Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 June 1896 — THE BUTTER DRIER. [ARTICLE]

THE BUTTER DRIER.

A new invention now threatens to supplant the butter-worker—the but-ter-drier, which rids the granules of water without rolling or bruising them. In a recent issue of a London paper, Professor Sheldon goes on record quite

stsntly against the practice of working butter, and commends warmly the work of the Bradford drier and molder. In the use of this invention the butter is churned as usual, washed in the granular state, and then "brined.” After remaining in the brine half an hour, tbe granular butter is ladled out and put in muslin lined tin molds of any desirable sire—for pounds, half-pounds or other weight packages. The filled molds are then placed around the inner periphery of a wheel that is revolving at high speed, and the centrifugal motion drives out the water in the form of spray and also packs the butter in the mold without injury to the grain, so that in two minutes’ time the dried and molded butter is ready for the wrapper or package. The butter is perfectly granular, and breaks freely on slight pressure, being somewhat crumbly and on that account possessing—so it is claimed—an aroma and flavor that cannot be retained under the crushing of the rollers of the butter-worker,— American Farmer. COMMERCIAL MELON GROWING UNDER IRRIGATION. The watermelon delights in a light sandy soil, while its companion, the cantaloupe, succeeds best on clay loam, or at least a heavier soil than the former, says Frank Crowley, of Colorado. Both do best on the new land, and as this is about all exhausted that is under irrigation in this section some plan of renewal must be adopted. We are having very good success by allowing the land to produce a good crop of corn every other year, but it seems the best results will be obtained by plowing under alfalfa sod and growing almut two crops of melons in succession on the same land. The ground for melons should be irrigated during the winter or early spring, so that when plowed and harrowed in April it will hold moisture long enough to bring up the plants, seeds of which should be planted about the first of May,or after the soil has become warin enough to hasten germination. The furrows for irrigation are made before planting, and should be run in the direction the water will run most readily, the tools generally used being either a single shovel or six-inch diamond plow. For watermelons these furrows should be about nine! or ten feet apart, and the hills about eight feet In the row. Cantaloupes need less room, and six by four feet will do very well. The planting Is usually done with a hoe; a hole about two Inches deep Is drawn out, into which five or six seed are scattered when the seed is replaced and finned a little with the back of the hoe. When this is accomplished the top of the hill should be on a level with the land, and the seeds about on a level with the edge of the water when It comes slowly down the furrow In irrigating during the summer. Then the plants when they come up should bo near enough the brink of the furrow to get their roots thoroughly saturated, but never be flooded. The ground between the rows should be kept free of weeds and well cultivated, while the hoe should be brought into frequent use around the hill, and when the plants get large enough to judge of their vitality they should be thinned to about two or three of the strongest, standing two or three inches apart in the hill.

HOW TO KILL. ELM BEETLES. Professor John B. Smith, the ontomologlst of the New Jersey State Experiment Station, connected with Rutgers College, at New Brunswick, N. J., has devoted a great deal of time to the subject of elm beetles and how to exterminate them. The ravages of these insects have caused widespread regret in various parts of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, particularly New Haven, over the destruction of hundreds of noble elm trees, and Professor Smith was particularly busy last season explaining his experiments and advising precautions against the insects. He has found that the pests are vulnerable to stomach poisons, and he makes his exterminator on the following formula: One pound of Paris green or London purple, mixed with 150 gallons of water; add a sufficient quantity of stone or shell lime, a pound for each pound of the poison; in order to give better adhesive qualities, add two quarts of glucose, or thick molasses, to every 100 gallons of mixture; when the water and lime have come to the boiling point, put in the poisons. This formula will have no bad effect upon the trees, for the soluble arsenic is neutralized by the lime. Another exterminator prepared by the professor is: Lead acetate, 11 ounces; sodium arsenite, 4 ounces, in 100 gallons of water; add adhesives to the mixtures as before; thoroughly stir and apply. The cheapness of these preventives and exterminators is remarkable. A hundred gallons of the first formula, which will thorough spray four large elm trees, cost about fifteen cents. Arsentlte of soda in the second mixture may be obtained at about eight cents a pound and the acetate of lead at fourteen cents a pound. One of Professor Smith’s contemporaries has recommended an emulsion of kerosene as a remedy. This he declares Ineffective because non-poison-ous.—Scientific American.