The price paid for apples in 1880, when the crop was superabundant, was six to eight cents per bushel; in 1881, fifteen cents. The proprietor hopes next year to consume 100,000 bushels. These institutions are important to the farmer in that they use much fruit not otherwise valuable and very perishable. Fruit so crabbed and gnarled as to have no market value, and even frozen apples, if delivered while yet solid, can be used. (Such apples are placed in the water while frozen, the water draws the frost sufficiently to be grated, and passing through the press and evaporator before there is time for chemical change, they are found to make very good jelly. They are valuable to the consumer by converting the perishable, cheap, almost worthless crop of the bearing and abundant years into such enduring form that its consumption may be carried over to years of scarcity and furnish healthful food in cheap and pleasant form to many who would otherwise be deprived; and lastly, they are of great interest to society, in that they give to cider twice the value for purposes of food that it has or can have, even to the manufacturer, for use as a beverage and intoxicant. * * * * * IMPROVED GRAPE BAGS. It stands to reason that were our summers warmer we should be able to grow grapes successfully on open walls; it is therefore probable that a new grape bag, the invention of M. Pelletier, 20 Rue de la Banque, Paris, intended to serve a double purpose, viz., protecting the fruit and hastening its maturity, will, when it becomes known, be welcomed in this country. It consists of a square of curved glass so fixed to the bag that the sun's rays are concentrated upon the fruit, thereby rendering its ripening more certain in addition to improving its quality generally. The glass is affixed to the bag by means of a light iron wire support. It covers that portion of it next the sun, so that it increases the amount of light and warms the grapes without scorching them, a result due to the convexity of the glass and the layer of air between it and the bag. M. Pelletier had the idea of rendering these bags cheaper by employing plain squares instead of curved ones, but the advantage thus obtained was more than counterbalanced by their comparative inefficacy. In practice it was found that the curved squares gave an average of 7° more than the straight ones, while there was a difference of 10° when the bags alone were used, thus plainly demonstrating the practical value of the invention.