Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-04-17
THE FARM.
HINTS OF INTEREST UPON yARI.
Gus TOPICS.
Butt err Making = Remedy for the
Rose Scale-Profits of Fig
Cuiture-GeneraI Notes.

This is the flush season of the year for
butter-making, and any dairyman, with
his cows fed upon the fine grasses of this
State, can ordinarily make a class of butter
that is good when first made, but not all
can make that which will keep well.
Upon this subject the american Agric,dt-
artist recently had the following: 1t is a
sound rule that everything should go to
market as soon as it is ready to ship. This
rule applies with particular force to such
perishable article as butter. 1t can be
Kept, but it requires some latitude of Ian
guage to even call such butter sweet. To
make it keep longer than thirty days, it
must have a liberal allowance of salt to
neutralize the effects of the buttermilk
that cannot always be gotten out The
French and English markets for the higher
grades of butter require that no salt what
ever be put in it. The best markets of this
country are tending in the same direction.
The higher the price paid for the butter, the
less salt will be tolerated in it. Such
butter is very hard to make, and must
be marketed and should be eaten within
four or FIVE days from the ehurn.
The compensation for this haste and
extra labor is that more of it is
consumed, and the price is gen
orally much above that of the highest
market quotations. We have heretofore
described the process of making granular
butter This is simply butter which is
chilled in the churn when it is in the mus
tard-seed or wheat grain condition, before
it has gathered into larger masses. The
buttermilk is drawn off and cold water, or
even ice-water added. Then it is washed
with cold water, removed from the churn
to barrel or stone jar without MASKING
the grains, and the vessel is then filed up
with strong brine. Before shipping, the
first brine should be changed, as If will
dissolve considerable caSein and look tur-
bid, and second brine will probably re-
main clear. While in the brine, the butter
must be covered by q circular piece of
wood nearly fitting the barrel, or by a
plate if in stone jar, and weighted so that
it will be kept submerged. Such butter
will keep for weeks, and when removed
from the brine and rinsed well with water,
becomes virtually sweet butter and is
easily worked into rolls or prints to suit
the market. If worked without washing
out the brine, the very slight flavor of salt
Is to our taste an improvement"
FOR DESTROYING SCALE INSECTS.
The warfare against all scale insects
needs to be waged at all times to insure
their determination. They are a pest
which increase upon ratio Of seyenty-tiye
TO one. and are very tenacious of life. The
following appears in the Mountain Demo
crdt and will be of interest and value to all
having fruit trees:
"A few weeks ago, while J. P Munson
of this city, was pruning blackberry
bushes, he noticed that quite number of
them We're covered with white spots, some
very thicldv, near the roots. He examined
them carefully with compound micro
scope, and found that underneath each
white web was small plant louise. De-
termined to know the name and habits Of
the insect, Mr.. Munson sent piece of the
cane to Matthew Cooke at Sacramento.
That gentleman carefully examined the
specimen. and sent the following commu-
nication to Mr. Munson The information
contained therein is valuable to all our
gardeners, and they should preserve a COPY
and act upon its Suggestions:
Yours, with specimen, at hand. The
branch is infected by scale insect popu-
larry known as the rose scale, technically
as the Didsper roseas. It is also found on
the raspberry, blackberry, currant and va
rious species of the rose and other garden
shrubs. a similarappearing scale infests
the oleander. but il Is of q different genus,
being the Aspidiotts merit. On examination,
by removing the white scale or covering.
you will find reddish. oval-shaped body.
without any APPENDICES. excepting hair
like proboscis, with which it extracts its
sustenance from the wood-thiS is the fe-
male insect, which is only a mass of eggs.
The males are winged, and the pupa can
be readily found under the oblong scales
Tho females r4rflt ho.ry. Il
eggs, which hatch in a few days, and the
young appear as small red louise. In this
state they continue only a few days, when
they fasten themselves 10 the wood, cast off
the appendages and the scale begins to
cover them in the form of white-barred
stripe. The female Of the h aerii is lem
on-yellow color when the cover is removed,
instead Of red, Ike this specimen.
By making good strong soft soap of
ash-lye and grease and mixing with water
until it can be applied with a brush win
etiectualiy destroy these pests, especially at
Matching time. by scrubbing. or if you
have a spray pump, by drenching them
thoroughly. One pound of the soap to
each gallon of water used. It would make
the water more effective after the soap is
dissolved, to add one gallon of the leech-
ing to every ten gallons of the soap mix
ture. The roots should be examined. as
the scale is often found belowthe ground.
Pouring some of the solution around the
root Will destroy any under ground The
DiGsper roSea belongs to the same scale
family, Didsma, as the San Jose scale, but
not TO the same genus-the latter belongs
TO the genus Aspidiotts."
Upon the same subject the following has
been received from James McCauley, of
lone
lbs. RECORD UNION: Knowing theinter-
est you take III the fruit-grOYing business
of this State, and believing that many
small orchardists do not watch their trees
rs they should, l would cali their attention
to the presence of several classes of insect
pests which are now infesting fruit trees of
this neighborhooG. and accordingly send
TWEEN branch of apple trees
nearly kiiisd by the scale pus ~. ~1p "oO'''
avis. So severe are these pests that iFu's
men think they Will lose their trees Ell
tirely. l am not aware OF the present ex-
tent of this trouble, but believe II to be
widespread though many orchardists may
not be aware of It, Curl-leaf is'also affect
ing reach trees TO a considerable extent.
Plumb. pear and apricot seem so far, how
ever, to have escaped any trouble. We
have been informed of several orchards on
low lands dying, their owners attributing
the trouble to drowning: but may it not be
from the scale bug, a specimen of which |
send you from upland p
NoTE-The specimens referred to have
been examined by Matthew Cooke, who
finds that the pest is the San Jose scale.
The remedy above given is effective for
these.
Dr. Frey, of Newcastle, has been expert
menting with corrosive sublimate as wash,
various pests. The way he has used it is :
One pound OF corrosive sublimate,
one pound of salt and ten gallons
of water. In mixing he puts the TWO in
gradients into two gallons of water, and
heats enough to dissolve, and then adds
eight gallons of cold water. The in
gradients would dissolve in cold water, but
would take much longer. OF course care
must be exercised in using the corrosive
sublimate, as it is deadly poison, but the
doctor says if used prudenuy there is no
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