1850. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 247 
with a cap-sheaf. Grain shocks will generally 
cure in from eight to ten days of ordinary hay 
weather} and as soon as cured, let them be secured. 
I have known persons to let their grain stand from 
four to six weeks in the shock, and whenever I see 
such management, I am always inclined to think 
that such persons think or care but little for im¬ 
proved farming. L. Durand. Derby, Ct., June 4. 
JDoirastic (Sxonomg, Hecipcs, Set. 
Preserves and Jellies.* 
General Directions. —Gather fruit when it is 
dry. 
Long boiling hardens the fruit. 
Pour boiling water over the sieves used, and wring 
out jelly bags in hot water the moment you are to 
use them. 
Do not squeeze while straining through jelly bags. 
Let the pots and jars containing sweetmeats just 
made, remain uncovered three days. 
Lay brandy papers over the top, cover them tight 
and seal them, or, what is best of all, soak a split 
bladder and tie it tight over them. In drying, it will 
shrink so as to be perfectly air-tight. 
Keep them in a dry, but not warm place. 
A thick leathery mould helps to preserve fruit, but 
when mould appears in specks, the preserves must 
be scalded in a warm oven, or be set into hot water, 
which then must boil till the preserves are scalded. 
Always keep watch of preserves which are not 
sealed, especially in warm and damp weather. The 
only sure way to keep them without risk or care, is 
to make them with enough sugar and seal them, or 
tie bladder covers over. 
Strawberries. —Look them over with care. 
Weigh a pound of sugar to each pound of fruit. Put 
a layer of fruit on the bottom of the preserving ket¬ 
tle, then a layer of sugar, and so on till all is in the 
pan. Boil them about fifteen minutes. Put them 
in bottles, hot, and seal them. Then put them in a 
box, and fill it in with dry sand. The flavor of the 
fruit is preserved more perfectly, by simply packing 
the fruit and sugar in alternate layers, and sealing 
the jar, without cooking, but the preserves do not 
look so well. 
Currants. —Strip them from the stems. Allow 
a pound of sugar to a pound of currants. Boil 
them together ten minutes. Take them from the 
syrup, and let the syrup boil twenty minutes, and 
pour it on the fruit. Put them in small jars or tum¬ 
blers, and let them stand in the sun a few days. 
To Preserve Currants to eat with Meat.— 
Strip them from the stem. Boil them an hour, and 
then to a pound of the fruit, add a pound of brown 
sugar. Boil all together fifteen or twenty minutes. 
Currant Jelly.— -Pick over the currants with 
care. Put them in a stone jar, and set it into a ket¬ 
tle of boiling water. Let it boil till the fruit is ve¬ 
ry soft. Strain it through a sieve. Then run the 
juice through a jelly-bag. Put a pound of sugar 
to a pint of juice, and boil it together five minutes. 
Set it in the sun a few days. 
Cherries.— -Take out the stones. To a pound 
of fruit, allow a pound of sugar. Put a layer of 
fruit on the bottom of the preserving kettle, then a 
layer of sugar, and continue thus till all are put in. 
Boil till clear. Put them in bottles, hot, and seal 
them. Keep them in dry sand. 
Raspberry Jam —No. 1.-—Allow a pound of su- 
*-From Miss Beecher’s Domestic Receipt Book. 
gar to a pound of fruit. Press them with a spoon, 
in an earthen dish. Add the sugar, and boil all to¬ 
gether fifteen minutes. 
Raspberry Jam —No. 2. —Allow a pound of su¬ 
gar to a pound of fruit. Boil the fruit half an hour, 
or till the seeds are soft. Strain one quarter of the 
fruit, and throw away the seeds. Add the sugar, 
and boil the whole ten minutes. A little currant 
juice gives it a pleasant flavor, and when that is 
used, an equal quantity of sugar must be added. 
2ln0tDcr0 to Correopontimto. 
Bark Lice. —A. B. P., Boone Grove, Ind. The 
insects you send are a species of bark louse— Coe- 
cidce. They are very common on apple trees in 
most parts of the country, and are supposed to have 
been introduced here from Europe. The best de¬ 
scription we have seen of the insect, is given by 
Dr. Harris, in his “Insects Injurious to Vegeta¬ 
tion.” He says —“ The limbs and smooth parts of 
the trunks of apple trees are sometimes completely 
covered with these insects, and present a very sin¬ 
gularly wrinkled and rough appearance from the 
bodies which are crowded closely together. In 
winter these insects are torpid, and apparently 
dead. They measure about one-tenth of an inch in 
length, and are of an oblong, oval shape, gradually 
decreasing to a point at one end, and are of a 
brownish color, very near to that of the bark of the 
tree. .... In spring, the eggs are readily to bo 
seen on raising the little muscle-shaped scales, be¬ 
neath which they are concealed. These eggs are 
of a white color, and in shape very nearly like those 
of snakes. Every shell contains from thirty to forty 
of them, embedded in a small quantity of whitish 
friable down. The young on their first appearance 
are nearly white, very minute, and nearly oval in 
form. In about ten days they become stationary, 
and early in June throw out a quantity of bluish- 
white down, soon after which their transformations 
are completed, and the females become fertile and 
deposit their eggs. These, it seems, are hatched 
in the course of the summer, and the young come to 
their growth and provide for a new brood before the 
ensuing winter.” 
The time when these insects hatch depends, of 
course, on the climate or location. Some of the 
insects sent us from Indiana, were hatched when 
they arrived here, 20th of April. 
As to remedies, Dr. Harris observes: ec The 
best application for the destruction of the lice, is a 
wash made of two parts of soft soap and eight of 
water, with which is to be mixed lime enough to 
bring it to the consistence of thick white-wash. 
This is to be put on the trunks and limbs of the 
trees with a brush, and so high as practicable, so as 
to cover the whole surface, and fill all the cracks in 
the bark. The proper time for washing over the 
trees is early in June, when the insects are young 
and tender. The insects may also be killed by 
using in the same way a solution of two pounds of 
potash in seven quarts of water, or a pickle con¬ 
sisting of a quart of common salt in two gallons of 
water.” 
Cultivation of Tobacco. — u A Subscriber,” 
Great Barrington, Mass. You will find much in¬ 
formation in regard to the culture of tobacco in the 
valley of Connecticut river, in our volume, for 1844, 
p. 89; and in that for 1847, pp. 361, 362. 
Kinds of grass for Michigan .— 11 Experi¬ 
enced Farmer.” If the soil of the lt oak open¬ 
ings” is pretty rich, the Kentucky blue-grass ( Poa 
