1848, 
THE CULTIVATOR, 
195 
season of great scarcity for hay and other cattle-food, 
begged the corn-cobs from her neighbors, which she 
boiled and gave to her cow. She wintered the cow in 
this way, and brought her out in better condition in 
spring than most of the stock in the neighborhood. We 
have known of other instances which showed that the 
cob was capable of affording support to animals. 
But a radical kind of writer in a late number of the 
Genesee Farmer, states that he fed cattle and horses 
on corn and cob meal, and that it injured them ! And 
in order to show his opinion of the worthlessness of this 
food, he recommends that“ crushed flints and ground 
glass” be used instead of cobs. 
A counterpart to this is given in the address of W. 
H. Lamport before the Ontario County Agricultural 
Society: He says —“ Cob meal makes a good feed for 
cattle, horses or hogs. A friend of mine in Yates 
county, informed me, he wintered a span of farm horses 
and kept them in good healthy condition with ground 
cobs. His course was to thresh off the corn leaving 
from one to two quarts of corn to the bushel of cobs; 
which being ground fine, he fed them freely, but with no¬ 
thing else save dry barley straw.” 
This is giving rather more value to cobs than we are 
disposed to allow, but we are confident it is better to 
grind them with the corn than to feed stock with meal 
from corn only,—especially when a considerable quan¬ 
tity of meal is to be given. 
Preserving Fruit. —In the first number of the 
Transactions of the Massachusetts Horticultural Soci¬ 
ety, there is an account of a new mode of preserving 
apples and pears. The inventor of the mode, M. Pa- 
ftUET, of Paris, has received from the Royal Society of 
Horticulture a medal. He presented on the 12th of 
June one hundred pears and apples, which it is stated 
bad not only preserved their beauty, freshness and fla¬ 
vor, but even their perfume. His fruit-house is descri¬ 
bed as a circular' building, with an outer and an inner 
wall—the size of the building being whatever is con¬ 
venient. The distance between the outer and inner 
wall is about three feet six inches. There are win¬ 
dows in both walls, a diffused light being preferred to 
darkness. The inner room, which is the depository of 
the fruit, is kept at a constant temperature of about 50 
degrees (Fahr.); as low as-39 would not be injurious, 
but 66 to 73 destructive.” Boxes are made with 
drawers of oak; that wood being easier to be cleaned 
from the remains of fruit which might decay. u In 
these drawers,” says the account, u the fruits are pla¬ 
ced with small intervals between each, on a slight bed, 
one-sixth of an inch thick, of saw-dust, (not pine, 
which would communicate an unpleasant flavor,) highly 
dried in an oven, eight parts, and one part of very dry 
pulverized charcoal; and with this mixture the inter¬ 
stices between the fruits are filled to about two-thirds 
of their height, leaving one-tliird exposed.” This mode 
is deemed greatly preferable to keeping fruits in moss, 
cotton, paper, or other substances. 
The fruit should be gathered with the greatest care, 
and not in the least bruised; the fairest and finest speci¬ 
mens selected. It should be gathered ten days before 
it is ripe. After it is gathered, it is directed to leave 
it in an open airy situation for about fifteen days, to 
sweat, and on no account be'wiped previous to being 
deposited in the fruit-house. 
Transplanting Evergreens. —It seems to be well 
established that June is the best month to transplant 
evergreens in this latitude. We know of several trials 
with white pines in this month which have succeeded 
Detter than any we have known transplanted earlier. 
They require, as well as all resinous trees, great care 
in taking up, being much more injured in cutting the 
roots than hard-wood trees. As much earth as prac¬ 
ticable should be left round the roots, and they should 
not be suffered to dry before they are again put in the 
ground. 
Benefit of Toads. —These animals are very useful 
in gardens. They live entirely on insects, which they 
devour without much regard to the species—the se¬ 
lections being made by toads of different sizes, accord¬ 
ing to the bulk they are able to swallow. While the 
toad is small he is only able to feed on gnats, small 
flies, the smallest beetles, &c.; but when full grown he 
will swallow almost all insects that infest the garden 
or field, whether in the larva or perfect state. The num¬ 
ber of insects which they are capable of devouring is 
surprising to one unacquainted with their habits. Se¬ 
veral years since the writer ascertained that a large 
toad, which he kept confined for the purpose of experi¬ 
ments, would devour from eight to twelve grubs, ihe 
larvae of the May-bug or cockchafer, (Melalontha vul¬ 
garis) per day. There is another advantage which 
they have over fowls, in gardens—they will do no in¬ 
jury to any plants, their mode of taking the insects 
being such that the plant is scarcely touched in the act. 
A few boards should be laid round the garden, raised 
about an inch from the surface, under which the toads 
will take shelter in the day-time, as they only feed du¬ 
ring the night. 
Usefulness of Birds.-— Few persons appear to be 
aware of the immense number of injects destroyed by 
birds. Different species of birds prey on different kinds 
of insects, or take the same kinds of insects in different 
stages. Thus swallows, martins, &c. take their food 
in the air, and catch insects while in the perfect or 
w 7 inged state. They hover much near water, and de¬ 
vour myriads of those insects wffiich live in that element 
in their first stages. The common apple tree caterpil¬ 
lar is eaten by few birds, but to the cuckoo it seems to 
be the natural food. One of these birds will in a short 
time destroy a nest of these injurious pests. They tear 
open the web with their bills, and besides gorging their 
craws with the worms, will kill many which they can¬ 
not swallow. Robins take their food mostly from the 
ground—taking such worms as attack grain, grass and 
garden vegetables. They also eat angle-worms and 
beetles. 
Many kinds of birds may be induced to take up their 
abode near the habitations of men. They seem to have 
an instinctive idea that man is (or ought to be) their 
protector. If they find themselves unmolested, they 
evidently enjoy a close proximity to the “ lords of the 
creation,” and they evince their happiness by their spor¬ 
tive actions and sprightly songs. 
To Destroy Cockroaches. —A correspondent of 
the Horticulturist recommends the following, which the 
editor says he has tried and found “ perfectly effec¬ 
tual.” 
Add about a teaspoonful of powdered arsenic to a- 
bout a table-spoonful of mashed boiled potatoes; rub 
and mix them well together, and then crumble about 
a third of it, every night at bed time, about the kitchen 
hearth; it will be eaten up or nearly so, b ,T the follow¬ 
ing morning. The creature is very fond of potatoes, 
and devouring them greedily, crawls again into its hole 
and perishes. I had occasion to have some alterations 
made in the kitchen stove six months after I pursued 
this plan, and found hundreds of wings and dried mum¬ 
mies of defunct cockroaches. Their disappearance 
was not attended with the slighest perceptible smell; 
and though five years have elapsed, not one has again 
been seen in my kitchen. In putting it into prrctice, 
any remaining crumbs should be swept up the next 
morning. 
