Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 June 1887 — COUNTRY LIFE AND WORK. [ARTICLE]

COUNTRY LIFE AND WORK.

PLANT LICE. The first plant lice that appear in spring are hatched from eggs laid the previous autumn, and are exclusively fi'i|iales. From these the species •is propagated throughout the season by what is known as asexual generation, the young being born alive through many successive generations, and without any pairing of the sexes. The males and perfect females—i. e., those capable of depositing fertile eggs, only appear late in the season. It is said that the male form of the cabbage.aphis lias not yet been discovered: Until quite recently the eggs of The hop aphis had not been found, but it is now thought that they, are deposited on the terminal twigtf bf plum trees, and several other species are believed to deposit their eggs on plants entirely distinct from the ones upon which they feed. 1 The peculiar,, viscid sweetish substance that sometimes appears on the leaves of pear and some other trees in -uunner, and which i.- known as ••honey dew,” is largely; if not entirely a secretion of the aphis. Ants are fond of this secretion, and hence are always found on plants infested with plant lice. Indeed, the latter are treated by the ants much as if they had been reduced to a stale of domestication. It is known that the ants frequently transport the. lice from place to plaee.-thatkthey-kiiovV how to cause them to yield their sweet secretion at will, and they are also thought to protect them from their insect enemies. They are called Rants’ cows.” Last year the damage by aphis to fruit growers and nurserymen in Western New York alone must certainly have amounted to hundreds of thousand if not to millions of dollars. But this is by lie means the only locality that suffered, nor is the past the only season in which cultivated plants have been injured by them. It is estimated that the injury to the hop crop of England in 1882, from the ’ aph-is, amounted to. $.8,000,000. The dreaded phylloxera of Europe, that has threatened to annihilate grape-growing in many localities, belongs to the family of plant lice, and there are many other injurious species. Perhaps no insect with which we have to contend is so difficult to battlesuccessfully in the open air. With nursery trees and herbaceous plants, kerdsene emulsions or solutions of whale-oil soap prove partially satisfactory. But the insects are so small and so numerous, that it is practically impossible to reach them till, and owing to their extremely rapid multiplication, the few that escape soon envelope the the plants anew. In the ease of large trees, their destruction becomes much more difficult. On the whole, the mastery of the aphis in the open air must be regarded as one of the unsolved problems in horticulture THE SHIPPING OKATE Those who grow produce for market do not need to be told of the importance of neat and proper packing to secure ready sales and best prices. The farmer sometimes has a crop, such as an unexpected crop ot early apples, that he would gladly turn into money, but he is not provided with baskets for for packing his fruit, and if sent in barrels the fruit would'arrive in bad order and bring low prices. To such the bushel crate comes as a ready resource. A bushel crate is easily made, and forms a neat and handy package for pearly all kinds of produce. To make a bushel crate there are required three pieces, each eight by fourteen inci.es, for the end and center piece: the strips or laths for the sides are two feet long. The width of these depends upon the article to be packed. Sixteen strips are commonly used, with spaces between for ventilation. Often The corners of the end and middle pieces are cut oil'; this makes the crate octagonal in shape, which is an advantage, as it allows of better ventilation when the crates are stacked together. In building the crates thetwo strips at the top are nailed down, to allow an opening thraugh which to fill it. In packing in crates, as in barrels, they are to be shaken to settle the contents, which should project slightly at the top to require some pressure to bring down the last slats, which serve as a cover, into place. Vegetables and •fruits should -always be jacked wjDv pressure, otherwise they become bruised and injured generally in transit. BAD ODORS IN MILK. When cows first get on full feed of grass at this season they are apt to scour, badly If shut up at night and milked in close stables night and morning their milk will absorb the odors from their manure and become Extremely offensive. If cooled as soon as possible aud exposed to the air the odors will disappear without being noticed. Ruto’milk that has td be carried to market or factories by milkmen is usually plaeeel at once in close cans. When these ore opened some hours later a strongly Offensive odor will pretty surely come from them. Not long ago I heard of a dairvman who secured a herd of Holstein cows on

account of their yield. “In this he was not disapjxnntcd. but the milk was extremely offensive so that his customers would not take it. He would have changed his valuable herd for much jioorer cows if Some one had not pointed out the cause of his trouble. It is best not to give green laxative food unac companied by other and more substantial diet, and especially in Summer cows should not be milked in close stables wherever it can be avoided. It is possible, and even probable, that the frequent complaints that ensilage jn Winter makes the milk taste bad is due to this cause. >- .» “CULTIVATING CQJtV. There :trc conditions of the ground which make the double diamond better for the early cultivation of corn than either the harrow or the cultivators. When the Spring is what we term “backward,” the weather being distinguished by rains, accompanied by low temperature the ground becomes cold and wet; then the soil should be thrown away from the Corn, leaving ridges to dry quickly and warm up in the sun. The plows may be run very close to the corn: I set them just six inches apart. As soon as the, ridges, are dry, especially if the Weather promises to be less rainy, the furrows should be closed and the ridges cut down with the cultivators or harrow, if the si/.c of the coni will permit, I am believer in level, rather riialiow culture for corn, have been converted from the ridge theory by severai years of experimenting. lam as decidedly of opinion that often ridge culture is the better, as I have pointed out. Our practices must vary with conditions. This applies with special force To the cultivation of corn, forduringitsseason the weather is so changeable that the conditions are not often the same six day in suee-.-ion. What is proper cultivation one d.-iy may, be wrong tin; next. W ben a man insists that either level culture or ridged culture is right under all conditions you may be sure that his prejudices reduce his corn crop. lIOWTO DRINK JIII.IC. Milk as taken is a fluid, but as soon as it meets the acid of the gastric juice i,t is changed to a soft, curdy, cher-c----like substance, and then must be digested, and the stomach is over-tasked if too much be taken at once. A large glass of milk swallowed suddenly will form in the stomach a lump of dense cheesy curd which may prove fatal to a weak stomach. Under the action of the stomach this cheesy mass will turn over and over like a heavy weight; and as the gastric juice can only attack its surface, it digests very slowly. But.the same milk taken very slowly, or with dry toast.* light rolls' or soft, dry porridge, forms a porous lump through which the gastric juice can easily pass, and which breaks up every time the -stomach turns it over. Milk should be slightly saltecl and eaten with hrpaib . stuff's or sipped by the spoonful. Cow's milk produces less heat than .human milk, a child would grow thin upon it imdvss a little sugar were added. Care of flowering- bulbs. After the spring bulbs have encourage'an abundant growth of leaves. Whert-the- foliage begins to fade, take up the bulbs and lay them in a cool and airy place to ripen. Carefully label each kind before storing until planting time in September. These bulbs will not give as large and fine (lowers in subsequent years as in the first. If not planted in the. show .beds again, set them in some convenient place where they may remain several years, to afford an abundance of cut flowers. The same may be done with.bulbs that have been forced to produce supplies of flowers in pots during winter. CURRENT NOTES. Not only does the linden tree produce honey in great,abundance, but its quality is regarded by many as equal, if not superior, to that yielded, by white clover. When a cow steps into the milk pail, remarks an exchange, she also stepsin-<-to the butter plate, and there is no get- • ting around it. Thin out instead of shortening in a tree when you transplant it. ” ‘lt is a mistake notion that it is the proper way to cut off the ends of all the limbs. * One thing seems to have been quite well demonstrated —that a larger quantity of potatoes, as well as potatoes of a better 'quality, ran lie raised with chemical fertilizers than with manure. Of the, newer hardy shrubs liydrangia paniculata gramlitlora is one of the fiuest. It is perfectly hardy, and produces immense panicles of white flowers in great profusion. It blooms in July or August,'and remains an of beauty until cut down by frost. The great improvement made by the hybridizer in the gladiolus within the past ten years are simply wonderful, and a few bulbs from a guod strainwill well repay a little trouble with beautifully shaded flowers. They last in bloom a long time, ■ Sponge cake—One teacup of powdered or fine white sugar, three eggs, o.'.eiourth of a teaspoon.„of soda, one-half teaspoon of. cream tartar, one teacup of flour: flavor with vanilla. ’ W well, pick off - • until you are. ready to eat them. They should then be shaken free of wet anil piled lightlyin a glass dish. Eat with salt. They lire a piquant appetizer ou sultry mornings and very, wholesome. - •' ~ ■■' ~~ -P Tulips are excellent for early spring flowers. The bulbs must be pbinted the previous fall and protected through the winter by a mulchingof leaves or course manure. The tulips in the various parks are a little backward this year. Some of the earlier varieties will be in bloom today, but the larger proportion will not be at their best for another week, when they will be well worth traveling miles to see.