The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-07-06

ter, and has practically taken its place
and as 1T can be made cheaper than we
can afford to make butter, we cannot
afford to compete with it unless we make
something finer, and that this manufac-
tured butter will not come in competition
with.
Don't hold your butter. Market it
while it has its fresh flavor. Fresh fla
vored olemargarine is being preferred in
the tall aud winter to old favored sum-
mer-packed butter"
We shall have very lew peaches in the
vicinity of Richmond-in some parts of
the State there are considerable numbers
apple trees generally bearing we'll
pears much injured by blight in the last
twelve months, and this spring they have
good deal of "twig- bhg ht, which de-
stroys the. ends of the limbs, and the.
fruit that is on them. Apple trees are
somewhat affected in the same way. We
are afraid that pear trees in this latitude
will not prove profitable. The only way
to make them so will be to select those
not much subject to blight, as I have be-
fore advised, enumerating some not sub
Ject to this disease. Choosing standards
In preference to dwarfs We have re-
ceived from an intelligent farmer and
sklltul observer, the following on the
causes of failure of fruits, which we take
the liberty to publish
' | wish to say few words in regard
to our fruit; and the great outlay and
useless expense attendent upon the graft
ed foreign fruits upon our natural stock.
L have lived to see and know that unless
we return to our own fruits and stop pur-
chasing and using the useless and worth
less grated varieties sold by the nurse
rymen, we shall very soon be without
any-for it is fact that most of the pur-
chased varieties are without any fruit
upon them-and it is a fact that all and
every tree that has been raised in our
county from the seed of our old varieties,
are now loaded with fruit. mean ap-
pies, peaches, pears, cherries, plums, and
all others which were raised so abundant
lly IN former times when you and l were
boys: But now with our grated varie-
ties | have not seen full crop of fruit
for he last ten or twenty years. And it
is time to call attention to this matter.
and to put lovers of fruit on their guard:
Very truly your friend,
VIM. D. GREsHAM."*
We have been particularly struck with
the truth of the above with regard to
peaches, but had not noticed the same
thing so much respecting pears, apples,
plums, and cherries, though we recognize
the old varieties as being more hardy.
We have lamented the giving up of manv
of our old fruits, and their substitution
with Northern varieties, many of which
are OF no value for our section. Half or
more of the apples I see in Virginia Or
chards, are unsuited to-the State, and are
only numbering the ground, and the same
is true to considerable extent with pears.
Many of the cherry trees are short lived
said by some to be due to budding on the
Mahaleb stock, instead Of cherry stock.
Silk Worms
We find, on trial, that silk worms are
subject to fatal diseases, a very consider
able drawback on silk industry. We
procured 1000 eggs from Philadelphia,
of which nearly 400 Matched out. They
did well on Usage Orange until they were
undergoing the last Transformation, pre-
paratory to spinning, when they were
taken with what the books describe as
M'tscardane, a fungus disease similar to
what is sometimes seen killing the house
fly, and all persisted but about 25, few
OF those In the cocoons also died. They
are subject to another disease called pie
bine, which is kind of cholera. The
first disease is hereditary, and is trans
mitted by the moth to the eggs. The
moths should (some of them at least) be
examined with the microscope, and if the
" molecule," which is distinctive of the
disease, is found in the interior of the
moth, then the eggs should be discarded
These worms require great cleanliness,
and probably this may not have been suf-
fciently attended to in my case. Usage
orange is nearly as good for their food as
the mulberry, though it does not make so
fine silk. l find the diseases alluded to
have been very troublesome and fatal in
France, at different times.
Destroyers of Contagion.
In our article on this subject recently,
the action of strong acid of bisulphate OF
potash, should have been on, and famqosl
should have been fungus. Sulphur should
not be freely burned among young plants
in close place, or it will destroy the
foliage. Burn small quantity at time,
and not too near the plants
pride of the MarIxetD Raanberru