-worm properly belongs to the 
long, slender, and uncommonly hard larvae of the 
Elaters— the spring, or click-beetles. These,'when 
placed on their backs, suddenly spring several 
inches into the air, with a clicking sound. The 
largest of these beetles (Elator oculatus) is about 
two inches in length, and has two large, round 
spots upon the upper side of the body, which arc 
often mistaken for eyes. Its surface is covered 
with a whitish powder. It is frequently found on 
the trunks and branches of old apple-trees during 
June and July, and from its larger size, peculiar 
“ eve-spots,” and strange manner of springing, it 
is often sent us for a name. The larva is about two 
and a half inches long, has very strong jaws, and 
burrows in the decaying wood of old apple-trees. 
There are several other smaller species of spring 
beetles, some of them conspicuous only by their 
injury to cultivated plants. Those wire-worms 
which live in the soil and feed upon young roots 
and stems, are the most destructive. So far as 
their history is known they live from three to four 
years. Their injury to the potato, though perhaps 
no greater than to some other crops, is often ruin¬ 
ous. Indian corn and the grasses sometimes suf¬ 
fer greatly. It is not easily reached with any poi¬ 
son, and the leading remedy is frequent plowing. 
Wire-worms are generally confounded with the 
cut-worms, and in destructiveness may be consid¬ 
ered the same. The mature state of the cut-worm 
being a moth, it is easily distinguished from the 
“click,” or spring beetles. Another group of 
worms is also often spoken of as cut-worms, but 
the members are myriapods, with many ring-like 
divisions to the long bodies, each of which is pro¬ 
vided with two pairs of legs. These, sometimes 
called the thousand-legged worms, are of a dark- 
brown color, and when disturbed coil into a ring. 
They do not pass from one state to another, like 
ordinary insects. Some of these false wire-worms 
feed upon the roots of plants, and do much dam¬ 
age. They may be caught by placing slices of po¬ 
tato, or turnip, upon the surface of the soil. The 
white grub is also associated with the wire-worms 
in its manner of living, and needs the same treat¬ 
ment. All of these subterranean pests have their 
natural enemies, among the chief of which arc 
birds. Late fall plowing is doubly beneficial, as it 
turns the worms out of their winter quarters, and 
exposes them to freezing weather, and also brings 
them within the easy reach of insect-eating birds. 
Bracing End Posts. 
Mr. H. H. Hastings, Corning, Iowa, sends us his 
method of bracing the end posts of a-wire fence 
in wet land. The post-hole is dug three feet deep, 
eighteen inches wide and three feet long. On the 
Eig. 1. 
lower end of the post nail two stout strips three 
feet long and six inches wide, as shown in figure 1. 
Set this post in the long hole (figure 2) and lay short 
pieces of board upon the cross strips. On each 
end of the “ platform” thus made, place a fifty- 
pound boulder or other heavy weight. Fill in with 
earth well tramped, and brace from the top, as 
shown in figure 2. This is a good method of set¬ 
ting the lowest posts in a fence over very uneven 
ground, as they will not lift in stretching the wire. 
Scarcity of Hogs—The Decrease. 
0 - 
In our market notes and elsewhere, we have 
frequently referred to the lack of swine to consume 
the large corn crop of 1882, and of the importance 
of increasing the number. This known scarcity 
lead the speculators to undertake the corner in hog 
products that recently collapsed. The poor corn 
crop of 1881 led to the feeding and marketing of 
the hogs, including breeders, so greatly, that last 
year found the number very small, and the defici¬ 
ency is not yet made up. This applies to all the 
leading corn growing States. The banner State in 
this industry is Iowa, which in 1880 returned over 
six million (6,034,316) swine, about twenty per cent 
more than Illinois, the next highest. These figures 
included all ages. The present number in Iowa is 
officially reported at less than two million (1,965,- 
000) of hogs six months old and upward, which is 
nearly nine per cent below the number of a year 
ago. This indicates a decrease in five leading swine 
growing States of Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana 
and Ohio, of nearly seven hundred thousand hogs 
of six months old and upwards, as compared with 
the same date last year, or nearly one million 
four hundred thousand for the whole country. 
Quinces and How to Use Them. 
Every part of the quince is very useful. They 
bring three to four times the price of apples, while 
about as readily grown, and their culture should be 
largely increased until they come within the reach 
of all. Writers as far back as the old Roman 
Columela, u.e most celebrated agricultural writer 
of his time, have attributed to the quince various 
health giving and medicinal qualities, partly at 
least fanciful, but there is no doubt as to the use¬ 
fulness of quinces for food, and several other pur¬ 
poses. Scalding and soaking the dried fruit in 
water makes a good substitute for tamarind water 
—a very acceptable, cooling acid drink. 
Bandoline. —The seeds covered with forty to 
fifty times their bulk of water and gently warmed, 
soon produce a thick mucilage used by per¬ 
fumers and hair dressers. Many ladies prepare this 
for themselves, to keep the hair in place. It needs 
a little alcohol, or strong alcoholic liquor may be 
added, to keep it from souring, and it may be per¬ 
fumed to one’s taste. In many parts of the coun¬ 
try this is called “bandoline.” 
Quince Preserves.— Pare, core and weigh ; first 
stew soft in water and then add as many pounds of 
sugar as there were of the uncooked fruit, and 
simply scald through. Quinces, currants, grapes, 
and other fruits to be jellied should not have sugar 
added until the chief cooking is done. (Lack of 
knowing this, causes many failures to get good 
jellies and preserves, by inexperienced house¬ 
keepers). To prevent mould, cover the top of 
the jars of preserves or jellies with writing 
paper dipped in alcohol. (A house-keeper says: 
“ Cover with a thin film of melted lard.” Inordi¬ 
nary keeping we should fear rancidity and bad 
flavor). Keep in a cool dry place. This is a 
beautiful preserve. 
Bottled Quince Sauce.— Cook the prepared 
quinces as above ; pour off the water and cover the 
fruit with a syrup of a pound of sugar to a pint of 
water. Boil up quickly, then take the fruit out 
carefully, and put it into preserving jars or cans. 
Pour the syrup over it and close the jars tightly. 
This gives a clear light-colored fruit which will 
last for years. The cooking water may be used 
for stewing more fruit, to which may be added one 
or two times its bulk of apples, making a nice 
quince flavored sauce, or “a quince apple butter,” 
by mashing, and stirring while boiling it down to 
the desired consistency,and sweetening to the taste. 
This may be used as wanted, for a short season, 
dr it may be preserved in the closed fruit bottles. 
Quinces with Apples. —In nearly all forms of 
quince sauce, apples may be freely added, as they 
are much cheaper, and the quince flavor is pre¬ 
served. Many like a sauce with a large propor¬ 
tion of apples better than the pure quince. 
Quince Marmalade. —Cook the fruit soft, crush 
to a pulp and add sugar as for preserves ; then 
slowly cook to a thick paste, constantly stirring to 
prevent sticking or burning. One third sweet 
apples added, without more sugar, improves the 
quality for most people. 
Quince Jelly is one of the best. Most house¬ 
keepers use the entire fruit, and also the skins and 
cores from other preparations. It is better to leave 
out the cores, as the mucilage around the seeds 
may injure the jellying; but use the parings, as 
the richest portions are next to the skin. Use any 
fragments also. It is economical to use double the 
quantity Of apples which arc rich in jelly ; cook the 
apples, and then the quinces in the same waterand 
strain out the juice of both fruits. As before 
hinted, it is important to do all cooking before 
adding the sugar, and afterwards continue the sim¬ 
mering until the jelly point is reached. The sugar 
may be added to the strained syrup, bulk for bulk, 
without weighing. It saves much labor to skim 
only once before adding the sugar, and not again 
until the jelly is made and taken from the fire. 
Let it cool a little before putting into cups or- 
jelly glasses. Preserve from moulding by cov¬ 
ering well as above recommended for preserves. 
