VOL. LX.
INDIANAPOLIS, JUNE 17, 1905.
NO. 24
Sweetbrier.
(Copyrighted,     1!H)3.     by   -Tie  Nature    Story  Syndicate.)
'Tlie Sweetbrier or Eglantine, ltosa rub-
iginosa, is a native of Kurope ami Central
Asia. Evidently it was domesticated in
England at a wry parly i>oriod, and it
seems to liavi* touched tin* English imagination ami to have won tin- English lus.rt.
Lord Uacoi-., writing Of Hardens iu
lijj.">, says, "And because the breath of
flowers is tar sweeter iu the air, where it
conies and goes like the warbling of
music, than in the baud, therefore nothing
is more tit for that delight than to know
what be the Ilowers and plants tbat do
best perfume the air." .Vmoug the list
that he enumerates are violet, musk rose,
and sweetbrier. Spenser, writing .-.'bout
the same time notes both perfume antl
tlie thorns:
"Sweet is the eglantine 'but pricketh
nere,"—Sonnet XX.
Shakespeare,* who stands unequalled in*
any field that he attempts, thus immortalizes the plant:
I know a bank where tbe wild thyme blows.
Where oxlips r.nrl the nodding violet grows;
y'rlte over-canrrpied  with  luscious  woodbine.
With  sweet  inurrk   rose,   and   with eglantine.
—Midsummer Night's  Dream.
Possibly tbe sweetbrier was brought to
Amurica by tlie Pilgrims, certainly it
1 loomed in New Kngland gardens iir the
seventeenth century.
The brush is fairly erect, though it often sends out long wands of branches tlint
reach out in every direction* from the
centre of the plant. These are armed
principally with stout, recurved spines,
whicli are quick to seizeandstrong to hold
whatever comes within reach. Because
of this fierce armament and reaching habit, the brush has very generally beea banished from the lawns antl gaidens; but it
has tied to the roadsides and there, when
.June is young, it may be found unfolding
its petals and diffusing its perfume for the
pleasure of every passer-by. Its wild
habitat now extends from Nova Scotia
!>nri the St. Lawrence valley to The Southern. States and  the Mississippi river.
The ross> itsolC is small, five petaled,
pale pink as it opens, becoming paler as
the hours of its life go by. As a rule,
the roses are solitary, but sometimes two
appear ne.ir together. Curiously enough
the flower is odorless; the delicious fragrance whicli gives the plant its name resides in the minute amber-colored glands
or dots with which the leaves are covered,
botn above and below. These may be
reauily seen iifton the under side of the
leaf, where they are most abundant.
The structure of a rose is very interesting, bnt it ean be studied only in the single Mower. The nisniient a rose becomes
double it lose* its normal proportion of
parts. The summit of the flowering stem
develops into a little cup wh.ch called the
receptacle. That seems a very proper name
in tbis case though. Most llower receptacles are either flat or convex. The
receptacle is always tlie top of the flowering stem, and it affords a place of attachment for the parts of the flower. It
is sometimes very large and sometimes
very small. In all roses it takes tlie form
of a cup. Upon- the tim of this cup in the
sweetbrier sit five triangular green leaves
called sepals. The oflice of the calyx,
ns these five sepals are called, is to j ro-
tect the inner part -rf the flower. .Tust inside of! the sepals and like them also sitting upon the edge of the cnp, are the
live petals, pinr\, delicate, beautiful in color anrl exquisite in texture. Within the
petals, nearer to the centre of the flower
are the yellow stamens, outnumbering the
petals many times. At the very bottom
of the cuj) and clinging to its sides as well
.-.re the carpels, little luxlics which will in
time contain the mature seeds. Their
tops protrude through the open cup and
occupy the centre of the llower. The cup
itself becomes fleshy ami finally in autumn turns rerl as a sign that the seeds
in the carpels are ripe. Its botat:ical name
is hip. rose-hip; and a bush covered with
thisshining red fruit is a very pretty sight.
Each little globe looks good enough to
eat, but only the birds find it so, and even
the birds pass it by when- anything better
sirlcrable number, oocupving separate cells,
a tv to -K* found in each mossy cluster.
These of course interfere somewhat with
the growth, of the plant, aird should be cut
liom the bushes :u winter and burned, for
tbe insects 'lo not leave them until the following "pring <rr early summer.
Harriet I). Keeler.
A request comes to us from M. A. C,
Washington, l'a., for particulars regarding the making of cement fence posts for
Vie. refei-rrcd to ill a recent number of
the   Farmer. How  dix's   he  make  the
posts?        l'lease inform our readers.
SWFsETBItlKR.
can be had.
A rosebud just about to open is an object of exquisite beauty. It has until now
been wholly green, showing only the receptacle cup and the leaves of the calyx
growing close together. Hut as the impulse of life within makes itself felt, the
parts of the calyx begin to separate and
a lino of soft lovely pink gleams in the
space; by degrees the opening widens, and
in due time the sepals are thrown back
and the petr.ls break out in- all their matchless beauty. The pink of roses is an unstable color, it fades in the sunlight and
to know the real, ravishing pink of a rose
one must see it when it first opens. With
all our wild roses the supreme moment of
color is brief. Every rose in its wild
state is single—but the entire rose family
possess in a remarkable degree the power
of producing double flowers. As the petals increase the stamens lessen in numbor and finally disappears, in an extremely
double rose the carpels also abort. This
means that the double rose has lost the
power of producing seeds and that the
flower exists for beauty, not for use.
The gardeners have done very little with
the sweetbrier; though hybrids have boen
produced which retained tho fragrance
and lost the spines, but there are many
letter roses for the gardener's purpose.
The sweetbrier lives after its own wild
will, remainir-g, in spite of its long domestication, at heart of the untamed
primitive ot the floral world. The sweet-
brier appears to l>e especially subject to
large mossy excresences on its stems
: ml branches. These are galls made by
the insect Khodites rosa, of which a eon-
gxpzxieutz _dzpnxtmzut
HOW TO   PREPARE  PICKLES AND   REL-
LISHES.
Some Reliable Recipes.
1st Premium.—The writer can vouch
for the reliability of the following carefully selected and tested recipes. All
the articles given are easily prepared,
ami make a nice variety for the table.
Grape leaf pickles. l'lace a handful
ot fresh grape leaves in the bottom of a
three gallon jar and fill the jar within two
inehes with good sized cucumbers, add a
scant teacupful of salt and a piece of
alum the size of a hickory nut, cover with
vinegar, fill the jar with grape leaves,
rnd put in a cool dry' place. The pickles
will  not be fit to use  for several days.
Pickled Onions. Peel very small
white onions, throw them into boiling
water, bring to the boiling point and drain.
Put them in glass jars, add a tablespoonful of mustard seed, a little grated horseradish, and cover with hot white wine
vinegar.
Mixed Pickle. Cover two quarts each of
sliced onions and cucumbers with salted
water, let stand three hours, and drain.
Add ono cup of mustard seed and one-half
cup of celery seed also a spoonful of
gronnd black pepper. Place in agal.on jar
and pour over a cup of olive oil and vinv-
gar enough to oover.
Tomato Catsup. Press two gallons of
cooked tomatoes through a sieve to remove skin.i and seeds; boil in a porcelain-
lined kettle until a thick paste, taking
care not to scorch. Add a pint of vinegar, two tablespoonfuls of salt, a tablespoonful each of celery seed and ginger, a
s.iltspoonfiil of ivd pofper, a teaspoonful
of white pepper, half a teaspoonful of cloves, a teaspoonful of allspice,
anrl a half pint of grated horseradish.
Cook half an hour, pour into clean, well
heated bottles, cork quickly, and seal with
sealing wax. Put away iir a cool, dry
place.
Chili Sauce. Two gallons ripe tomatoes, two large onions, and four sweet
peppers. Cook  all  together  until  soft,
n.ii.d pass through n colander. Add one-
half cup of sugar, two tablespoonfuls
salt, one spoonful each of cloves, einna-
moir, allspice and ginger, and four cups
of  vinegar. I.oil  until  thick   and  seal
the same us catsup.
Sweet Watermelon Pickles. Take off
the green rind and the pink part from the
inside,   and   cut  in   small   pieces. For
seven pounds of melon take four pounds
of sugar, pint of vinegar, two teaspoonfuls each of allspice and cinnamon, and
tne teaspoonful each of cloves and ginger, lu.lt a teaspoonful of ground mace.
Put the watermelon on the fire in cold
Water .and cook till transparent; then
drain. Tie the spices in a piece of cheesecloth, arrd put with the sugar and vinegar in a preserving kettle. When lieal-
eo to the boiling point, add the melon, a
little at a time; cook until it is dark (not
more than ten minutes) and put away in a
stone jar. The next morning pour off
tin* juice, heat to the boiling point, and
pour   over   the   melon. Repeat   every
morning for a w-eek, and on the last morning heat the melon with the juice, and
boil the juice down until it will just cover
the rind.
Mayonnaise Dressing. Take an even
teaspoonful of ground mustard, the same
of salt, two tablespoonfuls of vinegar or
lemon juice, and a dash of red pepper.
Heat all with the yolk of a fresh egg, and
add slowly half a pint of thick sweet
cream or olive oil, beating all the time.
Cover closely and keep cold till needed.
Sour Sauce for Fish. Add to half a
pint of mayonnaise dressing three olives,
one small cucumber, a tablespoonful of
caiiers and a little parsley, finely chopped,
and a  teaspoonful of onion juice.
Piccalilli. One peek of green tomatoes
and eight onions, if the flavor is liked, and
four green peppers. Slice and sprinkle
with a cup of salt, let stand over night.
In the morning drain, put in a porcelain
kettle ami cover with vinegar, adrl oue
cup of sugar, and one spoonful each of
allspice, cloves, anil ginger. Cook slowly until the tomatoes are soft.
M. W.
How to Prevent Mold.
'Jrl Premium.—The picking season is
coming on. and industrious housekeepers
are getting ready to put up a sullicient
quantity of these delicious things to run
their families through to another season.
For putting Up pickles, catsup, etc., I
prefer glass jars, good cider vinegar and
granite or porcelain1 ware to heat it in.
With me the beet is leading the pickling
season on. These are best canned when
young and sweet. I like them the size
of a hen's egg. Wash beets clean, cut
tops off one inch altove beet, and put onto co.ik in "old water. Cook till they are
easily pricked with a fork, then remove
from fire and peel. When peeled place
iu jars.        Put vinegar over the tire, aud
Continued on page nine.