Butternut Pickles

Gather the nuts before the shell is woody; when a large needle can be thrust into them they are still sufficiently tender. Make a strong brine and while boiling hot, turn it on the nuts. Let them stand in the brine nine days, making fresh brine every three days. Place the nuts on a sieve to drain, leaving them until they turn black. Ascertain the amount of vinegar required to cover them, and to every quart allow half an ounce each of mace, cloves, pepper and mustard seed, and an eighth of an ounce of ginger root. Steep the spices in the vinegar, and turn it boiling hot on the nuts. Repeat this boiling process every day for three days.

The Cabbage Butterfly

About the middle of July, before any cabbage butterflies were seen, a barrel was procured and packed three-fourths full with old linen and woolen rags. The rags were firmly fastened to pre" vent their falling, and then the barrel was inverted and placed over a kettle of burning sulphur. It was left in this position about twelve hours, and then the rags were distributed among the cabbage, from thirty to forty feet apart. In four weeks the operation was repeated, and in October the cabbage stood uninjured, for not a butterfly had been near the field during the summer. The same experiment carried on in a neighboring village was equally successful. - Landw. Ztg. f. d. Prov. Sachsen, etc.

Cabbage, Chou De Noel

This is known in the west, of France as Chou advise d' hiver. It has a short stalk, thick and rounded leaves, and a round, very firm head. Its color is very dark glaucous green, really slate-colored. It resists frost perfectly, is late, and arrives in the market after all the large fall cabbages have been exhausted. - Revue Horticole.

Cabbages After Cabbages

I have grown cabbages six years on the same ground. The fifth crop took the the prize at our county fair, and the sixth was better than the fifth; but I fertilize. My land originally grew bard-wood and elm. I use bones and spent lime from glue factories for fertilizers. - Richard Branson.

Cactus Fruit

Few people know the interest and beauty which is often attached to fruits of indoor plants.

The fruits of cactuses are particularly interesting. We append a cut of a berry of Cereus Martinii which one of our subscribers has sent us.

California Grape Syrup

A very healthful article of diet may be prepared by ordinary boiling of the juice or must of the grapes. Cheaper syrup may be obtained by this means than by any other. Many years ago when grapes were very low, growers found an important outlet by this means; the same being sold through the trade in jars and kegs for family and domestic use. Large quantities of this product are annually consumed in sweetening ports, sherries, angelicas, etc. - J. H. Wheeler.

Callas In California

In the February issue, advertising page 10, you say : "The calla wants water like a mill, heat like a furnace and feed like an army."I think that an extreme opinion. My callas in the open ground have bloomed all winter, with only the natural rainfall for water; the temperature averaged 40 to 50 degrees by night and 50 to 65 degrees by day, and the soil has never been manured. I am safe in saying that a bed of 100 bulbs planted less than a year gave us over 1,000 blooms, and now in its second year, I think there are nearly 2,000 large and fine flowers. Some I measured were 1^ by 6¼ inches. - E. Leedham, San Luis Co., Cal.