The Cook County herald., 1899-10-28
Fig Insects Imported


Two of the most interesting items of
Mr. Swingle's work have been date
palms and fig insects. In Morocco and.
Algiers he studied the best varieties
Of the African date palm and sent
over and made arrangements to send
large number of small trees for plant
ing in the date section Of America
our arid southwest, where the dry al
Kali conditions are. very similar to
those in Africa, where this magnifi-
cent palm f1ourishes. The work in figs,
shows what Intelligent perseverance
will do and also shows the advantages,
OF good quick transportation. The
dried figs of Smyrna are Justly re-.
nowned. They are large and perfect
and have the distinctive aromatic fig
flavor highly developed. Californians
have tried raising them, but while the
trees grew we'll, they were shy bear
ers and the fruit was imperfect. 1t
was then seen that the blossoms did
not evidently properly fertilize and in
quiry developed that the fig growers
Of the Mediterranean annually brought
down limbs of the wild mountain Capri
fig and tied them to the cultivated fig
trees. These wild fig blossoms con-
tanned minute insects, which, crawling
from blossom to blossom, fertilized the
Smyrna figs, making large, perfect
fruit, full of seeds and highly favored.
Various attempts were then made to
import these insects into California Or
chards, but without success; the in
sects died. But this year Mr.. Swingle
kept sending by mail small lots of fer
tilted figs wrapped in tinfoil, until
finally the object was attained and
colony of the live insects was started
in California fig trees.
Pennsylvania Seeking a Butter Stan
dard.-The Pennsylvania department
Of agriculture has been advocating the
necessity for butter standard and has
recently made analyses of 100 samples
OF butter collected in Philadelphia and
vicinity. Five grades of butter we're
tested, including 'boiled'' or process
butter. The average per cent Of water
was about II per cent, Of butter fat
about IS per cent, curd between one
and two per cent and salt about 2 per
cent. Of the 78 samples Of unmelted
butter examined, only one contained
less than 80 per cent OF fat, and only
six did not reach an 83 per cent but
ter-fat standard, to which any dairy
man, it is stated, can bring his butter.
The percentage of water, according to
the results obtained, should not exceed
II per cent at the very most The
percentage of salt is considered about
right when kept below per cent.
Two thirds of the samples contained
curd less than 1.05 per cent. Curd, in
all buffers 1t is stated, should be re-
ouced below 2.05 per cent.
Dryness and Root Injury.-The past
winter has been more disastrous than
any within the forty-seven years I
have been in the nursery business.
Vineyards have suffered equally with
orchards. Blackberries and old rasp-
berries have suffered almost total
loss. The young paintings of Loudon
are alive root and branch. Plum, pear
and cherry have not injured in the
root like apple, and are giving prom.
Using bloom. About one-half the straw
berry beds are weakened or entirely
ruined. The thirty-seven cold days of
last winter aggregate 327 degrees be-
low zero. But why the frost should
have gone down seven feet is a mys-
terry cannot fathom. True, the ground
was bare, but the excessive deep freez-
ing is beyond precedent. The ground
was in good condition when it froze
up, but the continuous evaporation
from the dry surface must have been
the cause of the root injury. George
J. Kellogg, in Wisconsin Horticulture
ist.
A Chicken Trust.-The Leaven-
worth Times says: *'The three larg-
est poultry and produce dealers in
the West have organized a chicken
trust at Fort Scott and capitalized it
under the laws of Missouri for $780,
900. The general Offices will be at
Springfield, Mo. Throughout Kansas,
Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky and
other states, the company has well
established buying stations, and the
aggregate business Of the three firms
last year is said to have amounted to
several million dollars They buy and
ship chickens and eggs. It is esti-
mated that an average of a train-load
day from Kansas alone is handled
by them
Overfeeding.-When any kind of
bowel disease exists the cause NAV 1e
traced to the food-usually too much
but some times too much green bone.
or letting the birds out on stubble-
fields may be the obstacles. AS rule
overfeeding is the cause. The remedy
is to change the food and reduce the
quantity. The males are also fat and
if they are removed from the flock the
leg weakness will disappear, as we'll
as the blindness. the real difficulty be-
ing spinal affection. The medicines
used should be avoided, as less food
and removal of the males is all that is
necessary-Ex ''..-- j.