The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1877-08-28
GARDEN GOSSIP.

IA at the currant pusnes' why
don't you keep the worms off by syring-
ing them with molasses and water that
is sure preventive"
"With whatY" said I, rather loudly,
being astonished.
Molasses and water" cried he, more
loudly still. He thought was deaf
"Mr. Blank says" continued he, " that
is sure death to em; kills 'em dead rs
Julius Cesar" l have hitherto rid
myself of the pests by picking them off
leaves and all, when the broods were
young trouble willingly taken to
avoid the use of hellebore. The news
pleased me greatly.
A day or two after, another friend
mentioned the same recipe. Then Mr..
Blank himself told me of his discovery,
and declared that a single application
had cleared off the pests. This was
highly satisfactory. 1t was delightful to
think there would be no more loss of
handsome dark green foliage; no intru-
sive thought of nauseous hellebore mixed
with berries and sugar in the delectable
pie. Molasses and water. How simple
the remedy How sweet the relief! L
impaired the information to a neighbor.
To my surprise he drew down the left
corner of his left eye with his left fore
finger and ejaculated-"Boshl ~ That
rather hurt my feelings; still 1 con-
descended to explain to him the probable
philosophical reason of the demise of
the worms; that the molasses, forming
a glutinous coat over their bodies, check
ed the perspiration. He only said
Cannon! !" My neighbor is, L am
sorry to say, of rather skeptical turn
of mind.
Then resolved to put the thing to the
test without delay, and told him how L
once brought to a conclusion a long de-
bate in a village store on winters
evening, by the proposition of actual
experiment. You see, after fully dis
cussing the query" does a bucket of
water weigh any more if live fish is
put into it t?''-without any settlement
of the point, the circle of dozen or SO
gathered around the red-hot stove, had
been equally divided in a long and warm
debate on the interesting question
"does horse weigh more after drinking
than before ?" Espying in corner one
of those good natured and self-sacrificing
souls who are always ready for anything
for the sake Of obliging, 1 said to him,
" Jack, will you drink quart of water
for quarterp" "Of course 1 will,'
said he, cheerfully. He was duly weigh
ed. He drank his quart manfully. The
crowd, who had by this time made their
bets, breathlessly scrutinized the scales
as he was carefully re-weighed, and as
they could not make it out that the silver
quarter which he had pocketed weighed
about two pounds, that question was
considered settled.
But to return to our muttons, as the
French say, that is, to our molasses and
water. A dose was mixed. The leaves
experimental with being marked by
bits of colored string, that there should
be mo possibility of mistake, worms,
leaves and all were dipped in. No new
ly fiedged medical practitioner ever
watched his first patient more assiduous-
ly than did those unlucky insets. At
first they appeared to be considerably
astonished. One would lift his head and
look vaguely around with an inquiring
turn, while another gave his tail de-
predatory wave. There was evidently
something the matter. At the end of
a quarter of an hour of anxiety, L visit
ed them again. Whatever the matter
was, it certainly had not affected their
appetites; they were all eating as fast as
ever. The next day they spent as usual,
gormandizing ravenously by long spells
with short cat-naps between. In fact
they appeared to rather like the idea of
having their leaves sweetened; and if L
had not interfered with their prospects
of celebrating the Fourth of July by
picking them off and killing them on
the third, they would undoubtedly have
been hard at work now. So my hopes
were blasted. must reluctantly return
to hand picking, and let those who will
Il won 't--use hellebore.
forgot to mention that Jack, who
swallowed the quart of water, repeatedly
expressed his heartfelt regret that it
had not been dashed with little spirits.
-Correspondent of Scientific Farmer.
"a Set out tree plant vine, culti-