262 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, August 2, 1859. 
It was, according to my judgment, so worthy of being planted in 
every garden, that I intend to graft two trees next season with 
this sort. 
I saw this said tree on the 14th of this month (July), and it 
has a fine crop on this season. I have not seen any tree this 
year so well covered as it is ; but I hope to be able to send the 
Editors of The Cottage Gardener a dish of them gathered 
from the tree next April after withstanding the winter storms 
which blow over the hills of Craven. I am very much surprised 
that this tree has not been written about many years since.— 
Rich. Eastwood, G kb urn Park, Yorkshire. ■ 
NEW BOOKS. 
Fruits, Flowers, and Farming.* —There is a freshness about 
this work of an American clergyman rarely met with in books 
upon such subjects. It is one of the most pleasant and useful 
volumes we ever perused. Two extracts shall give evidence in 
support of our opinion :— 
“ O DEAR ! SHALL WE EVER RE DONE LYING ? 
“ An honest old gentleman, in telling us his troubles, gave 
great prominence to the necessity he was frequently under of 
disappointing his customers, whose work could not be finished 
as soon as he had promised. After explaining the difficulty, he 
looked up with great earnestness and exclaimed, ‘ O dear ! shall 
we ever be done with this lying ? 1 
“ We have often wondered ourselves whether such a consum¬ 
mation would ever take place. 1 Your boots shall be done on 
Saturday night without fail.’ Nevertheless, you have to go to 
church with gaping shoes for want of them. ‘Your coat shall 
be sent home by nine o'clock on Saturday night; ’ and you get 
it, in fact, the Wednesday after. ‘Will you lend me your wheel¬ 
barrow ? I will return it to night.’ Y'ou wait for it till next 
week, and then send for it. My carpenter solemnly agreed to 
finish my house by November; but it was July before I could 
get the key. My wood was to be split on Saturday afternoon- 
enough for the Sabbath ; so it was—but I had to do it. My 
money was to be paid me the next week ; and then, next week; 
and then, next week—and then as soon as he could get it; he 
did getit—and spent it; and then it should be paid when lie got 
it again—he got it again, and paid another debt because the 
man treated him more savagely than I would. The strength 
laid out in running for this money, if it had been economically 
applied to labour, would nearly have earned the whole debt. 
The fellow never paid me at last; but Death came along, and 
he paid him promptly. ‘ 0 clear ! shall we ever get done with 
this lying?’ It is one of the few domestic manufactures which 
need no protection, and flourishes without benefit either to the 
producer or consumer.” 
“ SUN-FLOWER SEED. 
“ To some extent this is likely to become a profitable crop. 
Medium lands will yield, on an average, fifty bushels; while 
first-rate lands will yield from seventy to a hundred bushels. 
“ Mode of Cultivation. —The ground is prepared in all 
respects ns for a corn crop, and the seed sown in drills four feet 
apart—one plant to every eighteen inches in the drill. It is to 
be ploughed and tended in all respects like a crop of corn. 
“ Harvesting. —As the heads ripen, they are gathered, laid 
on a barn floor and threshed with a flail. The seed shells very 
' easily. 
“ Use. —The seed may be employed in fattening hogs, feed¬ 
ing poultry, &o., and for this last purpose it is better than grain. 
But the seed is more valuable at the oil-mill than elsewhere. It 
will yield a gallon to the bushel without trouble ; and by careful 
working, more than this. Hemp yields one gallon and a fourth 
to the bushel; and Flax-seed one and a half by ordinary 
pressure; but two gallons under the hydraulic press. 
“ The oil has, as yet, no established market price. It will 
range from seventy cents to a dollar, according as its value 
shall be established as an article for lamps and for painters’ use. 
But at seventy cents a gallon for oil the seed would command 
fifty-five cents a bushel, which is a much higher price than can 
be had for corn. 
“ It is stated, but upon how sufficient proof we know not, that 
Sun-flower oil is excellent for burning in lamps. It has also 
been tried by our painters to some extent; and for inside work, 
it is said to be as good as Linseed oil. Mr. Hannaman, who 
* Plain and Pleasant Talk about Fruits, Flowers, and Farming. By 
Henry Ward Beecher. Sampson, Low, and Co., London. 
has kindly put us in possession of these facts, says that the 
oil resembles an animal, rather than a vegetable oil; that it 
has not the varnish properties of the Linseed oil. We suppose 
by varnish are meant the albumen and mucilage which are found 
in vegetable oils. The following analysis of Hemp-seed and 
Flax-seed, or as it is called in England, lint or linseed, will 
show the proportions of various ingredients in one hundred 
parts. 
Hemp-seed. Linseed. 
(Bucholz.) (Leo Meier.) 
Oil . 
. 19.1 
11.3 
Husk, &c. 
. . 38.3 
44.4 
Woody fibre and starch 
.* 5.0 
1.5 
Sugar, &c. 
. . 1.0 
10.8 
Gum .... 
. 9.0 
7.1 
Soluble albumen (Casein ?] 
. . 34.7 
15.1 
Insoluble ditto 
. — 
3.7 
Wax and resin 
1.0 
3.1 
Loss .... 
. 0.7 
3.0 
100 
100 
“ The existence of impurities in oil, such as mucilage, albu¬ 
men, gum, &c., which increase its value to the painter, dimi¬ 
nish its value for the lamp, since these substances crust or cloy 
the wick, and prevent a clear flame. All oils may, therefore, 
the less excellent they are for painting, he regarded as the more 
valuable for burning. Rape-seed is extensively raised in Europe, 
chiefly in Elanders, for its oil, and is much used for burning. 
Ten quarts may be extracted from a bushel of seed. We append 
a table representing the richness of various seeds, &c., in oil. 
Oil per cent. 
Linseed (flax) 
11 to 33 
Hemp-seed 
14 „ 25 
Rape-seed .... 
40 „ 70 
Poppy-seed 
30 „ 33 
White Mustard-seed 
36 „ 48 
Black Mustard-seed 
15 
Swedish Turnip-seed 
34 
Sun-flower seed . 
15 
Walnut kernels 
40 „ 70 
Hazel-nut kernels 
00 
Beech-nut kernels . . ' . 
15 „ 17 
Plum-stone ditto 
33 
Sweet Almond kernels 
40 „ 54 
Bitter ditto ditto 
28 „ 40 
ALOES versus APHIS. 
Since I informed you of our village shoemaker’s mode of 
killing the green fly, &c., with bitter aloes (see page 50), I liavo 
bad an opportunity of trying it myself, and the result of my ex¬ 
periments is only an echo of your own,—namely, the small 
aphides were killed, but those which had arrived, at maturity 
remained uninjured. But, if you take half an ounce of bitter 
aloes, and two pounds of common washing soda, and mix 
them with two gallons of warm soft water, and apply it to the 
infested plants after it has become cold, tlie result will be very 
different; both small and great insects become its victims. As 
far as my little experience of it goes, it is necessary to syringe the 
plants with the solution in the evening, and again with pure 
water in the morning, which will effect a twofold purpose,— 
namely, washing off the dead insects, and removing the soda 
aloes, which, if allowed to remain, would, to a certain extent, 
injure the leaves, especially those of soft-wooded plants. Leaves 
that have a thick skin do not seem to suffer from it in the least.— 
James Reid, Sudbury Hall. 
Fruit in America. — Batavia, Genesee Co., N. Y., June 6.— 
On Saturday last, 4th inst., at 10 a.m., we were visited by a north¬ 
west storm of snow and sleet, giving to the air a November 
chill. It continued but a short time, hut was succeeded by a 
cold wind and some rain, clearing off at night, and was followed 
by a very severe frost. As near as I can ascertain, it extended all 
through this vicinity, killing corn, Potato tops, Beans, Pump¬ 
kins, Squashes, Cucumbers, Melons, and Tomatoes, and injuring 
fruit very much in all exposed situations. More than one-half 
of all the Apples, Pears, Cherries, and Grapes are destroyed. 
I cannot discover as yet any damage done to Wheat, Barley, or 
Oats, and very little to Peas and Clover. It is too soon to fully 
ascertain all the damage done to growing crops; but to farmers 
